A Reverse Homecoming? – December

If I were studying abroad for a semester, I would be packing my bags and heading home – this is WILD to think about, as it feels as if I am just truly settling in and hitting my stride. It makes me appreciate my semester at the University of Glasgow even more, as that really was so formative for me; to think about how short that time period seems now just puts it in an even sharper perspective for me. Time is passing quickly, as it always does, but it is hard to believe that December is here and the Christmas is looming. December was a great month, and I had a wonderful couple of weeks before a piece of home came to visit me here.

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I was invited to join a couple of other TAs for a hike, and I was so excited because I have been dying to go on a real hike. Gerard, Zach, and I had so much fun and we went to a trail area called Fragas do Eume. Getting there was a bit of an adventure with the roads, and we were a little worried about the rain, but it held off and we had beautiful weather. It was a stunning route up the ridge over the dam and the river, and then we hiked down and along the edge of the dam. There were lots of sheep and goats in the fields, and the sky was so clear and blue. It was a really exciting hike, with a couple waterfall crossings, but I wasn’t as slow as I feared – it’s been quite a while since I’ve really hiked, and I had just gotten back from Vigo. The scenery was stunning, and it was such a good way to spend a Sunday. Here are some pictures, but they really can’t capture the beauty of Galicia:

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Finally, the second weekend of December arrived! This was a weekend that had been on my calendar since mid-September, when Amanda, Caroline, Lindsay, and I had bought tickets for the Enrique Iglesias concert in Madrid. Amanda’s mom was visiting her, and she came as well, which just added to the fun. Thanks to a national holiday, we had a long weekend, or a puente. I had hoped to meet up with my host family from my Creighton summer immersion program from the summer of 2017, but unfortunately they too were on vacation for the long weekend. Due to a train strike, we ended up taking the night bus to Madrid, which was actually quite efficient. I forgot my snacks at home (essential for ANY road trip), but I went back to get them and made it to the bus on time. Hurray!

It was chilly in Madrid, but warmer than we expected – also, it was sunny! We had a lot of quality time at different parks, as well as some of the quintessential Madrid landmarks and museums. One of my favorite things was a picnic near the Templo de Debod – the leaves had changed and were falling, and it was warm and sunny and just altogether wonderful. Since Madrid is so cosmopolitan (obviously, it’s the capital and a large city), we were able to change up our food options a bit, which was nice – I love Galician food, but I also love other types as well.

The concert was so much fun, and it was absolutely packed. Interestingly enough, nearly everyone in Galicia made fun of us for going to see Enrique. He is apparently not near as well-loved here as his music is in the US. Nevertheless, it was so much fun and I’m so glad we got the tickets when we did in September. I always love Madrid, and it was nice to have more time to wander and just be there, thanks to the long weekend.

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We took a break for some self-care, and Sydney, Josh, Alexa and I headed to Ourense on a Friday to visit the termas. Finding the train that takes us there was a small disaster thanks to a timetable change, and we ended up taking a bus to the termas just outside of the city. Fortunately, we had stocked up on snacks and enjoyed stopping in a few little shops while we waited for the bus. We decided to pay for the Outariz termas, as opposed to the free public baths, and we were so happy – it was the best $5 I have spent so far in Spain. Outariz is right on the river, so the views are beautiful while you move from pool to pool, each with its own special features. On our way back into town, we were able to ride the little terma train, which thrilled us.

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The Christmas spirit really arrived and with it all sorts of excitement and anticipation. Some of my friends and I did a Secret Santa gift exchange, and it was great fun. The theme of dress was to come as some sort of character, so I went as the Grinch. While that was exciting, I was also preparing for my brother John to arrive!

a piece of home in Galicia

Also back in September, John and our friends from Leavenworth, Angela and Sadie, all texted me to say that they had just booked tickets to Spain for December. To say that I wasn’t counting down the weeks until I got to see them would be a slight lie.

I made John a sign because of course, and I cried immediately at the airport when I saw him, much to his embarrassment. If he hadn’t been so tired, I think he would have threatened to turn around and get back on the plane if I couldn’t pull myself together. We took the airport bus to the train station, and then had a little bit of time to try and eat at the station’s restaurant. John had his first bites of Spanish food, but he was so tired I don’t think he really liked it (that changed later!).

We got to my apartment and I let him rest while I went to a clase particular, or one of my English tutoring sessions (I give four, and I enjoy each session immensely!). After, I conned him into waking up to go get dinner, and some of my friends were able to stop by and meet him. He saw some of Pontevedra’s Old Town, and then of course got the grand tour later that week.

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On Wednesday, I took John to my school. Most of my students knew he was going to be visiting, and they were ecstatic. We carpooled with one of my teachers, and it was funny to be the main communicator between us because John understands a little Spanish (more than he said, I think!) and Uxía understands some English, and we had a grand time zooming along the highway to school. As we approached the school, it was passing period and some students saw us through the big windows on the second floor. The next thing we knew, students were pressing themselves against the window to see John better and we could see them yelling and pointing – it was so entertaining. John came to class with me for 4^th ESO (16 year olds, so high school sophomores, more or less) and they did such a good job asking him questions and interacting.

