A Day In the Life

Jane's village street (her house is on the right)

I caught my bus yesterday and made it to meet my friend! It was iffy there for a moment as, despite being SO tired during the day, I couldn’t actually fall asleep once I did go to bed (gotta love jetlag) but then, once I did, I did NOT want to get up in the morning. But I dragged my sorry self up and out, lugged my gimpy suitcase through the Madrid streets and up and down the metro stairs yet again and caught my bus. But not before stopping in the station and having a glass of freshly squeezed, pure orange juice and a freshly baked, warm, gooey chocolate pastry. Ah, Europe.

The bus had wifi (fancy schmancy) so I thought I’d get some ‘work’ done but it didn’t actually work most of the time so I caught up on sleep instead, which worked out just fine. Three hours and forty-five minutes later I arrived in the northwestern city of Leόn, where my old friend Jane was waiting for me. I always love that moment when you see a familiar face in such a faraway place!

Likely lifetime neighbors out shooting the breeze

Jane and I met aaaages ago, back when I had a “real” job and worked at AHLI. She brought a group of Spanish students to Lancaster and I was the group leader. We spent four weeks traveling together, laughing and becoming fast friends. Jane is one of those people that simply is who she is, take it or leave it. I took it. She’s frank and forthright, but never rude or mean. She’s super pragmatic, but her logic is almost always infallible. She’s funny and generous and would give you the shirt off her back without blinking. And she’s the type of friend that, whether it’s been six months or six years since you’ve last seen her, it’s as if it hasn’t been more than 6 minutes. In fact, it sadly had been nearly 6 years since we last saw each other but the moment I wrote to tell her I was coming to Spain and would like to see her, she immediately insisted that I stay with her and her only complaint was that I wasn’t staying a month. Seriously. I love that.

The village church

Jane is British but has lived in Spain since she was 8 so speaks both languages equally natively (SO jealous). We spend lots of time speaking Spanish since my Spanish can still use help and her English clearly needs none. The Spanish spoken here in Spain is the Spanish I learned first and the one that I still love the most. I love their expressions, their accent, the particular way they word things, the sound effects that sometimes accompany it… I find it all to be completely endearing. But I also greatly enjoy talking to Jane and her family in English as I also get an amusing dose of British expressions as well. They regularly throw out terms like “I’m so knackered”, “Don't get your knickers in a twist”, “It’s total rubbish” and  "Dah-ling" in ways that only Brits can pull off.

Jane and her family actually live on the outskirts of Leόn in a tiny village, and I do not use the term ‘village’ lightly. As in less than three hundred people. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone, literally. Life here is quiet and relaxed, the kind of place where you go to the bakery for fresh bread every day, you stop at the local pub after work for a quick drink and can count on running into friends, and where the siesta is alive and well. Yesterday we were discussing what we would be doing today and she said we would get up early to head to the bakery. When I nervously asked what she meant by early, imagining, in my American mindset, something along the lines of 7:00 am, she responded “Oh no, Darling, I mean like 11:00!”. One more reason to love Spain.

Lucia (Lulu), Jane's sister Diana, Pedro (Boobee) & Jane

Today looked like this: we slept until we woke up (divine, and just what I needed), leisurely drank our hot chocolate and fresh croissants straight from the bakery, got ourselves ready, had some family over for lunch (the main meal of the day in Spain), siesta time, watched the big Madrid v Barcelona soccer match at a friend’s house, home for dinner around 10:30, bed by 2:00. I was made for this life!