I can see

I gave a presentation to my English class today. Though I spoke in English (as asked for by my teacher), pictures are worth a thousand words in every language, so I think my classmates understood most of what I was saying. I showed them what my life is like back home: my school, family, home, friends, everything that I used to associate with being me. I'm not generally a shy person, and I enjoy speaking in front of large groups, so the feeling of vulnerability that struck me at the end of my presentation was a bit of a shock. I'd just told these people my life story. One hour, that's all it took to show them my world. The thoughts hit me like a hurricane, and for the first time I truly realized how big the world was. Just as my Spanish classmates couldn't fully comprehend my life in California (is your school private? it's HUGE!...so you're library is the size of a church?...you really have cliques?...Pajama Day -- Cool!), neither will the people in California truly understand the life here in Spain. The privilege of living two lives has opened my eyes to how small we are in this big, big world. And in those moments as I walked down the long flights of stairs, my friends laughing by my side, I was terrified and fascinated by everything around me. It was a wonderful, intimidating feeling. I could see the world, its vastness, and I wanted to explore every bit of it.

Love from Marbella,
Shonabell

my presentation: http://prezi.com/sdtoo_gvkb60/california-livin/