again.
as much of a failure i have been at blogging on a regular basis, at least i can say that i try. every time. like new year's resolutions. sometimes it is not so evident, since i don't even share a single page from my scrapbook of experiences, but the intent is always there, i swear.
this time i am in madrid, españa. i arrived 4 weeks / nearly one month ago.
being back in spain has been strange; like getting to know an old friend - or an old lover - once again, hesitant, unsure, foreign. from santander to madrid, from erasmus to corporate intern, 2 years in between, are those little but key changes that make it impossible for things to be the same as they were before. it's not so bad, but doesn't feel great either. you miss the old things, the past comforts, the ease and familiarity, and wonder why it doesn't come back so quickly.
this is the first time i have returned to a country that i once lived in abroad. i have yet to get back together with an ex, so it is difficult to sustain the metaphor that i had going for a while there, due to lack of comparative experience.
i have also spent all of one weekend in madrid in my first four weekends living in spain.
the first weekend, i returned to the northern coast, which released an onslought of nostalgia. my second weekend, to a small city in Norway, where i had to make a potentially life-changing decision. the third weekend i passed hanging out in an old friend's piso and walking around downtown madrid. this past weekend, i went on a spontaneous trip to Scotland, where i climbed the highest summit in the UK and tried haggis for the first time.
one month later, i can say i know madrid a little better than when i first arrived, but my grasp of the city and her contours is still pitiful at best. and i am still as shy as a newlywed, even having lived in spain in the past. unsure of what my role is, where it is, who to seek out or where to frequent. habits yet unformed, friends still acquaintances. one month in, and madrid is not home yet. falling in love always happens in the second, the third month, i know - but one month is still a long time to spend in one place. con tiempo, i tell myself. con tiempo.
as much of a failure i have been at blogging on a regular basis, at least i can say that i try. every time. like new year's resolutions. sometimes it is not so evident, since i don't even share a single page from my scrapbook of experiences, but the intent is always there, i swear.
this time i am in madrid, españa. i arrived 4 weeks / nearly one month ago.
being back in spain has been strange; like getting to know an old friend - or an old lover - once again, hesitant, unsure, foreign. from santander to madrid, from erasmus to corporate intern, 2 years in between, are those little but key changes that make it impossible for things to be the same as they were before. it's not so bad, but doesn't feel great either. you miss the old things, the past comforts, the ease and familiarity, and wonder why it doesn't come back so quickly.
this is the first time i have returned to a country that i once lived in abroad. i have yet to get back together with an ex, so it is difficult to sustain the metaphor that i had going for a while there, due to lack of comparative experience.
i have also spent all of one weekend in madrid in my first four weekends living in spain.
the first weekend, i returned to the northern coast, which released an onslought of nostalgia. my second weekend, to a small city in Norway, where i had to make a potentially life-changing decision. the third weekend i passed hanging out in an old friend's piso and walking around downtown madrid. this past weekend, i went on a spontaneous trip to Scotland, where i climbed the highest summit in the UK and tried haggis for the first time.
one month later, i can say i know madrid a little better than when i first arrived, but my grasp of the city and her contours is still pitiful at best. and i am still as shy as a newlywed, even having lived in spain in the past. unsure of what my role is, where it is, who to seek out or where to frequent. habits yet unformed, friends still acquaintances. one month in, and madrid is not home yet. falling in love always happens in the second, the third month, i know - but one month is still a long time to spend in one place. con tiempo, i tell myself. con tiempo.
