I'll just say it outright that I should have listened better to Mrs. Maldonado in high school during Spanish class.

Being in a foreign country that doesn't use English as its main language has been rough. I have the gist of the important words and phrases but it's really difficult to fathom even having a simple conversaion when you know a couple words from the thoughts you are trying to express.

I feel like a fool when I get excited from hearing English words in a crowd of Spanish speakers. Now I know the feeling a foreigner gets when they come to California speaking their native language and I give them a look of confusion. Even hearing Mandarin being spoken, of all things, (though I can't speak it) sparks my interest. Not that occasional offensive "ni hao" I get from the randos on the streets or in the markets but legit Mandarin. Even those people speaking it seem to have somewhat of a handle on their Spanish.

To make it worse, I'm going to be visiting three other countries (Morocco, France, and Italy) where English isnt the main language that will be spoken. Awesome. I love it here, don't get my wrong. I am having the time of my life and I know I probably won't be back in Europe for a while so I'm trying to take my time and soak in the culture. At the same time I guess you can say I'm a bit homesick. That's definitely a first for me. For the rest of summer I'll be wandering around the streets of Europe but for now I'll keep dreaming about California until I'm back home tucked into my own bed.

-A