Recent Trip to Spain

I recently got back from a nine-day trip to Spain for work, and toward the end of the trip, I was asked if I had experienced any major surprises on the trip. I responded that there were a lot of little paradigm shifts, but nothing major. Upon further consideration, I realize that all of the little things really do add up. I won't take the time to go into everything, but these are a couple of the 'bigger' things:

To begin with, I was quite humbled by my interaction with the people there. The only other times I have traveled overseas, it was to a second or third-world country where I and what I brought were obviously very needed. On those trips, I was, in a sense, enlightening the people with whom I interacted. On this recent trip to Spain, which is a first-world country, I quickly understood that those I was interacting with were very much peers, and I had as much to learn from them as they might learn from me. I really didn't realize the pride I had in my knowledge until I found myself asking them for advice and recognizing the wisdom in what they were sharing.

I also found confirmation that I am an introvert. I love being around other people, interacting with them, going to parties, etc, and as a result, I often wonder if I'm more of an extrovert than an introvert. But being forced into an environment where I wasn't comfortable, I felt myself fighting a tendency to withdraw. I spent time there in self-evaluation, and that tendency, along with a few other things, led me to the conclusion that I, at my core, am an introvert. This realization didn't necessarily surprise me, but I am still figuring out the ramifications of it.

There are other mental-shifts that happened while I was there, but these are the two which most readily came to mind. As everything continues to sink in, I'm sure other things will surface, but for now, these have risen to the top.

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After reading back through this, I see that I haven't written this very eloquently, and it may be hard to follow, but I've found that it's very hard for me to verbalize my emotions and describe the way I view the world. If you would like me to elaborate or explain further anything I've written, let me know. Thanks!