Just as I stepped out of my bedroom to stop by a cafe and tram-ride to the Benidorm waterpark, my host mom welcomed her granddaughters into her apartment. On the way to the cafe for a toast and leche manchada, I shifted my Aqualandia trip to tomorrow and returned home to Nerea and Maitane. The two lazed on the couch sleepy from watching Caperucita on the Santa Barbara castle's theater late last night. They rose to playful alertness when I asked them if they liked Frozen and played the soundtrack on my laptop.
While my host mom and her granddaughters went grocery shopping, I walked to the nearby museum and observed the Han Dynasty exhibit. My ancestors' culture through the lens of a foreign culture- surprisingly not too different than viewing Chinese artifacts in China.
While my host mom and her granddaughters went grocery shopping, I walked to the nearby museum and observed the Han Dynasty exhibit. My ancestors' culture through the lens of a foreign culture- surprisingly not too different than viewing Chinese artifacts in China.
Nerea and Maitane clapped their hands when I returned to eat lunch with them and rushed me to the table where each sat on either side of me. We dined deliciously on macaroni and cheese and an icecream bar.
After lunch, we played dressup and Nerea and Maitane took turns giving me a makeover. Nerea discovered the CamWow app on my phone and vigorously snapped silly portraits of the three of us. Before departing, Nerea drew me some mountains, which, a beautiful addition to my dorm room wall this fall.
After lunch, we played dressup and Nerea and Maitane took turns giving me a makeover. Nerea discovered the CamWow app on my phone and vigorously snapped silly portraits of the three of us. Before departing, Nerea drew me some mountains, which, a beautiful addition to my dorm room wall this fall.
Playing with Nerea and Maitane was genuinely more valuable than my trip to Valencia, any tourist attraction, or the hand=painted souvenir fan I bought during a July sale. I've noticed that adults in Spain don't restrain children from playing to sit them in desks for academia. Children aren't punished for harmless playfulness (like playing tag outside a cafe while parents drink a coffee) that my culture might try to suppress. Nerea and Maitane seemed self-motivated to maintain patience and to listen to adults. Maitane and Nerea are genuine portraits of Spanish culture, not reconstructed for tourist attraction. When I talk about makeup and dresses with them, no one swoops in to translate and dilute my Spanish language development (nearly every adult I have met here speaks English and more often than not, shopkeepers or waiters automatically speak to me in English when they notice I'm a foreigner). Despite the different medium of conversation, or standards of play, playing with Nerea and Maitane brought the same satisfaction and enlightenment as playing dress-like-Mulan with my sister when we were little, playing with plastic fish with my baby cousin in China last summer, or playing tin-punch with Georgetown kids on Pioneer Day this past May.
When I left Austin, I thought traveling would be my greatest teacher, giving me the opportunity to learn to accept different kinds of people. But today, staying in Alicante, a familiar place to me, brought me immense enlightenment as well.
When I left Austin, I thought traveling would be my greatest teacher, giving me the opportunity to learn to accept different kinds of people. But today, staying in Alicante, a familiar place to me, brought me immense enlightenment as well.