Amor a la Española
by Michelle Lara - Winner of the 2011 LOVE. Contest!
Teach in Spain
In the Spring of 2007, mere months before my college graduation, CIEE called to give me the opportunity to pack my bags and finally fulfill my dreams of living abroad. I breathed a huge "Yess!" without a single doubt or hesitation. There was jumping, twirling, and an immediate phone call to my parents to shriek the happy news into their ears. My Bachelor's degree in the Summer, and off to Spain in the Fall - I was ecstatic!
My college boyfriend, not so much.
In the months leading to my departure we talked out our different choices (staying together versus not), but not once did I find it in myself to turn down the teaching position CIEE had given me. Love could wait, but fulfilling my dreams of living abroad and getting to experience complete immersion in Spanish life and culture could not.
That fall I packed a single suitcase and took off for Spain, newly single. My heart was broken, but my aspirations and excitement were soaring. The job was perfect - I was assigned to teach primary school children in a small town within the Córdoba province in Andalucía, Spain. I immediately fell in love with teaching these children that were so eager to learn, and who immediately embraced me into their English learning experience. During class, I would entertain them with English phrases and words along with tidbits about American culture and life in California. During recess they would group around and teach me Spanish phrases and their own cultural tidbits. Recess had never been so educational!
Life outside of school was also terrific. I shared a small piso on the far side of town with a fantastic roommate and we traveled to several nearby cities and countries whenever we had the chance. We also made our rounds about town, and by getting to know other teachers and making several friends from the province, we established a wonderful home base for our Spanish learning and cultural experience. It was during one of these local excursions that I met David.
He was a local nurse from town, home again after having worked in Lisbon, Portugal for years. My roommate thought he was cute, and ignoring my declarations of being happily single and on a man-cleanse (i.e. wanting to stay happily single), she decided to play matchmaker. A not-so-subtle one.
All of a sudden, the two of us became three.
Having seen that I wasn't going to make a move of any sort, my roommate took it upon herself to make the moves for me and began inviting David over for weekend dinners and intercambios, or English lessons offered in exchange for Spanish ones.
One night, after I had ignored a couple of David's phone calls, my roommate glared at me and snapped, "You know, part of the whole Spanish immersion experience is getting to know Spaniards. No one's asking you to marry the guy."
Taken aback and seeing that she had a point, I opened up a little and began to accept David's invitations for tapas together after work. Within a very short time, I began to realize how extremely well we got along and how much I actually enjoyed his company. The next thing I knew, two more months in Spain had flown by and I realized that David and I were, in fact, dating.
Nope. There was no wiping the smug look off my roommate's face.
It was also around this time that I began considering doing another year of teaching abroad. I wanted to come back to this wonderful home base in Spain and continue traveling wherever I could. I had only been researching my options for a week when I received an email from CIEE letting me know that I had the chance to renew my contract with the Spanish government, as long as I planned on staying at my assigned school. Needless to say, I immediately began working on the renewal.
My second year was just as amazing as the first. The children at my school were incredibly excited about having me back (and I was so happy to see them again!), there was more learning and traveling, and my relationship with David continued to grow.
It wasn't until the end of my second year abroad that reality began to set in. I realized that although I had the option of renewing my contract a third year, I had to return to California. I still had school loans to pay, and I wanted to begin applying for Graduate school.
When the time came for me to leave, David and I said our goodbyes. We had not talked out our choices (staying together versus not). We were just . . . going to see what happened.
Almost half a year went by before I saw him again. It was a cold February evening, and as I waited for his plane to land at the Los Angeles Airport, my stomach continued to twist itself into knots. I searched as crowds of people flowed through the arrival gates, and then . . .
There he was. He had gotten thinner. I smiled, and David immediately found me amongst the throngs of people. We kissed, and had a good look at each other. I don't think either of us could really believe it, all those months apart had seemed an eternity, and now the moment we had been waiting for was finally here.
During our two weeks together it was all as if no time had passed between us. But those two weeks flew by and before we knew it, David was back halfway across the world and I was still figuring out what my reality was supposed to be in California. Again, David and I were just . . . going to see what happened.
And what happened was that we both became fed up with our respective realities and decided that if what was making us miserable was being apart, then what we had to do was be together. And since coming from separate countries makes being together that much more difficult, we were just going to have to get married - within the next seven weeks.
Seven weeks of whirlwind madness. My old roommate shrieked with happiness, our families rushed to buy plane tickets, my mom and sister raced to help put everything together, and I rushed to do everything I possibly could when I wasn't at one of my two jobs. One week before the wedding, I finished applying for Grad schools - in Spain.
David and I were married in July of 2010, and in September 2010 I flew back into Spain on the exact date on which I had initially arrived three years before. Stepping off the plane and walking towards my new life, I couldn't help but think about how one heartbreak could lead to so many wonderful things: an amazing life in Spain, travel experience, falling in love, graduate school abroad, David, and most of all, an incredible and priceless learning experience. Sometimes heartbreak is a risk worth taking . . .