But when I saw my Spanish mom jump up and down when I walked through the Customs gate, when my Spanish dad ran over to give me the two kisses on the cheek, when my director from last summer, Cristina, came over to hug me and joke about me being inseparable from my stuffed dog just like I was last year... well, it all came rushing back to me why I'd been so happy and why I'd worked so hard to return.
Grabbing my suitcases, Jesus and Cruz began to ask me how my year had been, clearly basing their questions around my Facebook posts they had been stalking - ha! Right away Cruz told me that the school I will be interning at is the only private school in/near Alcala and that it is a very conservative school.
"You go there, you do your job and you leave. That's it. Don't talk about yourself. Not a thing about yourself." Cruz told me in her serious yet "fuck 'em" sort of tone I'd so grown to enjoy. I got the sense she was hinting at my less than heterosexual tendencies, which made me giggle even more and gave me a great sense of support.
Our drive home was not that different from the first drive home we shared the first day I met them over a year ago. They asked me a lot of questions and I tried to ask them questions to rest my poor broken Spanish and try to become re-assimilated to the language as quickly as possible. Let's just say it's not going as quickly as I would like, but knowing how good I used to be at the end of three months in Spain gives me great confidence about what my fluency and comprehension will be this time next year!
After a quiet comida at home consisting of something like quinoa breaded chicken and a salad with tomato, olive oil, vinegar and a slice of bread with a glass of cold water (ahem - I see why I've gained 20 lbs. since I left Spain), I walked to the RENFE station to meet up with Abby. Our plan had been to look at pisos, but after nothing really struck us, we went over to some other girls' new place to check it out.
On our way to their piso we got all turned around and as we were attempting to figure out which way was which I looked up and there in front of me was Ernesto!! I squealed and ran up to give him a hug as he looked over his sunglasses to see if it was actually me. Oh my goodness was I excited to see him!!! ^_^ We promised to meet up soon and went on our ways - he with his pregnant wife (they were both clearly adorably excited about it) and me with my soon-to-be roomie.
Anyway, I was determined I wouldn't love these girls' apartment (because if I did, it meant sharing a room - and as well all know, I love me some serious privacy), but as soon as the door opened, my resolve dwindled significantly. The whole apartment looked like an Ikea showroom (and, as I found out, it basically is - all the furniture, art, etc. is from Ikea!); it had a very modern vibe with bright red accents and dark wood. The whole kitchen was stocked with every cooking tool you could need and the beds were made with new sheets and had new towels to match. The girls quickly told us that the landlords (who live above) were super nice and that the mom cleans the apartment once a week. Abby and I looked at the three available rooms and within five minutes were asking where to sign on to the contract.
Nothing can compare to the gorgeous West Burnside apartment of Portland, but this apartment is definitely up there in adorableness points. Abby and I chose the room with a little balcony with two french doors and flowing curtains. So. Freak'n. Quaint. I threw both doors open and exclaimed to her, "I feel like I'm in the Lizzy McGuire Movie all over again!"
A get-to-know-you chat with the roomies and a bus ride later, I was back at my Spanish family's home, recounting the tale of the new apartment. To celebrate they took me out to a few tapas bars in La Galena and I drank shandy and had salmon tostas and gazpacho andaluz. It was an adorable gesture on their part, as 1) La Galena's tapas bars were the first place I went upon getting off the bus from the airport my very first day in Spain in May 2011. It felt surreal to be at the same place on my second first day in the country! 2) I vowed my second beverage in Spain would be a Cruzcampo Shandy (after an orange Fanta, of course) - and it was! 3) I'd missed good Andaluz gazpacho soooooo much it was silly. I told Cruz of my green gazpacho mishap and she explained I definitely put in way too much green pepper and promised to teach me how to make it CORRECTLY just as soon as she could find tomatoes in the stores again (apparently they run out of tomatoes in Alcala...?? haha). 4) My contract last year had dictated that I was not allowed to drink alcohol with my host family - but now that I was under no contract, I could do what I pleased - and that meant going to tapas bars and having whatever I pleased to drink!
Later, at their house, they invited me downstairs for Greek yogurt with brown sugar (my old fave) and some napolitanas chocolates (my other old fave) and we watched TV and talked about getting me a cell phone tomorrow, and a bank account, and all moved in to my new apartment - after, of course, I sleep in for about a million hours!
By the end of the day I'd felt as if I hadn't really left for such a long period of time (except for my dwindling Spanish abilities) and was at last calmed long enough to feel a sense of excitement towards the journey ahead of me for the first time in months. <3
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