Nostalgic Return to Salamanca

As a general rule, our travels are non-repetitive. We rarely revisit a country and never the same city. Not that we haven't loved almost everywhere we've been, but there is just to much out there to justify going to the same place twice.

But the pull of returning to Salamanca - a city in Spain where I spent the school year of 2004-05 and rubbed shoulders with a group of Georgia Tech grads out to change the world one college student at a time - has been with me for a long time.

So what's up with Globalscope Spain after six years?

The unforgettable Plaza Mayor.

When we got to En Vivo, we were greeted by Chris. Hey just like old times and neither one of us looks a day older! But wait, Chris is standing in the middle of a fully functioning kitchen with a sink and everything. Shoot, I remember when we used to haul trays of food back and forth from Cheryl's apartment. I can already tell this place has come a long way.

Feeling like we belonged, Randy and I showed ourselves around the En Vivo house. I remember first walking into this building on a quite street and seeing a place badly in need of paint, repair, lighting, doorknobs, and pretty much every thing else you can think of.

But the team members had vision. The dusty space was successfully transformed into a campus house that has seen loads of fellowship, friendships, dinners, and games over the last half a decade. I imagine that many people who used to say, "Meet you under the clock," now say, "Meet you at En Vivo."

The original cast. Photo courtesy of globalscopespain.org

En Vivo, which was a small ambitious upstart in 2004, is now a thriving campus ministry offering the works - retreats, Bible studies, and more. And all thanks to this swell group above and the many who have come after them. Some of the faces have changed since this photo but the mission is the same - to create a Christian community for university students in the heart of Salamanca, Spain.

This is the Ev Vivo house in 2005, after the renovations (repairing walls and such) but before the fancy furnishings and Sophie and Cheryl's artistic touches. In the early days, Jesse and Jeremy would wow the crowds in this room with their intellect, humor, Biblical knowledge, and Spanish skills that were way beyond their six months in the country. I understand this kind of thing still happens on a regular basis.

Jesse and Sophie (always over-achievers) have tripled their offspring since I last saw them! Juliette, whose first birthday party I sang at, is now seven and of course has no memory of the fun times with her former babysitter.

Good times in the Plaza Mayor, circa 2005.

Ansley, a fellow exchange student and roommate back in the day, has been a team member for like four or five years now. Ansley has the distinction of being the only person I've ever lived with in two different counties.

Ansley and I were on board back when Globalscope Spain was basically a collection of high hopes and questionable Spanish skills. A good looking collection though, I must say. I bet when she first arrived in Salamanca alongside six other exchange students and our fearless jefe, Kemper, Ansley never imagined that she'd be back in this capacity.

Ansley was a kind and gracious host to us and didn't even seem to mind that everything I said was "so six years ago." Nor did she fall on the ground laughing when Randy and I spoke Spanish that came out as rusty and broken as an old bike.

Besides checking in and seeing that En Vivo is clearly a ship sailing in the right direction, we indulged in the other happy-isms Salamanca has to offer, like eating kebabs and chocolate napoletanas and tapa bar hopping.

Some of my favorite things in life, all of which can be found on a Spanish breakfast table.

The weird thing about returning to a former hometown is that I kept feeling like I would run into someone I used to know on the street. Like it's 2005 again. I had to remind myself that time has passed and I'm not going to run into anyone I used to know because they've moved on too.


I have no idea what happened to some of those first people En Vivo touched - Laura, Inma, Natalia, Javier. I'm sure they've been replaced by new Natalias and Javiers who will learn about Jesus and then take on the world themselves. Onward Christian Soldiers!