Role Reversal: Mom and Dad Come to Visit (March 26- April 3rd)

For the first time in my life, I think I was more worried about my parents than they were worried about me. It is not every day that a situation like this comes along, and it was brought about by another rare occurrence: my parent’s visiting me in Spain. I can’t even begin to explain how good it was to see them.

Showing them around Sevilla was like experiencing the city for the first time all over again. I had forgotten what a loud, chaotic, sometimes overwhelming city it can be. When I arrived in Sevilla, though, I was equipped with what some may say is an essential tool: knowledge of the language. Every time I had to part from my parents to go to class, I worried about them (perhaps a glimpse into life as a parent?) All my worrying however was for naught, as I soon found out. I was incredibly impressed with my parents’ ability to get a handle on the city (while maybe not such a handle on the word “gracias”). Despite the fact that I was worried about them, just as parents say, the worrying was well worth it for the adventure I was able to share with them.

During our time in Sevilla, I showed them my home away from home. We spent our days eating pastries at cafes, wandering the streets of Sevilla both window and actual shopping, and doing some site seeing. I have to admit that I felt proud (both of Mom and Dad and of my city) when we all reached the top of the Giralda (an old Muslim Minaret turned Catholic Bell Tower) and saw Sevilla sprawling below us.

Another moment of pride was when I was finally able to introduce my parents to my Señora. There was a lot riding on the moment, as my Señora had been looking forward to it since before I even knew for sure if they would be coming to visit me. We spent five hours eating an extremely large meal complete with the expensive wine Andalucía is famous for: Tío Pepe (finally my parents were able to sympathize with what I eat every day). I certainly got my Spanish practice in for the day, translating things back and forth and was ready, as my Señora says, to “planchar la lengua” (literally meaning to plant my tongue, that basically means to rest it). Often times I caught my Señora staring at my parents in disbelief that they were actually there. After our five-hour marathon, my Señora stood on the porch waving until we could no longer see her.

Aside from the major Sevilla immersion my parents had when eating with my Señora, another typical experience we all shared was watching a Flamenco show. I made the mistake of not warning them what Flamenco singing sounds like and had to laugh at Mom’s startled reaction to the noise that came out of the singer’s mouth. Both Mom and Dad were astonished to find out that that is what Flamenco music is supposed to sound like. Nonetheless, we had a great time watching the show and all shared a few laughs at both the singer and guitarist’s expense.

Traveling outside of Sevilla was a strange mixture of student-type travel and family travel. We took the cheap transportation (bus) to get to both Granada and Nerja. Later on in the trip Dad was able to experience the craziness that Spain calls public transportation when we were jammed like sardines in a tiny city bus with probably 30 over-perfumed women on their way to a concert. When we arrived in Granada, our travel turned from student to family travel and we stayed in a luxurious hotel with great views of both the city and the Alhambra. I think I surprised my parents just as much as the beauty of the Alhambra did when I demonstrated my newfound confidence and assertiveness in telling off the staff of quite possibly the fanciest hotel in all of Granada (don’t worry, I was in the right). We had a great but tiring time exploring Granada for the day and then were up bright and early to head out to Nerja, a gorgeous beach town.

We were once again spoiled with beautiful accommodations with a massive suite looking over the ocean and the beach, complete with our own private deck. We spent the first day wandering through town and then somehow surviving a treacherous beach hike along a so-called beach path (nowhere on the map did it say the path would include scaling cliffs). After a trip to the Nerja Caves, we had dinner out on our deck, the sounds of waves crashing against the beach filling our ears. The following day was another relaxed day on the beach until we had to tear ourselves away and head back to Sevilla by way of bus and train.

After a great week with my parents, I was sad to have to say goodbye and head back to reality. I waved goodbye through the back window of the taxi and then turned around to face my taxi driver as he asked, “So, do you have a boyfriend?” And just like that, Sevilla was pulling me back into its magnetic grip.