Kiss of Life by Sade

They say that Christmas is the turning point when you are doing a year-long study abroad program.  After 4 months (around Christmas), you have finally started to get the hang of speaking in another language.  You might be dreaming in it at that point.  You know your way around, you have a nice routine, and you have developed some nice friendships.   A lot of people get homesick at this time and it is tempting to go home for the holidays, but you need to resist the temptation!  Get through it and when Christmas is over, you are on the path to truly settling in and enjoying the rest of your year.  Unfortunately for me, one of my roommates left early in the New Year and was replaced by a new one.  The new one was a nice person, but I just didn't click with her.  On top of that, my landlady was a crazy person.  I had to deliver my rent check in person and it was a super lengthy, super annoying and patronizing experience.

At this point I had started making those friends I mentioned above.  I was a dedicated gym-goer and I was starting to make a little group of friends there.  One of them was Esther and when she heard about my apartment woes, she invited me to come live with her.  She happened to have a recently vacated room and it was only a 5 minute walk from my current apartment!  Since I was in Spain with literally the clothes on my back, moving was a cinch.  Esther's apartment was pristine.  She and I cleaned together on a regular basis - from top to bottom, walls included.  It was decorated in a fun, modern style (she is an artist).  We really got along well and she was the best part of the rest of my exchange year.  We had our daily routine.  After school, we'd head to the gym.  We'd spend about 2 hours working out and then shower and head home.  At that point it was about 9pm.  We'd eat dinner (iceberg lettuce salad with corn and an oil and vinegar dressing.  2 slices of toast with cheese or ham or a hotdog.) and more often than not, get dressed, swapping clothes, to head out for a drink.  So fun and as an added bonus, it was the skinniest I have ever been!!   

Sometimes I would come home from school or wherever and Esther would have the stereo blaring as she read, painted, relaxed, took a bath.  She was usually blaring Sade, specifically Kiss of Life.  It made me feel sophisticated.   I was living in this modern, European city, sitting in my light-filled apartment, just minutes away from the Mediterranean.  The music made me feel contemplative and I would sit and write in my journal for hours, thinking about who I was....who i wanted to be...what was next on my life journey.  It was a transitional year and that music was my backdrop for making choices and learning how to live a grown-up kind of life.