First, I want to apologize for the month-long hiatus in updating my blog site. I'm experiencing the same phenomena that most people have after dropping their exercise or diet routine for a period of time. It is sooooo difficult to come back to this, albeit for different reasons. In the case of writing this blog article, so much has happened that I have no idea where to begin. What I won't do, for your sake, is to write a long diatribe of the last four weeks. I do hope I can capture the highlights, catch you up on things, and get back to my weekly articles. Here goes!
Making The House A Home
I'm sitting at my dining room table, listening to background music, looking out my window at the tree tops and writing this article to you. This may seem ordinary to you but to me it feels like a miracle. After four months of living in two temporary locations and then enduring the dust, the paint smell and the daily routine of waking up early and getting out of the house so that the workers can do their work, it's only been toward the end of last week that I could breath again, relax and truly begin to enjoy my home.
As anyone who has gone through home renovations, it always takes longer than expected. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I had never really gone through one this extensively. The dust has finally cleared, most of the major pieces of furniture have been purchased and installed (I still have the second bed - it's a Murphy bed - coming on Monday, a living room seat with foot stool coming next week, and the TV table coming at the end of the month). In Spain it's important to get your furniture delivered before August because everything (except Ikea) shuts down in August - the factories as well as the stores that sell the furniture.
Speaking of
Ikea, I have a love-hate relationship with this store. They have many inexpensive and well-built
home products and they're relatively convenient to me (a 15-20 minute direct bus ride). But it's frustrating when you see a product on their website or displayed in their store only to find that they're out of stock, they don't know when they're going to get another shipment, or that the product is going out of line. It's happened more than once and makes it difficult to plan one's furniture. In fact, tomorrow morning I'll be on the 9:30 am bus to get there when it opens at 10 am and order four pieces (desk, desk chair, filing cabinet and coffee table). There's only 4 units left on one of these according to the website. They're closed on Sundays, like most stores in Barcelona, so I'm sure they'll have it in stock Monday morning. I'll have them deliver it on Tuesday. Then I'll have to rush back to to receive the bed furniture (from another store) which is coming sometime after 11 am. I know, I'm cutting it close, but it should work.
When everything is furnished I'll take lots of pictures of the place (probably in September)!
Time With Chris
It was more than wonderful to have Chris here to visit me for 3 1/2 weeks. I was a bit nervous since we had not seen each other in four months. He was visiting Europe and Spain for the first time. He was also going to interview with a couple of schools while he was here. There were a number of unknowns, but as each of those became known, they only deepened and enriched our relationship. I feel that life has prepared me for Chris. I am very grateful for my past relationships, and Chris tops the cake. I really don't know why or how, but I humbly accept this amazing gift and I truly hope I will be a worthy companion and never take for granted how special this love and this relationship is.
I wish I was further along with the house when Chris came. But he was a real trooper, rolled up his sleeves and helped me to create order out of chaos. After a week of living in the dust and the paint smells, we took the fast train to Madrid for 5 days where we could relax, enjoy Gay Pride and discover the many beautiful parts of the city. We returned to Barcelona, expecting the house to be almost finished, but found it still to be quite a mess. But slowly we could begin to see the end in sight. Unfortunately, we never really got to cook a real meal in the house while he was here.
Chris got along very well with all my friends here. Although he knew very little Spanish, his extrovert character helped him to interact with everyone and he now has a whole new group of Barcelonian friends to catch up with when he returns.
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| With my best friend Jordi at Alella, Catalunya Spain |
Chris had two interviews. They both went very well. However, there were no open positions. Both directors were very interested in Chris' teaching experience and wanted to interview him so that if a teacher decides to not come back this Fall, they could pick up the phone and call Chris. But it does leave him up in the air. Chris is still planning on teaching next year at Alexandria school system unless he does get a call in the month of August. If he doesn't get an offer, he will be back to visit during Thanksgiving week. I plan to go back to the States in December, so after another four months, we'll have lots of time together again. As you can see, our future life together is still filled with unknowns. But we are sure of the deep love we have for each other.
August
I have two trips planned for August. I'll be spending 6 days with my long-time friend Carlos and with his partner at a small fishing village in Northwest Spain (Galicia) called
Porto do Son. Carlos and I became good friends when I lived in Valladolid from 1978-81. He is one of the reasons why I am here in this country today and I consider him as my brother. We haven't seen each other for a few years and so it will be good to reconnect, meet his partner Maria, enjoy the Galician sun and the delicious Galician food.
After being back for six days, I'll be going to a seven day meditation retreat in France at Shambhala's land center,
Dechen Choling. It will be with
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who heads up the Shambhala world-wide community. I have read his books and have heard him speak on a few occasions and I find that his teachings always resonate with me. I am looking forward to spending longer times in meditation practice and to participate in this particular retreat called
Life is Ceremony.
