Family Reunion

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, I went to the airport to pick up my family. I was nervous and excited and I ended up at the airport about two hours early, pacing and fidgeting. It was so great to see their faces again, to be with people who really, really know me and still like me in spite of that.

Showing them around Granada was surreal. This city has been my place for so long that I felt possessive and self-conscious about it. I wanted everything to go perfectly, to be so smooth that they just had to shuffle dumbly from one awe-inspiring place to the next. If I could have arranged for them to be escorted around in golden carriages, being fanned with palm fronds, I absolutely would have. I wanted them to love it here as much as I do. So, with the bar set that high, I did spend a good amount of time feeling inadequate. But let's be honest - who doesn't feel inadequate most of the time anyway? Despite all my nerves, I think they all really liked it here.

On Saturday, my mom, dad and sister Beth arrived. I took them out for an absurdly huge lunch first, and then we visited the royal chapel and the cathedral - a good introduction to the humbling grandeur of this city.



On that Sunday, my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Robin arrived. While my dad went to the airport, Beth, my mom and I wandered over to the Archaeological museum - but not without stopping at a church to buy some chocolate-covered, coconut-filled balls of heaven (literally) from the cloistered nuns. This experience is best described as a candy shop mixed with a confessional mixed with a lazy susan. You don't know whether to kneel down and pour your heart out, or start arranging hors d'oeuvres.

When we were all finally together, I took everyone on a walk through the Albaicin, the ancient Muslim neighborhood, frantically trying to repeat everything I could remember from my Islam class. We finished the day at a cozy wine bar by my school. My favorite people in the world, a heaping pile of honey-drenched, spicy chorizo, creamy goat cheese, and several bottles of great wine - all the good things in life.



Monday was mostly a day of classes for me and a day at the Alhambra for them. Although I think they all really enjoyed it, I also think it may have sucked the energy out of them. The place is huge and I didn't warn them. I made it up to them later though by taking them for hot chocolate and churros - which just might fix all of life's problems if you eat them enough.

Tuesday, the world of my Spanish family collided with the world of my American family, but not in some sort of strange epic battle. Paqui had them over for lunch and, naturally, cooked a ridiculous amount of very impressive food. I served as a translator for the meal, but it really wasn't necessary. You can tell a lot about a person even without language. Well, not me personally, I just eat everyone's soup... but you get the idea. In the end, Paqui and my mom were gushing over each other and Andrew was bonding with Jesus and Antonio over Real Madrid. It went well.

That night we made the drive to Marbella, the Costa Del Sol resort town where we stayed for the rest of the trip. On Wednesday, we drove to Gibraltar for the day. Most people are aware that Gibraltar is an English colony, but what people don't know is that it is also a weird parallel universe version of Britain with palm trees, an over-abundance of native Spanish-speakers and apes. Yes, apes. Unnervingly large apes, to be exact. It is confusing to be in a place where at one point you're eating fish and chips in a pub, and the next, you are on top of a mountain watching your brother scold a monkey for trying to steal his shopping bag. No, monkey, NO.



The next day we went to Ronda. After a terrifying, white-knuckled drive through the foggy mountains, we made it to the town. Ronda is a traditional Andalusian pueblo, with white-washed buildings that would make anything charming, but this one, to top it off, was built on the edges of a cliff. One and a half football fields straight down. Ronda also offers a cave complete with prehistoric paintings, Spain's oldest bull ring and countless opportunities for jokes about Rhonda's massive gorge.





That night was Thanksgiving night. We didn't have turkey or stuffing or anything traditional, but we did make an insane amount of really delicious food and I did feel significantly worse about myself by the time it was done, so I would say we had a pretty normal Thanksgiving. It was wonderful just to be able to be with my family.

The last day trip was to Tangier, Morocco, but my mom and I opted out. Instead, we spent the day wandering around Marbella's old town while my dad, Andrew, Beth and Robin experienced Morocco and the carpet-selling schemes of its guided tours. After that, we had one more day in Granada and then they were off to the real world.


It was amazing to have my family here and there's really no way to describe that. I have always been the kid in the family who stays close to home. I am loving my own adventure - and to have them be a part of it, even for such a short time, was more than I could ask for.