I’m coming home is wherever I’m with you where the heart is, if there’s love here too. What?

Something that my dad said to me on the phone yesterday (in between my coughing, wheezing, and sneezing) really struck me as odd: “I’m sorry.  Being sick when you’re away from home is the worst.”  I was confused for a moment.  Am I not home?  To my dad, I am halfway across the world in a foreign country with no comforts of “home.”  It would make perfect sense to him (or to anyone else) that while sick, I would suffer the worst of my homesickness.  But honestly, the past few days of being holed-up with my best friend (myself), lots of cold medicine, and a complete season of fresh zombie shows has made me feel nothing but home.  Homehealthy, you might say.  I have made myself comfortable in my new city and settled into a happy routine that I absolutely love.  I get to speak the beautiful Spanish language every day; live in my own cozy little nest; teach children about the wonders of another world through language; and meet passionate, (usually) kind, and interesting people everywhere I go.  Lugo is my new home.

A long-distance friend recently told me, “We don’t have to talk every week or keep up with every event in each other’s lives; when we see each other again, we’ll continue our conversation where we left off years ago.”  This is the beauty of traveling and embracing wanderlust.  Loved ones don’t cease to be loved.  The bond between dear friends doesn’t lose strength.  By carrying all the love you’ve gathered in your heart, home is always within you.  Let me touch on a few artists’ Ps of V about home, if you will. Edward Sharpe and his crew believe that “home is wherever I’m with you” (assuming that “you” is someone they love). Jack Johnson says, “Home is wherever we are if there’s love here too.”  And long ago, some crafty little lady crocheted “home is where the heart is” and lives on through her legend of throw pillows and pastel-colored wall-hangings. All of that together would be, “Home is wherever I’m with your heart (if there’s love here)”…right?

My point is that home is simply your state of mind.  If you have an open, loving attitude to your surroundings, a foreign place will soon become a happy home.  So forget about being homesick or unsatisfied with your current situation.  Carry love with you everywhere you go so that you are at home anywhere in the world.  Make friends with yourself.  Love yourself.  Offer love to your surroundings.  For a wandering spirit to enjoy life wherever it may find itself, it’s necessary to pack your beliefs and the people you love in your heart.  Don’t hold on to the past and wish for old comforts—accent every new moment with the colors of home, with the things that remind you of the love you carry with you.  Let home be wherever your heart takes you.  Happy home-hopping, my friends.

Love,

Cindy

P.S. All this being said, I am beyond excited to go to my original home next week to be with the most loving family on the planet.  (Do you think I’m exaggerating?  Just hang out with us for an evening of cooking, dancing, and enjoying life in our little kitchen and then tell me if I’m overstating the awesomeness that is the Mergens.)  Holy Moly.  See y’all in a week.

“Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my maw n paw…not the way that I do love you!”   

Crash Course on Life in Lugo

I’ve been in Lugo for a month now. It already feels like home. I have the beginnings of a family of friends; I get to work in a school full of vivacious children; my volleyball team is really nice (they say the newbie bruises on my arms will go away); and I share a cozy apartment with a magnificent roommate, who even shares her dog with me. For those who aren’t aware, I’m in Spain working as “cultural ambassador” at a primary school until June of 2013.  The program is through the Spanish Ministry of Education, and it brings native English speakers to all parts of the country to assist in public school English classrooms.  I’ve dreamed of teaching English abroad for years, so this whole experience is my real-life fairy tale.

A little about where I am: I’m living in the city of Lugo, which is the capitol of the province of Lugo, which is part of the region of Galicia on the northwestern coast of Spain.  It’s only about a 1.5 hour drive to the coast, but that’s a very long drive if you don’t have a car! I haven’t visited the coast yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.

