Regular Life in Ronda

Regular life in Ronda - that statement in and of itself is a little ironic. What is regular life in Ronda? And what is a regular life for a girl who has lived so many places in the past several year? What is regular life for a girl that work 15 hours a week in Spain?

I'll tell you. Regular life is beautiful.

Truth be told I haven't spent a weekend in Ronda in nearly 3 months. Starting with Portugal, to the Camino de Santiago, to most recently the beach, fairs and festivals. My life as a hiker has been replaced by that of tapas eating, cerveza drinking, and being a Springtime Queen. My wasitline has certainly noticed the change.

I am loving teaching. It doesn't feel like work. It is play. I have to remind myself that I am getting PAID for this. The kids are a delight. And I find myself coming home and proudly sharing what I taught in class to the students. For instance, I maintained order for the entire half hour with the 30 4 year olds last week. No one on the floor, or standing on chairs. Lots of games and singing. And I have started a pen pal correspondence with my old elementary school in California, which has turned out to be a tremendous success. The students of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades write letters, and have brought in fotos. And the normal "hello a.tianna" that greets me when I enter the class has been replaced with questions about the 'cartas'.
The students at the language school expect me to sing in every class. And I almost always meet their expectation. Paid to sing. Paid to talk. Paid to play.

And with plenty of time to go out for coffee with a friend - where the waiters know us and with a view of the beautiful mountains. Time to go out for tapas tapear nearly every night. Thinking back on the first tapas experience the menu was an absolute mystery to me. Is this really spanish? I didnt understand anything. But now the meatballs, bulls tails, potato salad with crab and octupus, fried calamari sandwiches and mushroom platters are second nature to me. My tapas of choice are shrimp skewers, seranitos - a sandwich with pork loin, roasted peppers and iberian ham AND Patatas Rellenas. - Fried potato balls filled with meat, dipped in mayo. (i've learned to ask for extra mayo). I tapear most days.

Springtime has arrived and I am trying to keep up on my personal project risa, columbia, a pen pal program and enjoy the sunshine. I have finally hit that place where you can't imagine not speaking spanish everyday. I think in spanish often. I woke up this morning after a dream in spanish. And am feeling good about my level of language. And I smile when I think about how often I said before I came here that I didnt want to adopt a Spanish accent (I preferred my chilean) But here I am so thick in andalucian slang that many spanish words are a necessity in english as well.

I have a lot of Andalucian pride. And I have been struggling the past couple weeks with tring to remember why exactly I would ever leave this paradise - where the sunshines, the beer is cold, and I sing songs with the kiddies all day. Here's to living the dream!

All the quirks that had surprised me 8 months ago are second nature. So much that I am afraid to go back. I go days at a time without speaking english. It is normal to walk everywhere, run into several people on the way to the grocery store, greet people with two kisses, walk down to the bridge to enjoy the sunset. The quality of life here is SO high.

And now comes the nostalgia. The painful goodbyes. The 'lasts'. The transition. The packing. The hugs. The tears. With 10 days left I am overwhelmed. Where did it all go? How did those 8 months fly? Its not fair. I want more. I want to be able to bottle up Ronda time and come back to this paradise when I need a break this next year. And it isnt that I am not looking forward to my next chapter. I am looking forward to it very much. But that doesn't make this any easier to leave. Ronda is my home. And I love it.