Adios España - Hasta Luego Alcalá

I'm sitting in our flat on a white couch next to two big doors that are opened to the seemingly always talkative Calle Mayor below. There's a nice cool breeze today and the sun is shining and I'm thinking that its a perfect day to reflect on our time here in Spain. We're leaving tomorrow morning for Colorado and, according to the itinerary, should be in about 8pm! We’re pretty dang excited to see family and friends and our dog! It’s balanced though with nostalgic thoughts though. Having been here 9 months and getting situated with life it's one of those times where Cor and I keep saying, "I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow!" When you've gotten yourself established somewhere it never seems real when a big life change is about to occur, you know?

We've seen so much of Spain and feel satisfied with our travels in Europe. We haven't been able to get over the history in this area of the world. All of the ruins, art, architecture, customs, food, on and on, have roots in 100s of years of history, something you don’t really realize until you get out of the States. Its totally overwhelming and since I never loved history growing up, trying to soak everything up while we've been here has been incredible. We're not leaving many close relationships, mainly Karin (you are part of our hearts now, Guapa), a couple of students and people in Madrid, and one of Cor's professor here in Alcala (besos a Sonia!), which makes the transition a little easier leaving here. But we're going to miss a few things for sure:

The Food (anything jamon, olives and cheese (manchego is tasty), café con leche, tortilla española, cheap, quality wine, seafood (calamares y pulpo y mejillones), pimientos de padron, croquetas, napolitanas, chocolate and churros, and more)

The People and Culture (language, loud talking, kisses on the cheek, personal space, hand gestures, shaking your finger, staring, dress codes, old people strolling – women arm in arm, men hands behind their backs, walking everywhere (paseos) and public transportation, and more)

The Landscape (olive Trees, vineyards, graffiti, wild poppies, the coasts in Galicia, Asturias, Girona, and near Granada, ruins everywhere, bull billboards, and more.)

In all of these experiences though, one things been missing…all of you! What’s life when you can’t share it with people? And there’s been many a time when something random has reminded us of one of you and we’ve said, “oh, it be great if ____ were here!” There is sweetness in community that nothing else in life can bring, not even an adventure in distant lands. We crave to just share life with people, to love and be loved, and to continue to be challenged by what community confronts us with. Hopefully, though, in these friendships we will have the opportunity to adventure to far-off places once again in the future.

We made it work this year and because of it we can tackle our Everests in the future. It’s been successful in so many ways (and difficult in just as many), but we’re stoked we did this and encourage anyone else who’s thinking about picking up and moving from the States to definitely do it. I agree that there’s nothing better than a change in perspective and getting out of the States will do it. Para terminar, I’m reminded of something a wise woman told me recently. She spoke of desperation, desperation in the sense of desiring something more than just making it work, more than settling for security and comfort, that to be desperate puts us in a place of need. I think need is hard to come by as most often it’s associated with weakness, but I’ve been learning for a few years now that life can be seen through a whole lot of different lenses and that the whole weakness issue is something everyone deals with, it’s just too bad we’re not more honest with ourselves and one another.

So, to those of you faithful readers, thanks so much for being a part of this and we look forward to speaking with you face to face over a coffee (if you’re cory) or some tea (if you’re tim).

QUE TE VAYA BONITO (May it go beautifully for you),

timothy and coricito