The Man from Minnesota

Nine years ago I was repeating my experience as a language assistant here in La Roda and found out there was going to be another auxiliar placed at my school.  My heart went out to this poor soul, landing here in the middle of rural Andalucía without a plan or a place to stay.  I remembered my first weeks in La Roda trying to decide where I'd be living for the next nine months, and immediately decided he should move in with me and Angelines.  At the time we were living in our tiny piso, but there was an extra bedroom and I convinced Angelines that sharing our appartment with this tall, Minnesotan boy, would be a great experience for all of us.  She had never lived "away" from her parents, so she was understandably wary, but my instinct was right on and the three of us forged a wonderful friendship over that year.

Adam moved to Madrid the following year and has been there ever since.  We have seen each other nearly every year since he moved away.  He's come back here more than we've gone to see him, but no matter, it's always wonderful to be together laughing and sharing stories about out year together in La Roda.  He was here in the beginning of my relationship with Angelines and he came to our wedding.  Two years ago he met baby Emily in Córdoba and let us crash at his place when I defended my capstone project to finish my Education degree.  The biggest moments of my life in España have been shared with him.

Last week we got a lovely package in the mail from Madrid: a handmade quilt for Emily from Adam's mother!  It is gorgeous and Emily loves it.  In a card with the blanket came the news that Adam and his partner, María, will be moving to Denver in May!  I was completely shocked; it felt like abandonment.  Yes, that is dramatic, but when I read the news a wave of emotion rolled over me and I wanted to cry.  It's true we don't see each other much and we rarely speak, but somehow it's been comforting all through my years here in Spain to know that he was just a quick AVE ride away.

I have wonderful friends here in Spain.  I have a life here in La Roda; but all that doesn't change the fact that I am American.  I'm not saying that my friendship with Adam is only a matter of being two Americans in Spain.  I am sure that we would have been good friends had we met in any other circumstances (or country, for that matter).  But the truth is that we do share a common culture, and sometimes no one can understand you the way someone from your own country can.

I remember my first year in La Roda I went to Granada to visit my host family.  At the time they had a young African American student living with them.  She was from Louisiana.  She sang gospel in her Baptist church back home.  Her life and upbringing in the States was radically different from my own, yet we stayed awake into the wee hours talking and sharing and venting and laughing about life.  I remember being amazed by how much of a connection I felt with that girl, a complete stranger, and knowing that 90% of that connection was a shared culture.

After the immediate impact of the news passed, I was of course excited and happy for my friend and his upcoming move.  He's given me new incentive to get to Madrid before May and also another city to visit and explore in the States!  We'll miss him.  I will miss him especially, but I know we'll see each other on one side or the other of the Atlantic in the not-to-distant future.  Good friends make the world smaller.

Cheers, Adam!