Things I've Learned from Being Abroad

As it stands, I have lived in Scotland, Argentina, and now Spain for a chunk of time.  There are many things that you learn or experience about being abroad that are unique. 

1.)       Rubber. Rubber. Rubber.  

I don’t care what it is, but you need to get something that is made with some part of rubber.  Personally I like to have a pair of shoes with rubber soles because they are slip-resistant.   But rubber is also great because it does not conduct electricity. Whenever you have an electrical problem while abroad and are afraid of getting shocked. I can bet you that you won’t have a pair of rubber gloves nearby, so your next best option will be that rubber object.  This happened to me when I was in Scotland in my apartment.  I was using an international adapter and all of a sudden it began shooting sparks everywhere.  I freaked out because I needed to remove it before it caused an electrical fire. I quickly grabbed my shoes with the rubber soles and yanked it out the wall.   Had I not had the rubber gloves, I would’ve been at a lost and probably would’ve improvised but having the rubber-soled shoes really saved me the hassle.  Also, don't forget rubbers when you have a night with a foreign lover.   He or she may seem exotic or foreign but wrap it before y'all tap it because foreigners can carry just as many sexually transmitted diseases as anyone else.  Don't be caught like the guy from Christopher Columbus' boat who came back from visiting the New World and the only souvenir he had was Syphilis. 

2.)       Your race changes from country to country.

The concept of race is a cultural phenomenon. You will learn that what you grew up considering the cultural norms of what is Black and what is White and what is Hispanic will get flipped on its head.  For example in the United States, I am a Black man although I consider myself Black and Native American.  In Spain, I’m considered “mulatto” because I’m not Black.  For Spaniards a person that is Black is actually dark-skinned in this sense of the Senegalese population that resides in Spain.  So when my high yellow self hopped off the plane, the Spaniards were like, you’re brown not black.  In addition to your race changing, you’ll start viewing race in a different way as well.  Through my travels in Spain, Spaniards come in a large variety of skin colors that one would easily consider Hispanic or Black in the United States but they’re still considered White due to Spaniards being Europeans. 

     The racial binary that prevails in the United States about White vs. Black is not as apparent in Scotland or Spain.  Whenever a conversation with race comes us, Spaniards and Scotsmen/women seemed baffled by the racial problems that we have in the United States.  But what I am slowly realizing is that the binary hasn’t disappeared, it just has a different form. In my part of Spain, the binary seems to be Spaniards vs. Gitanos (Romanian immigrants in Spain).  

3.)       Crazy people are everywhere

While traveling abroad you meet many wonderful folks that help you along the way.  In this process though, you’ll meet a few crazy people and a few jackasses.  Your definition of crazy may be different from mine, but for me a crazy person is one who believes that you and them have imaginary plans, shouts at you for no reason, stands you up, etc.  Perhaps I am combining jackass and crazy into one, but eh, there are jackass crazy people.  You’ll never see these folks coming, so it is important that when you realize you’re with a crazy person or a jackass that you say what you need to as concisely as possible to come up from out of the situation.  Sometimes it may be as simple as saying “Hey, this wont’ work for me.” or sometimes you may have to get a bit “real” and use your street “Spanish” or any other language when situations get out of hand. Also if you hang out with enough native people of your town, they’ll help you spot a crazy person from a mile away.  For example, they may say, “Oh this is Xurxo, beware of him because he’s an utter and complete jackass.”  (All Xurxos that I’ve met have been fantastic people.

4.)       Reading is fundamental.      

I have always been a fan of RuPaul’s quote about reading being fundamental. It’s a very true statement and more important when you find yourself in another country.  Read everything you can.  Read the newspapers, the signs, on occasion the people, read information about your town online, and read Google.  You can acquire a lot of information very quickly just by reading about what’s going on around you.  It’ll also help you adjust and become part of the country’s culture.  For example, one day I was in a bar and while waiting on my food, I decided to pick up the local newspaper. I read about the recent passing of the first Democratic President of Spain (which is a big deal because up to about 1975 Spain was gripped by the dictatorship of Franco). From reading the newspaper, I learned about the difficulties Spain had from transition from a dictatorship to a democracy and how Adolfo Suarez unified the country.  Reading also keeps you abreast of the politics that may be affecting your local area and it always provides a good talking point for you when you want to strike a conversation with the locals. 

To be continued...