Self realizations

This morning on my run, I wanted to go the track at Estadio Vallerhmosa, which is about 4km from our apartment. I found it but it was closed; which was strange as there were a lot of people out running around the stadium as well! So I decided to take a different way back, based on my cursory glance at the map the night before. For those of you in Dallas, I basically wound up trying to figure out how to get across the equivalent of the High 5! Not quite as bad but adding being somewhat lost certainly increased the anxiety of running through rush hour traffic!

I eventually found my way back to familiar territory and finished up my run along the Palacio Real. I decided to stop and look at the Palacio in the courtyard between it and the Catedral de la Almudena. And that's when it hit me...I'm a peasant!

Here's the second biggest palace in western Europe, after the Louvre, with a direct link to the Church...how could you not believe in divine right of kings and that they were the chosen? It must have been as plain as the noses on all those faces as it was to me this morning! For all the education and travel and exposure, it was a very impressive sight/thought and, for the first time, I understood how that must have felt.

It's also been interesting how we've had some role-flipping in our family. Because I'm basically at my desk for big chunks of the day and night here to stay in sync with the US, Becca and the girls are the ones out exploring the city, meeting people, and getting engaged. She and I were talking how we both feel sort of isolated from the world in some ways...no newspapers, TV, etc. So we're pulling together as a family but there are tradeoffs, of course.

All part of the learning process about Spain, Madrid, our family and ourselves.