Belonging

It happened rather unexpectedly this past weekend.  I was at a fishing tournament for kids with our friends.  The view was incredible, the music was obnoxiously loud, the food and drinks were yet to be served.  Suddenly, I could hear myself say in my mind, “I belong here.”

Great place for a kid's fishing tournament, wouldn't ya say???

It has been quite some time since I felt that way, probably Myanmar in 2013 or 2014 to be specific.  Overseas life is certainly not for the faint of heart I can assure you.  It does seem to fit me well though for some reason.

Before we moved to this pueblo, I was 99% certain I’d end up hating it.  I had thrived in Salamanca, a college town with plenty to do and a youthful flavor to it.  Not to mention the whole town was basically one giant and beautiful museum.

Showing some college students from the states my favorite view in Salamanca

Much to my surprise I’ve ended up loving it here.  We’re in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains that are only a 15-20 minute drive away.  We don’t have a car yet but our friends have been gracious and allowed us to borrow their’s when we like or take us along for a short trip somewhere for an afternoon.

What makes life great here is what makes life great anywhere - friends.  We have great friends at our little church.  Church can tend to run long as I’ve mentioned before, but I do love all of them.

I would consider our other friends to be another main reason I like it so much.  We go to their parents’ finca (small farm) most weekends and just hang out for an afternoon.  The view is incredible and the conversation is filled with laughter and loudness with a few kids thrown into the mix for good measure.  We all laugh that Arturo, the 7 year old boy, has become my shadow when we’re all out there, constantly asking me to play with him.

Another weekend day at the finca...

To be sure, we had great friends in Florida as well, but we felt a bit like we had one foot in Ft Myers and one foot in Sarasota since we went up there every weekend for church.  It’s hard to develop friendships like that.  Even with a language barrier I find it easier to develop friendships when I’m in one place for weeks on end.

We have great friends here, we’re using our skills as teachers to teach English, I’ve started helping one friend start to develop a small business, all for the sake of the gospel.  I’m playing tennis and exercising more regularly.  I’m studying something and using it immediately after I study it (Spanish, namely).  So yes, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that I love where we’re at.

There is a roller coaster of emotions that comes with living overseas, they even have graphs to know when you may hit a low point and to assure you that it’s normal.  Apart from a few of those dips, I love living in a pueblo of about 7,000 people, who could’ve imagined?

Dream Car

On Stef and I’s walk tonight, I asked her if she knew what my dream car was.  She responded she had no idea.  I was surprised she didn’t respond with ‘Tesla’ because I have mad respect for Mr. Elon Musk and that company in particular.

However, if I had my ‘druthers’, I’d rather not have any car at all.  Or, perhaps, if there were an affordable version of an autonomous car that might be okay.  Ideally though, I could just call an autonomous car from my smart phone and use it as necessary.

I realize many people love having a car.  To me though, it just seems like such a waste.  Not just of money, but of general space.  Apart from a yearly road trip vacation, how many people use their car any more than 5-10% (1-2.5 hrs) on a normal day?

Obviously, cars are very convenient, hence their popularity.  That’s why I want one on demand.  Like Uber, only in my little pueblo  :)  I think Uber is in the courts here in Spain anyway so I’m not sure that’s very likely to continue here.  

We do have a service called Bla Bla Car here in Spain that is similar, but if I’m thinking future-wise and if we have kids, we’ll obviously need more room than most of those cars provide.

Some blogs I’ve read assure us that the very thing I’m describing is just around the corner.  I certainly hope so.  Just order a car when you need it, and then it’s utilized by others when you don’t.  Convenience and not having to maintain it, yes please!

I did hear of one company several years ago that was only in big cities.  It was an app or something where professionals who drove into the city would make their cars available for hire during the day when they were at work.  Not sure if that caught on or if it is still a company but I could also go for something akin to that.  At least then your car isn’t being completely wasted throughout the day.

It seems they already have this available in NYC and other big cities after a quick search.  Now I just need to figure out how to get it to a small pueblo as well as with autonomous driving so I can stay out of wrecks!!!