Moving 4,000 miles away from home meant leaving my furry friends with my family at home. I don’t know who I was more upset to leave in Columbia, my friends with two legs or my friends with four. My first stop on my tour of Europe was Spain. Walking around the first few days and seeing the sweet dogs that seemed to be an integral part of every family made me miss my own. My Spanish not being what it used to be, I had my friend I was visiting teach me how to ask to pet someone’s dog. She eventually became tired of me halting our progress down a street every few meters so I could give a golden retriever a pet or a cute pug a good tummy rub. The literal translation in Spanish for “May I pet your dog?” is “May I touch it?” in English. I realized quickly to be very specific in who I was asking. One night, my friends and I were coming home and I saw the cutest dog. Naturally I went up to the owner, an attractive, young Spanish man and asked in Spanish “May I touch it?” I was so embarrassed when he had to clarify that I meant the dog because he thought I asked to touch him. I am hoping I didn’t create a new American stereotype that we go up to nice men and ask to touch them.