Teleportation

Physical teleportation may be impossible (at least for now), but today I had the joy of being mentally transported to another place and time.

After opening a vacuum-sealed bag of my fall and winter clothes, the scent of bargain detergent, purchased at my corner MAS supermarket, filled my bedroom. For just a few seconds, I was back in Sevilla where the warm spring sun shined brightly onto my 6th-floor balcony. As I took my recently dried laundry off the rack, a fleeting rush of fear passed over me as I wondered what kind of trouble Tony might be up to. I went from an overcast summer morning in Pittsburgh to a beautiful spring afternoon in Sevilla, all within a matter of seconds.

I don't think about Spain constantly, but I constantly get reminders of it. They come in whiffs of  laundry detergent, in seeing European products at the grocery store, in eating imported Manchego cheese or drinking imported Rioja wine, in listening to and singing along with Spanish music. These small, seemingly insignificant moments are significant for me-- they are reminders of wonderful memories. And they take me back, even if just for a few seconds, to where I'm pretty sure a part of my heart will always reside.