Thank you Spain!

 Hi everyone! This week has been great! I apologize for the late post- things have been a bit hectic lately. Though like I said, I don't really like to dress up, I really enjoyed doing so "in" Spain this past week. Above are some of the outfits I wore throughout my time "in" the country. I got lots of compliments and as I mentioned, those compliments and the fact that I was dressed very differently from my usual attire allowed me to share what I was doing with so many people. My one friend even said she was inspired by Spain's tradition of dressing up to go into public. You know, appearance isn't everything, but the fact that Spaniards take time to care about theirs says a lot. I carried myself differently this week as I was wearing this formal attire. I felt more confident. These facts may just be the experience for me, but I think that they are the reasons we can all learn a lot from this cultural aspect of Spain. I am not saying that formal clothes are needed for confidence. However, wearing these clothes make each day a bit more of a special occasion, especially to Americans like myself who don't dress up each time they appear in public. Maybe this tradition of the Spanish people helps them to treasure each day of their lives as special and worthy of breaking out the the skirts, blouses, dress pants and dresses, not because these clothes are needed to make things special, but because society as a whole can see these kinds of clothes as for special occasions. Wearing them in public all of the time shows that the people of Spain see everyday as important, exciting and hopeful. Maybe to them, formal clothes are just as normal as jeans and sweatpants, but for me who looks at their culture with the perspective of an outsider to that culture, this cultural aspect is respectable and so incredibly important to the world. Thank you Spain for showing me a very positive, optimistic and very respectable piece of your culture.