Que será, será

Our Plaza Mayor

This happened to me last time I came home from Spain. On one hand, I expected  and hoped for everything to be just the way I had left it. All of my friends in a row waiting for me, all of my Hilary Duff posters still hanging on the wall, all of my favorite stores still open. Then on the other hand, I felt like I had changed so much that it would be impossible to return to the same normal life.

Well, this return home brings a lot of change, and that much I can be sure of. My boyfriend, Mike, just accepted a job advising student-athletes at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. I'm very proud, and this is exactly what he wanted. I think he's secretly thrilled to get so far south, because as a runner, Buffalo doesn't exaclty provide ideal weather. Wait til he feels the heat. But really, It's very exciting to go start a brand new life all for yourself somewhere and to be doing something you love. I know all about it, because it's exactly what I've done these past nine months. I know he will be wonderful there and I hope it's a great adventure.

As for my friends, they have accomplished so much since I've left. I have friends in graduate school, friends finishing grad school, friends moving to different cities, living in different countries, working in fields they love, and working in fields they'd never considered. I'm so very proud and excited to see what they're all really up to. It looks like I will have a lot of places to visit when I return. Who said the U.S. wasn't an exciting place to explore? My blog may live on long after Spain...

The ever-so-famous Cathedral

"I never realize how much I like being home unless I've been somewhere really different for a while." Yes. It's a JUNO quote. I'm looking forward to settling in back home for a while, but I don't think I'll be able to quit the habit of calling Leon and Spain "home" as well. It's possible to be happy anywhere that you find friends, I'm almost sure of it.

5 days left and I'm officially wearing "graduation goggles". If you watch 'How I Met Your Mother' you'll catch the reference. Everything's suddenly wonderful, from the tapas to the views to the misbehaved kids and the Spaniards who cut in front of me at the grocery store.

La Visita Nocturna

We took a little trip to Oviedo where I got to see my lovely friend Julia, and my Spanish family. My picture is still in the hallway at my old house, so I think that means I'm doing okay. I do regret not visiting enough this year, but I'll be back. I know I can't stay away. And here: taking a stroll with Woody Allen, who might be a little crazy, but knows what he's talking about when it comes to Oviedo.

"Oviedo is a delicious, exotic, beautiful, clean, pleasant, tranquil, pedestrianied city. It's as if it didn't belong to this world, as if it didn't exist. Oviedo is like a fairy tale." I couldn't agree more. It's the place that singlehandedly made me fall in love with Spain.

We made it back to Leon after a long day to get to the Cathedral at night. The lights are only on from sunset til midnight, but I'll never get tired of walking up Calle Ancha and suddenly seeing it all lit up. Never.

With all my lovely friends, I climbed one of the towers to see the stained glass up high and at night. It looked awesome with the lighting from the outside streaming in and the inside of the building completely dark. I could have stood there for an hour just enjoying it. But then the tour guide started rambling, and I could only pay attention to so much of it. After Italy, I've had enough of tours.

At midnight, the lights outside went off and it was completely pitch black for a minute before the inner lights started to flicker on. It gave the inside a dramatic look and suddenly the stained glass looked grey, like it was metal and not beautiful and colored. It was so strange to see how fast it changed just based on the perspective. That was worth climbing the tower for, but then I was ready to leave. However, the tour guide had other plans for us. I'm pretty sure he started talking about history and architecture and that's when a few of us tuned out...

This is how much of the tour Ryan understood, and how completely thrilled by it he was.

This is Julie playing poker on her cell phone, trying not to be totally obvious about it. The three of us sat in the corner flipping through all the ridiculous pictures I have and so we at least kept ourselves entertained for a while. But truly, the 9 year olds behaved better than we did. But also- they speak better Spanish than we do. However, I saw the tour guide on the street this week and he did give me an " 'sta luego" and a head nod. Maybe it's not a good thing that he remembers me out of a group of 30...We'll never know.

