By msotomayor12
My proudest feat thus far is my ability to survive in another country. Whenever I stop and think about it, I can’t believe that I can communicate with locals and never even second-guessing myself. Not to mention that I am completely comfortable walking around the city because I can now visualize it in my head. These are the little things I am thankful for. I’ve proven to myself that I can have a life elsewhere.
Yet, time and time again I’ve realized that I miss the most random things from the US and I still cannot live without them. How long would you last without the following things?
5. Living near friends: the ability to walk down a flight of stairs or a couple blocks from your dorm building to hang out with friends
Ah college life, how I miss thee. Now that I am far removed from the GW bubble, I realize how fortunate I am to have all my best friends in one place. Yes, it is quite the distraction, but the ability to live near my friends makes life so much fun. It’s definitely something I will appreciate much more upon my return.
4. 24-hour news channels: the ability to tune in to a news channel at any point of the day to get informed
It was around midnight Central European Time when I got an NBC News text alert about the Fort Hood shooting. As an aspiring reporter, I immediately started checking CNN, NBC, New York Times, Washington Post, you name it, to find more information. When I couldn’t find anything I started looking for news channels to watch because that’s what any news enthusiast does. I absolutely miss the ability to watch the news when I’m eating, doing homework, or for my own pleasure. I’m constantly glued to it.
However, I do appreciate Spanish news channels. It goes beyond local and national stories of the day to focus on conflicts around the world that I was never aware of until I heard a 30 second recap of it. I appreciate news as a learning tool so much.
3. A healthy diet: eating an array of foods in moderation that benefit one’s health
To be fair, I prefer foods from other countries than the US because I forget how delicious fresh and unprocessed food tastes. While the Spanish do have an array of healthy food options and a balanced diet, the overall thinking towards some types of food is a little skewed. Different people have told me that eating lettuce is much healthier than spinach, eating cartilage and fat from meat regularly isn’t bad for you, and that mayonnaise is the key to happiness, which is just not true. It’s awkward vocalizing my opinion about these particularities, especially in front of my house mom, but what can I say; I’m stuck in my American ways.
2. Breakfast: a meal eaten to jumpstart your day and metabolism that consists of eggs, cereal, pancakes, waffles, bacon, yogurt, and/or fruit.
In Spain, as in many Latin American and Western European countries, people start their morning with coffee and toast. That’s it. Since I’m usually on the go, even in the US, I absolutely don’t mind a light breakfast during the week. However, I miss my traditional American breakfast during the weekends, especially brunch.
1. CVS: a convenient store that houses a pharmacy and every other living supply that is crucial to survival, all in ONE place.
Of all the things the US has to offer, I never thought I would miss CVS the most. The word “convenient” takes on a whole new meaning when you’ve been separated from it for too long. In Western Europe there are pharmacies everywhere, but they only sell medicine and nothing else. If you want to buy shampoo, a nail file, or a new pair of headphones one needs to visit two different stores (that may be blocks away from each other) to find them. The other day it took me four metro stops to discover una botica, a tiny shop, that sold an array of living supplies. Even though I’m so grateful that it exists, the trek was quite inconvenient.
However, not having these things does not mean that I regret studying abroad. To be honest, I could live without these privileges. It just takes more than 5 months living abroad to adjust to these changes.