Things I’ve learned Part 2

This is the second installment in a set of things I have learned so far this summer living away in Spain.

• Barbecues are actually kind of okay.
• The metro is always better than the bus.
• It’s okay to throw out raw chicken if it is expired and has started smelling weird. You should also use the raw chicken before it expires. Keep track of those dates in your head, you aspiring adult, you.
• I cannot, for the life of me, eat an entire loaf of the Spanish version of French bread before it expires no matter how hard I try, so I should just give up and eat Pain de Molde only. I should also only buy food that I can eat within a few days – none of these “saving for later” shenanigans, which mean that I end up throwing spoiled food away.
• Being a businesswoman is probably not my life calling.
• Germans look out for each other. I think the same thing is true of Americans. Then again, it depends on who you are and who you meet.
• It’s okay to take the wrong bus sometimes. Sometimes you end up in a better place. Most of the time, though, you don’t.
• Perhaps it is what you do when you realize you have taken the wrong metaphorical “bus” that determines who you are and your happiness, rather than the “bus” journey itself.
• I like speaking English. It is unfair, though, that everyone knows English in Europe. Everyone else around you is fluent in your language as well as their own, and you struggle to learn a new language while retaining what you remember of the old. (Yes, this is more of an observation.)
• A lot of people my age in Europe seem to be more experienced than me. Come to think of it, a lot of people back in the States seem to be a lot more experienced than me. It might be a function of me being myself.
• I need to learn how to manage my time better, and to think less about my blog and posting and more about living.
•  I need to do more community service.
• I am bad at making decisions and being frank. Being in Europe has helped this, but I still have a long way to go. Also, whenever I heard the phrase, “You have to make the decision which is right for you,” I thought that was the speaker’s way of shirking responsibility for the (not infrequently unwanted) advice they have just given me. I still think that it is their way of shirking responsibility, but I more deeply understand that no one can make my decisions except for me. It is both a great blessing and a great curse. D’oh. Someone recently said, “With great beard comes great responsibility.” Must have been one of my cousin’s friends, posted on his Facebook profile.
• Germans make good friends for Americans, especially when you're both in Spain.
• All you need to do to feel better about yourself is just change your routine a little, and then life suddenly becomes quite a bit better. Also, it helps if you change your routine with at least one friend in tow. (It becomes even better when they invite you for a day trip to Segovia.)