A Milestone

Last weekend was a milestone in my adventure, and I almost missed it. Four fellow American professors (accompanied by two additional American travelers) joined me for a weekend in my humble-in-size but rich-in-people Herrera. During their visit, we:

• Climbed to the castle and explored it inside and out. While often passed over by locals for its relatively small size and dilapidated state, to our eyes, it was marvelous not only for its historical aura but for the fact that its abandonment made it feel like a discovery of our own. It was also nice to have some great tour guides – Javier (the physical therapist who loaned me his bike) took us to the top while his wife Ana (English teacher in the grade school) and their two young boys accompanied us half way before stopping off to enjoy the view and explore the brush for plants and wildlife (this, of course, was they boys’ activity of choice).
• Ate great food – as Spanish as it gets – with fire-oven cooked pork called cochinillo for lunch and the typical spread of tapas for dinner. Both of which were accompanied by a great group of the Herrera-based Spanish professors that have made my life so good here.
• Watched two soccer games. Madrid and Barcelona both won. My two wonderful private lesson students from neighboring town Castilblanco stopped in for a coffee and some Spanlglish before and during the Madrid game. They have since returned the invite favor by offering to bring me to the Saturday-night bingo game in their town where the lucky winner might take home a chicken, a canary or even some livestock.

We were having such a good time that I almost didn’t realize the visit was special not because we ate well, laughed hard and had two straight days of authentic pueblo fun. It was special because for the first time, I had the chance to introduce them to one another not as “some American English professors,” “a small Spanish village,” and “some of the folks who live here,” but as my friends, my town and my people.  It was a culminating moment of my integration into my community here.

The people make the place. They make a house a home – and likewise, a town a hometown – and when travelling, good friends beat interesting places every time.

Speaking of interesting places, I write this blog entry from Barcelona. As I mentioned before, I’ve come to welcome two good friends from Mississippi – Josh Brister and Justin Webster – to their own Spanish adventure. As of yesterday, they’ve moved here to try their hand as English professors beginning with a month-long Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) class. So far, we’ve gotten them settled in their apartment, caught up, eaten some good food and talked a lot about what it’s like to teach English to Spaniards. Today will be all about logistics, things like cell phones and bank accounts, and tonight will be about meeting new people and getting to know their new city even better. Wish us luck!

Tagged as: Barcelona, Herrera, In Transit