Uña y Carne

"I'm glad the baby got paired with the grandma. Mija, I couldn't have asked for a better co-worker in the LB or a better friend! You truly are a wonderful, funny and caring person. I will miss you terribly! Love you mija!"--Kate

"Mini Prague just isn't mini Prague without Mr. Sarah Weber."--Julie

"Sarita, you are one of the most wonderful people I've ever been lucky enough to befriend. Your adorable smile, your crinkly nose, and your fabulous hands just make me so happy. Seeing you and hearing you laugh always made my day. I'm going to miss you oodles, but I'm excited to hear about your adventures and meet you on an exotic beach somewhere. There, I'll have a few too many drinks and try to hit on you again. ;) I love you lots!"--Sam

"Dear Sarah, my favorite thing about you is the adorable little smile and nose crinkle you get on your face everytime you hug someone. You are my favorite person to hug just because I know you make that cute little face. Also, you are a wonderful muffin and I'm so glad I got to know you this year. I love you!"--Erin

"Sara-Lee, it was meant to be."--Me

Of all the new and fabulous people that I've met this year, you're the one I'm dedicating a blog to. That says something, I'm not sure exactly what- but definitely something (non-creepy). I feel like I'm writing in your yearbook, and it's a total throwback to highschool. Anyways. When Greg told me his favorite friend from Oviedo was going to be in my same city, I figured you'd be pretty cool. Turns out, you became my best Spanish-American friend. When I think back to all the places I went to and all the things I did this year, you're the face I think of, the laugh I remember, and the friend I'll miss.

You know I'm a big believer in things happening for a reason, and sometimes it's nice to feel like you were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. When we studied in Oviedo 2 years ago I missed you by just a couple weeks and suddenly we ended up in the same city for 9 months, with one friend in common. So whenever I think that the universe is against me and timing is always terrible and there's no such thing as fate, I'll remember meeting you.

Thanks for an unforgettable year. See you soon.

xo media naranja

Modelo Pelirrojo

This is the beginning of Ry's photo shoot around the city. He had the perfect shirt on for it and then found the perfect flowers to match. In fact, he insisted on jumping down over the rail to go pick them and then had to muscle his way back up. I attempted to just get the red in this picture, but accidently picked up just peach instead, and it turned out better than I could have planned. If that's not a red beard, I don't know what is.

And we made the red work. I'm not really sure how he's standing so comfortably on the other side, I'm pretty sure there's just a tiny ledge. I'll have to go back and check. He's the one that put the flowers in his mouth, but then complained for the next hour about how bad they tasted, and then wouldn't take any gum to fix it. Boys. We even saved the flowers for a while and left them on a bench somewhere for someone to find them.

Photo shoot stop number three. The red windows of MUSAC kind of show up in this picture. This is the big modern art museum with the crazy colored windows which I've posted about before. Ryan is looking like a little kid, and then there's a hardcore little kid with an awesome red bike trolling around in the background.

This day Ryan brought Diego some of his "hair putty" so that they could be twins. In case you can't tell by Diego's face...he was beyond happy, and will surely be missing his new friend. It was adorable to watch them attempt to play together and they did impressively well. I'll have to quiz Diego on his question words and see how much he remembers. Then I'll let Ry know if he gets his paycheck for the week. In fact this week Diego asked "Where is the Ryan?" At least his question word was right...

This day I told Ryan that although his Party Hard shirt didn't quite match his plaid shorts, I loved it. It makes him pretty easy to spot in all the photos as well. Here we are in a beautiful plaza in the middle of the old town, though I've only found it a couple times now. The perfect place to stop for a drink and some shade since the weather was so hot. After he left, I went back with my friends to sit on the patio and have a drink. Our waiter was a very red redhead. I will be returning.

So I guess I asked for it. But. I told Ryan I had almost gone up to a different boy in the airport thinking it was him based on his hair, t-shirt, and broad shoulders. I did't realize I was giving the boy a compliment, and from then on he couldn't stop with his shoulders. Once there was a car coming down the street and he even turned sideways "so his shoulders wouldn't get in the way". This may be the only picture that shows off just how broad his shoulders are. He can hardly fit in the doorway.

Proof of how happy gelato can make me. I even let him take a picture of me.

