Clearing Hurdles & Getting Back in the Game

Did you know that after you masticate what you put in your mouth, the saliva turns it into a bolus of food which goes down your esophagus? And then, the gastric juices in your stomach turn the partially digested food into chyme, which moves to your small intestines where it finally becomes a pasty substance called chyle? No? Then you are not smarter than a fifth grader, because this is exactly what my fifth graders have learned in science class over the past week. I think it’s pretty incredible and kind of ridiculous, considering I didn’t even know some of those words… and I speak English fluently!

I’m getting back into the swing of things here in Madrid. Honestly, I’ve had a few other hurdles besides learning new anatomy vocabulary since being back. It was slow-going getting over jet lag and maintaining a regular sleep pattern, for one. I was waking up at all hours of the night and falling asleep at inconvenient times during the day. My body is still a bit confused as to what time of day it is. As if that weren’t annoying enough, my body seemed to have forgotten all the swimming techniques I had built up over the fall. My first two swims of the year were hardly worth suffering through the close quarters with too many naked Spanish women in the locker rooms and communal showers. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Because my head has been full of wedding things, which strangely enough are all thought out in English, I’ve had some trouble getting back into the Spanish language. That being said, I’ve decided not to continue taking Spanish classes at Mosaic. I’m going to need my Friday nights to do some more traveling this spring (boy, have I got some great trips in the making!), and I’ve got a few more Spanish friends to get the extra practice. Plus, that will free me up to hang out with my new roommate!

Yes, I’ve got a new roommate. My Scottish friend Elaine came back to Madrid to work/study through the spring and she wanted to rent the little room in Angie’s apartment (finally!). Not only do I have someone else to split monthly utilities with, but I’m also living with a really great person and someone with whom I’m already friends. During conversations on each other’s beds, Elaine and I have been marveled at the different uses of words in America versus Britain, and I think I’ll have quite a new vocabulary upon my permanent return to the States. While it is a noticeable change having Elaine here,—because now I’ve got to coordinate morning shower usage, for example—I’m happy to have a friend live with me!

And speaking of being with friends, Ida is coming to visit Madrid this weekend and Karisa, one of Justin’s Turkey teammates, will be in town on Friday night. They should both be fun reunions, and I’m looking forward to spending time with some dear friends. But first, I’ve got to make it through the rest of the week!

More Christmas Miracles

For the three and a half weeks that I was in the States, there was certainly no shortage of Christmas miracles. In fact, there were so many that I should only give you the highlight reel so that you don’t feel bogged down…but try as I might to keep it short, you’ve still got plenty to read!

Being reunited with family and friends was a joyful miracle and the real reason I came home during the holidays. I spent a lot of quality time with my parents and my younger brother and also with my grandparents, aunt, uncles, and cousins from Georgia. As predicted, Gillian, Erin, Anna and I were able to hang out together a lot, and I also had the chance to catch up with some other good friends. Amazingly, Justin and I saw each other almost every day for three consecutive weeks, which probably has not happened since we were at Furman together. There was hardly a second I was by myself, which was simultaneously blissful and exhausting. Between my brother and me, my poor mother had a houseful of young people almost every day. All in all, it was a great way to spend my precious time at home with so many loved ones… but I’m happy to be able to take their love back to Spain with me!

Unexpectedly, I was able to host my Christmas party after discovering the most of my high school girlfriends were in town. We had all assumed that once we graduated college, it just wouldn’t happen anymore; and it didn’t last year. So, I consider it a little miracle that we could catch up with each other, have our traditional French Onion Soup and Caesar salad, and swap Secret Santa gifts.Gillian is getting married in May and she was showered with Christmas goodies galore one evening. (If you need to borrow a Santa platter or two, give her a call in eleven months!) As her co-Maids of Honor, Erin and I decided to whisk her away to Montgomery to see the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s production of A Christmas Story so that we could spend some quality Three Musketeers time before the first one got married. Erin got engaged in October and she’s set a date for next New Years Eve (How cool is that?). As for me… I, too, am getting married in 2010!

