Ah….the day was world was shaken. This topic has several
parts….I’m not sure just how many yet…so, from now on I will refer to this as TDMWWS…..and you will eventually know
all about it.
TDMWWS was such a slap in the face….kick in the stomach….a world
filled with heartbreak. Why?? Because it
all came down to believing in the wrong person. For a full year! My own darn
fault….I’ll come back to that later…
Literally, the next day, I received more disheartening news
that also involved believing in the wrong person. I knew in my gut, what I had needed
to do, but my head had told me to believe in a friend that needed help. Well, I
was really let down. And that was it. For 2-3 days, I’d had it with humanity.
Very dramatic, I know, but that’s exactly how I felt. Done with everyone. Done.
So done.
But then…..I had a life-changing experience. Yes,
“life-changing.”…..and that is called Pueblo Ingles…..I will refer to this as
PI. PI is an English-intensive program that lasts one week. There is a group of
Spaniards and a group of native English speakers…otherwise know as “Anglos.”
There is an equal amount of people in both groups. The program generally takes
place in a small village somewhere in Spain. The program I was in was in a
precious little pueblo called La Alberca.
Now, TDMWWS occurred just 1 day before I was scheduled to go
on this PI thing. And quite frankly, the LAST thing I wanted to do was get on a
frickin bus for 5 hours with a bunch of people I didn’t know and have to socialize.
I was angry. I was depressed. And I hated everyone. BUT, my wise self knew
better….I knew I had to go. Plus I had reserved my spot months ago and knew that
cancelling last minute would be a crappy thing to do to the program. And, I
have a very good friend, the one who told me about this program and who has
done it 7 times, who was NOT going to let me back out and made sure I got on
that bus (thank you Martin!). And thank goodness I did.
I cannot explain this program. It’s just something I would
recommend to anybody and everybody. The slogan of PI is “more than just
English.” And that’s all I can say. 70 of us spent about 12 hours a day
together (or more when we went out late night), 7 days a week, and we all
became so close. Like a family. It was this crazy bonding experience I’ve never
experienced before. And for whatever reason…maybe it was from the comfort in
strangers, the fresh mountain air, or the wine, but we all opened up to
eachother about everything. Complete trust. And I truly was in the presence of
69 beautiful human beings. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we ate, we drank…..
The gifts I received from them are indescribable.
I have seen several of them since the program….and I have
plans on seeing a few more in the next couple of weeks. Solid new friendships
have been made. People are always going to let you down….that’s life. But
humanity is not a lost cause….there is in fact good reason to believe in
people. And I much rather believe and love and be let down from time to time,
then to have a closed heart and be dead. It can be tough….but with the right
people, it’s so damn worth it.
Cheers to believing.
~ws
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