Back in America

It's been 10 days since I've returned to the United States of America, and I thought I'd end this blog with a summary of lessons learned and experiences had.

First life lesson learned - Never hold back. For my first 3 weeks in Spain, I was holding back. I didn't push myself to meet people. I didn't push myself to experience the new country, and worst off, I lost 3 weeks of my life with no self-enrichment. The contrast between those 3 weeks and the rest of the time I was in Spain really showed me that to be successful and to better my life, I need to push myself and never hold back from unknown opportunities.

Second life lesson learned - Children are difficult. I had a faint idea about this before I lived with my house family, but I think I experienced an extreme on the difficult-children scale. I've learned that kids take work, and when and if I have kids, I know that I'm going to need to put all of my effort into making sure my kids turn out to be awesome. I only hope that I'll be able to do that someday.

Third life lesson - Be friendly and talk to everyone. I already know that I'm an extroverted person, but I figured out that expressing that more can really be fun and helpful. I met soo many random people on the streets of Madrid by just going up and talking to them, and I had some of the most interesting conversations with these people. I've learned that everyone has an interesting story/past to tell, and if you can put up with a little bullshit, you can dive into another person's life if only for a second. I've learned that connecting with people, no matter the amount of time spent with that person, can be very interesting and fun (especially with drunk people at 4am in Madrid).

Fourth life lesson - I don't like drinking alcohol to the point of being drunk. A couple of nights of partying in Madrid really helped me realize this. Even though I'm sure my blood alcohol content never got above the limit to drive, I never felt more comfortable as more alcohol entered my body (I actually felt less comfortable).

Fifth life lesson - Experiences always turn into awesome stories.

Sixth lesson - Never travel tired. I'll never do this again because I don't think I can rely on society to return another lost wallet just because of me not paying attention because of not sleeping the night before. I will always drug myself out the night before trips so I can be fresh the next morning.

Seventh life lesson - Learn as many languages as I can. More languages = more conversations with interesting people. My new goal is to learn Mandarin, because Chinese are going to be kicking ass internationally now and for a long time.

In recap of the summer, I lived in Madrid for 3 months, I gained a Spain accent in Spanish, I taught English to 3 people, I partied, I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, I swam in the Mediterranean sea at Barcelona, I made some good friends, I had awesome experiences, and I had the summer of a lifetime.

I hope all of you had fun keeping up with me through my blog, and I'm sure I'll be having another blog-worthy experience soon.

Besos y abrazos.
Nick Canfield

One more thing

My house dad let me drive his Rolls Royce today.



My life is complete.

Nicolás Antonio Canfield (Nick Canfield)

Last day in España

Holy shit. I've spent some of the most interesting 89 days of my life here in this beautiful country. I have accustomed myself to a different culture, different friends, and a whole new life. It has seriously been probably the greatest experience of my life up till this point.

Some interesting updates:

I went to Barcelona two weekends ago, and I had a wonderful time on the Mediterranean Sea beach, going to beautiful cathedrals, cooking in hostels, meeting up with my Australian friend, and getting a very nice sunburn on my lower back (nice one Nicolás...) One interesting thing I didn't know about Barcelona is the amount of Catalan they speak there instead of Spanish, although the people were very helpful when I spoke to them in Spanish. It was if Barcelona was a whole different country from the Spain I'd come to know in Madrid, and it wasn't only because of the language. The people looked different and had a different sense when I saw them. Oh well, Barcelona was an awesome adventure, and I even did it when I was overcoming a bacterial infection! Bacteria = 0. Nick = 1. Scoreboard bacteria bitch!
p.s. - the beach was a topless beach. Accordingly so, I had a wonderful time!

Second update - I gambled for the first time. In Madrid there are a lot of miniature casinos that are always willing to take some money from random Polish guys (trust me, there were a lot of Polish guys in these casinos). So I went into one with a .20 Euro coin, dropped it in the slot, pressed a button, and watched my money magically disappear. I felt like I should have paid them more to watch the money magically disappear, but the night was young, and money was needed to be saved.

Third update - Presents have been bought. If I didn't buy you a present, I'm sorry. I only have a limited brain capacity and limited space in my suitcase. If you've asked for a present, you probably got one. If you didn't, then..., pray that you were one of the lucky ones I bought for!???

Fourth update - I can't wait to see my family, my friends, and my dogs back in the States. I've had one hell of a summer, and I don't regret one single second of what I've done here.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me come here and to everyone that has supported me to get me to this point. I'm talking about parents (thanks Dad, Catherine, and Mom for love and dinero to help get me here), friends (for keeping me sane when I needed to be sane. too many of you guys to thank, but you know who you are), Spanish teachers, my Nana, my aunts and uncles, my brother and sister, and of course my Spanish family here (Isabel, Carlos Padre, Carlitos, Danae, and Sonia). I can never repay you guys for the help you've given me, but you can always hope that I get really rich and friendly with my money in the future!

Otra vez, gracias por todo el apoyo. Besos y abrazos...

Nicolás Antonio Canfield (Better known as Nick Canfield)