Somehow, Steve Urkel speaking Spanish seems...wrong.

Yes, you read that right. This morning, I encountered a pleasant surprise on the television (or as my Brit roomate would say, the telly. heehee.): A nineties flashback...Spanish style. Full House and Family Matters in Spanish. I could only watch a few minutes of each...it was ruining the pleasant childhood memories I have of those shows. For heaven's sake, in Spanish, Steve Urkel's voice is a girl! And Carl just sounds downright creepy.

It was a good reminder for me that every person on this earth is culturally conditioned. I may have an idea in my head of what a nerdy voice or a creepy voice sounds like, but the Spanish obviously have a different idea. It also was a brief lesson about myself...what brings back pleasant memories? Why am I so resistant to change those memory triggers? I guess it's just a reaffirmation of what I have already learned about myself this summer...I value the familiar, and change is hard for me. Steve Urkel and Uncle Jesse remind me of pleasant 4th grade days...coming home from school by 4 pm sharp every day so that I don't miss my favorite programs. I would kiss my baby brother Colin (wow, that was a long time ago..haha), and plop down with him to watch tv. So yes, when I see those beloved shows in a whole new culture and language...seen through completely new cultural eyes, my mind is a little resistant.

That's how I've felt throughout this entire summer...resistant. Even restistance against resistance. Though Spanish culture is still Western (and not TOO different from ours), I have definitely gone through culture shock. They say that culture shock lasts 2 years, and the first 6 months are the worst. It's so easy to compare everything to how your people do it in YOUR country. It's far too easy to talk more about your country than ask questions about your host culture. I've found that my mind and body are resistant to the changes here, especially since we have an international team, and EVERYONE communicates differently. But then I also encounter another resistant feeling, that of rebuke to my initial resistance. I WANT my body and mind to be fully adaptable to all these new things. I really do want to be super cross cultural woman. But I must confess that this time in Spain has taught me that...I'm definitely NOT that woman. I have a lot more growing to do in the area of cross cultural communication. At least now I realize just how inculturatedly American I am.