Mal Castellano con Greg y Mar: Heading to Spain

After arriving in the airport and checking our bags we had some time to kill so we walked around looking for souvenirs for Mar’s family. We went into every place that sold clothes in the A terminal looking for a shirt with an American flag on it for Mar to wear in Spain (so she could show off her proud heritage). We didn’t find any so Mar settled on some shirts that say Philadelphia for her parents. We also bought neck pillows to make the flight more comfortable then popped some pills (to sleep) and got on the plane. After about a half hour I still didn’t feel anything so I took another pill. Another half hour passed and the meal service came through on the plane. I figured I would force down some airplane food so I wouldn’t be too hungry when we landed. All of the sudden I began to feel very happy (see above, I took some pills - not quite sure what they were but Mar is a pharmacist so I trust her with these things). I tore open the lid to see chicken with rice and sad looking vegetables, but as I began to eat, the vegetables started to turn happy. Each bite felt like an explosion of flavor and happiness in my mouth. Often during the meal I remarked to Mar that I was having a party in my mouth. Oh, drugs. I fell asleep and slept through the majority of the flight.

When I woke up we had already crossed the pond and were cruising over Spain. The flight crew came through with danishes for breakfast (I wasn’t nearly as happy at this point) and “coffee.” We landed shortly after and were officially in Spain.

Mar’s parents picked us up at the airport and took us back to their house in Blanes (about an hour north of Barcelona). I spent much of the ride gazing out the window at the Catalan scenery. I always feel strange when I first find myself in a different place, especially in a different country. The land felt different and unusual. The mountains lush with trees that looked very unfamiliar to me. A bit of shock comes along with such a change for me, but a shock that is unexpected. I had been in this country before, even along this same road. I had seen these mountains and trees and experienced them when they were truly unknown to me, when I had never seen them before, but I still had the same feelings when looking upon them as I did when I had first come here in December. Even more strangely, I remembered having this feeling when I returned to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico last year. The mind (at least my mind) seems to find a way of acclimating to one location and deciding that all others are foreign, no matter the duration of time spent in any other.

-Greg