A To-Do List

As I sit in my room today, I’m reflecting on this experience–the wisdom gained, the skills learned, the people I’ve met, the places I’ve seen. At this point, I can’t imagine not returning to spend a lengthy portion of my life here in Madrid again after this is all over. Truly, this place has become a comfortable home for me. My host parents, Jose and Maribel, treat me as if I am one of their children, and they have definitely felt like parents these past three months. Also, here at my home in Spain, I do  many of the things that I normally do at home in Pennsylvania. I eat meals with the family, watch sports (always futbol) on TV, have conversations about all kinds of things, watch movies, and play the family piano and my guitar.

I feel like it’s much easier to make plans to do things when you arrive in a destination with two weeks to go; however, when you are already in a comfortable home, it is very difficult to come to terms with the fact that you are leaving so you don’t bother making anymore “tourist” plans. But these past few days, I’ve been trying to decide what to do with my time between exams during my final weeks here. I’ve started to make a rough list of places to go to, foods to try, things to see before I board that return flight to Philadelphia. I realize I will not be able to do everything on my To-do List, but these are all things that I have still never done in Spain and guiltily know I should do.

Places: I have yet to visit Barcelona, and everybody tells me I need to go. Really this weekend is my only chance I have left to go. I have not done any independent travel during this semester (despite intentions to go to Milan, etc), and I know I can easily get there by train in two and a half hours. My worries, as usual, are paying for the trip (train tickets and hostel) and having to go alone, but I really should just go. The good news is that I have off from class on Monday and Tuesday, so I can still go on a whim.

Foods: This is really important! There are still a bunch of Spanish foods that I have not tried. I was finally able to cross one of them off of my list after lunch today because my host family cooked Cocido for me. I want to also try grilled pig ears and eels on toast. I should probably head back to the Mercado San Miguel for that. I also want to collect a few beer glasses to add to my collection that I built with my brother and grandfather two summers ago during our trip throughout Europe. I’m going to look out for glasses for Spanish beers like Mahou, Cruzcampo, Estrella, and my favorite Cibeles. Besides, I need to take advantage of my ability to drink here while I still can.

Things To See: There are still a lot of places in Madrid that I have never been to. There are a couple of museums I want to see including the Anthropology Museum which was a recommendation from my host family. I’ve also never been to the Parque Madrid Rio, and I want to go. Finally, I put off going to a Real Madrid game long enough, and luckily I still have one more chance on Tuesday.