La Regresa

Sorry to have missed my last post but I was quite busy. You know, traveling around Ireland and Paris will do that to you. Paris was absolutely lovely too despite the short time I spent there and the weather. I need to go back though -- there was so much I missed.

Anyway I actually have to use this blog to write about an assignment or two while I am abroad (lame, right?). Actually I hope it's interesting to you guys. So here's the prompt: It is very common for students to experience a sense of “homecoming” when they return from their mid-semester break. Take the time now to reflect on this phenomenon and write down your thoughts.

Coming back to Spain after my week away in Ireland and Paris was rather bittersweet. What many may have thought would have been a relief was also a bit sad. I almost experienced the opposite feeling when I arrived in Ireland: it felt like coming home. However, as time wore on, I began to miss my bed, my host family, and living in a city where I know exactly where everything is and how things work. I hate to say it, but my friends and I who were traveling together actually spent a fair bit of time comparing Spain to Ireland and this served to cast Granada in a negative light in our minds for a while.

That being said, Paris was a bit of a different story. We were only there a short while and people were very nice and helpful but I also felt more vulnerable not knowing any of the language. Between our Spanish and English skills and a smattering of French vocabulary, we got along fine and were soon riding the metro like locals. But when we were waiting for our flight to Madrid, it was nice to hear Spanish again. I had forgotten how much I loved hearing the language rolling off of people's tongues. It just has a quality that French and English do not.

I guess what I noticed the most after we arrived in Madrid was not necessarily a sense of homecoming but of comfort. We started making fun of various things in Spain, like the scary drivers and the fact that it didn't take long to hear a catcall or two. It was then that I realized that you only truly can call a place home if you can make fun of it. I know it may sound weird to say, but think of all of the Roseburg or Salem or even Oregon jokes you hear. No one but a native has a right to bash on their hometown. I did breath a sigh of relief when we finally arrived in Granada again, though this may have been because it was 4:30 AM and I had class in four hours so I was looking forward to some quick sleep.

As I am leaving Granada again this evening to head north to Santiago de Compostela on the Atlantic coast for a few days, I think that I will be even happier to return. As much fun as traveling is, it certainly takes a lot of you. It's nice to have a home base to come back to, no matter where it is and despite everything, Granada is where I am most comfortable here in Europe. Maybe it's because we have such good comfort food here...