I (HEART) Spain

So I’ve succumbed to the fact that when I speak Spanish, not everything that I say is understood. (that’s a given) However I feel pretty confident about my command of the English language, but a few recent encounters have shown me that just because I’m speaking English doesn’t mean that I still won’t have to "translate". For example, not too long ago I was talking with a teacher that likes to practice her English with me. I was telling her how accommodating, nice, and understanding my co-teacher Alberto was and how I love him. This comment surprised and maybe even disturbed her a bit. She quickly reminded me that he was married and that I couldn’t possibly have grown to love him in such a short amount of time. I immediately realized that she had misunderstood me and tried to explain that I didn’t actually love him in a romantic sense, but that I liked him much more than the other teachers. Alberto is my mentor and I go to him for everything; carpool issues, salary questions, lesson plans- - he’s my go to guy and I really do “love” him. But then I started to think about LOVE in English vs Spanish. In English we have words such as prefer, desire, and enjoy, but for the most part I feel as though my friends and I use  "like" and "love" more often than not, to describe things that are “pleasing” or “satisfactory” to us. However in Spanish multiple words are used to describe things that people like or love. They have gustar (like), querer (want) encantar (strong like), querer- again (love), and amar (love, to love romantically). I love this! And I wanted to take a few moments to tell you the things I LOVE most about Spain, and maybe a few things that I don’t “love” as much. 

Love: Me Encanta
Spain!
  I really do looove Spain!
Tapas! 
 (what a wonderful idea--
  a little snack served with your drink)
Siesta!
 (I know I get tired after lunch, so it only makes
 sense to have a government endorsed nap time)
Nightlife in Spain
(many clubs don’t even open until 2am so it’s not unheard of to come home at 6 or 7am)

Like: Me Gusta
Kissing when you meet/see someone
 (I love affection so this is right up my alley)
How willing people are to help
(whether it’s finding a place on the map or helping me with my Spanish people are very helpful)

No Me Gusta
Siesta
 (not so cool if you REALLY need to do something,buy something, or go somewhere between the hours of 2-5pm)
Lack of addresses
(I don’t know about other parts of Spain but in Zaragoza only apartments and government buildings have addresses so if you are looking for a shop or building you have to find the nearest apartment and guess from there to find what you’re looking for)
Nightlife in Spain
(makes it a little hard to go out on a Thursday if the bars don’t open until 2am and you have to be up at 6:30am)

Overall, I think the Me Encanta(s) win this one. 
And really... isn't that what's most important in life? 
That the Me Encanta(s) outnumber the No Me Gusta(s).