A Glorious Thing
- jaclynkolson
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
Bon dia els meus amics (good day my friends), and welcome to the first recording of our family adventures in Spain!
Anders, Ji, and I recently saw a performance of the Pirates of Penzance at the old Elitch Gardens Theater. Ever since, Anders and I have been blustering about singing, nay, shouting, “It is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King!”
It has put us in the mood to sally forth, to live beneath the open sky and ramble toward shores as yet unknown.
Som-hi
“Som-hi is a highly versatile, colloquial Catalan interjection that translates roughly to "let's go," "come on," or "manos a la obra" (let's get to work). It is used to rally a group, signal readiness, or kick off a new task or activity.”
The longer I live (I’m over forty now so I can say things like this), the more time I seem to spend in co-existing, contradictory sentiments. It’s easy to bluster and crow. It’s easy to be excited. I am excited, certainly. I am also nervcided, joyworried, stresshopful, and overwhelmconfident.
I have spent the last four years in a state of deeply-rooted, nurturing stasis. I have not picked up a new project. I have not intentionally challenged myself. I have not learned anything new, other than motherhood’s daily lessons of humility and joy. I have been a pot of soil. Truly. And this is a state so different from anything I have been before that, at times, I have struggled to know myself.
The decision to expand my concentration from the steady cultivation of our family’s root system to the tendrils that might break from the soil and canter into the wide world has buffeted my soul since December, when Ryan first suggested living abroad. In the same moment, I feel selfish for taking the stability and daily joys from my children’s lives, and emboldened by the benefits of resilience and perspective that will (hopefully!) sew us together.
Of course it’s the right choice for me. I get to reclaim the wild echo of adventure that sings to me at night. Well, except, I suppose, that I am giving up a job that I love, I am choosing to live without my support system, my parents, my friends, my neighbors, the library, easy dinners, predictability, and reliably comfortable kids.
Of course it’s the right choice for Ryan. Well, except when Nvidia decided to renege on their offer to work abroad because Rebecca in HR decided it set a bad precedent and Ryan seriously considered quitting his job for two weeks before he flew to California and got it all patched up.
But it’s harder to make the choice for the kids when I can’t predict how the move will influence their lives. Surely it will bring good and bad together, but what will the balance be?
Between the scrounge to catch up to first grade reading and the countless hours spent in after-school baths to decompress from the social demands of pre-k, moving to a foreign language and foreign land seems, well, scary.
Som-hi!
We are headed to the city of Girona. Today, two weeks to the day before we leave Colorado, we have finally secured a place to live. (Not stressful). Girona is located in northeastern Spain, in the autonomous community of Catalonia (Catalunya). As such, we have been practicing our Catalan.
The magnificent Profa Jess has been teaching us the language while taking us on nature hikes, playing bingo, and leading scavenger hunts.
We have learned our colors, feelings, and foods. We can say hello, how are you, and I am hungry! We also performed the story of Sant Jordi. After this extensive preparation, I expect a seamless transition with no miscommunications, no tears, and no tubes of toothpaste (pasta) brought to a refugio for dinner rather than noodles (fideos). #2011Peru #Balex
Right now we are taking care of a year’s worth of logistics. The house is rented, the car is sold. We are sorting, donating, and moving out 8 years of neglecful house clutter. Oh, the exfoliation!
We’ve been to the doctor and the dentist. Now all that is left is to hoist sail and pray for favorable seas. Yo-ho!
If you are reading this page, it is because you are one of our dearly loved humans. It means that you have supported us in one way or another and I am so grateful to all of you for creating the stable foundation from which we now set forth.
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