The Joys of Friendship

I must say that throughout my 20-some years, I have been blessed with the best friends anyone could ask for. When I look back at my months here, I think about everyone I left back in the US. Sometimes I think I’m crazy for leaving home but then I realize how supportive everyone was of my decision to come here.

Well, to prove how fantastic they are, I actually had a few friends come visit me over the past few months. When I first came to Spain, my friend Stephanie sent me a lovely message saying how much she wanted to visit me. She and I studied together in Toledo, Spain back in the beginning of 2008. Throughout the rest of college and the following year, we stayed in contact and always reminisced about our fantastic time in Spain. So when she told me that she was planning a visit, I was overly excited about reliving my college days with her in Toledo. Without hesitation, I told Steph that she could spend as much time staying at my place (one of the many perks of having friends living abroad: no hotel expenses). She and her friend Audrey arrived the middle of August. I had class at the time her flight arrived so Dani went to the airport to meet them. Steph and Dani were also friends from our time abroad in Toledo; they planned the trip to coincide with another one of Dani’s friends, Emily that was arriving the same day to Spain for a visit. The group of them met me at my work and we all went to lunch with some of my ALA teachers. Then Steph, Audrey, Emily and Dani went back to my apartment in Toledo while I finished up my night classes. When I got back home, we all went out for some quick drinks and tapas. The girls were exhausted as was I, so we called it an early night. The next day Dani and Em returned to Dani’s village and I gave Steph and Audrey free reign of my place while I was at work. I have to say, that week was one of the best weeks I’ve had in Spain. Everyday when I got back, the girls had dinner already for me. They had both been in Spain before so they weren’t in real tourist mode, more of a simple, relax and enjoy the Spanish culture mode. The 3 of us went to the Perelada on Friday and reaped havoc as the only natural blondes there.

It was a blast. The next night, we decided to party it up in Madrid with some of the ALA teachers. Steph was recovering from one nasty resaca (hangover) so she stayed in the hostel we got for the night. Audrey and I ventured out to some bars with my friends and all in all had a fantastic time. We went back to Toledo the next afternoon and the girls finished out their trip within the next few days. I enjoyed having them immensely mostly because it gave me a taste of American that I had started to miss.

A few months later, I had another visitor… one of my best guy friends, Matt. He moved to Baltimore from Chicago the year before so it had been awhile since we both spent more than an hour together. His trip was a bit more taxing but I enjoyed every second of it. Unfortunately, when he booked his flight, I didn’t know what my class schedule would be the following month. As chance would have it, I had class when his flight arrived in Madrid. But we discussed it (immensely) and he decided to try his luck on the metro by himself. He made it to my work safe and sound and ready for the adventure to begin. We spent the following week exploring Madrid every free second I had. Of course, I couldn’t take a week off of class so I would get up early, go to class, come home, take Matt around, go back to class, go out with Matt, get a few hours of sleep and repeat the following day. By that Thursday, I was utterly exhausted. In Spain, I am accustomed to my daily siesta which was not remotely when one has a friend in town. He was a great sport though even considering my crankiness by the end of the week. During my breaks between classes we did the typical tourist things. I took him to the Prado, the Reina Sophia, Gran Via, el Retiro and other sites. We usually ate lunch at typical Spanish restaurants and most dinners I cooked at my place to save us some money. We went out Friday night with Nikki, one of the ALA teachers and met these really interesting Spaniards at one of the bars. Matt couldn’t get enough of the Spanish culture: everything from the concept of botellons, to the open prostitution on Gran Via, to the Chinos that “sell beer and Kit-Kats to booty-dancing Spaniards” as he put it. Haha! Saturday we spent a few hours in Toledo so I could show him where I lived for so long. I love sharing these places with my friends and hopefully get them to understand why I love my life here. Sunday we did his souvenir shopping and whatnot. He left Monday afternoon. By the time Monday came, we were already discussing his next trip to Europe. Next time, we agreed to meet up in another different country that would be an adventure for both of us. Can’t wait…

Another great thing about living abroad is the surprising amount of old friends that are also living or visiting abroad for some time. One of my good friends, Brian, is stationed in Naples, Italy with the Navy. So I’m planning a trip to visit him and vice-versa. Plus, we’ll most likely meet up in other random places to travel. Then about a month back a girl that I went to high school with contacted me on facebook saying that she was coming with some friends to visit Madrid and if I could offer any advice. I was more than happy to help and even offered to show them around when they got into town. So need less to say, I have had my hands full with friends’ requests to come visit. It’s been less than a year so I am really excited to see what the future holds. Remember all are welcome :) Hasta Pronto!