From the last chapter of the first book of Don Quijote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes: "Es linda cosa esperar los sucesos atravesando montes, escudriñando selvas, pisando peñas, visitando castillos, alojando en ventas a toda discreción, sin pagar ofrecido sea al diablo el maravedí."
Loose translation:
"It's a beautiful thing to be traveling through the mountains, looking forward to the next thing that just happens to come along, surveying the jungles, treading rocky crags, visiting castles, and staying the night in all qualities of hostels, trying to save euros as if spending them pleased the devil."
That's what Sancho Panza said. He's Quijotasizing, and so am I. Traveling around the Iberian Peninsula will do that. I've fallen in love with being an estudiante andante. Sure it's not very down to earth. Neither was Don Quijote. Sure, it's exhausting. Learning is.
I'm learning a lot. Last weekend we went to Toledo. I learned that, like El Greco, I am more partial to the life of the monastery than to the life of the cathedral. I learned that, like Toledo, it frustrates me to feel like my best is in my past. I learned that, like the knife vendor, I don't have to worry– I will have food to eat.
I discovered I have some amazing friends. This weekend's trip was a whole-school-in-a-charter-bus trip. I got to know some people that I hadn't. I found out I had judged some people unfairly. We played cards. We talked for hours. I realized how much I will miss these people.
Yes indeed. I won't just miss the adventures, the excitement, the newness. I will miss my friends. But it's worth it. Es linda cosa.
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