It’s easy to forget she’s so far away when she’s bantering back and forth on social media and asking everyday questions. Weather. The big game. A downtown festival. And road construction like everyone else.
Inevitably, though, Mary Anne Harrar whiplash-reminds you her family of four live on the other end of the Atlantic Ocean in a Spanish city absolutely not – in any way shape, or form – similar to where she was raised along Oglebay Drive in Ohio County. Her childhood backyard was 5 acres big, and she played as a child in the woods of West Virginia, but the Canary Islands are known as the sunshine center of Europe’s four seasons every year.
And all of a sudden, after 28 of the quickest years ever to pass, there’s Harrar living in Spain – still – an ex-pat English educator at the International French School and living her best life with her husband Paco, and her two children Ewan (19) and Aila (14).
But come this July, she gets to come cruise our country roads again to visit her mother, father, and brother because, while she adores living her life in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, she’s still IN love with home.
When you and your family return to the Wheeling area, what comes first – the fish or the pizza?
The pizza or the fish? Is that like having to choose my favorite child?
Usually the pizza, but if we roll into town on a Monday or Tuesday – and we all know DiCarlo’s (hmm … Patsy’s) – is closed that day, we’ll head to Coleman’s and jump into the special line for crab cakes, chowder and gator soup.
What U.S. city best compares to where you live in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
I’d say Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a mix of Honolulu and Miami, but mainly because of the tourism, volcanic activity and beaches. It’s more European and resembles other Mediterranean cities, although we’re one of seven islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.
Just in the capital city alone, we have a population of around 200,000 people.
What are the best parts about living in Spain?
I’d say the best parts about living in Spain are the safety, the public transportation infrastructure and the food. Here in the Canaries the regional food is amazing and you can’t beat the prices. Living so close to the beach is a plus, especially in a climate similar to San Diego, California.
We’re only a short drive from the forest if I ever feel homesick for trees and a good hike.
What country’s food is better?
The food here is AMAZING! I do, though, make a lot of American fare and my kids have grown up on good old American meatloaf and Sloppy Joes, even introducing their Spanish friends to a little American cuisine. I do miss American pies, though! American desserts are better in my opinion.
You watch Wheeling very closely from afar. What do you see?
Yes, I do watch Wheeling closely from afar. My daily chats with my Mom and Dad, and brother, Andrew, keep me up to date on everything happening back home, on everything from gossip at my mom’s hairdresser’s to high school and college sports to new restaurants and businesses opening.
When the kids were little, I’d keep tabs on what summer camps at the Good Zoo and Stiefel were coming up when we’d be there in the summer and as they got bigger and more into tennis, they’d hit the courts at WLU and Oglebay. The last time we were home we even joined the Oglebay Tennis Club and Paco and the kids played in one of their member tournaments.
We love coming home every summer and seeing the progress and the familiar in Wheeling and the Ohio Valley. I know there are the naysayers out there who say there is nothing going on, but if you look for it, it is there. My sister-in-law always jokes that I’m the cruise director every summer when she and my brother’s family come up from Florida and my sister flies in from Iowa.
Whether it’s a concert at Oglebay, sports fun up at The Highlands followed by Primanti Bros. sandwiches or a steak at Uncle Pete’s, the 13 of us at the Harrar compound every July are never bored!
