Lessons in Gravity (Study Abroad #2) (35 page)

“Um,” I say, tears stinging the backs of my eyes. Years of Spanish go out the open window as I struggle to remember how to say
fourteen
and
street
and
I’m so sorry I’m an idiot
. I’ve practiced saying my
señora’
s address a hundred times on the plane. I’ve even coached myself on the proper Spanish accent, perfecting the soft hiss of
c
and
s
.

Sweat trickles down the gutter of my spine. Spanish words and phrases dart through my head like blinking fireflies, going dark just when I think I’ve caught one.
 

For the first time, I wonder what the hell I was thinking when I decided to study abroad for a semester in Spain. I am not ready for this. While I’ve managed to slip through high school and college classes on the strength of my written Spanish, it’s obvious my speaking skills are gringo-level—and that is being generous.

I’ve always wanted to study in Madrid, mostly because I’m a huge art history nerd and the museums here are some of the best in the world. Seeing, in the flesh, the masterpieces of my favorite artists—Goya, Dalí, Picasso—along with the country that inspired them is going to be the coolest thing ever.

But even though art history is my jam, I have yet to discover any
real
jobs you can land with a major like that. Considering mom and dad kindly but firmly told me I’m off the payroll the day I get my diploma, I needed a more practical major with good job prospects.
 

So like most Meryton University students, I am an Economics major. Along with a solid GPA, it will help me nab internships that will lead to a well-paying job after I graduate—consulting, maybe, or investment banking. I also chose it because, let’s be honest, peer pressure is a bitch, and I don’t want to be left behind by my super smart, and super competitive, classmates.

Unlike most Meryton students, however, I’m not very good at Econ. In fact, my GPA has tanked ever since I declared it as my major last year. Which is why I plan on getting a tutor through the Meryton in Madrid program this semester. I’m hoping they can help me slay the business classes I’m taking, and maybe the one or two art history classes I’ll sneak in before I settle into my I-banking track for good.
 

But if I can barely mumble a coherent word in Spanish, how the hell am I going to pass, much less slay, classes that cover sophisticated economic theory— classes taught in one hundred percent Spanish? I doubt even the best, most dedicated tutor can teach me to speak an entire language in a handful of months.

The taxi driver is waiting.

“Um,” I say again, my voice wavering. “Por favor, voy a…um…quatro, no, no, catorce…”

The driver turns around and offers a small smile of sympathy. He nods at the scrap in my hand, and with a sigh of relief I pass it to him.

“Gracias,” I say. “Muchisimas, muchisimas gracias.”

He turns back, looks down at the address. “Ah, vale. Veinte, veinticinco minutos con el trafico.”

That I understand.
Twenty, twenty-five minutes with the traffic.

Okay.

I settle back in my seat, let out a breath.
Okay
. I look forward to twenty-five minutes of relative peace, before I face the second trial of my study abroad adventure: meeting my señora. I have been warned she speaks “little to no English.”

Just the thought of it makes my stomach clench. Social situations can stress me out—I’m an introvert—and I know interacting with my substitute mom who can only communicate in Spanish is going to take my anxiety to a whole new level. I want to be gracious, and kind; I want her to like me. None of those things will happen if I can’t speak her language.

The driver fights our sputtering taxi into gear. We lurch into traffic, the driver zipping in between cars and mopeds with stupid speed. A tiny blue lighter slides across the dashboard. He snatches it, tucking it into his shirtfront pocket; the pack of cigarettes he keeps there crinkles as he does it.

He does not put on his seatbelt. I take that as a sign that I should definitely put on mine.

My first sight of Madrid is disappointing. We pass through dreary suburbs at lightning speed, faceless building after faceless building whizzing past, a blurry weave of grey and beige. Between buildings, I catch glimpses of the countryside. It is arid, desert-like with pops of intense, eucalyptus green—exactly how I imagined it when I read
Don Quixote
. The sky is hazy with heat.

