Well, since my last post, I’ve finished up my group fitness job (finally!) and gone back to the U.S.  I feel like I’ve already been through the whole reverse culture shock deal from previous international moves, but this time I noticed 2 things in particular that unexplainably piss me off.

1.  The way people speak.  Especially people from small towns in Wisconsin.  For example, saying something like “that’s dumb,” but really enunciating the “d” in dumb so that he/she sounds like an idiot.

2.  The way people walk.  They swing their arms too much.  Do you really need to take up that much space?  Come on.

3.  Okay, so there’s one more.  People automatically assuming that they have some sort of friendly rapport with strangers.  Spaniards just stare you down and then pretend you’re not there.  Americans will smile and make some silly comment about the weather or something just as inconsequential.

Granted, these are things that normally do not piss me off…I’m just adjusting.  So don’t think that I am a completely non-friendly human being, okay?

In other news, living with my parents has been quite uneventful.  It’s nice to be back home, mind you, but if I lived in a town where I could actually do something, it would be nice.  Want to go for a walk?  No Alhambra, no path by the Rio Genil.  Try walking up and down the street.  (It takes about 5 minutes.)  You can’t go any farther because I live off of a highway.  Want to drive into town?  No tapas, no tea shops.  Try the Super Wal-Mart, it’s where everyone else goes on a Friday night.  Sigh.

Which is why I am in Madison!  Oh, glorious Madison, I love you so much.  A friend was kind enough to let me stay with her and we went salsa dancing last night at my favorite place.  I expected to have a good time, but I didn’t realize it would be so amazingly fun.  It was like coming home to family!  I ran into almost every friend I ever made salsa dancing and had the most fun I’ve had in a long time.  It was totally worth the huge, open blisters I now have on my toes.