Calgary, November 2019
John was born and raised in Sulphur Springs, Texas, a small town about 100 Km east of Dallas. His parents had a large dairy farm there, and since his early childhood he, just like his brother and sister, had to help them with the chores. Also, every Sunday John had to accompany his family and all the other good folks of Sulphur Springs to the local church to listen to minister Brown reading the Bible. If it had been up to John, he would had done neither. He would have rather skip Sunday church and play with the children of his father’s Mexican farm workers. That is not to say that he had no time to play with them, but in his mind, not nearly enough. He considered it unfair to be forced to do things which did not benefit him in any way.
Going to school made things worse. Now he had one more chore to do, homework. He saw no advantage in learning things which he would never use if, as his father kept repeating, he will continue to run the family farm. However, school did have certain benefits. Some of his Spanish-speaking friends were enrolled in his class and talking to them in their language gave John a feeling of superiority over his classmates, who spoke only English. As he was growing up, he realized that to escape from the farm, he had to learn marketable skills, preferably unrelated to farming. For example, becoming a teacher. Therefore, after High School graduation, he presented his plan to his parents who, as expected, were not happy about it.
“Why would you want to be a teacher if you can have a perfectly good life here?” asked his father.
“You know that the farm never had any attraction for me. My brother can inherit it all, my sister will get married and will give you grandchildren, and I really don’t fit into any of that.”
“John”, his mom said. “I was hoping, dreaming, that one day you would become a minister, but that dream died a long time ago. You are not a man of God and you will never be invited into His kingdom.”
“You are right, mom. I am not a man of God.”
“Well, and who will pay for all of that? School fees, accommodation, and who knows what else?” asked his dad.
“I can have student loans, and during the weekends I can come and work at your farm and, I hope, you’ll pay me.”
It was pretty obvious that John had made up his mind. He applied and was accepted to the Teacher College in Dallas, and by the end of August he was finally able to say “Goodbye” to his old life, and to give an enthusiastic, cheerful “Hello” to the new life of freedom in a large city. As some parting advice, his mom warned him about the women of loose morals, which, she was sure, Dallas was full of. John tried, but failed, to find some of them. The concept of “No sex before marriage” was deeply ingrained in most of the female population of the school, but there were exceptions. One of them, Olivia, was willing to bend the rules, in exchange for a prospect of eventual marriage. During his studies, John was protected from that threat. His argument that they cannot get married while still being students was irrefutable, but his problems started after graduation. John was hoping to get employment in some place far, far away from his hometown, but his dad made sure that the principal of Sulphur Springs College offered him a job. With no other offers coming, John was forced to accept it and return to his birthplace. He could not imagine living back at the farm, so he rented an apartment close to the College, but it provided little protection.
“When are you going to get married?” his mom kept on asking. “All the men of your age already have families and the neighbours are asking if there is something wrong with you. Is there something wrong?”
“No mom, there’s nothing wrong with me.”
Meanwhile, Olivia intensified her attacks. “When are you going to introduce me to your parents?” was her repeated question, and John knew that he won’t be able to stall for much longer. The need to disappear became urgent. Fortunately, this time luck was with him. He discovered an organization called “Teachers Without Borders”, which looks after world-wide teaching opportunities. He sent them an application stating that he was ready to go anywhere, any time, but preferably to a Spanish speaking country. To his pleasant surprise, he got an offer for a one-year contract in Girona, a small Spanish tourist town 100 Km north-east of Barcelona. It was a popular place with English tourists and the demand for English language was high. John was offered a position as a teacher at the English Immersion School, where he was to teach regular courses, but in English. If things got out of hand, he could always switch to Spanish, which by now he spoke fluently.
John couldn’t wait to go. He asked his boss for a one-year leave of absence and invented a touching story about bringing enlightenment to the poor Spanish children. The principal knew that John would leave anyway, so he agreed. John rejected Olivia’s offer to accompany him, and his parents were not sure if they were happy or sad to see him go. For John, it was a first trip abroad and he was wondering what he would find outside of the United States. Was his country indeed destined to lead the world towards peace and prosperity, as some politicians kept on saying?
The trip from Sulphur Springs to Girona was long, and John was happy to see his new boss waiting for him at the Girona airport. After introductions, the principal drove John to the hotel and asked him to come to school the next day. There was still one week left before the start of classes, so John had time to find himself an apartment and explore the surroundings. The main attraction of Girona is its closeness to the beautiful beaches of the Mediterranean Costa Brava, and John, who had never been at a seaside, was keen to check it out. What he saw left him speechless. The waves of the crystal clear, blue sea were splashing over the beautiful, sandy beach, which was full of topless women. In Texas, all of them would be arrested for indecent exposure. John could not believe it. But that was not all. Walking along the coast, he found another beach where everybody was totally naked. Men and women were sunbathing and swimming, wearing nothing but a smile, and not making a big deal of it. John wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.
