I’m going to take you back a few years today. Okay, maybe more than a few, but according to the bartender the other night, I don’t look my age, and it was a GIRL so don’t give me a hard time:) Where was I? Oh, going to Spain.
So when I was just 16 years old, an opportunity came about that was something I could not pass up. A trip to Spain. Now, before we get there, you need the whole story. In high school, you make friends, and you make enemies. There really didn’t seem to be an in-between. There were cliques of all kinds. I seemed to be in some sort of middle one. I wasn’t actually sure where I fit in. I did NOT go out of my way to fit in mind you. I just simply was there.
When I got to go to Spain, I knew that it was going to be life changing even at that young age. I was a ballerina turned soccer player and I was in the middle of my first type of almost relationship. I wasn’t even sure what that was at the time…except for the fact that my momma warned me not to get hung up on “one guy”. Ha. I’ll show him, I’ll go to Spain. Take that. Maybe you will value me half-way across the world.
The girls who went on the trip were friends in a “What’s up” kind of head nod way. There was a goth girl, and a girl who was Cuban and I roomed with them. I thought they were fascinating. We were all from different kinds of “cliques”. I loved it. I really did. I loved putting myself in odd situations or places where I don’t know a soul.
Anyway, the trip itself was so full of magic that I wish I could close my eyes and remember all of it. The sights, sounds, and tastes of another culture. The AGE. Why did we not all see how young and fresh we were? The language. I was almost fluent at the time. Bah. I have lost too much.
My favorite place was Palma de Mallorca. Oh it was exquisite. We stayed in a hotel that was near the beach and everyday we would go to this little restaurant. It became my favorite place to go. There was a blonde haired blue-eyed Spanish boy working there and we could get the best pitcher of sangria I have ever tasted. He and I made eye contact quite a bit. Ah, teenagers. We visited Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and Mallorca…what a whirlwind!
Anyway, the last night we were in Spain the girls all bonded quite a bit. We went to one room, ALL of us, and there were quite a few of us, I don’t remember how many, without our chaperones, but the “apartness” of teens vanished. We realized we were just American girls having the time of our lives away from home. It was an experience I will not forget and it was brought up by a letter sent to my daughter. She will only be in 8th grade next year, but she got the letter about a trip to Spain. Ahhhh. The memories.
What’s up?
Fun times:)
Aimee in her hat. Yup.We even created a secret list on this trip and all signed it. And perhaps I brought back some alcohol that was totally allowed in my suitcase at the time. I can’t recall. Hugs to my girls from this trip…and I wish I still had my tiny sombrero:)
