Writing about my mothering experience as a foreigner raising bilingual and bicultural children, dealing with the system on behalf of my special needs son and navigating Chicago and the world with my kids.
As grateful as I am to the US for all the things it has given me, there are some things that I will never get here. Again, as I said yesterday, family and friends are what I miss the most. Yesterday I had the opportunity of showing the city to a childhood friend who was here for 24 hours, and there is nothing like those long dinners catching up with an old friend. Also, I miss a certain ease to socialize, a relaxed way of living. Spaniards work to live, whereas here, in America, we seem to live to work.
But apart from that, there are other things, things that seem more trivial, that I also miss. These are some ofthe things that make me still call Spain home, even though the only property titles I own are in American soil.
To the many foreigners that are now part of this melting pot: Which are the things that you miss most?
My mountains
These are the ones I grew up with, but any mountain will do. Being in the plains is still weird for me, even twelve years into it. The fact that I have to drive hundreds of miles to find a decent mountain still baffles me. Not that I do much with them once I have them close, but they make the perfect background for a good book.
The food
This is kind of cheating, because I included in what I miss from both countries. But in the Basque Country, my region of Spain, we have one of the best cuisines of the world. It's not only me who says it, but Restaurant magazine just listed four Basque restaurants among the top 20 in the world. In this photo you can see monkfish, fished the same morning we ate it. It was in San Sebastian, and just a bit of salt and olive oil made it absolutely delicious. As much as I try, that is not going to happen in Chicago, if only because the sea is quite far away.
Flowers
My mom's, in particular. This is a hydrangea. A whole wall of my house is covered in them, as it is typical from the north of Spain. They are alive, year after year, and getting more beautiful. Every Spring I happily go to Home Depot and spend a fortune trying to recreate that here, to no avail. This is no climate for hydrangeas, and they never make it to the end of the summer. So pictures have to suffice.
Hanging clothes outside in the morning
It may sound silly, but this is my favorite way to start the day while I am in Spain. Dryers are not common there, and you will see clotheslines everywhere. For me few smells beats the smell of clean clothes under the sun. And that is something that I cannot do in Chicago. I keep trying, but it doesn't work the same.
Strawberries
Enter here any fresh produce that brings you back memories from home. I thought I didn't like them until I tried the ones from a farm in my village. You cut those strawberries and, unlike the ones in the US, they are red, juicy and so sweet that they don't need anything else. I'm sorry, Whole Foods, but you will never be even close to how good fruit and vegetables are in Spain.
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