School started and John was busy, but he could not get that nude beach out of his mind. Should he go there? Was he brave enough? At the end he decided that the answer to both questions was “yes”, and the next weekend he went. To his surprise, it was no big deal, and swimming naked was more pleasant than wearing a wet swimsuit. The next weekend he went again, and slowly he developed a weekend routine. In the morning, after breakfast, he walked along the seaside, admiring the sandy beaches and topless women, and then, when it was too hot to walk, he went swimming at the nude beach. In the evening he had a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in a buffet close to his apartment. It was a pleasant routine.
A few weeks later, while sunbathing naked at the beach, he saw a woman who looked familiar. She was young, beautiful, and was looking and smiling at him. John had to lay face down to hide his erection. Then he realized where he knew her from. She was the waitress at the buffet he frequented. The next day after work he went there again, and when she came to his table, he started the conversation.
“We saw each other the other day, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we did. On the nude beach yesterday, where you had a hard time to cover your erection. You are the new teacher, correct? Judging from your accent, you are either English or American.”
“American. John is my name.”
“Maria. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
From that day on, John visited the buffet frequently, that is, every day. Then he invited Maria for dinner at his apartment where they drank a bottle of wine and ended up in bed. After all, it wasn’t the first time they saw each other naked. Afterwards, events took a predictable turn; trips to the beach, dinners together, and making love. When fall turned into winter and only a few tourists remained, Maria had more time, and they made several trips to Barcelona. The beautiful architecture, the spectacular cathedral of La Familia Santa, it was all very different from Dallas. John had never saw anything like it. He was falling more and more in love with Spain, with the topless women on the beaches of Costa Brava, with the beautiful architecture of Barcelona and most of all, with Maria. The idea of returning back to Sulphur Springs was filling him with dread.
Winter was turning to spring. The date of John’s return was getting closer, and he was desperate and depressed at the same time. He even went to the principal’s office to ask if he could get an extension to his contract, but the answer was “no.”
“You see John”, said the principal. “I personally would like to extend it, we all like you here, but your contract is only for one year and I can’t do anything about it. I am sorry.”
As John was about to leave, the principal mentioned, more as a joke than a real suggestion: “If you can get yourself a Spanish wife, I might be able to do something.”
John was thinking about it. He considered mentioning it to Maria, but he decided against it. He was afraid that she would think he was crazy and drop him. But, one day shortly before the return date, Maria gave John a large envelope.
“What is it?”
“Have a look, you will see.”
The envelope was full of photographs of John naked on the beach, lying naked with Maria, making love to Maria and so forth.
“It is very nice, where did you get it?”
“A friend took the pictures and installed a hidden camera in my bedroom.”
“OK, and what do you want to do with them?”
“Well, I suppose if I send it to your school in Sulphur Springs, they will fire you. Am I right?”
“You certainly are. Are you blackmailing me? If you want money, I don’t have any. Not here or in the USA.”
“I don’t want your money. I want you to marry me and take me to your country as your wife. We all know, everybody there is rich.”
John had a hard time to suppress the feeling of “Eureka!”. This was the solution to his problem.
“Dear Maria, your blackmail is based on two mistaken assumptions. First, I do not want to return to my country, I want to stay here. Second, America is not one country, but two. One for the rich and one for the poor. The soap operas you are probably watching are showing only the rich part, but if you come with me to my hometown, you will definitively be in the poor section. You do not speak English and have no specific skills. You would end up as a helper in my parent’s milk farm. With no pay. The only people with whom you would be able to communicate would be the Mexican farm workers. Nobody else speaks Spanish there. However, your idea of getting married is good. In that case I could continue teaching here, as my supervisor indicated, and living together we would save on rent. You might finish your schooling and improve your skills, and when I get my Spanish citizenship, we both could work in any EU country. There always is a demand for English teachers. What do you say?”
“I say it is a great idea.”
Next day John ran again to the principal’s office: “Sir, I took your advice, and I will be getting a Spanish wife. Is your offer still valid?”
“I did not offer you anything, I only said that this will make it easier. With the Spanish bureaucracy as it is, it will take a long time for the change of your marital status to get into the immigration office, but meanwhile, I will extend you contract. You can tell that to Maria, she will be pleased.”
John could not be happier. He thanked the principal for his kindliness and thought that blackmail is not such a bad thing after all.