Volleyball Friends: Throughout our weeks in Cádiz, we had the opportunity to play beach volleyball a few times each week with some native gaditanos (citizens in Cádiz). Our host mother, María, always encouraged us to make new friends from Cádiz, and this group was the closest that we got to her goal. We skipped a few intercambios (language exchange student classes) to play with them by claiming that we were still getting Spanish speaking experience, but mainly they just taught us new slang expressions. By the last week, we actually felt like we knew the guys and one girl, Marta, on a personal basis, so they invited us to celebrate the last night playing with them! Lina got to play with them until we saw a gorgeous sunset but left to finish her final paper, and Tindall got the chance to stay out with them playing until midnight then enjoying an American burger and hanging out with them into the late night. We got everyone’s Facebook information, so hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with them! Appeasing María, we really did become friends with them, who are truly genuine people that we will dearly miss!
Pepe (María’s soon to be husband) and Abuela Loca: Whenever these two characters joined us for lunch, we knew that we were in for a good time. We spent the majority of our time laughing at Abuela for ridiculous things like her yoga moves at the dinner table or on the other hand, trying to crack a joke with Pepe. Our last lunch together, we got the best of both of them- Pepe, who always speaks the truth, declared that Abuela is the main part of María’s crazy family meanwhile she refused to stop feeding Poncho, our dog, like a little kid. No wonder María refers to her mom as hija (daughter)! By the last lunch, we figured out a few cues to our meal- the blender noise equaled gazpacho, Pepe wearing the apron hinted at fried fish, and the Abuela Loca wore the same dress every lunch. We always enjoyed their company throughout the week!
María (our mom): Claaarrrro. This soothing word coming from María’s mouth always put us at ease. We could say so much about this amazing woman, and she ultimately made it the experience of our lifetime! Chatting for an extra hour at the lunch table every weekday, we learned about her life, compared Spain and the USA, or pondered about our ideal place to relax. She always encouraged us to go out, but we rarely made it back later than her staying up to watch Supervivientes (Spain’s version of Survivor) until 2:30AM, which is too late for our American standards on a school night. She’s such a free spirit, who has a sense of joy for all aspects of life! For example, she told us the solution to ending world hunger was selling one of the Pope’s sinks made of gold. Giving her the last besito was the hardest part of leaving Cádiz!
She went out of her way to make sure we were always happy and comfortable and without a doubt treated us like real daughters! Although she always joked about us needing to find friends, with her we always had a friend at our side. From visiting her store, watching movies with her, treating her to a dinner on the town, listening to her sing as she cooked our lunch, feeding us like giants, enjoying beverages in the Plaza, and Skyping our families with her (impressed with the Brown’s Spanish skills and thought my dad was guapo plus loved that he’s a political man), we will miss every laugh, language misunderstanding, joke, or smile together!
Davidson Group: Although we only knew about half of the people in this group before arriving in Spain, we have new friendships that we’ll keep forever. We spent the first week together touring Barcelona and Madrid, but we kept growing closer throughout our weeks in Cádiz. Whether it was a required Salsa class, playing with Profesora Willis’ adorable daughters, spending a day at the beach on Playa Victoria, eating ice cream in Plaza Mina, or starting the night out together at Nahu, we made many memories together along the journey! We’ll see y’all at Davidson soon!
Looking back on our experience, we had THE TIME OF OUR LIVES and built unforgettable relationships! As for us, it is a summer that we will be able to share together for the rest of our lives, and we know that these memories will remain with us forever. God has really blessed us with this opportunity, and we couldn’t have asked for a better journey together!
