Almost everyone I told about my trip to Spain told me that I would meet a Spanish guy, fall in love and get married. I know most of the people were joking around, but I have also heard of several stories that happened that way. I have to say I was excited to see what would happen, I was excited to build new friendships and if it were meant to be, a new relationship. Well, I have about three weeks left and I am as single as can be! : )
I have met several awesome guys, but I realized there are several aspects where we don’t relate. I love learning new things and I love meeting people who are different from me; however, there are many things that are essential to me in the opposite sex. I will spare you the details, but over the past 8 months I have realized that cultural differences can have a huge impact on relationships.
One guy who made a big impact on me was my friend Emilio. I met Emilio about one month after I arrived in Spain. I had been running with my roommate, Angela, at a near by park and I told her I recognized this guy from school. Since Antonio de Nebrija is a small school it was pretty easy to recognize people. I was still trying to get the courage to speak in Spanish so I told my roommate that I would try to talk to him if I saw him again. The next day I saw him. I was really nervous not just to talk to a cute guy, but to talk to a cute guy in Spanish. Finally after awhile I was going to make a phone call and I saw him with his friends by the copy machine. So I decided to try to talk to him. In my broken Spanish added with my nervousness I asked if he had been at the park the previous day. He gave me a look like who are you, but proceeded to answer. We talked for awhile and he offerred to help me with my Spanish if I ever needed it. After that nervous encounter we became friends.
At the beginning I definitely was interested and attracted to him, but overtime I realized he was in my life to teach me a lot and to be a great friend. Emilio has taught me or I should say reminded me (out of any guy I have ever met) how I should be treated. He opened doors for me, was respectful in every way, was generous, listened to me, was patient with me (with my Spanish), was helpful and encouraging. I know Emilio´s upbringing has a huge impact on who he is and how he acts, sometimes it has a negative effect too.
One negative effect I would say is he is very very sheltered. I realized through the guys I met here that I want a guy who is knowledgeable about different cultures or wants to explore and learn about them. I want a guy who is confident, but not cocky. I want a guy who has the strength to lead, to be a man in a relationship. I want someone who is passionate about music, traveling and God. I could go on and on, but overall all this expierence has shown me what I want and deserve.
I know in San Diego I was looking in the wrong places for a guy and had no clue what I really wanted. This trip has reminded me of many values I have and things that I should look for in a guy. Even though I have not found love I have found more of myself, I realized what I deserve and that finding a good…great guy is possible!
