Speaking Spanish. Sometimes I feel useless, sometimes I feel brilliant, but it’s always a great learning experience.
The Metro!! Oh, the metro. I love it so much. Cheap, fast, easy, reliable. I’m not looking forward to traffic, parking, gas, designated drivers, etc. What a nightmare. If I could transport one thing from Madrid to the US, it would be the metro.
Dancing until 4am with coworkers at the clubs, then walking home and noticing that the sky is hinting at dawn – dark spots interspersed with white clouds – at the end of March. Dancing to Elvis and Micheal Jackson and Queen and Spanish classics.
Delicious and super cheap wine.
Hanging clothes on the line to dry, and finding them bone dry 3 hours later.
Cute yet classy fashion. There are way more choices for ages 25-35 than in the US.
FIGS!!!! So delicious.
Euros. The color-coding makes everything so much easier. I’m not looking forward to uniformly green money.
The weather! Hardly any rain, warm temperatures from mid-April to late October. I’ve definitely gotten used to it and I’m not looking forward to the rain in Western Washington.
Meeting people from so many different places. They call the US a melting pot but I never met many people from other countries while there. But in Europe I feel like I’m constantly meeting people from all over (and not just Europe – other countries, too!)
Being surrounded by so much history. Colosseum, Alhambra, Berlin Wall, Eiffel Tower. I love how they actually preserve old buildings here, rather than tearing them down.
I’m sure there are a ton more that aren’t occurring to me at the moment. I’ll probably make a new list after I’ve been back in the US a month or so.