"Benvenido"

In September of 2008 I departed from Columbia, SC to my new home in Madrid, Spain. I just finished a year in the Middle-East and I was excited to go to a place where I can actually have fun. I turned 21 in Baghdad and I never had a chance to celebrate my coming of age. I didn't know what to expect in Spain. In fact, the only thing I knew about Spain was bullfights. 


When I touched down, I met my sponsor/boss Ronald Shuler. He was a few years older than me and seem pretty cool. After checking into the hotel that I was now to call my home until I found an apartment, we walked around and saw the sights. Ronald told me about how relaxed the job was and that I would have plenty of money and that Spanish girls love Americans. 

Cool.

That night we went to club Lokua in the Principe Pio district of Spain. It was awesome. Beautiful women, drinks, and I was in heaven. I was dancing with a gorgeous Spanish girl and she kept smiling at me and grabbing me to come closer. When I tried to speak to her, she just looked at me and smiled. Shit. She doesn't speak English. And I know absolutely no Spanish. All I could do was walk away. I vowed then and there that that would be the last time me not speaking the language would ever stop me from getting the girl. 

The next day Ronald came by and got me for lunch. We walked to Plaza de Espana and ironically ate at a Burger King (lol). 

That's where I saw her. 

About 5 foot 2 wearing heels, caramel skin, a bright orange afro, a yellow summertime dress and the the prettiest face I ever seen. I was in love. She was sitting at the table adjacent from us with an older woman. I said to Ronald, "If I had her, I would die happy".  He laughed. The girls left the restaurant and I knew that she was gone forever. But with some luck, they sat on the bench right outside and they smoked a cigarette. 

I still have a chance! But what would I say? It's the Spanish girl from the club incident all over again.

Ronald goes and approaches them. He spoke terrible Spanish but it was enough to engage them. I was forced to stand there pitifully not knowing what words were being exchanged. At the end, Ronald walks away with her phone number and I walked away wanting to punch him in the face. He said that the older lady was her mother. She wanted to hang out with us sometime next week. 

Great now I have to watch this asshole steal my woman. Her name was Tiffanie (Tee-Fawn-Knee)

Tiffanie

One week and Spain had come and gone. I went out a few more times and everything was perfect as I forgot all about the girl I fell in love with in Burger King. I had since enrolled in Spanish class everyday after work and I was making some progress in Spanish. Then on a Saturday I get a call on my hotel phone. 

"Gavin?"

"Ummmm Si?"

"Soy Tiffanie, como estas?"

In a 90 second awkward phone conversation, I understood one thing. That she wanted me to meet her in Plaza de Espana at a statue in 1 hour with Ronald. I called Ronald and he said that he gave her my number that first day and that he would come and get me shortly. The day had arrived....

Ronald and I arrived at Plaza de Espana and there she was just as beautiful as I last saw her. We said the greeting and did the Spanish custom of kissing on the cheeks (this was difficult for me). We walked to a Starbucks and I practiced what little Spanish I knew and she seemed impressed. Ronald was not.

He went outside to take a phone call and after 5 minutes, we couldn't find him anywhere. OMG!!

So here I am in the middle of the largest city in Spain, in the busiest district of Spain, with a beautiful Spaniard that doesn't speak two words of English. I reached for my pocket dictionary that I became accustomed to carrying and managed to ask her if she could show me some sights. She agreed and we managed to communicate with hand signals and frequent turns of the dictionary pages on both of our parts. She laughed at my efforts and I love being around her so much that I didn't care anymore how bad I was at Spanish. We spent hours together that day and even ate dinner at an Indian restaurant. Then we parted ways.

Did I really just pull that off? She seemed to enjoy herself and she had to like me or else she would have left. But it wasn't really flirty. I never touched her. Maybe I just landed myself in the friend zone? Damn it.

As the weeks went by I saw Tiffanie more and more. My Spanish was improving drastically and I was able communicate to her my thoughts much better. Then one day after dinner I invited her back to my hotel room for drinks. We still never had any physical interaction (not even a hug) and I was getting more desperate for her to notice me. I finally got the liquid courage to tell her that I liked her as more than friends. She just looked at me.

No....I ruined it.

She got up slowly, walked over to me, and sat in my lap. She then gave me the best first kiss I ever had in my 21 years on this Earth. We floated to the bed and as I took of my shirt she said "No." 

Oh no... Did I move to fast. Why did I have to take my shirt off? You fool!

She explained that she was on her period. I said that that was OK, being more grateful that I didn't push her away and that I moved from that friend zone. Two days later she came to my hotel again. She wanted to go do something and I told her that I needed to take a shower. While in the shower I heard the door to the bathroom open. I moved the curtain and there she stood wearing nothing but that pretty smile of hers. She told me to make room. 

Tiffanie

I really liked her and she liked me. I got the girl of my dreams but I wasn't happy like I thought I would be. We were heading into a full fledged relationship, but a thought was on my mind,

Do I really want to be a one-woman man when I just arrived in Spain?

Her name was Tiffanie....

Tiffanie and I with our trusted dictionary (2008)