Thursday nights should be like this more often. Enough said.

La Vaca Sagrada

Considering I am (or at least was) Ryan's only friend in the entire country, it wasn't too hard to convince him to do things with me, no matter how unexciting they sounded. He'd wait for me outside class, meet me for 1/2 hour coffee breaks, and show up just in time for teaching. I surprised him by letting him teach some of my classes and then took him to my favorite tutoring. Little does he know he was lucky he got to miss the hair pulling, screaming little ones. Here we are with my favorites teaching them "on, in, under". The language gap was so incredible to watch, because she talked to him just as if he understood everything and somehow they worked things out. If she knew the word in English she'd shout it proudly, like "finished! ready! hello!" Wonderful.

What a crew I have. Only my girl could manage a smile for the camera. She was so intrigued by Ryan that while she and I were working on a book, she would lean over the table and just stare. She must have asked me to repeat his name 15 times and when it did finally come out it was with a very strong, rolled, spanish R. And it was precious. My two little ones have learned enough to at least have been able to tell him "you're crazy". I've taught them well.

Yet another new view of the cathedral that I hadn't found before. The only reason we found it was because we wandered all around waiting for the gelato shop to open, but then we forgot to ever go back that day.

Some graffiti I find intriguing because it seems tragically romantic. Perhaps there's something lost in translation, but to me it's beautiful. I'm not the girl that likes the simple happy ending, the romantic comedy that ends predictably. There needs to be more to keep my interest. Also, this phrase is similar to a Pablo Neruda verse, and I'm a sap for him.

I think we had 2 failed attempts before we finally found Holy Cow open. I had been craving their gelato for way too long and I never know their hours. We found a spot on some church steps and ate happily. The owner is an Italian man with an Irish girlfriend so Ryan even got to order for himself in English, which was an exciting luxury in Leon. He did also manage to order a coffee and maybe even a beer at one point (in Spanish). Ask him how many new words he learned this trip, and I bet you'd be impressed.

Also, after traveling with me for a few days, he figured out the same trick my parents learned...if I start to get in a bad mood, get me sugar. Gelato does the trick every time. Once, he even walked into a candy shop without saying a word and came back out and handed me my favorite: a crunch bar. "Because you like them". I'll take the hint :).

El Cliente Habitual

Ryan made it back to Leon with me and he immediately fell into my daily schedule. I think that after a week here he experienced a month worth of Spanish living. We even went to Cafe Misissipi (yes, spelled incorrectly) enough times to make Ryan a regular. In fact, he got waved to on the street by the cafe owner before I did! He also got to eat the best cruasan a la plancha ever: enormous and with peach jelly. I'll miss them like crazy.

More protests all over the place. Here they have been sleeping in tents for about a week now, and they don't seem to be moving out anytime soon. It made the usual view of the Gaudi palace a little less classy and elegant than usual, but it's interesting. Who knows- the Spanish protestors are the ones actually crazy enough to make a difference.

This is a must-have picture in Leon. I tried to convince him to stand on the N, but he refused. Instead, he's got one leg awkwardly on it just to show it's his. This picture would have been much cooler with me on the "L" as well, but traveling with 2 means the pictures are always one sided. I promise Ryan wasn't in Spain all alone. He did have one (wonderful) friend and photographer. He might argue with my chosen adjective.

Another favorite picture. I noticed Ryan's old ear piercings which were not being put to use and I prepared for an argument, but apparently it was unnecessary. We found a little piercing shop and bought him some stellar black studs which really just completed his look. Though I'm not sure he has them on yet in this picture...Then we went to the park to play on my favorite spiderman web. I hope to get credit when this photo makes it on the cover of Ry's album. And apparently some older Spanish peope stopped to watch and laugh, though I'm so used to being blatantly stared at that I didn't even notice.

Here's the "fake rain" which I've only found one other time since I've lived here. It got me mega points as a tour guide because I wasn't positive I'd find it on the first try. It felt really nice since it was super hot this past week. As you can see, he's also taking a picture of me, and he got a REALLY nice one of me making a face when I touched the cold water. I'll keep that one off the blog.

