Thursday, April 10, 2008

Still Alive, Still in Spain

from my journal on 4/4:
"What a great time I had with Mom- Sorolla, cafe, pizza, talking, hotel, walking. It has been such a blessing to be able to meet up with her. I can't believe my time here is almost at an end. Impossible! Ugh, how bittersweet. What a treasure and joy this experience has been, Lord.

Thank You for moments like right now- sitting on a park bench in the sun under a corridor of trees at Plaza de Espana, stomach full of gratis cafe con leche y croissants thanks to Jose (one of the older men who works at the hotel bar). He offered to rent a room to me for cheap thirty minutes outside of Madrid for when I return. This was an interesting conversation, because at first I completely misunderstood and thought he meant rent a room for thirty minutes- needless to say, I was outraged and shocked that my friend would suggest such a thing, and was not sure what to do next except look for a hotel manager. Jose went to find one of his hotel buddies who speaks English (broken English at best) and the issue was resolved fairly quickly. As frustrated as I am with my inadequate Spanish it sure does make life interesting sometimes.



Walking to the hotel last night, the sun was setting and a cool breeze was coming with the dusk. I closed my eyes, still walking (in a move that I thought was quite daring), and let the coolness of the evening wash over me, savoring the feeling and smiling at the fact that I'm alive and still in Spain, if only for a little while longer."

1 comment:

The Baublets said...

The hotel story is hilarious :) I have similar misunderstandings, albeit much less risque ones, with my ESL students at school.

When do you come back to the States?