A Walk In the Park
Shalinee in Sevilla
My time here is almost over. I had hoped to write regular newsletters, but time got away from me—I wanted to share everything, but every day here seemed to present some new experience to write about, and so I never felt like I could capture it all. I was always playing catch up, so I gave up. But I’ve realized it’s silly to try to capture everything. So, in my last few weeks in Spain, I will send some short notes if I can. Little snapshots so if you’re interested, you can understand a little about what this time has meant for me.
Today, I wanted to share a journal entry I wrote all the way back in January. It captures so much about my experience here, especially the wonderful friends I have made. I decided since it’s a journal entry, and I’m including it so I don’t have time to overthink things and end up not sending anymore letters that I wouldn’t edit it.
January 29, 2024
I had another transformative, soul-healing walk. Madi and I walked through Alamillo and we found such a beautiful part of it, with trees filled with orange blossoms that smelled so good, it was overwhelming. There was rosemary too that smelled so fresh. So strong. We found a plot of several vegetable gardens. We found roses in full bloom—yellow and bright magenta and dusty purple. It made me want to pay more attention to flowers. And of course, in typical Sevilla fashion, we ran into someone we knew gardening. Madi’s teacher Javier was tending to a huerto (vegetable garden). He was so kind to us, he gave Madi celery and cauliflower and cabbage. I loved how Madi just bit right into the celery, how she felt so at home there. Javier kept offering her things, and she shamelessly accepted.
Madi fascinates me. I love spending time with her. We think differently, in a good way. She also has a lot of wisdom. You can tell that she’s contemplative. I feel like I learn from her, but I also feel like sometimes she shows me what I already know. It’s so special when people say something to you that makes go, ‘Oh.’ I love talking to people who you can tell think a lot. But not just think, reflect. Madi feels like that…where it’s thinking and contemplation charged by love and emotion. And on this whole walk, we kept literally stopping and smelling things. I loved Alamillo more than ever today. It’s quickly becoming my favorite part of the city. It feels a little like a secret spot, an urban oasis if there ever was one, cars rushing by overhead, trees and weeds and plants growing wildly over each other, unable to be contained. This is not the neat, manicured park one might expect in a city—there’s the air of neglect, but it might also just be the air of wildness.
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It’s these days I’ll cherish forever. Walking in Alamillo, smelling orange blossoms and feeling the conversation I would have had with [my mother]. Wishing I could tell her about it but almost feeling like I did. Or lying in the grass, basking in the sun, watching a black cat stalk across the [grass] like a tiny panther. So much beauty. I am surrounded by so much beauty.
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I wrote before that my time here didn’t feel formative, because it felt too easy, I felt so much like myself, I didn’t feel like I was struggling. But struggle is not the only way to grow. It’s formative because I’ve learned my strengths, I’ve learned what I can do…I’ve learned things from my friends and they will continue to expand my mind.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed or have any thoughts, please please let me know! I’m hoping to send more soon. I’m only in Sevilla for two more weeks, believe it or not! Afterwards, I’ll be traveling around Spain and I'll be back in the States by July.