It started out with an emotional reunion. I knew that I had missed her, missed her openness, her affection and friendship... so after the eleven-hour drive to Ohio, as my finger pressed her illuminated doorbell, my eyes began to water. We had both gone through so much together, living in a new country, learning the language, we both had Spanish boyfriends and lived a wonderful life, then we returned to the US and lost our Spanish loves, it was a lot to handle in the past year. She opened the door screaming, I hugged her so tight... and we both cried together.
We had missed each other.
I was reunited with one of my best American friends that lived with me in Spain. That first night we cooked together, just like the good ole days in Spain. We cooked a vegetarian meal, had wine and ate on her patio table in the yard. It was magical. That, to me, was the good life! Dinner, wine, beauty and a friend.
The next day was her 30th birthday party, so I was down for whatever. She wanted to go to "the beach", notice how I use quotes its because its not a real beach, its a water park but the Ohioans call it the beach because they don't have any real beaches in Ohio since its in the midwest and not on the coast. That was so fun and relaxing-- its been maybe ten years since I've done something like that.
After the beach, we spent the rest of the evening/night partying and celebrating.
I was super excited that I was in town for the Ohio State Fair, la feria de Ohio, so we put flowers in our hair, took out our fans, and rocked it SPANISH style! After all, we do have a huge spanish influence and we experienced it together, two American girls from Malaga to Ohio, SO FUN!
cheese on a stick, haha
One of my fondest memories of Spain was when I visited Extremadura (the Spanish region that boarders Portugal). We swam in a lake and really just took in all the nature that surrounded us. I got a chance to re-live that in Ohio. We went to a dam/lake, stripped down, and went in for a dip. It was just before sunset so the water was calm and the sky pinkish blue-- it was beautiful. So serene. I wanted to stay there forever...
But we had to go salsa dancing!
and thats what we did, before I embarked on the eleven-hour journey back to NYC.
Its weird how you can be so close to someone yet live so far away. It hurts to lose someone, it hurts to move away from them. But thats the life I choose to live, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I love these unique opportunities to visit places I would have never otherwise chosen to visit, like Ohio. I wish I were closer to all my loves around the world, but I can't have it all, right?
I said goodbye to my friend and as I turned the key in the ignition, I knew that it would be a long time before I saw her again, it made me sick to my stomach...
