As you can imagine, I really miss all of my family and friends, but I am also really anxious to get back to start finding a Spanish teaching job and an apartment (hopefully in Rochester) and just to get back to the United States in general. There is so much food that I miss like chicken wings/fingers, American coffee, subs (with turkey as a meat choice!), cranberry juice and just about anything bbq, ha ha! But I guess the good news is that I will be home right in time for all of the summer cook outs! :) Another thing that I am anxious to get away from, which I remember bothering me the last time I lived here, is the smoking in public places. Although it is now prohibited to smoke in airports, bus and train stations, and any large public facilities (like hotels and restaurants) are required to have smoking and non-smoking sections, I feel like I am surrounded by cigarette smoke EVERYWHERE I go! There are so many small bars and cafés in Spain and even just walking down the street there are sometimes when I feel like I have no fresh air! After 8 months of this, I have finally gotten fed up with it because to me, it seems very unfair that smokers (who are engaging in an action that can harm the health of others) have more rights that non-smokers. I really hope that the next time I come to Spain in my life, that things will have really changed in this aspect.
Despite my hatred toward cigarette smoking and missing my family and friends a lot, I have also I started to think, "Oh my gosh! There is almost no time at all left! I haven't done HALF as much as I planned on doing when I first got here!! And I am really gonna miss this place!" I almost get this feeling of desperation sometimes, and I want to slow down time and make sure that I really take in every moment I have here while I can. The truth is that there is absolutely nothing that compares in the U.S. to the feeling you get walking down the streets of Spain... even though I have been here for 8 months already, I still get this feeling inside of me every time I walk to class, past buildings, squares and churches that are thousands of years old. You just feel like you are surrounded in history and beauty and you can't help but want to stop at a cafetería, have a café con leche and either watch the people walk by or read a book. I also know another thing that will make it really hard to leave is that the weather is finally starting to get really nice here, and it is making the city become more alive. The squares, parks and cafés are full of people at every hour of the day (and night-- ha ha, this place never sleeps!), just taking a nice walk or even sitting or laying down and relaxing.
En fin... this is just a little reflection I wanted to make when I got up this morning. There are A LOT more things that I am excited to come home to in the States and that I will miss horribly about Spain once I am gone, but that longer reflection will come later. In the meantime, I only have 2 more weeks of classes left in my Master's program!!! Then I have two weeks to get work done and 2 weeks of exams. Time is sure going to fly and I want to be sure that I do the work well and that I am able to enjoy these last two months that I have.... So that means it's time for me to get to work!! ¡Hasta luego!
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