Monday, December 1, 2008

Dreams, like presents on Christmas morning


Jonathan and I have been staying up late talking. Too late. Too late to wake up happy in the morning. I feel like I'm still dating sometimes. You know, those times where you stay up walking around your block unnumerable times with your boyfriend that you're about to marry talking about what you're going to do when you get married. How many kids are we going to have? Where are we going to live? Where will we go to university? What will we do for our careers? Blah blah blah blah blah. It seems pointless to blab on about such things for more than an hour but it's just been so exciting for me to be married to someone who gets just as excited as I do about the futures we could have. Every time we dream together I feel like it's Christmas morning as I'm opening all my presents. Last night while Jonathan took his shift sleeping with the kids until they fell asleep, I got online and planned out an imaginary future scenario for our little family. I'll spare you the intricate details but at some point in my future I dream of attending this university, if not to study there, at least to do research there.





The University of Salamanca is in Spain. It is the oldest university in Spain dating back to 1218 and the fifth oldest university in Europe after Bologna, Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge. I received my bachelors degree in Spanish. Spanish language and Spanish literature. I love both and if I had to choose one over the other, it wouldn't be easy. One of my many dreams is to teach the spanish language to high school students and open their eyes to a large part of the world and a huge part of history. Spanish literature has a special place in my heart however, but especially the Spanish authors and poets. My two current favorites are Miguel de Unamuno and Federico Garcia Lorca. Miguel de Unamuno was one of the greatest minds that ever came out of Spain and I am so thankful that I was able to learn about him. His life and ideas are an inspiration to me. When I think of the University of Salamanca I think of this. I think of the fight between what we sometimes what to be right, but it's not, and what really is right, but difficult or dangerous to stand up for. It is an ongoing battle that as I grow older I see will never really end.

3 comments:

Hillary said...

That is a beautiful university! How cool! I hope you get to study there someday!

Sonnet said...

Wow that would such an amazing experience to go there.

Sonja said...

I think this is one of the reasons I like you so much. You dare to dream. And not just, "oh I want to go to Hawaii someday and lie on the beach." No, "I want to do research at an ancient university in a language other than my mother tongue." I LOVE IT! You are inspiring and wonderful and I will look forward to reading your research papers on the struggle of national, religious, and intellectual identity.

Merry Christmas!