Who knew my city had a rose garden? Ryan did. I think his tattoo works as a tracker, because we found two new gardens in a matter of days.

This is the last random picture from this small park in Leon that I never go to, but loved to see it all in bloom. Around this time a group of teenage boys eyed us as they tried to find a semi- hidden spot to unload their backpacks which were surely filled with beer. Spain. Oh Spain.

Como Caído del Cielo

Just when I thought I was about ready to leave Spain behind and move on with life, this redhead from Buffalo showed up. Having guests has been such a blessing for me, it really forces me to take a second look at this little life I'm leading and to find the very best parts and share them with someone else. It gives me a brand new set of eyes to experience everything with. Ryan waited patiently for me in the Madrid airport, though I arrived late and surely gave him a small heart attack. I also nearly attacked a poor broad-shouldered boy in a yellow polo thinking it was him, but luckily I held off.

Ryan and I met some new friends in Madrid who we spent most of the day with. I took him to Retiro Park which I so love, and we found this rose garden which I'd never seen before. Ry stopped to smell the roses in his very Buffalo outfit. Our trip was different than others I've had. We did so much in one week, but somehow always found time to sit with out feet up, eat gelato, and watch honeybadger on youtube. Most of my traveling involves trips that I say "I know I'll appreciate it all when I get home, but I'm tired and hungry and want my own bed", but this was the kind of trip to enjoy in the moment.

Among our travels throughout Madrid we accidently found Sol which is a big plaza and on this day they happened to be staging a protest against the socialist government. There were TONS of people, signs, tents and lots of chanting. Loosely translated this sign says "Revolution isn't a a drinking party". But still, lots of young kids were out at the square with backpacks filled with alcohol- not the best way to show you're serious about a cause. It was cool to be in the square even though I was totally squished and had to try really hard not to lose Ryan.

This picture is one of my favorites. It's so very Spanish and shows off some of the Plaza Mayor, one of the skinny sidestreets through the arch, the umbrella covered tables, the sun setting over people drinking and eating. And then there's Ryan, soaking it in.

On Sunday we took a day trip to Segovia, so this was a new place for both of us. We stopped to see the impressive aqueduct and wander around. The city was small, but beautiful and so well preserved. We climbed up along the side of the aqueduct to get a better view of it all.

We saw all these names written all over the wall when we climbed up. I'm not one for defacing beautiful architecture, but I happened to have some white chalk in my purse (thank you teaching). All I had to do was write my little name on the wall and Ryan did the rest. I even love the reflection in his sunglasses. We did a repeat shot with his name as well, but his facial expression was less exciting and it doesn't have my name in it, so I choose this one.

The cathedral in Segovia was truly impressive on the outside, though I'm still partial to mine.

This is long about the time when I gave Ryan a chance to be in charge and be the tour guide. I even warned that I'd be filling out an evaluation form at the end of it. As you can tell, we are sitting down...because we were pretty lost. We had been on the search for the Disney palace which he knew I needed to see and so we followed the aqueduct all along the city just to end up on the very opposite end from where the palace was. We did get to see an awesome little spot where the aqueduct got really short, so it was worth it in the end. Though I'll still be ranking "proposed route by the tour guide" fairly low.

And we finally made it! I think that's actually Ryan in the green t-shirt. This is my house in Spain, so you'll all know where to come visit. I call it my pastle. I said it on accident as a mix of palace and castle and wasn't sure Ryan had noticed...but he did. And I won't live it down, but if you ask me it's a great new term and I'm going to keep going with it.

After this we bought Ryan his Spanish bracelet, ate a kebab, and headed back to Madrid. We had a minor bump where I almost lost my privileges as tour guide and we got to our bus to Leon JUST before it left. We were pretty sweaty and he had to run after me with a huge suitcase BUT we made it. I've come to find out that it's not always the buidings and things you saw that are the most memorable- it's the time you spent eating dinner with friends as the sun set, getting stuck in sweaty crowds shouting slurs about the government, getting in fights with the short-haired lady at the bar, and running to the bus that you're sure you're going to miss.