It's Only Getting Better - Chris in Barcelona

This morning Chris left to go back to the U.S. after five wonderful weeks of having him here in Barcelona and a taking a trip together to Bilbao.  Things didn't turn out exactly as we had planned but they were exactly as they were meant to be.

Changed Plans

One of the things that was planned was for Chris to attend an intensive Spanish class for four weeks.  What was unknown was how fast the pace would be and how the teachers seemed to gear their lessons toward those who already had some basics of the Spanish language under their belt, even though it was a level 1 class.  I was at a retreat during the first week that Chris was in class, but when I got back I quickly understood his situation and how Chris was feeling that with each passing day, he was getting further and further behind.  Although we worked on some of his homework together and in spite of Chris spending 2-3 hours after class studying (that after 4 hours of class each day, every day), Chris decided to drop the class after 2 1/2 weeks.  He also had to take care of his visa for Ukraine and other essential matters during this time.  I supported Chris' decision in this and his plan to spend some of his newly found free time to review the materials that he had received from the class in the weeks remaining in Barcelona.  Chris will also be taking a Spanish class once he gets settled in Kiev.

Another plan we had was to spend a half day on a Saturday in the country about an hour outside of

Barcelona with the Shambhala meditation group  for group meditation.  Well, we never quite made it.  I haven't figured out yet how to ensure that I actually board the correct train when riding the regional trains (these are called Rodalies in Catalunya or Cercanías in the rest of Spain).   You see, there are many different trains that use the same tracks and come within minutes apart.  Although they may have a name (like R1 or R3 or R4, etc), depending on their final destination, they may take different routes or they may not stop at certain towns.  So you really need to know your geography of Catalunya, know your train schedule, and know that the town that you want to go to is on the route of the train that is displaying its final destination.

To me it's very confusing.  I study it beforehand, but in the moment, I can sometimes board the wrong train. That's what happened that Saturday.   We got on an R4, which was going in the right direction, but not exactly the same route as the train we should have been on.  However, since there is no graphical display of all the stops of these trains (like on the Barcelona metro), we didn't realize this until we had spent over an hour on this train.  We got off at the next train stop, waited 40 minutes and took the next train back to our starting point. We lost four hours and lost the opportunity to do group meditation.  But Chris and I did spend a little meditation time together at home afterwards.

New Plans!

Since Chris had the final few weeks without class obligations, we decided to take a short trip to the north of Spain - to Bilbao in the Basque country.  It's only an hour trip by plane.  I bought the tickets for the both of us.  A few days later, before we were going to Bilbao, Chris went to the Ukranian Consulate in Barcelona with all his paperwork to obtain his work visa.  They told him that that they needed to keep his passport and he would get it back in a week's time.  As we were going back home, I got the sneaky feeling that we might have a problem going to Bilbao, which was before Chris would be able to have his passport returned.  As I investigated this, I found out that no other ID for Chris was sufficient for air travel - not his American driver's license, not even his passport card (this is relatively new - the U.S. gives out a passport card for North American travel at the same time it issues a new passport).  The only way to fly to Bilbao was for Chris to get his passport back or we would lose our money with our airline tickets.

On Monday, Chris returned to the consulate with his airline tickets.  He explained the issue and had to wait most of the morning as the consulate talked with the embassy in Madrid before he was told that they would return his passport at that time and that they would still process his visa the Monday after he got back from his trip.  Whew!  That was a close call!

Bilbao was great!!  It's a very nice city, we had excellent weather, we ate very, very well, and we got to see the Guggenheim Museum with temporary expositions of Jeff Koons and Jean Michel Basquiat as well as the Museum of Fine Arts.  To top it all off, as we were posting some Facebook photos, a friend that I met in Barcelona contacted me.  I didn't realize that he lived close to Bilbao and he and his partner invited us to the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, about an hour bus ride from Bilbao for the next day to have lunch with them and their family and to visit the ancient cathedral there, which is in the midst of a major renovation.  It was fun to spend time with them and their family and visit the cathedral.  In the late afternoon, they drove us back to Bilbao and we spent some time in the old city center having a drink and enjoying each other's company.

