Carpey Diem: Bienvenidos a Casa

It felt like I was coming home again, and even more so, it felt like the entire country was welcoming me back. Today is January 17, 2016: my second day in beautiful Spain as a part of the Spanish-American Exchange Program 2015-16.

To brief y'all on what I've been doing these past two days in a few sentences: we left the airport and walked towards what was essentially a wall of squeals from overly excited Spaniards. Claudia side-tackled me like a 250-lbs linebacker, (all 50-pounds-or-so of her), and my host family took me for Chocolate y Churros. I haven't stopped eating the most incredible, authentic Spanish foods: homemade albóndigas (meatballs), croquetas, jamón (ham), paella, cafe con leche--todos. Last night the Spaniards took us to a Disco Teca for dancing where I met too many people to remember in one night, and they taught me how to dance like a Spaniard, ¡Baile Reggaeton! Today my family took me for tapas in a town called El Escorial, where we toured an old Palace complete with a Monastery and Gardens, and then to Ávila, a small medieval town that reminded me of Tolédo, known for a wall around it to protect from enemies during its early centuries. We walked and explored Ávila until we got tired and decided to sit down for cafe con leche. Needless to say, I'm in my element here.

I've been speaking hardly any English and by now have trouble even remembering all of my English vocabulary. When I speak I feel like a native; I know that I'm fucking up my grammar here and there, but I don't care- the natives think I'm one of them and are shocked to learn I'm not, and the only other person I know who could possibly (definitely) understand how fucking amazing that feels is Bennie.

There are so many rincones, corners, that I have yet to discover, and I can't wait to go exploring. I'll be seeing my amigos from other years tomorrow, for the first time in far too long, and I don't think I could be more excited. Sure, life has a funny way of taking the people you love most and throwing them across oceans (see: Big Brother, Japan), but I've come to terms with the fact that it's evidence that I have some really interesting people in my life. I have the opportunity to oppose the global stereotype of closed-minded Americans by living outside my normal and creating a home anywhere in the world. So, cheers to two and a half weeks across the ocean!