Even though this is my blog accounting my experiences in Spain, I suppose I can’t leave out telling the short story of how Justin proposed to me some days ago…

Every Christmas Eve, my family drives up to stay with my Atlanta grandparents, and for the past ten years, we have been spending our Christmases at their farm, affectionately named the Dear Farm after my grandmother and as a pun on all the deer roaming about the land. The Dear Farm has grown to be one of my favorite places in the world, and it is very dear to me (no pun intended).

For this past Christmas, Justin and I made plans for him to come on the 26th and spend a few days with me and my extended family. Therefore, I didn’t expect to see him on the front porch at 8am Christmas morning. He was in cahoots with my dad and grandfather, and he drove throughout the night in order to be the first to wish me a “Merry Christmas.” He said he always wanted that job and didn’t want to spend any more Christmases apart. There, on my grandparents’ farm porch, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said, “Yes!”Above: Christmas Eve Family Portrait
(I promise A.D. and I did not plan on wearing the exact same color.)

Below: For Christmas this year, I gave Dear and Pop-Pop gifts from Spain and Greece.

The rest of Christmas weekend at the Dear Farm was a fun time with my family where we basically just relaxed and indulged in our traditional meals and treats. They were all surprised and delighted to hear the news, and I worked on passing along the information to other friends. All of the men of the family, including Justin, went off on an overnight hunting trip, and so the women had a calm and pleasant evening at the Big House. While they did manly things like shoot things, drink beer, and eat meat, we did girly things like watch movies, drink wine, and eat salads. When it was time for everyone to leave the farm, we headed back to Dothan and dove into the wacky world of wedding planning.

With the word “engagement” I'm sure some people’s minds turn towards To-Do lists after the initial feelings of joy and elation. And as most people can imagine, planning a wedding is a rather involved and demanding process. I am naturally geared to organize and plan things; it’s just who I am. I confess that before I came home for Christmas, I had already made a mental list of what I needed to do while I was in the states if I were to get engaged at some point. We did accomplish a lot of “wedding goals” quite quickly, and even though I made more mistakes in the first two weeks than I hope to make in the next eight months, I am very grateful to my parents and future in-laws who are helping Justin and me start our lives together. But since this is not a wedding blog, you’ll have to check out the wedding website (once we make it!) for more details about all that jazz.

On New Year’s Eve, Gillian & Charles, Erin & Myles, Justin & I all drove to Erin’s lake house near Lake Seminole. We played games, ate a nice meal, had a dance party, shot fireworks, and brought in 2010 twice—once for Eastern time and once for Central time. I thought it was quite a special and unique time: three best friends reunited and goofing off while their future husbands did some bonding of their own.

Justin and I were able to spend a few days with his family in Florida, first in Cocoa Beach with his parents and then in Orlando with his brother. The beach was cold, but the chilly weather didn’t stop me from walking barefoot in the sand! In Orlando, we took advantage of the shopping venues and did some registering for our wedding. Realizing that I was driving around the city of my next residence was a bit surreal but also exciting.

Despite getting engaged, I still went back to Madrid. Funnily enough, I reenacted a scene from my very first flight to Madrid a year and a half ago. (Check Entry from September 20, 2008: The Trek Over.) For the second time now on a Lufthansa flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt, I fainted… but this time, I didn’t get moved to a comfortable Business Class seat. Instead, I was moved to the back galley of the plane because the flight was full and they couldn’t have my prostrate body blocking the aisle. I stayed there until I regained my wits, returned to my seat, and fell asleep for a little while. About an hour before landing, I woke up feeling sick and knew a fainting spell was coming on again. However, instead of passing out, I ended up emptying the contents of my stomach, which granted me a spot in the back of the plane with the flight attendants until we landed. A doctor-passenger named Harry stayed with me during my episodes, taking my pulse and blood pressure, so I knew I was in good hands. They actually gave me some extra oxygen, and I discovered that it's true... the bag does not inflate while in use! After getting off the plane in Frankfurt, I didn't have any more health problems in the airport or on my flight to Madrid. Yet, that flight was delayed due to the weather conditions in Madrid.

It snowed like crazy in Spain this past weekend. As my plane descended below the cloud line, I gazed at the frozen landscape masked in white. Madrid still wears a ragged cloth of patchy snow, which refuses to melt. Yet, the foul weather hasn’t stopped school from meeting, and I was thrown back into the educational chaos today. Between teaching and travel plans, I intend to make the most of my last six months living in Europe!