Day trip to Cadaqués, Catalonia.

Hello, remember me? I’ve taken a hiatus from writing because, as it turns out, when your best friend in the whole world visits you in Europe for 3 weeks, it is hard to care about anything else. Who knew best friendship was this debilitating. Why would I take a break from college reminiscing, sightseeing, mojitos on the beach or baking cheesecakes to write a blog post? I haven’t seen this girl in 19 months—she went to South Korea to teach English a bit after I left for Bilbao—so now we have to play serious catch-up time.

Reuniting in Prague before heading to Barcelona.

Oh to see your best friend again. To introduce her to your new and beloved city; to drag her to work to meet the manic toddlers; to remember that one time in college that that happened and laugh about it and then remember what it feels like to laugh until you cry. To be there when she tries paella for the first time, to travel to the coldest Spring Break destinations of Prague and Budapest together, to share and finish a plate of Hungarian beef goulash in under three seconds flat.

Sometimes you don’t recognize an aching feeling until you’re out of it. I knew I missed my friends and family back home, but I hadn’t quite realized the extent of that longing. Maddy’s visit was how I picture it would be for experimental vegans to try Manchego cheese again. You were stupid for going without this for a time. Note to self: Do not repeat.

Bunker viewpoint overlooking Barcelona

I love my friends I’ve met abroad. They’ve made me grow and have changed and inspired me, and I can laugh and cry and knock back wine with them. But friends from home—those are my people. The ones who truly know me and get me and understand why I find it weird that they put tuna on pizza here. Having the best friend visit me in this new land, bridging the old times with the present, was like a defibrillator shock that I didn’t really realize I needed but now know I was seriously desperate for. It brought me back to life here.

Day-trip to Girona, Catalonia.

Barcelona’s blue skies and beaches and bike lanes and bars and park (not plural, sigh) and metropolitan energy are amazing; but sometimes what you truly need to boost your own vitality is a reunion with those you’ve left behind.

About The Author

Jenny

Jenny Marshall studied Language, Culture, and Society at the University of California Santa Barbara, and now teaches English in Spain. Here she writes about the intersection of language and culture, and lives a life translated by travel.