Since I have been back at school I have had a lot of people ask me if I miss Spain. The answer is complex and multidimensional, yet it's simple.
Of course I miss my friends in Salamanca. Of course I miss speaking and hearing Spanish everyday. I miss my long walk to and from Salamanca's famous Plaza Mayor, and I miss the yummy, home cooked meals that my host mother would feed me twice a day. I miss being able to buy a plane ticket to Paris or Budapest or Copenhagen then exploring those new cities and experiencing something totally foreign and new. Most of all, I miss the simplicity of my life in Salamanca, because other than classwork (which was quite easy), I had essentially no responsibilities.
As I have learned not only this past year, but in my college experience, time can be unfairly fleeting, and some days I do not know where the past three years went. But these transitions have helped me define myself. Coming back from Salamanca was a transition, yes...but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I came out of it a changed and different person.
Because though my past weekend was plagued with grocery shopping, challenging senior-year coursework readings, and trying to answer the age-old question of "What are you going to do when you graduate?," and I did not go on a weekend getaway to the Cliffs of Moher or have an intercambio with an Alberto or Miguel or Lara, that's okay with me. In fact, I am excited for this year and for this next chapter in my life to unfold.
Bluntly put, yes, I miss Spain. I remember it in the nostalgic way I remember my old high school friends, or the year I went to summer camp when I was 9, or my carefree Vermont childhood. But we cannot go back in time. I left Spain having had accomplished (almost) everything I wanted to do, and that is a good feeling. Living in Spain gave me the chance to redefined myself and get lost in a foreign culture, and I figured a few things out along the way. I miss it, but I am where I am supposed to be.
Bluntly put, yes, I miss Spain. I remember it in the nostalgic way I remember my old high school friends, or the year I went to summer camp when I was 9, or my carefree Vermont childhood. But we cannot go back in time. I left Spain having had accomplished (almost) everything I wanted to do, and that is a good feeling. Living in Spain gave me the chance to redefined myself and get lost in a foreign culture, and I figured a few things out along the way. I miss it, but I am where I am supposed to be.
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