The wind, warm, blares through the window. It feels good. Growing up in the South, I am used to hot weather. But I didn’t realize how much I took air conditioning— sweet, sweet air conditioning—for granted.

Looking out the window, I notice that everything is a little different here. The cars, for one thing, are tiny, dinged up and dirty; not a shiny SUV in sight. The people driving them have slightly different haircuts, they wear a slightly different style clothing; their expressions of road rage are startlingly vibrant to my American eyes. The highway itself is clean and orderly, the pavement several shades darker than at home.

The suburbs eventually crowd into a city. My heart pops around in my chest. Mostly because we are getting closer to my señora’s apartment, and I’m already stressed about what I’m going to say.

But my heart also works double time because excitement is peeking around the great mass of my anxiety. Madrid is huge— and this part is
beautiful
. The taxi slows down as we run into traffic, giving me a chance to gawk as we inch further toward city center.
 

It’s not gritty, like New York, or shiny and new, like Atlanta. Madrid is gorgeously old; I can see its age in the zigzag of its streets, in the mishmash of Gothic and Mediterranean and Belle Epoque architecture. The mid-afternoon light softens corners and gilds trees. Beautifully dressed people stroll along the sidewalks, puffing on cigarettes or chatting on their phones. My eyes move over the trim, broad-shouldered profiles of the guys we pass—Madrileños.
They are the “holy shit” variety of gorgeous.

But as delicious as they look, I wouldn’t touch these dudes with a ten-foot pole. After suffering through my first real heartbreak last semester, followed by a string of disappointing hookups that I hoped would lead to something but never did, I need a win. And falling for a hot Spanish dude who, if he even likes me back, I’ll have to leave in five months’ time is definitely
not
a win.

I’ve been so close to romance, to that happily ever after, before. And then I had to let it—let
him
—go after one semester. It hurt like hell.

I definitely don’t want to go through that again.

I want a guy who’s going to be around for coffee in the morning and dinner dates at night.

I want a guy who’s going to be around for a long, long time. Maybe forever. And by virtue of their hotness, their geographical location, and their seriously superior Spanish skills, these Madrileños are definitely not forever material.

It’s intimidating, Madrid, but already I’m picking up on its easy energy, the sense of promise that hangs in the air. If I can ever manage to utter a complete sentence in grammatically correct Spanish, I think I’ll like it here.

After weaving in and out of traffic, we make a turn and zoom up a smaller street. I strain my neck to look up at the stately white apartment buildings we pass. The neighborhood looks nice. Very nice. The bustle and noise of the city recedes the further we move up the street, until at last the driver darts into an open parking spot in front of a blue paneled door.

I brace my hand on the back of his seat to keep from lurching forward.

“Aqui.” The driver points out the window. “Calle de Villanueva, numero catorce.”

Oh God.

I’m here.

My home for the next six months. Whether I’m a gringo or not, I’m here, four thousand miles from home. There is no turning back.

The driver motions to the meter, and I dig my monopoly-sized Euro bills out of my wallet. My mind races as I try to calculate the tip.
Shit
, there are no single bills; I’d forgotten the Euro dollar is a coin.

Shit shit shit
.

My hands are shaking again, and I end up shoving an enormous tip into the guy’s hand because my brain isn’t working and I feel like I’m about to burst into tears. He grins and hops out of the car, helping me with my enormous suitcase.

He drops it at the door. I say thanks in halting Spanish, and he speeds away, muffler coughing in protest.

I glance down at the scrap of paper he placed in my palm.
Calle de Villanueva, 14, second floor
. I look up at the door. I am so nervous I feel sick.

But the sun is hot on my head and shoulders, the heat from the pavement radiating up my legs. I probably look like a hot mess, and smell like one too. I can’t remember ever being so exhausted; I need a siesta, stat.

I push the door open, dragging my suitcase behind me. Its wheels clack against the marble floor. The air in the small, shadowed foyer is cool; it feels like jumping into a pool after that sweaty cab ride.

