Only In Spain. What I miss. What I'm going to miss.

According to the Spanish...
don’t eat too much chocolate, or you’ll get zits. You have to wear socks in the house, because your feet will get cold. You can only wear sandals in the summertime. If your throat hurts, it’s because you drank too cold of water. Ham is healthy, and doesn’t have fat.

Little Idiosyncrasies...
In Spanish society, everyone has an opinion; from news opinion polls on minor social and political issues to T.V. shows where the audience discusses and fights about other people’s problems. The tendency to be lenient on time; everywhere you go clocks show a different time, and will chime to the same hour within 5 to 8 minutes of each other. Professors are almost always late and will take a long break, but will never let students out early. Food is meant to be eaten; you don’t leave leftovers on your plate, and you don’t ask what it is. It is part of the Senora's job to provide for her students, and “helping” her with dishes, making the bed, clearing the table, etc. is actually seen as an imposition rather than a help – it says “you’re not doing your job so I have to help you.” (Rather than the “I’m making your job easier by helping you” from an American mentality.) No animal part is too gross to consume, and knowing that you’re eating parts like tongue, intestine, and liver isn’t off-putting – it’s completely satisfying. Neighbors are family. Family is the most important element of life; even taxi drivers and cashiers know of your siblings, parents, and grandparents by first name. There is no such thing as privacy; the neighbors’ business is your business, and you have a right to share your opinion with whoever will listen. It’s completely normal to be over the age of 30 and still live at home. Stoplights are only suggestions – if it’s red, but there’s a break in heavy traffic, no street is too intimidating to walk across. For women, every occasion is an occasion for heels. For guys, when in doubt, pop the collar. Anytime before 2am is an early bedtime. 4am if it’s a weekend. There is no such thing as “too old” to go out to the bars and discotecas – even if the bartender is the age of your youngest grandchild. Service is meant to be slow. Life is meant to be enjoyed.

Only in Spain… do windows not have screens, and doors never function properly. Are pig legs in a store window seen as inviting. Are all the most popular songs, brand names, movies and television shows originated from United States, yet almost no one can speak English. Can you light up a cigarette in the middle of a crowded dance floor in a club. Is it completely normal to fail out a year of school because of too much partying. Do most jobs offer 2 or more months of vacation. Can you walk directly south down a street, then in ten minutes end up facing northeast. Is it perfectly acceptable to pull down your kid’s pants, and let them pee in public. Do complete strangers greet you with kisses on the cheek. Are middle-aged moms even hotter than college aged girls. Are there more drunk people out in the streets at 7am than at midnight. Can you visit a city for three months, and be fully welcomed as if it was your home.

Things I miss from home
My family. My close friends. Vegetables. Whole wheat bread. Good customer service. Quality medical care. Movies and television shows that aren’t dubbed. Fast and reliable internet. The smell of the ocean. Signs written in English. Inches, miles per hour and Fahrenheit. MEXICAN FOOD. Trader Joes. Fruit that’s washed. Riding a bike. Living with friends. Coffee and tea that comes in a to-go cup. Anything that comes “to go,” period. A shower with a full bathtub. Running paths that aren’t in the middle of a city. Cute dogs that don’t shit on the sidewalk. Cell phones that don’t cost as much as a car payment. Being proud instead of defensive to be recognized as American. Being a citizen, and not a foreigner.

Things I’m going to miss
Walking by 16th century cathedrals on my way to school. Salamanca’s architecture. Spirit. Sense of history. Getting chocolate soup with Cecily. All of our adventures, and WiFi dates in McDonalds. Meeting up in the plaza, under the clock at 11pm. Making friends with people from all around the world. Meeting boys with funny style and cute accents. Staying up until early hours of the morning. Things actually being open until early hours of the morning. My bed being made and all my meals being prepared for me. Mari Carmen’s amazing cooking. The lenient Spanish grading scale. Consistently getting dressed up. Being able to walk anywhere in the city in under 20 minutes. Not having to drive a car. Spending weekends in other countries. Planning extravagant trips a weekend before. Singing karaoke until 3am on a school night. Watching the sun set from atop a gothic cathedral. My little Spanish 6th graders. My name being pronounced “mee-chel.” Fresh bread. Exotic food I’ve never tasted. Being able to walking through a door, and accidentally discover a museum, or hidden statues that are over 600 years old. Not having to worry about time or deadlines. Being in a place where every new day is a novelty.