Coming Up for Air

I (Kelsie) have honestly been so daunted to even start writing this post as there is such a volume of events and transition to concentrate from the last 2+ months! But the opportunity to be connected to all of you is too important to pass by. John and I have really been in "go mode" and are now finally starting to find some normality and rhythm once again (relatively).

I will start with our recent highlights and then move into unpacking more detailed segments of our journey for those interested in reading further.

I wrote this in my journal on Friday:

"I forgot the intensity of the peaks and valleys of being abroad. The anxieties and stressors are fierce, but the joys are rich! It feels good to be so Alive! God feels so much closer. Maybe because so many layers of comfort, security and regularity have been shed. In the midst of it all there is not a day that goes by in which I don't feel like I belong here. This is an amazing feeling - being where I feel I am meant to be AND loving it."

July through today have included stints in Israel, Minnesota and then Spain. Now both John and I have been in Spain over a month now! I left Minnesota with four suitcases and many sweet although rushed goodbyes. A kind Minnesotan/Spanish couple (Amy + Abe) based in Barcelona took me in for my first 10 days as I started Spanish classes and searched for apartments. I succeeded in finding a petite and perfect flat in the middle of the old city off of the famous walking street "Las Ramblas". 

Since then I have established where to get groceries, medicine and household supplies. My new method of transport is a French electric-blue racing bike I have named "Bluebelita" in honor of her predecessor. 

John and I were happily reunited after 3 weeks of long distance on September 8th. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary at a rooftop restaurant overlooking our new city. Classes now have started in earnest and I am currently studying leadership, accounting, marketing, decision analysis and business problems. Midterms are already next week. John has taken a two-year sabbatical from Terra Firma, maintaining his co-owner position, and hopes to return to work there once back in MN. For now he is still looking for work in BCN but in the meantime has joined an Ultimate team, which is a great relief amid the mire of bureaucratic challenges he has been navigating for us.

Phew! That is the abridged version. Read on, my friends, for those interested in more detail! If you are ending here - thank you for reading this and staying in touch! We welcome texts, emails and post-cards (we are still operating off of our US phone numbers and emails) so we would love updates from you and how you are doing. It's always a gift to hear from someone we love. And, of course, we have a spare bedroom and/or a nice hotel across the street so visitors always are welcome. We have been lucky over the last couple weeks to have John's sister, Erika, staying with us as she reapplies for her Turkish work visa after being denied entry upon attempting to return home. We also enjoyed a very special visit from my sister, Kristina, and my mom at the end of September.

MIDDLE EAST

John and I once again returned to the Middle East in July to be a part of Ultimate Peace, an organization that brings together youth from differing backgrounds through the beautiful sport of Ultimate and it's emphasis on sportsmanship, or Spirit of the Game. It was incredibly tiring as we were faced with a very divided, very reserved group of girls, but as the week went on, walls fell and we witnessed unbelievable bonds of friendship begin to form between the Arab and Jewish Israelis on our team, and it became incredibly inspiring and rewarding. Ultimate Peace naturally breaks down all forms of segregation, not just racial or cultural; I was able to facilitate an incredible on-the-field moment of friendship and camaraderie between one of our Jewish girls and several Arab boys during a co-ed scrimmage, following a blatant act of sexism (due to ignorance, not to malice), which was addressed and reconciled! John's favorite moment was seeing one of our girls waving our team flag, which the girls created, from the stage in the front of the dining hall, while the whole camp danced! Previously, this same girl stubbornly refused to participate in anything expressive, vulnerable or fun. She would become the first to share at every session from then on and the most willing to cross cultural lines.

KISSING MN GOODBYE

We enjoyed a very sweet last 3 weeks in Minnesota this summer before departing for Spain. We shared some especially fond memories with immediate family and closed off the summer with a North Shore camping trip with the Schmits. It was a very sweet and beautiful last taste of Lake Superior for awhile. 

