A lady said to me the other day "you must be so brave" now I know what I do is stressful, and a challenge, however, it is not that scary. I soon discovered she was in fact referring to living abroad, which made me chuckle, as to be honest, what am I actually risking. I never understand why people consider moving abroad to be so scary, surely it is the same as moving anywhere.
Don't get me wrong living abroad provides numerous amusing ways to mess up on a daily basis, and any dignity you may have built up over the years will vanish. The social and linguistic pitfalls of daily life can be a challenge. The language here is filled with many sneaky ways to ensure that you are humiliated regularly.
Just one example of me standing being laughed at is the word "huevoes" which literally translates to eggs, however, this is often how Canarians describe their testicles. So, standing at the farmers market asking if they have eggs will be met with a huge smile, and a reply of "yes, two large ones" The amusement will be clear, but you will have no idea why, and I have found the best way to deal with this is to nod and smile.
There are problems and issues wherever you move to regardless of where in the world, and to be honest GC is actually an incredibly safe place to live. There are no flesh eating zombies, and it is not an active war zone, therefore, I don't think I need to be brave. What this lady considered to be terrifying, is simply life, and I deal with this every day.
I once asked a Canarian if he had ever been to the USA, this was met with shock, as he could think of nothing worse, due to the laws regarding drinking in the street. Everywhere has its challenges, and different things scare different people, but living abroad, piece of cake!
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