Dulce Merienda: sweet moments over coffee

Me and Kate with Carmen

The great thing about having such small classes (my smallest, being my grammar class of 4 students) here is that I have really gotten to know my teachers. My grammar and art history teacher, Carmen has quickly become one of my favorite people-not just a favorite teacher, but person in general!
 At first I was super intimidated by her because she can be tough and definitely expects the best out of us every day. With a class of 4 students, it´s also a little harder to slide by without knowing something...and she will definitely make sure you know it. As the months have gone by though, she really isn´t that intimidating at all and we´ve all discovered that she loves a good conversation. When prompted, she can spend an entire class period just talking about life with us, answering random questions we have about Spanish culture, etc. And the best part about us going off on tangents for an entire class period here is that we are still learning and practicing our Spanish, so it really isn´t a waste at all! These really have been my favorite classes with her because she seriously exudes so much wisdom, I can´t get enough of her conversations.

So my fellow friend and classmate, Kate and I decided that instead of always just telling each other how much we love Carmen and how much we just want to talk to her more, we invited her to merienda (Spanish snack/dessert time around 5 or 6pm since dinner is at 9 or 10pm) of coffee and pastries, to which she gladly accepted. We spent a good two hours almost just getting to know each other even more and learning about her life and what brought her to Semester in Spain, having worked here for about 30 years (sidenote: all of the professors and staff members have been here for close to 30 years and it is amazing to see that the whole staff really is like a family). It was a very special, sweet moment in my semester here that I will always cherish.