MY GIFT TO YOU—GET YOUR FREE EBOOK—”THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
I wrote this story a few weeks ago . . .
July 23, 2020
As I write this, my family is once again loaded up in the van—3 kids (one is traveling in Germany), our favorite 13-year-old, white, furry friend, Bernie, four French lizards, and two Spanish geckos. (The lizards are in a terrarium on the car’s floorboard near Pierre’s feet).
Oh! I forgot to mention that we also have a small plastic container full of 50 plus live crickets for feeding the lizards. If that lid accidentally opens, we are all in big trouble!
I am uncomfortably sandwiched in the back seat between two of my boys, with my long legs perched up on the middle arm rest of the front seat. Suitcases, backpacks, and plastic bags full of “stuff” surround me. Our roof rack also has a trunk full of our belongings.
We are loaded up like a herd of camels crossing the beautiful, majestic Pyrenées Mountains that separate France and Spain.
10 Full Days in France
We just spent 10 full, yet fun, days in France, visiting friends and family. We also had a lot of medical appointments. It’s always helpful to get medical care in your own country where you can speak the language, know the culture, and can easily navigate the system. Our family took full advantage.
Now, we are heading back home to Spain . . . we think . . .
When we left two weeks ago, COVID-19 numbers were on the rise once again in Spain. My mother texted me in a panic one day asking if we were in lockdown again. The U.S. news was proclaiming across all its television screens, “Spain is in lockdown again!”
I reassured my mother that we were not in lockdown again. However, over the course of the next few days, we watched several regions in northern Spain re-confine their residents in a 15-day mandatory lockdown.
Travel Risks
We decided to step out in faith, not change our plans, and travel on to France. Thankfully, we didn’t have any problems along the way. It was risky, however, knowing that the borders could re-close at any moment.
Upon our first day in Paris, my father-in-law informed me of the French news headlines. Germany was reconsidering closing all of its borders. Hmmm . . . our oldest son, Timothee, was scheduled to take a bus from Paris to Germany the next day.
“Do you have a plan B if you are stuck in Germany and can’t return home to Spain?” I asked my son at the dinner table that evening.
“Yes, my Moroccan friend I’m staying with has already offered to host me if I’m stuck,” he replied.
Great. This mama’s heart could rest in peace.
Echos of Closing Borders
As we continued our visit in France, we heard other news and echos of possible border closings. The one that concerned us the most was the land border between two specific countries—France and Spain.
Our family had waited all those months and weeks to move, waited for the border to open so that we could retrieve our belongings from storage in France. Eventually, we were able to cross over a few times to get our things. Now, only a few weeks later, our family might get stuck on the “other side” of the border—in France!
We live in crazy times!
From what we researched, it seemed that crossing the border shouldn’t be a problem for us, even if it were “closed.” We are all French citizens, with French passports. We are also Spanish residents, with official Spanish residence cards. We should be entitled to enter and live on either side of the line.
Uncertainty
However, we weren’t sure. Nothing seemed sure in this new COVID-19 pandemic.
The bigger problem we faced was that in order to get from France to our home in Spain, we needed to cross one of the Spanish regions that was currently in lockdown.
What would that mean for us?
Would we be stopped? Would we be put in 15-day quarantine? Would we be stuck somewhere between France and our home in Spain?
“We will drive straight through that region and not stop anywhere,” my husband said, already devising a plan in his head.
Last-Minute Panic!
On our way out of France this morning, we stopped briefly at the local outdoor market in the town where we had been staying. Upon arriving, I listened to an audio text from my Moroccan friend in Spain.
“Did you know that they closed the border between Spain and France? Where are you now? Are you still traveling in France or are you already back home in Spain?” she asked.
Seriously? Had the border already closed? Maybe we had missed the official news.
“I just overheard those two guys say that the France/Spain border just closed,” my son said to me.
What?! We were scheduled to load up the van and drive to Spain in just 10 minutes. Was it possible that we would get stuck on this side of the border?
Hope and Pray
When I told my husband, he reassured me. “Don’t worry. I checked the news this morning. The border is open.”
“Let’s hope and pray,” I replied.
So, that’s what we did. We hoped, and we prayed—during the 8-hour drive home!
Nearing the long, 2-3 kilometer black tunnel that cuts and winds through the mountain separating the two countries, a sign read, “Tunnel d’Espagne Ouvert.” (“Spain Tunnel Open” in French.)
That was a good sign. It looked like the border was open.
1 hour later:
We just drove through the dark tunnel to the other side of the divide. A bright blue sign welcomed us back home, “Bienvenidos a España”!
We made it! Now, we just have to cross this “lockdown region,” and we will be home sweet home in just a few hours! Whew! What a crazy adventure—with so many unexpected twists and turns along the way!
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
MY GIFT TO YOU—GET YOUR FREE EBOOK—”THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
Have any of you been stuck in a country or in a place due to “closed borders”? How did you feel? Or are you stuck in the middle of something right now—can’t go forward, can’t go backward?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
