In many ways Spain and Salamanca, in particular, are wonderful...
The people are opening and warm (well, at least relative to the French). Families are close knit and comfortable. People actually say hi to one another in my host family's apartment building. Their animation and openly excited chatter in restaurants is far better than the stifled, pretentious atmosphere I've grown accustomed to on the East Coast. Students are helpful and open as opposed to competitive and suspicious (and yes, I am referring oh-so-lovingly to Georgetown). The kids, or shall we say young twenty-somethings, can stay irresponsible and carefree until they marry while their parents cook and clean for them in the comfort of their own home. Sometimes I envy the fact that while these young adults are figuring out their lives, at least they have a place to call home in the meantime, whereas the quarter-life crisis in America usually consists of roommates, ramen and the occasional homecoming to a room that doesn't feel quite like your own.
Nevertheless, I look forward to going back to the US... immensely. This is not to say that I do not enjoy my time here. I do and it has been a wonderful, amazing opportunity... more than I could have asked for, really. Yet in some ways, this experience has given me one lasting gift, a newfound appreciation for the good ol' USA.
Sure, the East Coast is pretentious. It's true, but the Midwest and my home in Fargo more than make up for that with a down-to-earth and welcoming everybody-knows-your-name feeling that is omnipresent yet under-appreciated there. Yes, Georgetown is filled with what my sister would call SFS Freak Shows, but... part of me strives for that type of competition and learning where you are encouraged to do more than copy a semester's worth of notes onto one final exam. Also, who can forget the syllabi... how I miss these little sheets of paper that actually clue one in on what to expect and prevent professors from making last minute assignments into something bigger and more time consuming... oh and completely optional BUT recommended. And if I don't really have a "home" in the same sense that the Spaniards do, perhaps that is the only way to grow into something different and better, to actually figure out what I want that home to one day be.
Some people say they could live here, stay and adapt and grow accustomed to it. I appreciate the good things here (not least off all, the all-you-can-drink Thursday nights at Atalhualpa for 2.50), but I miss the US... with all of our wonderful gas guzzling, apartment hall lights that stay on ALL night and back yards... oh the yards.
Sappy, yes, I know. I apologize, really. I sound like a hallmark card, or worse, a hardcore republican (though, dammit, AMERICA IS THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH!). So I'll leave it at that.
Hasta Luego... or, better yet, Later. (Do people still say that in America these days??)
