Reflections

I'm sure I will have more "reflections" to make once I return to the good old US of A, but my time here in Alicante is winding down as tomorrow will be the two-weeks left mark.

When I first got here, I didn't find myself experiencing culture shock. I think I prepared myself for a different experience than what I had been used to, and it's still a "western" culture, so it wasn't as if I needed to get ready to dive into a world completely unlike my own. I found myself thinking of how much better things are in Spain. The beautiful weather, the tasty food, the lax police officers who turn a blind eye to students drinking on the beach...sounds perfect, right? Well, it is pretty great...but I have compiled a list of things I find myself missing from home, and things I will definitely miss when I leave here.

Things I Miss About America.
1. My family and friends...duh.
2. A good salad. Salads are only on the menu at places that look to cater to Americans, and they are seldom interesting or inventive. I eat "salads" at mi casa, but they usually consist of bagged lettuce, oil and vinegar, and occasionally a tomato. You have no idea what I would give for a Panera fuji apple chicken salad or the Hershey Pantry's grilled chicken lime salad.
3. My apartment. Going out to the bars without pregaming is kind of a bummer, and so is getting ready alone. I miss sharing clothes with my roommates (and by that I mean, I miss having roommates to lend me all their cute clothes) and having the party-before-the-party.
4. Toilet paper. Public restrooms here seldom have it. Actually, public restrooms here kind of suck altogether.
5. Dressing like a scrub. While it is kind of fun to have an excuse to look nice even when I'm not going out, there is certainly something to be said for being able to throw on a hoodie and jeans and to look no worse than the 100 other people in your class.
6. My car. I really enjoy being able to walk basically everywhere around here, including to the beach, but I also miss being able to jump in the car and go to Giant whenever I'm having a craving for...well, anything.
7. GIANT. Mercadona is great and all, but it's only open from 9am to 9:15pm, and it's closed on Sundays and Holidays. The 24-hour, open-every-day Giant still has my loyalty.
8. Football. PSU, Steelers, whatever. I love it all. And I can't wait for games to start up.
9. 24-hour (or close to it) establishments. Nothin' like Subway or McDonald's or pizza at 2am after a party.
10. Patriotism. For the most part, Americans love America. There are huge disagreements over politics, blah blah no one cares blah blah...but we all still love America. Spain is very divided and there are a lot of hard feelings that will probably never be resolved.

Things I'm Going to Miss About Spain.
1. Mi familia. Ileana and Elena are so hospitable and sweet.
2. Botellón. Because who doesn't love having a good time in the streets? Also, I should mention the enormous 2 euro bottles of Sangria that are sold everywhere...major plus.
3. The beach. I'm literally living the dream. Ten minute walk to the little beach, short tram ride to the big, beautiful one.
4. Las Manolitas. Possibly the best/worst discovery of my life. It's an adorable cupcake shop about a three minute walk from mi casa that is run by three American sisters whose mother was from Alicante. I made the poor life choice of "liking" them on Facebook, so now I get updates of their five cupcake flavors every morning...woof.
5. FroYo. Now, I know there are several delicious frozen yogurt places in the US, but in Spain, frozen yogurt always means Greek frozen yogurt. And I can always add mangoes and strawberries. Ñam. :)
6.  Fútbol. It's nice being in a country that appreciates that soccer is, in fact, the world's sport.
7. Code-switching. I have a feeling that phrases such as "dame that cosita over there por favor" will not fly in America.
8. Cheap flights. I whine about how much RyanAir sucks, because it does, but America really should work on getting a low-cost airliner for broke college kids who want to visit their significant others but can't because it's so gosh darn expensive.

That's all I got for now...I'm sure I'll think of more things as I'm cruising through these last two weeks. When I do, I'll be sure to update...