There is a quaint, fragile-looking elevator in the middle of the room. I slide back the
Titanic
-esque gate, and barely manage to squeeze into the elevator beside my suitcase. I press the button; after a minute the elevator jerks into motion, moving slowly,
slowly
, to the second floor.

And all of a sudden—three airports, four awful airplane meals, and eighteen hours after I left home—I am staring down my señora’s door.

Swallowing my heart, I knock.

I hear the
rut-tut-tut
of a dog’s nails against the floorboards; a bark, a woman’s voice; and then the door opens, revealing a petite blond woman with kind brown eyes. There’s a frazzled look about her, or maybe I just think that because she’s trying—and failing—to hold back a giant German shepherd by his collar.

“
Chiquitin!
” she implores. “
No, Chiquitin, no!
”

But Chiquitin gets the better of her, wrangling from her grasp. He pounces on me, teeth nicking my chin. I let out an embarrassing sound, something between “hola” and a strangled cry for help.

No one told me there would be a dog. A mean, employed-by-the-department-of-corrections dog.

My señora starts to holler, and eventually she manages to wrestle Chiquitin away from me. He barks, she slaps. I wonder if I’m going to faint.

Then she turns to me.

“Vivian?” she asks, smiling. It sounds like
Vee-vee-an
when she says it. I kinda like it. I wonder if I can ever hope to live up to this exotic version of myself.

I manage a smile. “Si. Me llama Vivian. Um. I’m. Uh. Encantada, Senora.”

I
think
that’s how you say “nice to meet you.” I think.
 

I hope.

She manages to wedge back the dog, and steps out into the foyer to give me a hug. A quick
kiss kiss
on each cheek, and she pulls away, introducing herself as Stella. She picks up pretty quickly on the fact that my Spanish isn’t so great. She speaks slowly, using hand gestures. I appreciate her kindness.

The following hour is a blur. After locking Chiquitin in a bedroom, Stella shows me around her apartment. It is lovely, dressed up without being stuffy. The floor, wood parquet lovingly marred by generations of use, creaks as we move through each room: a small kitchen—no oven!—a pretty bathroom, a well-worn living room with couches huddled around a TV.

There is no air conditioning in any of the rooms. It’s got to be close to one hundred degrees outside.

I try to engage Stella in conversation. I want to let her know how much I love her apartment, how much I appreciate her hospitality. But I’m really feeling the jet lag now, and my brain seems to short-circuit anytime I need to say something. Either I can’t think of anything to say at all, or I do but I can’t remember how to translate it into Spanish.

I end up using dumbed-down phrases that make me sound like a total tool. “Que bella!” (I’m pretty sure that’s Italian, but whatever); “muchas gracias”; “es preciosa” (“it is precious” or maybe “it is pretty”) Gah!

By the time the tour ends and Stella shows me to my room, I want to die of embarrassment. Exhaustion, too. She asks if I’m hungry, if I’d like anything—maybe a glass of wine to celebrate my arrival?

I decline as politely as I am able, which is to say, not well at all. Stella leaves me to unpack, closing the door quietly behind her.

I look around the small guest room. It is spare, but cozy. A pair of huge casement windows are thrown open onto a silent courtyard. It is so damn hot in here I can hardly stand it.

I dig my phone out of my backpack and fall onto the trundle bed. I call my parents, and when my mom answers the phone—she sounds relieved, excited to hear from me—a lump forms in my throat. She asks about my flight, and about Stella. I rush her off the phone, telling her I need to unpack; telling her
yes
, Mom, really, I’m okay, just tired.

I set the phone on the desk beside the bed and fall back onto the pillows. I should unpack, I should set up my computer to proofread my econ take-home before I turn it in tomorrow, I should take Stella up on that glass of wine.

I cry instead. I turn my head away from the heat of the window and let the tears roll down my temples, soaking the pillow.