John and I completed most all of our bucket list which included climbing the Witch's Hat Water Tower, paddling on Minneapolis lakes, BWCA camping with friends Nate & Jane and eating some of the World's Best Donuts from Grand Marais. We also were totally honored by and loved the goodbye party my mom and dad hosted for us - so special to see so many loved ones from our community there. Made us feel very grateful and also a bit sad to be leaving of course! But also very, very loved.

IESE

The school is even better than I expected. The staff does a tremendous job of catering to our every logistical and practical need we have and I can't help but feel like an honored guest.

I have tremendous respect for my colleagues. Hailing from 65 countries - their backgrounds are rich and varied. I am clear I have a lot to learn from each of them. As different as we are, we do have some similar qualities that tend to compound each other for better or for worse. For better - most here are wildly driven, adventurous, value-oriented and accepting. For worse - we mostly seem to be the sorts that over-commit, suffer from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and worry too much about the future.

The campus is small and a perfect mix between classic and modern. Sleek wood paneling, expansive windows and tall ceilings seem to be the main features of campus. Big screens decorate the hallways, bringing us CNN and BBC. There are many overgrown terraces for socializing and overlooking the expanse of Barcelona.

The schedule and course load is demanding. My current professors are from Holland, Germany, the United States and Spain. They do a remarkable job keeping our classes lively and stimulating. I have been very impressed by the curation of content thus far as well. There is a heavy emphasis on highlighting cultural nuances amidst all of the coursework. Every class is presented through the case study method - in which we analyze a real-world business problem and collectively solve for the best approach if we were at the helm.

BARCELONA - OUR NEW HOME

Everyone said Barcelona was a tremendous city, and we had no idea how right they were! I would describe this city as Romantic, Relaxed, Clean, Welcoming and Festive. Our new apartment is in the heart of the old city on a square. We seem to be in the "arab quarter" - and have a lot of shawarma shops surrounding us. Every Sunday we watch from our balcony as hundreds of people file in and out of the Catholic church across the way. Right now as I type this it is raining and we have the terrace doors open letting in the cool, fresh air. 

We have also learned to enjoy the Barcelona beaches which are lined with beautiful boardwalks and restaurants. The food overall has been quite affordable and delicious. John has been cooking more and more for us, and we both feel quite lucky to be only a couple blocks away from Barcelona's largest outdoor market - La Boqueria. Huge variety of fresh fruit and veggies available for probably 1/3 of the price at grocery stores at home. Definitely encourages healthier eating. We both have been also pleasantly surprised by the lack of highly processed foods here - and have both lost weight here without really trying thanks to the plethora of healthier options. 

Barcelona has come with plenty of challenges too. John and I are both learning to navigate the language barriers and strange mix of Catalan and Spanish and other languages (Barcelona is a very international city so its not unusual to hear french, arabic, turkish, english among others). The relaxed nature of this city has made navigating some of the bureaucracy here a little interesting - businesses only tend to be open 5 hours a day and everything takes 2-3 times longer than expected. Everything here is done "boca a boca" basically meaning by word of mouth - so it is important to "know" people here if you want to get something done. John is still in the process of looking for a job. Good news is, however, that he has found an ultimate community to plug into and the "Bravas" team has already invited him to come and play at Beach Ultimate Spanish Championships with them this weekend.

DENMARK

We spent the last weekend in September visiting distant relatives in Denmark. What an amazing weekend it was! We were reconnected with our Danish "cousins" who all are descended from the same great, great grandparents as we are. They treated us to 5 star hospitality--taking us all over the country and serving us the most delicious home-cooked meals (each often with 4+ courses). The food in Denmark was amazing and I filled myself with as much pickled herring, salmon and fresh fruit as I could!

Highlights included: visiting the church 3 of my ancestors were pastors in and where most all of my Danish relatives were baptized; visiting the original home my great grandmother grew up in, driving through the Danish countryside, walking along the Danish coast and visiting the museum and house of the famous children's author Hans Christian Anderson. Photos are all below.