Playa de las Catedrales, a nearby beach I'm looking forward to visiting

My little inland city is perfectly hilly and green.  I’m very grateful that I’m in a smaller city (about 100,000 people) that gives me easy access to my best friend, Mother Nature, rather than in a megalopolis like Barcelona or Madrid.  After living in various cities over the past few years, I’ve come to realize that I need to see green foliage and smell fresh air in order to keep my soul happy.Concrete and skyscrapers stifle me.  Lugo, on the other hand, tricks me into thinking I’m in Ireland sometimeswith her low, moss-covered stone walls, green rolling hills, and abundance of Celtic heritage.

Less than five minutes from my apartment, there are trails that go along the Rato River and into the forests and fields beyond the city.

When the Romans came along and kicked the Celts out of this area, they built Lugo’s most famous asset: the wall.  Known as “la muralla” (moo-RYE-yah), this nearly 2,000-year-old and 40-foot-high stone wall makes a 2 kilometer circle around the center of the city.  It’s converted from a shield to unwanted visitors into a UNESCO World Heritage site that locals use as a giant walking/running track. 

View from the wall into the center of the city, including the cathedral

Inside the Roman wall is where I fell in love with Lugo and her deliciously free tapas.  At just about every bar/café (of which there are easily five or six on every street), you get a free tapa and pincho with every drink you order.  A tapa is a small serving of a prepared dish from the kitchen, like mushrooms in cream sauce, roasted potatoes with garlic sauce, prawns, roasted meat, or a seafood salad.  A pincho is a piece of bread with a topping and a toothpick through it.  Pinchos can have cured meats on them, tortilla española (thick potato omelet), cheese, or sometimes cheese and anchovies (my favorite!).  Lugo is arguably the cheapest city in Spain; a glass of good wine costs about two euros, and a beer costs €1.50.  With a tapa and pincho with each drink, it’s easy to have a dinner of tapas, pinchos, and drinks for less than five euros!  Going out for tapas is a great way to start off nights out in Lugo, which usually keep people out until at least 6:00 a.m. or even mid-morning the next day.  But I’ll save those stories for another post ;) 

Here are Annia and Elizabeth at one of our favorite places, las Cinco Vigas.

I’ve been trying to keep my all-nighters to a minimum since I have a grueling work schedule of Wednesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  I work in a primary school called Casás with a lovely English/arts and crafts teacher named Teresa.  Normally I help the students with pronunciation, go through their workbooks with them, and give cultural presentations (this week I did a PowerPoint about Halloween in America).  My students think I speak very little Spanish, because I always use English with them.  I’m sure they’ll be shocked at the end of the school year when they find out I understand everything they say!

The outside of my school, CEIP de Casás

I also teach an extra-curricular English class at Casás for a few hours each week, and I give private lessons to a few pairs of siblings and an adult couple who want to learn English for traveling.  Even with my extra classes, I still only work about 20-25 hours a week.  I love it!  I get to fill my days with the things I love: long walks in nature, reading books, doing yoga, cooking, and meeting new friends.

There are about twenty other people in Lugo working in this program (we’re called auxiliaries), all from the U.S., U.K., and Australia.  It was easy to flock together at the beginning since we’d formed a Facebook group before arriving, and everyone is naturally falling into their groups and branching out.  I feel SO lucky to have met my roommate, Annia (and her husky, Gwen).  We get along perfectly and even have a song.  Give us enough Rioja (preferably Muga), and we might sing it for you.

Though my American friends are AMAZING in every way, one of my main goals for my time in Spain is to continue improving my Spanish language skills.  Obviously, a good way to do that is to be friends with Spaniards!  My yoga buddy and all-things-Lugo mentor, Elizabeth, is starting her third year working in this program.  She’s introduced me to a lot of her Spanish friends, and she and I also joined a local volleyball league.  I’ve also met lucenses (Lugo-ans) through other auxiliaries and their roommates, so I have a nice mix of English and Spanish throughout my day.

My volleyball team, Emevé

You’ve now completed Lugo101, your introductory course to my time in Spain :) Your homework is to message me, make a Skype date with me, or write me a letter…keep in touch!  I’d love to hear about what’s going on with my friends and family in other parts of the world.  Until next time…hasta luego! un beso xo