The very first day we arrived at the Headquarters the kids and I were sort of sent to this community room to wait while hubby started the in-processing process of basically getting us checked in to yet another location. The kids and I played some games and just waited until we were to meet up with hubby for lunch. We went to lunch at the chow hall or what is similar to a DFAC (dining facility). The lunch room was decked out in French colors, French cheeses and champagne. I was thinking to myself...well they don't mess around here. Well it turned out that it was Bastille Day and the French were sharing a piece of their culture with everyone. Apparently on the 4th of July the Good Ol US of A threw a big BBQ with hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon and so on. So we got our food and sat down to eat. We weren't there but maybe a half hour or so when this sweet little American boy came up to our table and asked us if we were new. Not sure if it was that obvious (hehehehe) or if it was (as I can imagine) seeing another potential American with young children and getting so excited to have something in common with someone else and oh yeah...we can actually communicate. Well it turns out that this little boy was LuLu's age and also going into the first grade. He had a little brother and we all chatted about where they had been stationed and of course met his mom. It was so nice to find another mom and get some insight into neighborhoods to possibly live and so on.
The next day while we were at the Headquarters hubby and I were in a meeting with the housing office and the kids were doing a music class there and we met yet another American family with kids. These are the moments that I long for. Somebody I can chat with and they totally understand where we are at this point in the process because they have also been here. On the train ride home that night we ran into a Spanish civilian that works at the Headquarters. He knew English because that is the official language of the Headquarters so we must have looked like we were confused because he asked us if we needed any help. We were looking at the Metro map, but we actually were not confused. On the train he began chatting with us on our story...essentially. We talked to him about where we were temporarily staying until we found housing and he gave us the run down on what we need to see in the city while we are living down there. Again...just so nice to take the time to tell us what his city has to offer.
Now we fast forward to last night and after our stroll in the Retiro Park we stopped to find ice cream or something. We took a new route back to the apartment just to broaden our horizons on what is all around us. We found this cute little yogurt shop and popped in. We of course asked the gal working if she spoke English and she spoke just about enough English that we spoke Spanish so it was perfect. We ordered our yogurt and she was just so sweet. The price was for a "natural" yogurt with 1 topping and she let the kids get 3 toppings for the same price. I actually have not had a frozen yogurt in the States so I don't know the tastes, but this really was like plain yogurt just frozen. It wasn't vanilla or anything like that. It had that zing or tang that plain yogurt has. Like I said this could totally be how it tastes in the States, but I have never had it. We sat for a bit and were reading all the different ice-cream flavors, which are in Spanish, and we were trying to decode them. There were two other ladies in the shop as well. We came across one that said Turron. We looked this up in our dictionary and it wasn't in there. So we asked her what it was. She proceeded to just give us a sample and ask the other ladies if they knew the English word for it. She put it into her phone and he phone then spoke "nougat". Well that is exactly what it tasted like. This started a whole lesson on what the flavors were and we tested each one. She was just so sweet and wasn't put off that we didn't know the language or what these flavors were. She even brought out two flavors for the kids which ended up being their versions of Bubblegum and Cotton Candy.
These are the moments that make me fall in love with this city more and more. I hope that by sharing our experiences with our friends and family that we light a fire in each and everyone of you to step out of your comfort zone and embrace those situations. We are embracing this situation and are eager to learn all that we can. I challenge you to do the same...or come to Spain and let us guide you out of your comfort zone.
Until next time....
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