First stop Frankfurt, next stop home!

Hola from Frankfurt Airport!

There’s a distinct lack of Spanish here, and it’s starting to hit me that my experience in Spain really is over. It’s been such an eventful, emotional and tapas-filled week that I almost didn’t have time to grieve for my time in Spain before now. But I can’t deny that I’m excited to get home, especially after seeing an Air Canada plane on the tarmac. Cuanto tiempo sin estar en mi país! (It’s been too long since I’ve been home.)

Emotional as they were, my last two weeks in Linares were really special. On the work front, I started to hear murmurs of end-of-Dahlia’s-time-in-Spain activities from my little 5-year-old students on Monday. On Wednesday, I arrived at the elementary school to find the door where I usually enter locked. I went to the other door and… surprise! All my kindergarten students were gathered in the entrance, ready to present some short plays and songs they had prepared. Later I was bombarded by a giant group hug and given some really special gifts: booklets of drawings made by each student, a bouquet of flowers, and a beautiful Tous bracelet from the teachers. To be quite honest, I was a mess. It didn’t help when I saw little faces looking up at me saying, “Te quieroooo teacher, no te vayas!!” (I love you, teacher, don’t go!), though it did cheer me up when one little guy asked me if I was going back to my pueblo (village, meaning if I was returning to my small Spanish village). Later, my colleagues and I went tapeando (tapas bar hopping) for a whopping five hours, which was a lot of fun. I then went to my last gym class and went out again that evening with my gym friends. Thursday was my last day at the high school, another emotional day. My last two classes came together to present me with cards, another booklet of messages and a framed class picture. In previous weeks, I had also received a really nice plaque from the school and a necklace with a gorgeous blue stone. Later that day, some colleagues and I went for tapas and later to a little fair that was happening in Linares. Despite the tough goodbyes (and the near overdose of tapas), it was an amazing feeling to feel so appreciated at the two schools. These sweet goodbyes made me realize just how lucky I was to be integrated so fully into the lives of my students and colleagues.

There were also lots of goodbyes on the personal front. Last weekend, the guiris (a cute word for foreigners) of Linares went out for our last group tapas. We all realized how much we were going to miss those outings, especially the great tapas atmosphere and the delicious, inexpensive food and drink. My colleague and friend Juany-Carmen also took me on a day trip to the Sierra Cazorla, a beautiful mountain range where you can do various levels of hiking. We chose a simple route and later went out for a delicious lunch. Later I had to say goodbye to Maria Jose and Soco, two lovely sisters we guiris were lucky to meet this year who welcomed us into their group of friends and included us in various outings. Then yesterday was an incredibly difficult goodbye to my hosts Elena and Andres and their families. I’m not sure little Domenico fully understood what was happening, but when I told him I’d be back to visit in the future, he seemed to be OK with that and told me to bring lots of toys when I returned. In short, it was an incredibly emotional week, but I’m so glad to have shared these moments with the people that have become such an important part of my life.

Which brings us to today and the joy of lugging two 50-pound suitcases, a 20-pound backpack and a packed purse onto trains, metros, and shuttle buses. Suffice to say that it’s an experience I’d rather forget! Not to mention I nearly missed my flight this morning because of the incredibly long lines to check in baggage and later to pay my extra suitcase fee. I think I made a new record when, 25 minutes before take-off, I ran to security, rushed through the process of taking off my boots/jacket/jewellery and unpacking parts of my carry-ons, and arrived panting at the gate. All part of the experience?

Well, I guess that’s the end of this blog! Hope you enjoyed reading it because I certainly enjoyed writing it! :) 

In a nutshell...

