Chapter Twelve: Journey of Paz

Renunciar a olvidar, renunciar a la venganza.~ Not forgetting, not seeking vengeance.

When handed the opportunity to travel, I take it for fear that the chance could slip through my fingers. So this week having Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday off due to National holidays, I had high hopes of traveling for the long weekend in order to reflect and answer some questions by myself.

Life is, however, sometimes unexpected and she will every so often throw a blow at your face to slow down a bit. AKA: Life threw one nasty head cold in my direction. She forced me to stay home. She made me bed-ridden. However, on Friday morning when I woke up with coughing and a dripping nose, I told her that this was enough. I told Life that she could not ruin my whole weekend. So even though I was eager to climb the mountains in the area, I was at least sensible enough to know that that would deteriorate my health even more. Instead of daring the adventurous with nature, I stuck with humankind. Searching through my worn travel book, I desperately scanned the pages to find something worthy as a day trip with little physical activity. And in the section of Pais Vasco (my neighboring region), I found my answer.

Guernica. A small town in Pais Vasco, Guernica was both witness and victim to warfare during World War II. Since this era has always fascinated me and because I was literally only 45 minutes away from the town, I made my decision. I packed my bag as if I came from the pharmacy. Two packages of tissues, a bottle of ibuprofen, bottled water, I was ready to go.

This was a spontaneous move on my part, I know. This was basically my first day trip alone since I had arrived to Spain back in late September. However after catching the bus from Castro Urdiales to Bilbao and from Bilbao to Guernica, I realized the thrill once again of traveling alone. You make your plans. You make the decisions. You choose where and when to go. So stepping off the bus into Guernica, I came across another one of Life's unexpected moments. At the time, though, I did not realize it and you can only imagine the annoyance I felt when I was approached by someone asking, "Perdón. ¿Pero eres española?" (Excuse me. But are you Spanish?) I answered politely, no, and walked on, not wanting to be disturbed on my solo journey.

You can imagine further more the irritation I felt when the fella asked me again in English , "So are you teaching English here too with the Auxiliares Program?" So, yes, we were two Americans from the same program teaching English here in Spain that just so happened to meet up in a small town. And yes, Life can be so hilarious sometimes.

However, I don't want to seem rude, but for those who know me, you know I love to be around people. That is until when I have made up my mind to be left alone. In that case, I literally just want to be left alone. So it took a ton of effort on my part not to just give the guy the cold shoulder. But since I am from Wisconsin, I am also not a rude person. But I am skeptical.

So when I looked at him, I saw he was in his mid-twenties. Just a skinny, tall fella whose hair went short and then long up to his shoulders with dark, thick-framed glasses. And although he did not have a head cold like me who wanted to journey solo, he at least was talkative enough and quiet enough to not expect a lot from this strange American girl he just met. So like the good person that I am, I figured it was no harm to follow each other around for the day.

The stop we made once we reached the tourist office, was the Guernica Peace Museum. A place I was most looking forward to on this short trip of mine. Before I explain what the museum represents, I should first give a short overlay of what happened in Guernica during WWII. So bear with me a bit while I give a mini history lesson.

Back during WWII, Spain remained neutral due to a civil war that it was having within its own country. Different political parties wanted power over the country and eventually a dictator called Francisco Franco took over. However, there was still tension between regions and parties within Spain. In that case on April 26, 1937, an attack was made on the town of Guernica. Although Franco refused to enter the WWII officially, he was nevertheless on good speaking terms with the Germans. On that day then, the German Condor Legion unleashed over 100,000 lb of explosives over the town within 3 hours as a way to "practice" a new military strategy of carpet-bombing. Thus, Franco wanted to make an example of this town in order to put an end to any more northern political uprisings and to further the support for his forces.

As you can imagine, the town was destroyed. The only buildings left unscarred were the assembly chamber, the church of Santa Maria and the symbolic oak tree of Guernica. The town then was rebuilt over the next five years but it has since then remained as a universal symbol for warfare atrocities and indiscriminate killing. And today, Guernica is trying to look away from the past and look towards the future for peace and reconciliation throughout the world. Thus bringing me back to the museum I went to.

The Museo de la Paz de Guernica aims at not only bringing forth peace in the town but in the whole world. There were exhibits about what was happening during the Spanish Civil War but even more so, exhibits of the acts of peace that shone through that dark period of history. Take the following example of the woman called Elisabeth Eidenbenz.

Elisabeth was a Swiss teacher who with her warm and kind heart joined the Asociación de Ayuda a los Niños en Guerra or Association to Aid Children in War. Between the years of 1939 and 1944 she saved nearly 600 children working as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War. At that time, pregnant mothers were receiving very little support and many of their newborns died upon birth and died later on because of malnourishment. But Elisabeth changed the scenes upon arrival and saved many lives. A beautiful story for an ugly history.

After the museum, there was little to say. Seeing the history displayed like that leaves one silent. So instead of continuing onto other museums, the other American and I instead just walked around and saw the rebuilt town from WWII. And while walking around, I began to realize I did not mind the other American's company so much. With company, it was easier to comprehend what happened at that place so many years ago and why it happened. Thus, enjoying a mid-day meal later on, I came to realize two things.

One, I took this day trip to be a solo journey. I wanted to reflect and answer questions for myself as to what I wanted in the next year. Future events can be both exciting and frustrating, especially when you do not know exactly what you want. So with my stubborn Scottish blood, I meant to make the decisions on my own and without any help or advice. But I eventually found myself asking the other American questions I normally don't ask of strangers. For example: What would you do? Why? What do you think...? So I have found that although some journeys can be lonely, they should never be done alone.

And two, peace. Peace can come in many forms. I have acknowledged this before. World peace. Inner peace. Peace is a beautiful thing and something to be cherished and yet also shared. Walking around the town of Guernica, I was surprised by the lack of revenge that the town felt for the past. Such a devastating event can cause extreme hatred with people. But the people here have come to accept the motto: Renunciar a olvidar, renunciar a la venganza.

Could you imagine? A journey of peace like this town took? What if the whole world took this journey for a day? A week? A month? A year? I truly believe we could improve this planet if we all adapted our mottos to that of northern Spain: Not forgetting, not seeking vengeance.