As a part of my American re-immersion, most English-isms were attempting to be cut out of my vocabulary. It involved the snapping of a hairband on my wrist and the negative reinforcement actually worked quite well to ride me of my “quites", “queues””and “propers” and reinstated some “awesomes” and a few “seriouslys.” I’d been talking about Emily and Jennifer coming to San Am for a long time now, and most people needed no introduction. I had to give lots of background stories of who people were and why I was friends with them, but fortunately, I could tell these stories in English, right in front of people’s faces and they were none the wiser, so it worked out pretty well, actually.
There’s no need to recount the individual events that transpired, as most of them revolved around just catching up on stuff. We had an amazing dinner at Felipe’s La Breña with cava and lots of wine. We exchanged gifts, made our bridesmaid status for Emily’s wedding formal and spent most of the night just telling stories.
We took walking tours of Barbate, Los Caños and Vejer, had lunch at Las Dunas, Luis and Arriate. We ate Paella at Miguel’s and spent the afternoon watching the Red Bull Kite Surfing Competition. We spent pretty much every single night at Miguel’s, drinking Cruzcampo and playing Uno with Miguelito. I realized that there was no agenda with these guys, no need to do anything other than what I would do on any normal weekend.
They were at home.
Well, as “at home” as you can be in a foreign country with people you don’t know speaking another language. But I felt like we all fit here. Just like we fit back home. And it was so comforting.
I even took them riding. And it was fun, and not a disaster. We went out early afternoon on Sunday, rode out for a couple hours to the Trafalgar lookout point, drank some beers, rode some more, tied up the ponies, had beers and tapas in Miguel’s, lost Caramelo, who decided he’d rather go home than hang out with us. We had an amazing evening and doing something that I’ve never been able to share with them (tear).
Sometimes when you’re away for so long, you feel like you’ve lost a part of yourself you won’t get back. It’s that feeling when you leave high school for college, when you look back at all the amazing friends you used to have and realize that most of them will never be as close to you as they were then. Before Emily and Jennifer came, I was worried I was doing the same thing again. Taking off for new adventures, leaving my former life and friends behind, only to find that when I return, the fragments of our relationships were gone as well.
Then this happens. The complete opposite. I realized that the relationships that are important to me will always be there, even if I leave them to dry out for a while.
And so I brave on with a new fire. Knowing that no matter where life takes me in the next few years, I will always be able to drink cheap watered down beer in a hole in the wall bar with my best friends.
