Heather Hodges

The last leg of my journey this summer was to stop in Madrid, Spain to meet Cecilia’s husband and four children. This was by far the most pleasant portion of my trip. I was treated like an honored guest and shown the true meaning of Polish hospitality. That’s right, I was in Spain experiencing Polish hospitality! Cecilia’s husband, Bogus, is from Poland. Polish hospitality is legendary and is rivaled only by Spanish hospitality. I have never eaten such good food, slept so well, or made to feel like such a special member of the family.

After Mass on Sunday we took a drive to the walled city of Avila. This was outside the cathedral at a lovely cafe sitting down for lunch. Starting with me and going clockwise are: Teresa, Bogus holding Julian, Cecilia, Daniel, and Adrian. We arrived in Avila around noon, but had to wait until 2:00 for the restaurants to open for lunch. My American stomach was growling, but the wait was well worth it. By the time I left Spain I had adjusted to the 2-3 o’clock lunches and the 9-11pm suppers.

The walls around Avila are 1,000 years old, but they are still in pristine condition. We took a little tourist trolley ride around the city. During the ride I held Cecilia’s daughter, Teresa, on my lap. She is a gorgeous little blond girl. She and I became quite attached to each other during my stay. During the 40 minute ride Cecilia and I unknowingly became the butt of one of the funniest practical jokes I’ve ever been a part of. Bogus, her husband pulled a fast one on us, that I will only repeat in person if you catch me at the right moment.

Teresa and me at her grandparent’s house in the country outside of Madrid.

Cecilia’s parents at their home in Collado. These two special people have not changed in twenty years. They took prodigious care of me, I could not have felt more at ease in their home. I even got to take a real Spanish siesta while visiting them. It was one of the best naps I’ve ever had.

Every evening while I was staying with Cecilia’s family I got to read a bedtime story to the children. This was a very special thing for all of us. In a previous post, I mentioned that I am fascinated by how languages are learned. An interesting fact about these four children is that they all speak THREE languages. Cecilia only speaks to the children in English, their father speaks to them in Polish, and they live in Spain and of course speak Spanish. What an accomplishment.

On my last night in Spain, Cecilia threw a dinner party for me so that I could visit with her brother, Gonzalo and his wife, and her sister, Teresa and her husband. We had all gone to the American School of Paris together and had a fun evening.

Our meal at the dinner party…paella. In Spain you can order paella out, just like we order pizza out here. Yummmmy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2007 at 7:36 am and is filed under Travel, Language, Culture, Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.