American Ambassador Application

For an American Ambassador position at PC the application asked to describe a "Cultural Encounter" I've experienced abroad and what I learned from it. This was my supplement: The very first day of moving into my homestay in Spain was a whirlwind of emotions as anyone would imagine. I had been in Spain only a few days adjusting, unpacking, meeting new people and trying to wrap my mind around my new home with a senora and fellow program housemate who I didn’t know previously, along with speaking another language of course. The Spanish are known for being more direct and blunt about their opinions and there is no unspoken etiquette of “table talk”. There are no boundaries on politics, religion or things of that sort to be prevented of being brought up and asked directly. My housemate Teuta and I were getting to know Esther having coffee before we unpacked and the conversation quickly turned somehow into gay marriage legalized in Spain. Esther was very clear about her catholic affiliation, if the many crucifixes around the apartment didn’t give it away, but she did not seem to have a problem with legalizing marriage between gays. For an older Catholic woman I thought this was a very beautiful open minded moment and gave me my first real experience of understanding the culture beyond just what people had told me. I had heard different things before arriving in Spain of the open minded European way but the closed minded Catholic rooted country of Spain from various Spanish professors. Esther then started to talk about letting gays adopt and how that was not yet legalized but how she did not support it at all. I did not know Esther or Teuta, I had been invited into this home less than an hour ago and I was not completely sure I was catching everything that was being said. My mind was running with thoughts, am I hearing her correctly? What is she saying? What does that mean exactly? Should I argue? Am I supposed to agree? Would she be offended? She is speaking so passionately about this, is she mad? What is this girl thinking? What if she agrees what do I do? My table manners taught by my mother were running through my mind as well as the confusion of whether to do as the Spanish do and speak bluntly. This was not how I imagined my first interaction with a Spanish person. Teuta being a stronger Spanish speaker than me took control of the situation and started to politely inquire further about the opinions of Esther – I’m sure to be able to fully understand where she was coming from. Esther continued to explain how babies deserve two sets of parents and how gays do not make the proper family; she kept saying it wasn’t natural. Respectfully, with great caution because the horror stories of homestays ringing in my ears, I brought up some common arguments and inquired a bit about why she feels the way she does keeping mark on my tone and facial expressions. Not only was I nervous to offend anyone but to also stay true to myself and my culture but my Spanish was not at a very high level at that point and we had only just met. I chose a Spanish speaking home for the full immersion so did that include siding with the style of speaking or even with the modern political opinions of the country? At such a crucial growth time in our adolescence these are questions that run through 20 year old college students’ minds. Teuta was more fervent with her arguments but I was able to listen with intention and respond as respectfully to both sides when I could. This conversation could easily happen in the United States as well but because of the circumstances of meeting someone for the first time and the way that Esther was expressing herself, there was most definitely something different. It was an extreme push into culture shock especially in such a modern world, me myself coming from a Catholic background and also within meeting someone who you’re going to be staying with for four months. All the circumstances were very strange and I had to learn how to be myself, be strong and speak up but also be respect of the environment I was in, not offend anyone and to properly persuade with a different language. Having Teuta there was immediately better so I know that students coming into the American college experience need a friend that can be the buffer between difficult situations. This instance threw me into the Spanish culture into tumultuous waters at which I had planned to just slowly wade into. It was a good experience to expose my Spanish skills, my house guest skills and my political skills. It taught me about respecting a culture, one’s political opinions and challenging yourself to not just fade into the background of a difficult situation. You want the full immersion of a culture but you also want to recognize yourself and not just be a sponge but make smart choices about your growth. So yes maybe I will choose mayonnaise now with my French fries than ketchup but does that mean I should choose Spanish societal values over American ones? This instance along with many others I encountered during my time in Spain taught me a lot about crossing borders and how you don’t only challenge your environment but the environment challenges you.