Hello, Minnesota

Here I am in Bemidji, MN at 4:30 AM, jet lagged, and thinking how bittersweet it is to be home.  I can squeeze my baby nephew and snuggle with Riley.   But I already miss my friends and I still speak Spanish in my head. Returning from Germany, the last week and a half in Sevilla flew.  I’m sappy and so the last few days I walked by Torre de Oro and the Cathedral saying, “this may be the last time that I...” On different days, I gave the Cathedral a few good goodbyes.  Before long I was saying goodbye to Marta, Octavio, the American students, and professors.  Our program had a final get-together which was a chance to say adios.  It was sad to have one last group hug with Amber and Molly in Sevilla.  We had many adventures together and Amber and I mused over a potential trip to Madison State to visit Molly.  Although all of the Spaniards told us that this “adios” was really only a “hasta luego”, the only 'see you later' I was confident in was with the other Olies. I’ll see them in a few.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 Most of my end days were spent with Irene, Elisa, and Fátima (their roomie).  Because I was done writing papers on the European Union Summit and such, the last weekend was my favorite.  Elisa and I made music with our toothbrushes by opening and closing our mouths and brushing to a rhythm.  A different time, all of the girls went to the theater to watch Narnia and I was quite please to have understood it all.  Also, we went for a run:

 

Irene (Spaniard): “Gracieeela”

Grace: “¿Si, Irene?”

Irene: “You look really Americana right now.”

Grace: “¿Why?”

Spanish: “Because Spanish women don’t know how to run and American women do.”

                                                                                                                                       I guess she is talking about the fact that I don’t bring my wallet “just in case” and I don’t stop before the run to buy 4 rolls of toilet paper because the house is out.  I don’t bring my cell phone on short runs and I don’t talk to my b/f for 10 minutes while running.  Despite that, it was the most fun run that I went on in Sevilla. On Friday night, we went for my last tapas dinner at Los Coloniales. Goodbye croquetas.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Elisa and Irene decided to fly to Madrid with me Saturday morning because they can fly free, whenever, wherever.  Willing to wake up at 4 AM and share the taxi fare, they saved me from paying 30 Euros by myself.  Sadly, we got to the airport to find out the flight was cancelled.  So we stood in line for 3 hours to change flights but the time we got to the front of the line, we found out that the flight to London had been cancelled.  Soooo, the mad dash to catch the later flight to Madrid rushed our goodbye.  That first flight was miserable; who were you kidding when you said you weren’t a cryer, Grace?

Next I missed the flight to the U.S. but I at least spent the night in a 4 star hotel and met some cool people.  I’m going to make it a point to wear St. Olaf apparel when traveling because I always meet someone when I do.  Rachel’s brother had just graduated from St. O and she was going to the U of M Duluth.  What’s more, she had also studied in Sevilla this semester.  It’s a small world, or as you would say in Spanish, the world is a handkerchief .  We talked together for a long time about how much we’ve learned and the odd cultural experiences that we had both had had.  We also met a funny British couple and an Irishman, Kealan .  It felt like a scene out of a comedy movie.  It was the funniest, craziest couple I had ever met and they made us laugh so hard that I’m sure we were a little obnoxious.  Do you know the sound of a peacock? Chris, our British friend intimidated the sound and in the same way he flagged down the waiter, squawking señOOOOR? I can’t explain a sound, but it was hilarious.  We had accent demonstrations, including the Bristol accent and of course, I threw in the Minnesotan.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

It seems fitting that since I started this blog with a “goodbye” that I end it with a “hello”.  Something that I know now is that as sad as goodbyes are and how numerous they seem to be, there are just as many hellos to counter it.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

HELLO FAMILY. HELLO BABY GABEY. HELLO TESSA.HELLO HEATED HOUSES. HELLO SNOW. HELLO PANDORA.  HELLO AMERICAN BREAKFASTS.