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Lost and found
On a chilly evening in March 2003, Joe and I sipped red wine at our local Italian restaurant. With excitement I opened my
purse and took out the letter I had received that afternoon; sharing with him the news that I had been offered an assistantship
with the Department of Romance Languages at BGSU. We were going to Spain for 10 months!
When I had applied the previous October, I wasn’t even sure how all the details would work out if I were to be accepted. I
wasn’t your typical master’s candidate. I had completed my undergrad over 10 years prior. I had a husband, a house, a cat
and even a job I hated. However, this was a great opportunity to experience Europe together for an extended period of time.
By August, we had planned, secured visas and found people to stay in our home. After a flurry of purchases–electrical adapters,
money belts, global cell phone, and personal supplies–it was time for me to pack up and leave for Spain. Joe stayed behind
to wrap up the rest of our affairs until October, when his leave of absence from work began.
Over the next eight months we forfeited time back home. We missed Christmas with family, but spent New Year’s Eve underneath
the Eiffel Tower. We couldn’t touch our kitty Misu’s soft, gray fur, but we felt the grit of the black sands of Lanzarote
in the Canary Islands. We lost track of TV and movies in the U.S., but the Barbary Apes of Gibraltar were even more entertaining.
Sometimes we longed for American food, but we left a trail of crumbs around Europe from the most exquisite pastries. Most
of all, we lost the tranquility that comes with the comforts of home and a predictable routine, but we found adventure in
its place.
Our travels took us to cosmopolitan European cities–Barcelona, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Krakow–and charming smaller
ones–Córdoba, Trujillo, Aix-en-Provence, Cinque Terre, Montreux.
Some days were far from idyllic. The memory of the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings, which killed nearly 200 people and
injured more than 2,000 others, will be with us forever. Several of the trains that exploded had originated in Alcalá de Henares,
within miles from where we were living. The aftermath left an imprint–the clean-up efforts, candles, poems, peaceful demonstrations
of unity and pictures of the victims. We realized how easily we could have been them.
Although life is fragile, reward doesn’t come without risk. If you want to accomplish something different, you often have
to leave your comfort zone. For us, this journey meant much more than leaving behind the physical conveniences and emotional
attachments of home for new experiences. In losing the familiar, we discovered new dimensions of ourselves–the joy of absorbing
the sights, sounds and smells of another culture; the distress of broken toes and heavy hearts, and most of all, the courage
to forge ahead into the unknown.
Teresa R. Pilarz ’05 | Spanish
Northville, Mich.
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