Top 5 Things I Want to Do When I Get Back to the Good Ol’ U-S-of-A

By Christina Crum on June 6, 2012

Photo from Flickr.com. Uploaded by ClaraDon.

I’ve been on a Study Abroad through Brigham Young University in Madrid for about the last six weeks, and it’s been amazing! I love Spain. I have about two weeks left before I fly back home. I’ve constructed a list of things I’m dying to do when I get there—outside of seeing my family, of course. I miss all of them!

1. Visit Cafe Rio: This dream of a Mexican Grill has, sadly, not been introduced to many parts of the country. It’s not what you would call “authentic” Mexican food, in any sense of the word “authentic”, and it’s one of the worst places to be on a diet. But oh my buttery tortillas, is it delicious. I’ve been dying for a Sweet Pork Salad with pinto beans and house dressing, extra guacamole, almost since I got here. They just put a Cafe Rio in the Salt Lake City airport, meaning that I can eat there AS SOON AS I GET OFF THE PLANE. If the nine-hour flight and eight-hour time difference don’t get the best of me first, that is.

2. See “The Avengers” in English: “The Avengers” was released here in Spain as “Los Vengadores” on April 27, a week before it went to wide release in the US. So of course I saw the Spanish version before all of my friends and bragged about it on Facebook. But it just wasn’t the same without Robert Downey Jr.’s actual voice (they dub their movies in Spain, as opposed to just putting up Spanish subtitles like they do in some other Spanish speaking countries)—and I get the impression that a lot of the jokes just didn’t translate. I can’t wait to get home and see it in English, preferably as a Girls’ Night Out involving sushi with my sister (after she gets back from the UK two weeks after I get back from Spain).

3. See “Men in Black III”: I’m not sure if it’s socially acceptable or not (the responses I get when I ask are about half and half), but I love “Men in Black”. I think my love affair with this franchise is tied both to my adoration of Will Smith (who never seems to do poorly in anything he does, ever—and oh my dear heavens, does he have some talented kids) and the fact that my daddy loved both the first and second movies, so we watched them a lot when I was growing up. I was beyond excited when they announced, approximately seven billion years ago, that they were doing a third movie, and I’m out of the country now that it’s out! This will be one of the first movies I see when I get home.

4. Make a Salad: Oh, I wish I were kidding. I don’t know if Spaniards don’t eat salads (though I doubt that this is true, because I’ve seen salads in restaurants) or if my host mom just doesn’t believe in American-style salad (she soaks all the ingredients, including the lettuce, in the dressing all day for a reason that probably makes sense in some alternate universe—the result is that the lettuce has approximately the texture of satin soaked in evil, and everything is lukewarm and disgusting), but I haven ‘t had a “real” salad since I’ve been here. Before you go writing me off as one of those health-nut weirdos, I’ve never touched wheat grass in my life, and I don’t exercise on a regular basis. I’m just slowly perishing from lack of fresh vegetables. I make this salad at home with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and avocados, dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. The acid in the vinegar kind of breaks down the bitterness of the onion, and the result is delicious. None of these elements is negotiable. It’s sad how excited I am to eat that salad.

5. Make an A-line Skirt: Madre Mía, have I learned the value of cotton skirts since I’ve gotten here. I’m not normally a skirts-as-everyday-attire kind of girl, but I’m going to let you in on a secret: the heat is so much more bearable in a cotton skirt than in jeans or even shorts. It gets pretty hot here, especially in southern Spain, and some days just can’t be done without a cotton skirt. Following this train of thought, I saw a pattern for a cute-but-simple, hem-less A-line skirt on Pinterest the other day, and I’ve decided I’m making it when I get home. I’m not much of a seamstress, but I’m pretty sure I can handle this one: no pleats, no hems, just straight lines. As I’ve learned, a girl can never have too many cotton A-line skirts. (Amusing side note: the pattern was actually on a blog promoting “Pants-less Summer”, which is not as exciting as it sounds—just wearing skirts all summer instead of pants—but still brings me endless amusement.)

So while I spend my last two weeks in Spain, enjoying my last servings of paella and chocolate con churros, part of me will be dreaming of the things I can do when I get home. The rest of me will be living it up in Madrid! You only live once, after all.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format