Emily Nichols is a student at Arizona State University and an ISA Featured Blogger. Emily is currently studying abroad with ISA in Salamanca, Spain.
Typically, these three things (blackberries, rivers and horses) have absolutely nothing in common. But here in Salamanca, they share a common theme; they are what I pass everyday on my way to the university gym and recreation center. What a terrible life I live, huh?
I have to pass by bushes with fresh, wild blackberries along the Río Tormes. I have to travel along the serene southern part of Salamanca (an escape from the lively city) to reach the picturesque, green sports fields; and I have to look at horses as I enter the fields.
I wonder if the local Spanish students are as awestruck by the beauty of their sports grounds as I am. Although their gym is about an eighth of the size of mine at Arizona State University, it certainly isn’t located next to a ranch with horses. Also, you can’t cross the street and be on the riverside. I think Salamanca students have it better.
But then again, the grass is always greener on the other side, which happens to be true in a very literal sense in this situation.
It sometimes (aka always) seems to feel like everything we have in the United States is really big and bulky. When I’m sharing a (very) small weight-room with 10 other people here in Salamanca, instead of feeling claustrophobic about the lack of space, I think instead of how unnecessarily big we make everything at home.
I’m certainly not saying that Spain is better at utilizing space than Arizona. I’m simply just saying that Spain feels better to me right now.