When you live in a foreign country, life can be overwhelmingly cool. Today, many small magical things happened and each delighted me endlessly.
First, I had class at 11 so I got to sleep in a bit. A burst of fresh air accompanied by gossiping cleaning ladies across the terrace woke me up at 9:15 but I didn't care because finally, I was not sweating while getting dressed. I even wore capris because they are fashionable here and I want to be Spanish.
Morning turned to afternoon and I ate some spinach and garbanzos and went back to class. After class, I walked the million years home with four wonderful girls. We had a busy evening plan. We had a full agenda.
1. Buy ice cream. Our 2x1 ice cream place no longer sells 2x1 ice cream so we had to go two stores down to the other ice cream place WHERE THEY HAD CHOCOLATE DIPPED CONES. I indulged in this incredible delicacy, filled with banofee, a flavor of banana cake, cookie pieces, and caramel. Not too sweet, not too fruity, all too satisfying.
2. Walk with melty ice cream cones in the breezy late afternoon to the Sevici citywide bikeshare station to get a big red bicycle. We just walked home. Why would we want a bike? SO I COULD LEARN TO RIDE ONE!
Yes, I'm 20 and until today, I absolutely could not ride a bike. I did not go near them or think about them but rather watched Northwestern students zip up and down campus jealously. Now, I have a fighting chance in the Tour De France 2011.
Not yet, but these wonderful friends literally balanced my handle bars and caught me as I tilted and swerved. Twenty minutes in, I was down the driveway and back by myself. A group of 8 Spanish little girls watched me and giggled from the other side of the street. A neighbor came out and exclaimed, "You don't know how to ride a bike? How incredibly awkward?" (At dinner, she asked my friends if all Americans don't know how. They assured her it's really just me.)
Twenty minutes later (on the second round of free 30 min bike rentals), I could start and stop all by myself. Palms sweating, heart racing, I was over the moon with glee.
Turning for another day as I headed home to do a few things before dinner.
You know when you leave America for 20 days and you just can't eat any more fish and vinegar and salt and melon....
WE HAD SPAGHETTI. Ana, heromother of the century, fixed any homesickness we may have felt. Courtney almost cried. Sebas told us we were going to ruin their finances for eating so much. I just smiled and smiled and smiled. And ate more spaghetti.
Chocolate cone, bike riding, spaghetti. All-American best day ever? You thought it couldn't get better?
I have a new friend. The Christmas-scarf wearing stuffed moose Ana gifted me from her attic clean-out (treasure-hunted there during siesta. It rocked.). I also have fresh sheets and TWO pillows to sleep on, along with my new friend. Name submissions being accepted now.
And tomorrow, I don't have to wake up till 10. This is the happiest I have been in a while.
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