A Month In

So it's official-- today I've been in Spain for a month.  31 days away from my friends, my language (ish-- we all still speak English at school with each other and at home), my food customs, my job...you get the picture.
Still, I'm good!  There are some things I really miss, and there are some things I know I'll want here as soon as I get back to Texas.  Some lists, because it's a Wednesday:

Things I Miss:

• Living next door to a country that's not been warned of an imminent terrorist attack.  Honestly, I'm not worried, and would visit France in a heartbeat, but to my knowledge, Saudi Arabian intel hasn't warned Mexico that's it's going get hit pretty soon.
• Driving, and listening to music really loudly in the car.  That first drive back to College Station, with my new iPod and my new Taylor Swift CD, is going to be bliss!
• Desserts.  Even Oreos are less sweet here.  They love fruit and cheese for dessert, which sounds more like a mid-morning snack to me.  Can't wait for some brownies/7Layer Bars/cake/homemade cookie dough/Marble Slab.  I don't care that it'll be December when I get back.  Bring on the ice cream!
• Deciding what I want to eat, and when I want to eat it.  Now I have to say that the schedule of meals has not been nearly as bad as I expected.  Dinner at 9:30 would have shocked me, but it's pretty standard here, and I sneak in a few snacks here and there (which is very American of me, I must say).  And while our host mom has told us we can request things, neither of us feel comfortable with that, and so we just cross our fingers and hope dinner does not consist of a million fried and/or previously frozen items.  We love our host mom dearly, but a cooking aficionado she is not.
• Y'all, undoubtedly.  I'm super excited for some amazing hugs.  I'm so incredibly grateful that I live in the age of internet, though.  I can't imagine living here with just snail mail to substitute fellowship.

Things I Love About Spain:

• Serrano ham.  Google it.  It's like bacon, but like lunch meat, and so so good.  I am going to miss this one so much.  I am half-seriously considering smuggling a whole pork leg into my suitcase.  Someone told me that a guy tried to do it in a violin case....
• The weather.  It's like Texas but without the humidity. 
• My walk.  Granted, I know I said I miss driving, and I do.  Walking 7 miles for class is not my idea of a party.  But, since I am walking, how lucky am I that I get to walk past the Cathedral of Sevilla every single stinking day?
• Cooking with olive oil.  It took me a bit to get used to but I'm a huge fan.  I don't, however, want to consider my trigycerides.
• Being so close (relatively speaking) to a million other countries that I could theoretically visit if I had my debit card.
• Vanilla ice cream.  So much better here, and I love Blue Bell as much as the next person.
• Learning something new everyday.

It's been a great month, absolutely.  It has also been exhausting-- losing my purse, my debit card getting delayed, my computer exploding after catching a virus-- but I am so incredibly thankful for the help and support I have back in the States.  Thank you all for everything that you do.  See you soon!