Into the garbage chute, fly boy!

On Today's Menu: Becoming a Princess!

A couple weeks ago, I was introduced to a gentleman who lives in Madrid and is currently training to be an ambassador for Spanish students interested in studying at Western Kentucky University. I was fortunate enough to sit down for a meal with him and two of his Portuguese friends and learn a little bit about Spain and the European lifestyle in general. He was most informative...so much so that by the end of the conversation I felt my head was reeling and I that I would need to take a day off in order to sort through all the information rolling around in my brain. 

It was fun...I love new experiences, new people, new cultures, new restaurants (that was some good eating). Carlos must have felt the same way because he was curious about my lifestyle as much as I was his. He was fascinated by my name. Leah. Pretty simple name, I think. Apparently not that common in Spain. I'm not sure how common it is over here...now that I'm thinking of it, I guess it isn't one you hear too often. He kept saying it over and over, with a slight chuckle each time. It was, of course, said with a Spanish accent; so the pronunciation isn't what I am used to hearing. Instead it's amazingly close to the pronunciation of the one and only Princess any Sci-Fi lover, movie goer...well pretty much anyone who has been around since the year 1977...knows and loves. He went on and on describing the enormous obsession Spaniards have with Star Wars and then told me that: should I run into trouble, I should just shout out my name and "everyone will stop in awe of you." What makes it even better, he said, is the last name Powers...that's just going to blow them all away. Good stuff, I told him, but I seriously doubt that anyone will mistaken me for Luke Skywalker's twin sister. I just can't get my hair to stay in those bun thingies.

Well, Carlos is back in Spain now but I took his phone number and address with the hope that I can meet up with him at some point while I am there. It's comforting to know that I have someone to contact if I need to. He told me a lot of things, shared a few of his culture-shock stories, encouraged me to visit certain places and try out certain foods...but his best advice, which came out of experience, was this: studying and preparing is good, but the only way to really learn and grow is to just jump in. "Don't go back, just jump in and go for it. Remember this princess. That's what she would do." CLICK ME.

*Special thanks to George Lucas for making this metaphorical moment possible.