{"id":4773,"date":"2016-06-08T16:15:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T20:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.rollins.edu\/wpsites\/letters\/?p=4773"},"modified":"2019-07-18T18:37:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T18:37:23","slug":"me-gusta-espana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/2016\/06\/08\/me-gusta-espana\/","title":{"rendered":"Me Gusta Espa\u00f1a"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I would sooner be a foreigner in Spain than in most countries. How easy it is to make friends in Spain! -George Orwell<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Living within the suburbs of New York City, I wholeheartedly believed I was up to the challenge of navigating Spain. To my surprise, however, Madrid\u00a0is unlike any other city I have\u00a0<em>ever\u00a0<\/em>been to. \u00a0As the capital of a vastly diverse country, Madrid is home to a multitude of museums, parks, and cafes. In fact, during my daily walks to class, the towering Royal Palace of Madrid fills my gaze, as well as the\u00a0robust statue of Don Quijote in Plaza de Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13335579_10204673122588318_751135331873428616_n-300x169.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16502 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13335579_10204673122588318_751135331873428616_n-300x169-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although I had only taken one semester of Spanish previously, my knowledge of the language is improving rather quickly. This is due in part to my loving &#8220;host-mom.&#8221; As a native of Madrid, Se\u00f1ora Soto does not speak English; however, she does her best to teach my roommates and I the language and culture of the region. By way of illustration, prior to traveling to Toledo and Valencia, my host-mom made sure I\u00a0understood the climate, landscape, and gastronomy of both cities.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, I am discovering\u00a0the people of Spain are\u00a0incredibly friendly and generous. Oftentimes, whether in the Mercado de San Miguel\u00a0or touring the Museo del Prado, I catch\u00a0myself speaking to locals. Despite a slight language barrier, all are intrigued by my eagerness to learn and have dedicated small bits of their time to teach me new words. Ultimately, I am grateful for those teachings, as well as the sites seen, foods eaten, and friends made throughout these last 3 weeks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13406711_10204673119268235_101386032806339536_n-300x225.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16503 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13406711_10204673119268235_101386032806339536_n-300x225-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I would sooner be a foreigner in Spain than in most countries. How easy it is to make friends in Spain! -George Orwell Living within the suburbs of New York City, I wholeheartedly believed I was up to the challenge of navigating Spain. To my surprise, however, Madrid\u00a0is unlike any other city I have\u00a0ever\u00a0been to&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":304,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16504,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773\/revisions\/16504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}