Immediately after that class was the moment I had been waiting for – recreo. Basically, this is like an American recess, of sorts, and the students have 25 minutes to be outside on the playground, inside in the main common area, or at the café/cafeteria thing that we have. This meant that there were 25 minutes of free attention that all 200+ students could dedicate to John. So many of them wanted to be close to him, but would run away as soon as time came to say hi. They could not believe how tall he is! Poor John looked like he was going to spontaneously combust at a couple of moments, but he was such a trooper. Lots of my students introduced themselves, and somewhere in the crowd a group of 3^rd ESO students were trying to jump on each other’s backs to be the same height as him. It was glorious chaos.

Of course, the principal and the teachers at my school were excited to meet John as well, and they were so welcoming. John really got to practice his Spanish while trying to explain that he didn’t actually really understand what they were saying to him, and it was so cool for me to have him see where I teach. A couple of the teaches kept telling him “eres un modelo” (“you are a model”) and it was so funny.

After the experience of recreo, John and I stopped in a 1^st ESO class that I normally teach at that time, but they had a test. We said a quick hi, and I have never seen this particular class be so well behaved. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces, and it was so precious. John and I headed to the beach on our way through town to get lunch. We ran around like kids and played with some dogs that were on walks with their owners. We knew that there was a weather advisory and that a terrible storm was blowing in, but it unfortunately hit very quickly while we were still on the beach. The wall of rain suddenly appeared on the water not very far out, and we were not quite successful in our attempts to outrun it, especially as the sand blew up at us. Oh well – at least John got a true Galician experience out of it! Lunch was so good, and it was such a fun afternoon. We got dinner with my friends after another partial tour of Pontevedra, and John saw how we’ve adapted to the Galician lifestyle: when it’s raining, simply go from meal to meal!

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That Thursday we had a quieter day in Pontevedra, ducking into landmarks and favorite cafes to avoid getting drenched in the rain (oh yes, that dramatic storm stayed for the rest of John’s visit). It was so much fun and I loved spending the time with Johnny. We went to Vigo for the later afternoon/evening to see the lights and the city, and it was a grand time. I accidentally ordered larger glasses of traditional Galician café licor than originally intended, but John (and ok me too) persevered through the strong taste. We went back to Pontevedra and had a movie night with my friends, so John got meet more of them.

Our final day together in Galicia was a relaxing morning in Pontevedra followed by us heading to Santiago de Compostela to spend the night before catching the earliest – and cheapest – flight to Madrid. We went to the Cathedral and toured it, which was really special for me to be there with my brother. I really hope he at least got a sampling of Galicia, weather permitting! We met up with my friend Adam in Santiago for dinner and he showed us around for a bit before we went back to the hostel to sleep before the early morning wake up call. There was a debacle with the taxi stand, meaning there were about 100 people in line and no taxis, and we were sure we were going to miss our flight. I called several companies until one picked up, and Pedro the taxi driver swooped in to pick us up from the curb at the last possible minute. We got to our plane gate with about 3 minutes to spare, but we made it! It was nice to have Johnny as my partner in crime for all parts of this adventure, but especially this part.

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Of course, since he’s my brother, I have to complain for a moment – Johnny didn’t eat pulpo gallego (octopus, prepared in the Galicia way). I feel as if I let him down a little, as it is pretty universally considered a quintessential experience when visiting Galicia, but he was adamant that we would NOT eat it. Overall, John was such a trooper, and I am forever grateful he made the effort to come see my little corner of the world here. It was so much fun, I do not know how to adequately put it into words.

from sonic to madrid

We – Sadie, Angela, John, and I – were all able to meet up in Madrid for a few days after John hopped up to see me in Galicia. It was such a good time together, and I was so happy to see Angela and Sadie! Since high school, we have always found ourselves meeting at the local Leavenworth Sonics to catch up and spend time together. We got to see a lot in and around Madrid, with highlights including but not limited to: El Parque del Retiro, several siestas, souvenir shopping, el Rastro market, a trip to El Escorial, and all the tapas. El Escorial in particular was really neat, and I had never had the chance to go before this trip. Just walking around the city together and getting to see different sites and pop into different shops was relaxing and invigorating, all at once. Since it was Christmas time, there were a variety of little Christmas markets set up, and those were fun to look at as well! Something really special from our time together was getting to meet up with Mr. Mahler, our high school Spanish teacher. We went to the top of the Corte Ingles and spent a couple of hours catching up.

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We wandered towards the Palacio Real for our last night in Madrid, and we stumbled upon a beautiful Christmas concert for the public. It was stunning, and we were able to catch the sunset during and after.

This whole week went by way too quickly for me, and we all went to the airport together. I knew I would be sad, but it was still pretty difficult to say “see you later” at the gates. However, I am more grateful that they came to Spain and that I got to spend so much quality time with each of them. This was the best possible way to start Christmas break!

final thoughts…

FINAL TIDBITS and THOUGHTS

Another fun thing that happened in December is that I finally bought a bike and it’s so nice. It has made me think a lot about access to transportation and all sorts of things, but that’s another conversation for another day. Also, to everyone who has had to listen to me talk about how excited I am, thank you for your patience and I promise I will get over it soon!

It was really magical to have John visit me in Galicia. Being able to share part of my life here and this overall experience with him was all I could have ever hoped for, and it was just so much fun. I think it really emphasized the idea for me that while home can be a place, but it is absolutely more defined by the people.

I am really excited for the rest of break, and I will get to see more family and friends!