Reflections of the month past!

June 27, 2012

I got up early and headed to the train station to by my ticket home. Then we all met at 11am in the professora's room to have our last meeting of class. Everyone shared their most memorable moments and how the trip has changed them. It was so lovely to hear the answers. I couldn't put my finger on my favorite day specifically because I have truly loved all of it. There are moments that stick out in my mind but there is not a moment I would have done without. Even the weefee issues, while annoying made me so grateful for my convenient life back home. Ashton, Tim, Shane and I headed for the mall because this weekend is their big sales. It became obvious right away that the boys and girls would go their separate ways. Ashton and I spent a lovely day shopping and trying on stuff. When we got back we both headed to get ready for more beach time. It was so nice spending time on the beach with my girls. I love how easy it is to float here. I could float out in the water all day. After coming down for some café con leche at our favorite café Alyssa and I made ourselves some pesto pasta at home. It was delish. I started packing my things. We got our stuff ready for another firework picnic on the beach. Tonight was one of my favorites because a local Juan came down with his guitar. Juan and Ashton serenaded us with music after the fireworks. It was lovely. We grabbed another night cap at our favorite beach bar, I just love our routine. Then I headed home. A full day of cooking classes tomorrow and a bus ride to Denia.

Hougaras…Tabarca…and a Whole lotta fun!

June 23-Cast your regrets into the fire!

I am so proud to report that I have been soaking up every moment of this experience. So much so I have let the blog go by the way side and instead I have been living and loving in Espana! 

There is so much to report and catch up on that I can hardly remember it all. One thing that is always near and dear to me is the people I have met on this journey. I can say that there are some really incredible people out there. Each one I love for their strengths and they renew my hope in humanity. Hogeures, the annual festival in Alicante Espana is now at its mid point. I spent some time on the beach by myself and getting some homework done. In the evening the group went down to the barrio to watch the game. We had some yummy tapas at Lizaran and then because we had a hard time finding seats for the game a few of us rushed down to the Cuban bar to watch it on his TV. The people at the bar were interesante as usual! After the game several of us went down to the beach to join the locals in burning our regrets from the past year. Each family or group makes their own bon fire. You write down your regrets from the past year and then toss it into the fire, jump over it three times and let it all go. It was really fun.
 A quick drink at the beach bar before bed was a great night cap. As usual fun was had by all!

June 24-Off to Tabarca
Tempted to sleep in I did not give in. It was time to rally the troops and catch the ferry boat to Tabarca. We had been told by Armondo Jr. an excellent place for snorkeling. Armed with masks and snorkel gear we headed for the island. It was an amazing boat ride. The little island was super cute with more fun houses, and great snorkeling (ok not Cayman Islands great) but great! We had so much fun just relaxing, chatting and making fun of ourselves. If you can't laugh at yourself…well then you aren't much fun. After a little lunch and a lot of water time we headed for a rocky beach area…not much sand to be found here. I spent most of the day under the umbrella since I was a little pink from the day before. The boat ride was awesome and we just hung our legs over the front of the boat.  I felt so at one with the water.  We all just sat quietly reflecting. It was divine!
The evening time was the festival and burning of the hogueras sculptures. After a quick check in on the wifi at the Cuban bar we decided to camp out at the beach near the sculpture closest to the apartments. Besides we love this beach! We hung out on towels and drank a little vino while they started to light the fires throughout the city. It seriously looked like a volcano was erupting from where we were. In total we saw 4. The one we watched close up was a front row view since we watched it from the rocks by the beach. It was a perfect location. We got to watch what I am assuming was the king and queen of that hogueras do a little presentation and then they poured gasoline in solo cups all over the sculpture. There were fireworks attached to it and when they lit the wick it was pop pop pop and fireworks and fire rang out. The bomberos were not far and spraying the crowd with the hose and keeping the fire under control. It was quite a site!

 

 

June 25-National Holiday…no Esquela y mucho vino!
Since it was a national holiday class was cancelled. This meant time to sleep in and prepare for the last week of classes. Unbelievable that we are almost coming to a close. I will miss it here but home is where the heart is and my heart is with mi amor. I am feeling much like a Spaniard living on less than 6 hours sleep and refueling with an evening café con leche at the weefee (wifi) place. I love kissing my amigas on both cheeks when I see them. I hope I never quit doing that. La Professoras asked me to join them for the local Alicante wine festival. It was so much fun. I tasted some wonderful wines and even wrote some names down hoping I can share it with my people in the states.

Dr. Luna and I share a love for wine.  :)

  After the wine tasting I met up with my kiddos and finished out the night with the first round of nightly fireworks on the beach. 5 days of fireworks in our back yard. We took some wine and towels down to the water and made our own beach picnic.

  It was again…AMAZING. I LOVE these people. 
June 26-Esquela, Castle y Bombas!
After a lovely day of class I headed home for a lovely siesta. I meant to sleep for an hour and it turned into three. It was time to hike the Santa Barbara Castle which was quite a chore. It was amazing though. We weaved our way up the streets of the Santa Cruz area and after about an hour we found ourselves at the top. We had so much fun taking pictures and chatting it up. 

We made our hike back down in time for some bombas (fireworks) on the beach. We made our little picnic area and snuggled in for some family time.

We stopped at the beach bar for a night cap and got to watch a fire dancer.

 Man I love these kiddos. I wish I could keep them all.
June 27-Partito Noche (Game Night) y Bombas!!
After finishing up our last day of class, our group did our presentation I headed down to the beach with some of the girls. We must soak up that Mediterranean sun while we can. Then a few of us headed to Café No to watch the game. I love that place. You really get into it there. It was a nail biting game and until the shoot out over time it was uncertain but Espana pulled it off again.

This means I will be in Madrid for the final game. I can't wait to see what that is like. Because the game ran over we had to hall butt down to the beach so we didn't miss the fireworks. No beach picnic tonight but in Spain you have to roll with the punches. We found a spot and camped out in the sand. Then we all met up at the beach bar for another night cap. I have to get my train ticket tomorrow and to think about this coming to a close is bitter sweet. There is so much to look forward to between now and Monday. Miss you all!