Magical new beginings

As some of you may already know, in May of 2010 I met my Spanish (Canario) boyfriend at Machu Picchu, the wondrous Inca ruins situated near the mountainous Andean region of Peru. I can think of no better or more magical way to find love than here at this historical sanctuary of the Inca Empire "floating amongst the clouds." It must have been magic as two complete strangers were brought together from different continents, speaking different languages, not understanding one another or the force that was drawing them together.

Now, more than two years later, I've been living with him in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), Spain for just over a year. While adjusting to the new country, culture, language, and lifestyle, not surprisingly, I've had interesting and notable experiences I wish I would have jotted down for myself, and to share with friends and family back home in California. The memories have stayed with me, and I'm making more every day, so it's never too late to start, so as I begin, note that my blog entries will consist of anecdotes from my personal experiences, perceptions, and general thoughts as a California girl completely immersed in the Spanish, well "Canario" lifestyle.

After a year living in Spain, I can proudly say my grasp of the Spanish language has much improved since my move to the island. I've came a long way from the initial challenge of not confusing certain words, as that could wind up being dangerously embarrassing, for example,

Cojines = Pillows
Cajones = Drawers
and
Cojones = balls, of the testicle kind

or

Pollo = Chicken
vs
Polla = One of the many slang terms for penis

Those particular examples have been engrained into my memory for life from the humiliation I'd suffered on the numerous occasions I ordered a "salad with crispy penis," or asked Rodrigo if the "penis in the fridge is still good to eat" or told him that I "prefer my testicles fuller for more neck support" or asked the Ikea attendant if he had the same "dresser" with four testicles instead of two, to name just a few. I put dresser in quotations as I really said "cojonera" (of testicles) and not "cajonera" which would have been dresser. As you can imagine, the list is endless. Grasping Spanish has been a challenging and often times fun, or better put, funny learning experience. I feel immense personal growth and pride being able to hold conversations in a second language, and I have to admit, learning a foreign language while in a foreign country, has given me a satisfaction more rewarding than anything I learned while studying in college, and it's helped to appease the regret I had for not studying abroad. I hope to one day be able to say I'm fluent in Spanish, but until then, I'll use this blog as an outlet for my inevitable entertaining mistakes.

It's only fitting to include in my very first blog entry the very first picture taken with the culprit of all these life changes. Here we are, Rodri and I, just a few hours after we met on the "fate train" (ya, I'm cheesy, but hey we met on a train) in Aguas Calientes, Peru.

May 29, 2010

The breathtaking Machu Picchu