Reflection

More than just doing activities together, Chris and I got to be with each other, share more about our lives, deepen the love that already has a solid base, and even practice Spanish together!  It has been an amazing five weeks.

Next Up!

Chris will be in the U.S. soon for a whirlwind trip to attend his nephew's wedding in Kentucky.  He'll be doing his final packing for Kiev and will arrive there on Aug 4, where he will be welcomed by the school, given a tour of the city and given the keys to his furnished apartment.  I'll be arriving on Aug 6 and together we'll get to explore Kiev together until I go back to Barcelona on Aug 15.  Chris starts work on Aug 17 with a week of teacher preparations.  He has a three day weekend before class starts and we'll be meeting each other in Amsterdam from Aug 21-24.  He will meet his students on Aug 25.

First Two Weeks With and Without Chris

Chris arrived on June 29 without a hitch.  He had a wonderful send-off in the U.S. with two going away parties in his home town at his mom's home and in Washington D.C. at the home of a good friend.  With no regrets he came with his three bags of luggage to his home here in Barcelona.  He will be returning to the U.S. for a few days at the end of July for his nephew's wedding and then will be flying to Kiev on Aug 3 with his other 5 bags.  I'll be meeting him in Kiev from Aug 6 - 15 to help him settle into his new apartment.

The first couple of days were a whirlwind because just a day and a half later I was leaving for France

Chris took this pic as we met up with
friends who would be learning
Spanish at Chris' language school.

for a week-long retreat.  I wanted to get Chris settled into our home, set up his gym membership, get his phone working, ensure he was ready to start his Spanish intensive class on July 1, and meet a couple of other North American friends that were going to the same school.  All that on June 29, the day he arrived.  We didn't even have a chance to take a picture of us!  On June 30, Chris asked me to leave that day open for us to celebrate my birthday which was on June 26.  On that day, he gave me a fantastic relaxing gift at a luxurious spa and massage, where I floated in 7 various kinds of arab-like pools with a steam room after getting my massage.  I felt totally pampered.  We then had a very nice lunch and early dinner so I could finish up packing before my trip the next day.

Shambhala Meditation Retreat

On July 1, I left Chris back in Barcelona and rode in a car with three Spaniards for 8 hours to the mid-western part of France at Dechen Choling, one of Shambhala's land centers, for a week long retreat.  It was designed to train those who had the interest and demonstrated skills and knowledge to be meditation instructors.  There were 60 of us from all over Europe.  We were asked to study and prepare for this week, which I had done.  We received talks, extended times of group meditation, excellent food, as well as times working in small groups to practice and demonstrate the skills of working one-on-one with a meditation student.

Given that we were in Europe, where multiple languages are spoken, I requested that I could be assigned to an English-speaking group, so that I could express myself more easily and from the heart.  But it was not meant to be.  They needed a fourth person for the Spanish-speaking group.  However, it actually turned out to be the best thing for me.  I discovered that although I still need to continue to learn more vocabulary, expressions, etc, I am fully capable to converse in Spanish with a meditation student about meditation practice and how that is experienced in one's life.  The experience gave me the confidence to take this next step in my involvement with the Shambhala group in Barcelona and with Shambhala Europe in general.

Back on the Home Front

During my week in France, I had occasional contact with Chris, although internet communications are not readily available from there.  Some issues came up for him, including the changing of the front door of the building and receiving a new key, which Chris did not get immediately and was stuck outside for a little while.

When I got home, I realized that he was having a really difficult week in the intensive Spanish class.  Their pace was very fast and although he was starting at the first level, there were others in the class that had some prior experience and skills.  It was not a level playing field and I could see that Chris was somewhat discouraged.  We spent that evening going over his homework and I encouraged him to get out of the class what he could in the remaining few weeks.  I think he has regained his motivation and is diligently applying himself and at the same time taking time to relax some and enjoy his time here in Barcelona.


Over the last few days we went to a dinner party at a friend's home with a beautiful terrace overlooking the city and yesterday we spent the day at the beach with friends.