Sunday, January 16, 2011

A Level Playing Field

Is definitely something I'm not experiencing here, considering well, my situation as a foreigner. However, I have also been noticing inequalities between the genders. I've grown up with my parents being equals: them both cooking, taking care of us kids and doing stuff around the house, whether it is cleaning or fixing something, they both can do it and will do it, the tasks are shared.
Here, its my host moms house, she does ALL the cleaning and 98% of the cooking. The dad just comes home from work and sits on the couch reading the paper or watching TV. When it comes time for dinner, my host sister or I will usually set the table, while the dad just sits there. Don't get me wrong, its not always like this, but since that is not at all what I am use to, the times when it does happen really stand out to me.
It all seems a little old fashion to me, the husband coming home from work and the wife caring to him. The world is changing...rapidly, and Europe seems to be falling behind that smashing of gender roles.



A while as past since my last post, so I'll give you guys a quick update.
We got back into the swing of things last Monday, beginning with morning practice followed by school and the usual. This week has been nothing out of the ordinary, except I would like to let everyone know that it is official, I have my foreign exchange student card and am allowed to stay in Spain until the 16th of September, not that I will...
I am going to Madrid on Monday with my program for 4 days. I'm looking forward to seeing a new place and getting a chance to check in with my fellow exchange students to see how my experience matches up to theirs. I feel like my year abroad is going to end up differently than those of the other students, because of my involvement in a sport. At times I wonder what this year would look like for me if I was just a regular exchange student.