There's No Place Like Home

And I'm not talking about the United States. There are times when I am out and about, running errands or going to and from work, and I say that I am "going home" after. Before, I would just say I am "going home" because my piso here in Spain is technically "my home." But now when I say it, I mean it. Spain...my neighborhood...everything is "my home." I know I am from the United States and my family and friends are there but there is no rule that says you cannot have two homes. The second I left Spain to go back to the United States in 2010, I knew I had left a piece of me in Sevilla. My goal this time around was to go back to Sevilla, pick up the piece of me that I lost, bring it home and continue on with life. Well, I need to face the truth. Family and friends...do not get worried. I will be in the Philly airport in June. But I know a piece of me will remain here although my intention was to come here to bring it back with me. So I guess you can say I found my second home here. And even though it is very early on in my experience, I am sensing another difficult end to this journey.

Why did all of this came about today? I was asking myself the same thing. But as I walked to the bus station on my way to work, I realized I finally had a routine down. Wake up, walk across the Puente de Los Remedios, look to my left and see the Torre del Oro and Giralda standing tall among the palm trees that line that Guadalquivir river, head towards the university which just so happens to be an old tobacco factory that was operating before my country was colonized, turn to go to the bus stop, hear the little stop and go crosswalk lights chirping at me and telling me to cross as the motos fly down the typical European style streets, take the bus to work, and proceed with my day. This is where I live. This is my home for the next eight months. I am lucky to have this experience.

Then I realized I am going to have good days and I am going to have bad days. The good days are my motivation to push through the rough times. Yes it is true that my Grandmother passed away on Wednesday, my computer crashed on Thursday and my Blackberry broke on Friday, but I discovered quickly (and I discovered the hard way) that life goes on. And that it did. Life went on. And what better place for life to move on then in my new home.