Visitors

We’ve now had two (and a half – Eric’s dad is still here!) sets of visitors to see us in Madrid (and have several more to come in the spring) – Eric’s mom and my parents.  Playing host is always fun if sometimes exhausting.  I often get too caught up in the logistics of hosting and don’t just enjoy the friends being here as I should.  That said, we’ve had some wonderful visits so far!

Our visitors might have all grown up in Northeast Kansas but they were coming to us from very different realities.  Eric’s mom came on a last-minute jaunt from Togo where she is living for 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer.  My parents came via Omaha, Nebraska, where they dropped off their dog with my brother before beginning the long trip.  Eric's dad came from his home in Topeka.  

Terry’s trip to see us was unexpected but very welcome.  Eric had been planning to visit her but some travel trouble resulted in a unique situation where the only opportunity to see each other was if she came to us instead of vice versa.  And while Terry was very healthy when she arrive, she had lost about 16 pounds since beginning her time as a volunteer so we were trying to fatten her up while in our control.  She’s had to be so flexible with her life in the last year, rolling with the punches of the downturn, the excitement of the Peace Corps opportunity, and the reality of the Peace Corps opportunity.  She’s adapted to all of this much better than I could have and seems to be loving her life in Togo.  There are plenty of difficulties, but she draws so much energy and inspiration from the amazing people she’s met. 

For my parents, visiting the grandkids is normal; traveling abroad is not.  This was my dad’s first time out of the country and only my mom’s third (the previous two trips with me in the past few years).  We were very excited that they were coming.  They are both retired now and seem to be enjoying the freedom that gives them to go at their own pace.  My dad has always been about the most paced person I know; to say that he is regimented would be an understatement. His body calls out for routine from deep within him.  Luckily he seemed to balance his need for daily routine with the many uncertainties (good and bad) that traveling brings.  My mom definitely craves some routine as well but much more carnally she craves her grandkids.  I still remember the first time she met Dorothy and we were pushed out of the way by the charging Karen.  She seemed to find some things about Spain interesting but mostly she was there to see Dorothy (and us as a result). 

So, with it already the middle of March; 2011 has charged ahead.  We’ll have two sets of visitors in April and are looking forward to each one for different reasons.  We’ll take a small road-trip over Easter which I am perhaps most excited about as it will bring the first visits for me to the northern coast of the country.  We spent some time in Barcelona with my parents and are back here now with Eric’s dad.  Eric and I got away while my parents were here for a weekend in Seville.  And there was Granada with Eric’s mom.  It’s great that Spain has high-speed train network that makes all this travel very doable with an infant.  It’s an amazing country that is on one-hand very similar to the United States and on the other couldn’t be more different.  It’s also great that the world is so connected so that we don’t have to just rely only on in-person visits to stay connected to our friends and family all over the world.  As I write this Eric’s mom was commenting on Facebook photos of my parents visit.  Visits and technology help to keep us all living together while we live far apart.