Treasured friendships

What a great week and a half it has been in Spain. We spent 3 days in Madrid with Silvia. 4 days in Alicante with David (and were fortunate enough to spend a significant amount of time with Melina, Ana, Marga, Irene, Esther, Manolo, Vero (M´s gf), Natalia (David´s gf), Damian & Francis. What a treasure to be able to catch up with some wonderful friends after 11 years!

Alicante is in a time of fiesta right now. They are celebrating Hogueras de San Juan (Bonfires of St. John), which is a very young tradition of only 83 years. Similar to Las Fallas in Valencia, huge monuments are created by the 91 different precincts & judged for first prize. Then on June 24, all of the monuments are burned during la cremada. During the week, there is much fiesta, including many parades, las mascletas (fireworks & rhythmic explosions), as well as going out in the evening. Mike got has gotten a taste of Spanish life, staying up until 4 in the morning and then sleeping until 12 noon. :)

But really, we haven´t just been partying it up. We went to the beach, visited the castle of St. Barbara, got a tour of a bodega, visited and archeology museum, and have had a lot of great conversations over delicious food with some generous & hospitable friends. :) 

I´ve been slowly losing my English, particularly in Alicante where I´ve felt a little bit more in-between worlds than ever-- hearing Spanish in one ear, English in the other & having to translate one way or the other. It´s been good for me to be immersed so deeply again. In fact, as I write this, I find myself translating from Spanish to English in my head, and my dreams are all in Spanish again...that´s when you know you´re in deep. My friends have been patient, explaining and teaching me unknown words that I hear or read. I have a book that is full of words and definitions. Glorious. David teases me saying that he feels used for his Spanish... I´ll take advantage of him all I can. :)

On Wednesday morning we headed off to Granada to see La Alhambra. We had already pre-ordered tickets for Thursday morning and needed to make sure that we got there. However, we changed our plans and instead of going to Malaga & Gibraltar, we´ll be heading back to Alicante for Friday & Saturday to celebrate la cremada of the hogueras. Despite wanting to be go to those two places, I am grateful for more precious time with my friends & also some more amazing pictures of Hogueras to be able to show my students. From there, we´re off to Seville for some famous flamenco & more yummy tapas (of course). :)

Anyway, all this to say that we´re having an amazing time. I´m so grateful for the opportunity to share this with Mike, to be able to live life with my Spanish friends again, and to experience new things. It´s been a fun adventure and wonderful to be in a country where I can actually speak the language (despite wanting to speak a little bit of Thai every now and and again). 

Pictures forthcoming.