The air was so fresh here and the sky such a brilliant blue! There were wind turbines everywhere and John and I were so happy to be surrounded by crisp - cool air like the falls we love in MN. I felt eerily at home in this new land and feel like I know myself much better after having visited the sacred places of our ancestors. I feel like I understand my grandmother so much better now. Some of her mannerisms, her grateful, strong and kind spirit, her art for presentation, her commitment to quality and work ethic: all these things and more were reflected by the Danish relatives we met.

We are still learning more about our new city, community, and culture everyday, and we are loving all of it! We look forward to the next time we can share your company, wherever and whenever that may be.

-FIN-

And We are Off !! (Kind Of...)

"Here we go!!! ahhhh!!!" - Kelsie

Five days until I finish my last day at Medtronic. Five days until we fly off to Israel. About six weeks until we move abroad indefinitely. John and I in are both reacting to our imminent, uncertain (but nevertheless exciting!) future in our typical fashions (see exhibit A and B above and below)...

"Hmmm...well, it will all work out..." - John

But no matter what our reactions, no matter how different they may be, we are indeed going. We are moving away from our beloved shire (a.k.a. Minnesota) for the adventure of a lifetime. For the next 2-odd years we will be relocating to Barcelona, Spain so I can earn my MBA from IESE. Stay tuned on John's profession of choice while we are there - cabinetry school, ship captaining and/or coaching youth sports are all currently on the list of ideal options.

We still have a lot of impending variables at this juncture! Where we will live, how we will get around, who our new Spain-based friends will be, where we will go to church and play Ultimate... Thank goodness we will at least have one another as constants! 

Besides getting ready for moving to Spain (ask either one of us about our most recent "Spanish Visa Amazing Race" rendezvous...), our summer has been focused on relishing our last months in Minnesota. Here is a copy of our current bucket list (5/11 completed):

• Picnic on the roof of our building
• Go on a BWCA trip
• Go eat at Sea Salt Eatery
• Play tennis by the Witch's Hat
• Go to the top of the Witch's Hat
• Go to the JonnyPops Jamboree
• Go kayaking/paddleboarding on Cedar Lake
• Go out downtown Minneapolis to go dancing
• Go watch a late night movie at the Riverview
• Go to the St. Paul's Farmers Market
• Get up to Lake Superior multiple times

Plus of course see as many of our family and friends as possible! Something about knowing we are leaving and most likely will not be back in Minnesota for awhile makes all of these summer moments extra sweet.

Now onto this blog. Our goal is to stay connected with those we love and share our adventures with those who are curious in part through this forum. We hope to post at a minimum of once a month. If you are interested in receiving these updates with minimal hassle on your end, consider following the blog via email (option to do so should be on the top right corner of this page).

Our hope is that this will also be a interactive blog - not only providing a report-out on our activities, but also asking questions we would love you to engage with. Examples could be - "How would you handle this?" or "Do you know anyone based here?" or "What are your thoughts on this?" It would be nothing short of a delight if you, kind reader, would be willing to respond to these every once in awhile!

Here are our first set of questions from this post:

Question One: Anything you would consider adding to this bucket list? 

Question Two: Anything you would contribute to our growing Abroad bucket list?

Feel free to respond to either question in a comment, on Facebook or in an email!

If you are interested in more real-time updates, Instagram and Facebook are our social media channels of choice so you are welcome to connect with us there.

Right now I think the main thing we want to convey is gratitude. Gratitude for our wonderful lives in Minnesota to-date. Gratitude for an exciting future and many bright moments ahead. Gratitude for each-other! Man over and over again John proves to be the man of my dreams beyond my expectations. And of course, gratitude for each of you! You are our team, our rocks, our family, our solace! If you are reading this, I invite you to take our gratitude for you very personally. We know, in some way, if you are reading this we are where we are today directly thanks to you. All in all, we love you each more than words and count ourselves so very lucky to have you in our lives.

So signing off for now ! Next post we will send from Israel as we coach kids there through our favorite non-profit Ultimate Peace (we are still accepting donations for the organization if you are so moved). 

Until then - Cheers!

JK