Another Cafe Con Leche

So, when it comes down to it, I realized that life in Andalucia has become, well, life.

The vacation is long over, and the struggle to maintain sanity period has faded, so now I am comfortably in my groove of life. Yeah. Thats it.

Essentially, my feelings towards every morning are the same as they would be if I were somewhere, well, anywhere else. I love Spain, do not get me wrong, and I wake up everyday reminding myself of the lucky oppurtunity I have to be here, to live here, and to spend someone elses money here ... but the romanticism of Spanish architecture, the colorful charisma of its culture, the endless array of tapas and vino, have become what is...always.

Its really like an alarm clock, at first the ring is powerful, wakes you up immediately, and you are ready to start your day. After a bit, your body gets used to it, you begin to loath it, ache to hit snooze. But, somehow, finally, you grow to accept it. You begin to recognize its sounds in your dreams, and to sometimes wake up before it, so used to what it does to you. That is where I am with Spain. I know my friends, I know my streets, I know just enough Spanish to get by, and I know that soon enough, it will all be over, my metaphoric alarm clock will break, and I will continue to wake up before it, expecting its casual noise.

After more than two months, the idea that my family is coming excites me beyond measure. The reality, or surreality of it all should be quite the momentous occasion. See, I have grown to know Granada, its context, on my own, so the sudden incorporation of all things good and homey will be quite the pastiche of life. See, its a cut and paste moment, a time when two things so seperate and unrelated will suddenly be one, a dada collage of my experiences. Being alone here has helped me grow up, has introduced me not only to new people and lives, but also to myself. Granted, I haven´t grown too much (well maybe width wise...) but I have realized a little bit more about myself, and my own ability to be: to merely exist as is, without people to define me or history to hold me in place. Don´t get me wrong, once again, its more that I am who I am be it in Chicago or Spain, it just took me two months living half way accross the world to realize that fact. Needless to say, the suddenly reincorporation of physical entities that represent love and care (that means you Sveta and Jenka!) is something that I am really excited to see and know again. After all this independance, it will be quite the feeling to see what my life REALLY is, what I am still and will always be, Liza.


i am excited. so happy. so nervous. and so unbelievably joyous to see the union of my home now, my little nook in the sierra nevadas, with the people who define and refine me, my family.


Sorry, for the deep jibber jabber, its just my feelings right now.

I´ll try to tell a funnier story next time.