Where has time gone? I can’t believe I haven’t written since early April! This entry is bound to be on the longer side…

It’s incredible to think that my experience in Spain is coming to an end. Now is the time for lasts – last days of work, last private lessons, last full weekend in Spain… It’s a very bittersweet feeling to be heading back to Canada. On the one hand, I can’t wait to see everybody back home again. On the other, I’m dreading the goodbyes that I’ll have to make next week…

Since my last entry, I’ve made a point to aprovechar (such a great verb in Spanish meaning “to take advantage” and “enjoy,” among other meanings) of my remaining time in Spain. To that end, I’ve visited the medieval town of Baeza, Gibraltar, Granada, Ávila and Córdoba. It’s been a busy time!

Baeza is a small UNESCO town near Linares that is very similar to another city called Úbeda. It’s about 20 minutes away from Linares, and yet I hadn’t visited it all year. My colleague Juan Antonio was shocked to discover this, especially considering I’d been to Portugal and back in that time, and vowed to take me with his family. We went there on a day trip, which was great! Baeza’s history is really interesting, having existed during Roman, Moorish, and Medieval times up until the present. Visiting Baeza is like visiting Medieval Spain, with the historic centre looking like something out of a movie. Who knew the tiny province of Jaén had such hidden treasures!

I also went on a school trip to Gibraltar with my high school, which was an interesting and jammed-packed day. It’s about five hours by bus each way, so we had an early start and arrived quite late back to Linares. It was really interesting to experience the mix of cultures and languages present in Gibraltar, which is quite unique. One minute you are in Andalusian Spain, then after 30 seconds in customs you’re in England, complete with fish and chips, English signs, and red telephone booths, double decker buses and mailboxes. Gibraltar is also extremely close to Africa, and you can see the outlines of Morocco in the distance. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go up the Rock of Gibraltar, but you can hardly miss it. It towers over the city, and the many caves are visible from ground level. I had hoped to see the monkeys on top, but apparently they are quite mischievous: I’m told it’s common for them to take food and items right out of your hand or backpack! 

A few weeks ago, I was happy to meet two uOttawa translation buddies in Granada. My friend Ignacio is from there but has been working in France all year. Thankfully, we overlapped at the end of my stay. We also met up with Émilie, who is doing a semester abroad in Granada. Ignacio gave us a great tour of the city. Some highlights include wandering through the Albayzín, an area full of narrow, winding streets in the Moorish style; seeing Alhambra from the Albayzín; enjoying a mojito in a hotel’s rooftop terrace with incredible views of the city; and escaping the heat in a beautiful park in the afternoon.

Two weeks ago, I went to Ávila with some colleagues and absolutely loved it. The city is surrounded by a wall about 2 km long and a is UNESCO site. Ávila is full of history and is especially important in a religious sense because Santa Teresa de Jesús was born there 500 years ago (this year is the 500th anniversary of her birth). It was like travelling back in time walking through the cobblestone streets and seeing the incredibly well-preserved Medieval buildings. Tasting the delicious yemas (sweets made of egg yolk and sugar that are typical of Ávila) and the Ávila chuletón (its famous steak) were also high points. 

Finally, I fell in love with Córdoba last weekend. Every year in May, there is the famous patio festival, in which many houses in Córdoba open their patios (basically indoor courtyards) to the public to showcase their gardens. There’s also a competition for the prettiest one each year. They are truly amazing and gorgeous, with walls full of colourful flowerpots and planters, fountains and statues in the courtyards. I can’t imagine having to pick one winner! Córdoba's Mezquita-Catedral, a truly unique cathedral that was previously a mosque, blends hundreds of red-and-white arches typical of mosques with an elaborate alter and cathedral tower. I had never seen anything like it and was inspired by the mix of religious structures and symbols. The Judería (Jewish quarter) of the city is also gorgeous, full of whitewashed buildings and cobblestone streets. Córdoba is packed with people in May as there are festivals every week, but rather than being overwhelming, the city felt alive and energizing. It's definitely one of my favourite Spanish cities.

Well, that's the best I can do at summarizing these past two months. Stay tuned for a final entry sometime next week! 'Ta luego!