I’ve been in Spain about two months now and I have felt virtually no homesickness. Many of my peers have had moments of missing someone or something from home, but I think in general the things Spain has to offer (and schoolwork of course!) are enough to keep most of us occupied enough that we don’t even think of home very often. Yet not feeling homesick doesn’t mean that familiar things from home aren’t soothing. This I realized today...
The past week has been dominated by a blur of studying and midterms. I’m not one to stress, but there is some inevitable stress that comes with taking one of two tests that will constitute the majority of your final grade. In any case- I’m glad to be done with them and I think I even did pretty well. Well, we’ll see when I get them back...
Anyways today we had a meeting for the freshman. It was right after class and I was frustrated because I hadn’t eaten all day. But being such a good student I went ( to the the mandatory meeting), and we talked about our experiences to date in Madrid- whats been good whats not so good. I found my brain completely void of negative experiences here even though I know I’ve had bad moments. I guess my brain just overrides those memories with all the good ones. Anyways by the end of the meeting I was ready to scream and run out of there I was so hungry- but luckily I stayed. Because after- there was pizza. SO much pizza. And it may have just been my emotions running wild since I was so hungry- but that was the first America style pizza I had had here and it was exhilarating. The melting cheese all over my hands, and of course the excessive amounts of grease reminded me quite fondly of the states. And although I didn’t miss home, I was very comfortable thinking of it. That was familiar thing number one...
Number two is something I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned already- the ping pong table at school. Ping Pong is one of those sports (yes, sports) that I always forget I love. And actually you’d have to drag me away from the table to get me to stop playing. Its so satisfying to get a good rally going- almost therapeutic (not for the students in class listening of course- but for me.)
Today I was playing my usually partner- an Indian man named Kahan. He is an exceptionally brilliant man in many areas, including ping pong. In fact to this day I’m yet to beat him, although I’ve gotten close a few times. On this particular occasion he happened to beat my my more than twice my score. But besides the embarrassment I really appreciated a little taste of America to take my mind of midterms. That table is like a little American oasis from stress and work; the only thing that matters is that little white ball.
The point of this little story is that I’ve discovered a capacity to think fondly of and appreciate little pieces of American culture without actually longing to go back to it. This is because I know one day I’ll be back where I come from, and I’ll be missing Madrid. So for now I’ll just enjoy my time in Spain while it lasts, and cross that bridge when I come to it. (Although if they have ping pong and greasy pizza here I don’t see why I ever have to go back... Sorry Mom!)
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