Different prespective

These photos are really speaking to me today. 

I just have a point-and-shoot camera, a Canon Power Shot SD750 Digital Elph for all of you who care the type. I have learned so much with this camera! Even simple point-and-shoots have a multitude of setting choices. Maybe I will do another blog post about it if there in interest, but you can take wonderful pictures with this simple tool (as I hope I have proven over the last couple of posts).

One of the settings on my camera is a setting that only highlights green everything else shows up in grayscale.  These were taken in the Parque de Plaza Castellana during our first week here (May 2011). Spring was in the air so the greens were vibrant and fresh.

I love using this setting to give a different perspective on a familiar view. My eyes almost always trick me into looking for the color that is not there. Which is a really good metaphor for those of you that are wondering how I am doing. I find myself in the middle of Spain, in an English bubble. It is frustrating, but it is surprisingly easy to do. Here is how you do it:

1.) Get to know some English speaking friends.

2.) Watch American TV shows (the tv has a setting that allows them to be played in their original language).

3.) Do not speak to strangers on the street (actually this is not a bad rule to have in a big city).

4.) Speak to your spouse only in the language you have been communicating just fine in for the last 10 years.

5.) Consume all media in English, books, audio books, e-mail, social networking sites, podcasts....

I am doing all of those things on some level. SIGH I fight off the urge to be in the English bubble several times a day. It is hard because it is comforting and safe. I actually put in several hours of studying Spanish though out the day, I just do not have much practical application. I am getting better, speaking more in Spanish to DH, reading a book in Spanish, and starting to think of more ways to go out and find people to talk to....but to be honest....some days I am surprised that I am in Spain.

 I love using this setting to give a different perspective on a familiar view. My eyes almost always trick me into looking for the color that is not there. Spain has a Western culture similar to the US, the view is so familiar sometimes that I am always looking for the "culture/language/home" that is not there.