February Shmebruary

The majority of February was pretty awful. First of all, it rained and rained (and still hasn’t really stopped, though there have been breaks) and that just makes everything seem a little worse. At the beginning of the month I started having headaches for no reason; terrible headaches that made my head pound every time I moved it, stood up, or pretty much did anything, and for about a week I mainly just laid in bed because that was the only way to not further aggravate the situation. The whole time, my mom had been in Germany visiting my grandma and we had planned to spend a weekend in Munich together, and I was worried the pressure from the airplane would make my headache unbearable, so I finally went to the doctor and got some painkillers, and I made the flight okay.

Munich was pristine in winter but it also snowed a lot while we were there and was very cold. While my headaches were better, I was still reluctant to run around town looking at sites when I was still feeling “off”. The best part is that my mom and I are so similar in personality that it didn’t matter if we were off at a museum or just kicking it in the hotel room because we were just happy to be together! She hadn’t visited last year, and while I did go home over summer, it felt like it had been forever since I had seen her. We took it easy while site-seeing but still got to do most of what we had on our list. I felt a little bad because I wasn’t eating much and definitely didn’t feel like drinking, so we didn’t get to do the big beer halls Munich is famous for, but we had fun sharing YouTube favorites in the hotel room instead. In the end it was only four short days and afterwards it seemed almost like it never happened, just a tease of having some family for a short while, but I was happy I was even able to be there considering how I had been feeling.

The next week or so my headaches had mostly gone away, but I was still feeling really weird. I had a strange pain in the pit of my stomach and didn’t really have the energy to do anything besides go to work and go home. I wasn’t really eating either, and I think those probably went hand-in-hand. Finally we had our “Semana Blanca” break at school and I took the opportunity to go to Madrid and Salamanca for a few days each. Turns out it was exactly what I needed.

In Madrid I met up with Andrew who I had met on my Costa Rica trip in 2006 and told about my program here in Spain, and now he’s teaching in Madrid! I also hung out a lot with Jose Maria, a good friend from last year who taught at my school and then moved to Madrid this year to teach up there. I had been to Madrid probably like 6 times before, but never for very much time because I was always in transit or had a set schedule and I truly never got to appreciate the city, especially one so big. In Spain, there are really two metropolis-type cities, Madrid and Barcelona, and in my book Barcelona wins hands down. Still, Madrid gained a lot of points over the trip and I would definitely like to spend some more time there if I get the chance in my final few months here. Here are some thoughts at the time through an email to my parents:

It was actually refreshing to be in a big city with lots of movement, crowds and busy streets. I think I kinda missed it and I really really enjoyed having OPTIONS! Options for where to eat (ate Mexican twice (!), Japanese food, and Greek food!), there are different stores with actual variety not just a million stores with the same stuff with different names, and the people are diverse and more with-it. Plus, the metro is amazing and it doesn't matter where you want to go because it's always easy to get there by metro. And even though where I live in Malaga might be considered diverse the people aren't really integrated in the city. You don't see Africans with "normal" jobs here like waiters or at the supermarket or things like that, because even if they were born in Spain they are not considered Spanish, unlike a first generation American is still considered American. In Madrid the immigrants or people of other heritage are more ingrained in the framework and there for are not just passed over like in much of Spain.

After Madrid I headed to Salamanca for a couple days. Not too much to report. I hung out with my old host family who I still love and treat like real family, and they were the same as always: welcoming, hospitable, hilarious yet still very “motherly”, and above all just accommodating! They live in a 2 bedroom apartment and were already 4 when I arrived, and yet they were head over heels to have me visit and the logistics were an afterthought. I had a bed, food, and nice people to hang out with. I went to their parents’ house in their pueblo which is always nice because it’s a tiny town where the air is fresh and the people have a certain charm. I also went out at night with my host-brother Celso and their current live-in student John. Celso is 21 now and it was a trip to go out to bars with him since back at 18 he wasn’t interested in any of that when I lived there. My host-mom Tina and aunt Saleta have always told me he looks up to me a lot, and I cherish our relationship despite not seeing each other often. He asks me a lot of “growing up” type questions and I like to take him under my wing a bit playing the big brother role, which is something I never got to do as the younger sibling but I always kind of wanted. Especially because he has a few developmental disabilities that hinder his growth both physically and psychologically, he is able to ask me questions that asked of his peers would be pretty embarrassing to not know for someone of his age. I’m honored that he trusts me enough to go there and I treat him with the same openness and familiarity which I think puts him at ease.

This trip was what I needed to snap out of the funk I was in back in Malaga. Even on the way back when my bus broke down and I missed the bus from Madrid-Malaga with no refund, I was still happy to spend the day with my buddy Jose Maria. Whereas maybe a week before I would’ve gotten frustrated or let it affect me, this showed me I was back to my old self!