You walk past its modern streets and bars and find festive people everywhere. You go through its ancient cities and find cathedrals bigger than castles. You find yourself dancing in the streets along with the Latin guitar music. The beach is where you stand now; clear blue water dances with the wind while your toes wiggle in the white sand. You’re enchanted by this land; yes, this is Spain. I turned twelve when I went to Spain; I fell completely in love with it. Spain had so much to offer: food, history, and a new culture. Nevertheless, things like expenses and even water were a concern but that didn’t affect my love for Spain and the way it changed me.
The food was quite delicious and enchanting. I ate fresh ham and cheese croquettas, fresh shrimp, Spanish spaghetti, paellas, and so on. You could feel the spices explode in your mouth or have it slowly melt in your mouth. The bars were exuberant with sounds of joy and laughter bouncing off the walls; one of them was called La Taberna. However, if asked for a glass of water, bartenders would reuse cups and quickly rinse with just a splash of with a splash of water. Some cups would still have dried liquid still in it, others would have bite marks. Aside from that, we had went to the San Sebastian beach; smelled fabulous and it was clean. The water was so blue you could see the bottom of it. We couldn’t stay too long because people were actually allowed to be naked. We later took a water taxi to a small village on the border of France. We also visited a vintage village called Bilbao on a teleferico. The houses were filled with color and it extraordinary to see them from above. Colors, colors splattered over green land with colorful people walking upon it.
As beautiful as Spain was, it was quite expensive. For example, a cheeseburger would come with only the meat and buns. If you wanted cheese, it would be extra. Euros have higher worth than dollars, which made it a bit of an issue. Regardless of the cost, it was worth the spend.
My great aunt had lived in Spain, so we had stayed with her. This was great because we were able to actually see the local and modern side of Spain. This wasn’t too different from America; old women sat on benches in the bark, children played, couples walking on sidewalks and so on. The only difference was it seemed more festive. My mother is Dominican so language wasn’t an issue. However when my father and brother explored the streets on their own, it was quite difficult to communicate. Luckily, my father knew somewhat Spanish with an American accent; even with the accent, they didn’t mind his struggle or accent at all. Furthermore, the people would even offer to look for someone who did speak English. This kindness was shown everywhere.
One thing did I did not understand during the trip was why my great aunt was living in Spain instead of the Dominican Republic, New York, or somewhere where there was people of her nation. After a while, I realized that she was happy. This confused even more, but then I found that it didn’t matter where came from because Spain has something to offer to everyone. I thought about my father’s attempt to communicate. Language was not a barrier just as my aunt’s nationality. Spain can make anyone happy; it certainly made me happy, to the point where I didn’t want to leave.
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