Commnity Vs. Independece (round something)

Reasons to keep a blog:
-Keeping in touch
-Processing emotional turmoil through the written word
-Working up "nonfiction chops" for possible future writing projects
-Creating a record of my time in Spain (for posterity and such)

Reasons not to keep a blog:
-Weirdness of sharing personal information over the internet
-On the other hand, if it isn't a very personal blog it might be boring
-I'm a terrible speller and soon the world (or like the 2 people who will read this) will know. I'm also no good with commas. For some one who identifies as a writer (at least aspiring) this is pretty embarassing.

Well, it's four to three on the pro side. So here we go.

I am in Madrid, Spain. I just finished a pretty useless and overwhelming orientation. I'm going to stay here for one more day and hang out with Jennifer. I also get to have lunch with Morgan who I haven't seen since last time I was in Spain. Tomorrow morning I'll head up to San Sebastian by bus and ...hang out there until Monday when I go check out the school where I'll be teaching. That's the plan.

In less logisticol and more theoretical terms (and who doesn't prefer the theoretical to the logistical), I've decided that this experience is going to be all about navigating between my drive for independence and my drive for community. I want to figure out who I am as an individual seperate from my Macalester community, seperate from my Seattle community. But I also don't want to lose those communities. And I want to polish my community creating skills. I mean, not like Sim City style, but my friendship making skills.

Other goals include: Improving my Spanish, figuring out how I feel about teaching and devoting time to writing projects on a consistent basis. Oh, and I want to learn BASQUE. Honestly, how much cooler would I be if I knew Basque? A lot. That's how mcuh.