I’m at home in Yellowstone for Christmas. I’m taking a break from my tales of jaunting around Europe (oh, and that teaching thing, too) and am concentrating on relaxing at home—I’m hanging out with my family, visiting old friends, going skiing every day, drinking lots of good dark beer, working on application essays for graduate school, sorting through boxes of old stuff to go to the Salvation Army, and enjoying the true Christmasy feel of being home for the holidays.
My parents and brother came to Spain to visit me and to explore for a week before we all flew back together. One of my favorite things is the grin that I feel after waiting edgily for hours for my family’s plane to arrive, then seeing them emerge through the crowds at the airport. It happens every time I see them! I always grin sillily for several minutes, and I’m always overjoyed to see them. The week together in Spain was wonderful, because we got lots of good family time in, and we all got to explore new places. We ate mesas-full of delicious food, drove over breathtaking mountain roads in the northern part of Mallorca, and ogled the masterpieces for hours in the Prado. We wandered the backroads of Santanyí and my whole family tried their hand at teaching English in the elementary school in S’Alquería Blanca.
We spent seven nights on Mallorca, two nights in Madrid, and then flew back to the states. Our planes barely squeaked through snow-laden airports, but we eventually made it home at 2AM on Christmas Eve. It was a whirlwind adventure, and now it’s lovely to be home. I’ve gone cross-country skiing every day since I’ve gotten here, and I plan on going skiing every single day until I leave. Because we didn’t have much time to settle into the true Christmas spirit before Christmas, we’ve been making up for it now: my mom has been reading me Christmas stories every night, I still listen to Christmas music in the car (I LOVE DRIVING!), and I never tire of looking at our Christmas tree. We didn’t go up into the forest this year to cut our own tree, but it’s a real tree nonetheless. Unfortunately, my parents made the mistake of recruiting the fire marshal’s daughter to take care of our cat, Herman, while they were away in Spain: the fire marshal gifted them with a can of fire-proofing spray for trees. It’s white, powdery, and smells like cat piss. Luckily, my parents chose a hearty, healthy tree—it withstood the chemical dousing pretty well, and the fir-tree smell still overpowers the underlying fire-retardant cat stench. No offense to cats.
I might write more about the time with my family in Spain a little later—right now, I’m pretty tired of staring at my computer screen. I’m applying to Portland State University and Georgetown University for MATESL programs (Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language) and Georgetown’s application essay needs to be 500 words long or less. Whoever can express themselves elegantly and accurately in 500 words must be a genius—I’ve been swearing at my essay for three days now, and a few hours ago I finally took a deep breath and slashed the heart out of it to cut it down to size. Now I’m staring at my butchered 499-word essay, trying to decide if it’s worth the risk to apply with the 900-word essay that I like better. Who knows. I’ll sleep on it, choose one version, and hit the submit button tomorrow. It’s funny that no matter how far I go, stress always catches up with me. As soon as I finish Georgetown’s application, I need to work on Portland State’s application, then I need to apply for a few more jobs for next summer, then I need to think about clearing out my room, then oh, yeah, I need to enjoy being at home! Don’t worry—coming home is always my favorite feeling in the world, and I am fully appreciating spending Christmas in Yellowstone with my family.
On Jan. 11, I fly to Seattle to visit my grandparents, and on Jan. 14, I fly back to Spain to start round 2. I am so glad that I get to spend 5 more months in Spain! I’m starting to make friends, my roommate and I are getting along really well, I love my job, and I plan to go back to Spain full of new ideas to try in the classroom. In the meantime, I’ve got two full weeks left at home, and I’m enjoying them to the last drop!
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