Tenerife: Cambio de Sentido

Literal Translation: Change of Mind
Figurative Translation: To make a u-turn (You’ll see cambio de sentido signs on highway exits which basically tells you that you can go back around)

As strange as it sounds, this trip got a bit emotional/philosophical at times. The past few months, I've become really good friends with Tess and we pretty much tell each other everything. Every once in a while, we get to talking about really serious things...and really dumb things. She has become my confidant and she always provides me with good insight or some new perspective. So, during this trip I've had a few cambio de sentidos - the literal translation. Maybe not necessarily a change of mind, but many things got me thinking for sure. Here are some of those:

LATINOS v SPANIARDS: Tess and I have noticed how it's really difficult to to meet Spanish men. We've realized that most of them won't just come and talked to you if they saw you, say, in a bar or whatever. I know it's a rare thing to meet the man of your dreams at a bar, but what I'm saying is the Spaniards can be way too shy. I did a little bit of a survey on my students and every single one of them who are in a relationship met their significant others through someone else. None of them just randomly started talking to their bf/gf at a party, a convention, an AA session, or whatever. The Latinos ,on the other hand, are way too forward (see previous post)! It got us wondering: which is better - the timid one or the aggressive one? Then this led me to another question: why is it that the conquerors (the Spaniards) are less aggressive than the conquered (the Latinos)? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

HIDDEN Xs: If you are a Spaniard from the Basque Country or Catalonia, most likely your name will have an X on it. Like Xalba: it's Salvador in Castellano; it's Xalbador in Basque. Javier in Castellano becomes Xavier in Catalan. Where are all these Xs coming from???

KITE SURFERS: Having lived in Miami for the past few years, Tess is all about water activities. She wanted to go kite surfing while in Tenerife so we did. Hahaha...kidding. Not we, I meant she. While she did that, I got to lay on the beach and enjoy a little bit of relaxation, a nice siesta, and good weather. And as always, I loved people-watching, especially the kite surfers. They all look so cool and healthy and strong. And their kites were so pretty. One day, I would like to try it...whenever I actually learn how to properly swim .

COOKIES v CRACKERS: These two things are clearly very different. One is sweet, the other is salty. But did you know both are called the same in Spanish? Galletas is the word. There is no distinction! Tess and I discussed this extensively and were very annoyed by it. I mean seriously! For a language that has two words for "to be" and two words for "to know", they couldn't come up with two words for two very different things??!! WTF!!!

TEIDE: I’m not exactly who you call a “nature, outdoorsy” person. Anytime anyone ever mentions going on a camping trip, I’m usually the first to say no - I need a clean bathroom with indoor plumbing. Maybe I could do it for a day/night, but no more. But every once in a while when I see things like the Teide, the Alps, etc., I can’t help but feel ridiculously happy. Seeing something so amazingly beautiful really just puts everything in perspective. I don't know why it is but I feel completely at peace when I'm among natural beauty. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to hike up the Teide, although we really wanted to. So, we've decided we would go back someday with our future husbands/boyfriends and hike all the way to the top. Maybe then, I wouldn't mind camping out.

VINO: On our way up to the Teide, we drove past a couple of vineyards. One looked really cute so we decided to stop by on our way back. The man was wonderful and let us taste three different kinds of wine. Now, I'm not usually a wine drinker, but I have to say these were pretty damn good. And he won me over when he said it's organic and it doesn't give you a terrible hangover the next day. It was great! I felt so Euro at that moment: driving - or riding - around in a manual car and wine tasting in some random vineyard. Every once in a while, it hits me that I live in another country and this was one of those moments.

AN EMOTIONAL END: On our plane ride home, Tess and I got to talking about love, relationships and family. It got pretty intense because all of a sudden we found ourselves crying...then laughing because we were crying. This emotional moment really made me realize how fortunate I am. It's so easy to forget how lucky we are and we take so many people for granted. Sadly, I need one of these moments to remind me of this fact every once in a while.

Alright, so not all were exactly extremely philosophical but whatever. You get my point. I love you everyone!!!