As I sit on the front porch of my house, I am reflecting on the events of the past week. It has been the most fun and yet the saddest week I have had in Granada. We arrived back from Barcelona exhausted, completed our last week of internships, spent a weekend at the beach, and said goodbye to our host families. It was a week full of fun, stress, many emotions, and of course, memories.
Internship this week started off very rough. At the beginning of the week the children did not want to cooperate or work at all. One girl continued to throw things and laugh at herself know matter how many times she was told “no” or “stop throwing things, it’s bad.” To her, school was all fun and laughs. It made my week difficult, but at least she was happy and laughing. Tuesday brought more struggles with one of the boys. I was feeding him lunch and everything seemed to be going fine. That was until he decided to become a human volcano of food. He is difficult to feed so you have to hold his head back or he won’t swallow. I was holding his head back and putting spoonful’s of pureed food into his mouth when he suddenly wasn’t having it anymore. He projectile spit the mush out like a literal exploding volcano. The eruption covered me, the child sitting next to the boy, the nurse feeding the other child, and the three feet of floor surround us. I was then told to feed him his yogurt and apple sauce mix instead because he loves yogurt. Instead we had volcano explosion number 2 and 3. It was quite a day on Tuesday.
On a positive note, I got to do some fun things at internship this week. I was taught how to properly put on the braces of the children. It doesn’t sound very exciting, but it is when you know you are helping the children prosper even if it is in a small way. I got a lot of hugs from the oldest student in the classroom. He even danced with me for a little while. I got to cuddle the youngest girl, she is six but looks three, until she fell asleep in my arms. I learned that my teacher Conchi studied psychology just like I do. Conchi also complimented me on how my Spanish has improved; specifically in the area of actually making proper sentences that aren’t broken. And lastly, I got to finish off internship with one of the best days I’ve had working with the children. On Thursday, every single child was so happy. They all did their work and cooperated. There were no volcanoes, just smiles and laughs.
The last day with all of the children being so wonderful made me extra thankful for the hard times I had spent with them. It makes you realize that even if the day is hard for you, it is still a good day for the child. For the child, and the parents, it is a blessing for them to wake up every day smiling, alive, and thriving in the world. It may not be how we live our lives or what we consider happiness, but to them it is their lives. The difficulties and struggles are still triumphs because they are alive and well. Realizing this at the end of my time in Granada made it so much harder to leave the children. I spent 10 weeks of the last two years with the same group of children. It doesn’t sound like much but it really is a lot. Saying goodbye to them a second time was even harder than the first. Those five children left marks on my heart and gave me memories that I will never forget.
After a sad and final goodbye to the children I got to go home and pack for the weekend trip to the beach. I was beyond excited because my host family was able to come with us for the weekend. Before heading to the coast we all loaded into the van to see one last final attraction in Granada, La Cartuja. It was a home to the monks just like San Jeronimo. It had the same square design with orange trees in the middle. They were very similar, but the paintings and chapel inside differed. This chapel had more ornate carvings and statues than paintings. There were also a ton of heads carved into the ceilings. It was quite terrifying looking up and seeing a multitude of angel heads staring back at you. Despite that, the detail was very breathtaking. You would see something new every time you turned around even once you thought you had seen it all. I loved being able to see one last piece of Granada’s history before leaving.
That afternoon we all arrived in the beach town of Almuñecar. I arrived later in the afternoon with my family, just as Father Ildefonso did. I quickly put my items down so we could head down to the beach. Father, Emma, and I all played Frisbee for an hour or so. I was beyond excited and proud of myself for how well I did. Last time I played Frisbee was in high school and I couldn’t aim for the life of me. This time the Frisbee went right where I wanted it to. We all played and talked about our experiences in Spain. To my surprise, Father was a bit adventurous. At one point a bird was flying by and he tossed the Frisbee into the air straight at the bird. It was hilariously unexpected and quite shocking to watch a Priest try to hit a bird. At dinner time we all went out to eat at a chiringuito, a restaurant on the beach, to watch the Spain vs. Portugal soccer game. The people in the bar jumped and screamed when Spain got their first goal. One person was so excited that they hit their table jumping up and knocked over a beer and a glass of alcohol broke on their chair. To say the least, it was a lot more entertaining to watch the game at the beach than at the bar we went to last time. The people had a lot more heart and soul into the sport at the beach. After filling up on delicious food that Father ordered us, we all went back to play games. Most of us were up until almost 2am playing Settlers of Catan. If you haven’t played before, I highly suggest it!
Saturday was a day of relaxing. We laid on the beach most of the day soaking up the sun. Unfortunately no actual swimming was done because the mass amounts of jellyfish taking over the ocean. To our surprise, we all got to see dolphins instead. Not too far off the shore there were three dolphins jumping around giving everyone a show. It was exciting until someone on a jetski decided they wanted the best view and basically chased them away. We ended the night again by playing more board games. We also celebrated Emma’s birthday since it is the day after we returned. While celebrating we all got shirts that Harry and Manny made at their internship, marking our stay in Granada. In between my host mom drew henna on mine and the girls hands. It was a great way to spend our last weekend in Spain. Sunday morning I was fortunate enough to attend church with my family a couple towns over from the beach house. It was the one and only service I was able to attend with them. It meant a lot to me because my host dad is working on becoming a minister and was doing the readings. It warmed by heart when my host dad was about to read and his little daughter looked at him and gave him a thumbs-up. It was so cute and loving to see her supporting her dad. I really enjoy going to church with my family in Nerja because the service is in all English. I also felt special because Father Nigel, the priest, remembered me from last year. I was grateful that I could attend a service before leaving.
Sunday night we said our farewells to all of the host families. We had a little party and gave our host families pictures of us all together. It was heartbreaking having to say our final goodbyes. Monday morning in the airport was the hardest part for me. For the second year in a row I had to say goodbye to the people who have adopted me into their family as if I am their own. I am forever thankful for the love and support that they have given me the last two years, but it makes it harder and harder leaving them behind. I don’t know when I will see them again or when I will be back in Granada, but I know I will some day soon.
So as they say in Spain, it is not goodbye, it is see you later.
