August 28th-It is different this time.. When I arrive I will have familiar faces waiting for me at the airport, I have a plan, a goal. I will not wonder this time, bike bag and bicycle with me at all times. Spontaneous, go as I feel, eat when I am hungy, sleep when I am tired, move when I have had enough; was the way I lived for two months when I was here before. This time, I have work to do, 25 hours a week, projects to be completed, email’s to answer and teleconferences to dial into. I have friends with an itinerary, a mission to plan routes for next year’s cycling tours. So I find myself with a little more stress that all this will not go as smoothly as I planned. I have prepaired..of course. Finding the latest technology for communication and remote work has become a kind of hobby of mine. Gadgets.. I amaze people when I pull them out at café’s and on the train’s bar car. It is fun to try to explain to them what I am doing…interesting actually because they do not speak very good English and it has not changed that I do not speak anything but good English….well that really depends of who you ask. I think, “I am lucky that Europe is even more “connected” than the states”.
As I go to take a morning jog by the river, in the mountains, at the place I called Heaven. I wind up and down the familiar narrowed cobbled streets of monissori de montseratte, look towards the breathtaking mountains. I remember where the bank is, where I can get on the internet, where I can get my café con leche, and where to buy the fresh produce. I pass familiar faces that smile, I stop and they greet me with the typical Spanish greetings and besicos (little kisses) on each cheek. I am the American girl, with her bicycle, the sport woman of Ruben.
Today, I have awaken early with the sun to begin work; writing policy, populating spreadsheets, and analyzing data. After a few hours,Ruben’s roommate Caroll has joined me at the kitchen table for morning tea, tostada, and apple spread that she has made herself. She comments that she loves the apple mint leaves that my grandmother grew and dried for Ruben. We drink them in our morning tea as I speak of my country and show her pictures of the Smokey mountains.
It is hot here in Spain, but not as hot as the southern Tennessee hot humid climate. Actaully, it feels perfect. Cool breeze, sun that warms the skin, and the smell of fresh air that is brought by the mountains. I should get back my Spanish tan in no time, especially since I am told by Ruben that his favorite summer activity is swimming. Today, this afternoon, he takes me to a remote swimming hole that is fed by a brisk mountains stream.
We scale down a small rocky cliff. Difficult enough that he must go before me, place my feet, and spot me as I maneuver to stability. I find a beautiful place, he even mentions that it is not as beautiful as most..but I think this is more than beautiful of what I have seen in all my life. Purple flowers accent the tiered shelved rock layers of the stream; green algae creates padding if you fancy a slide down to the pool that is deep enough to jump into from the cliff ledge. 
We swim, sun, eat a picnic lunch, and I work a little. I catch him sleeping, on his towel, working on his Spanish tan….something he can care less about, he is just exhausted from working on the train during tourist season. 
He told me that last month he had to work 320 hours; sleeping for a few hours, for days at a time. He apologizes because he is tired and falls asleep, but then I remind him that it is ok, because I need time to work.
So I can tell this time, these memories of Europe will be different, a slower pace, my priorties are different, not my bicycle this time, but getting my work done so I can enjoy my friends and bicycle. The real life…. If I dare to even call it this with out you all rolling your eyes at me. I guess my life is what I have made it..and this is it. Perfect....
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