Alicante -- the final week

Well, this part of the summer adventure has come to an end. I had my final two classes, graded papers, sent Setare and Cody off to Madrid, and spent some nice times with the students. My European Women's History class continued to be a highlight. Pilar will remain a special person in my memories. Her energy, enthusiasm, manner of teaching and being with the students, and openness was a special treat. I hope to remain in contact with her in the future. Luis was already off for Madrid so I was only able to contact him via email but he, too, has a special way with the students. USAC is lucky to have these people working with them.

As the students were studying and planning their departures, the last part of the week was a bit low key -- except, of course, for the Espana games in the World Cup. This continued to also be a highlight. The Spanish clearly know how to celebrate and cheer. Setare and I found fans that are designed like the flag and Cody found a teeshirt so we were definitely in the right attire. And, Spain did not disappoint! They won two more games this week and are heading to the quarterfinals against Germany. What a great time to be in Spain. I only wish that I might be there for the finals when they win....

Many students left Friday so I ended up one last time at Lizzaran's Tapa Bar with "the mexicans" as they called themselves. Lauren, Mercedes, Lupe, Francisco, Cristine, and Andrea spent a great deal of time together and were always laughing. After saying goodbye to them, I found Maria and Kylene having paella with Maria's family to say goodbye there, too, took a walk down the esplanada and headed home to my last "normal night." I had to move out of the apartment and found a hotel close by to stay in for Saturday. Went to the beach one last time and met up with Irene and her boyfriend, Brian. They will be heading out on their month long trek tomorrow (to Spain, France, and Greece) so we decided to meet up to watch the final Espana game outside at Austin's with the great crowds. As mentioned earlier in this blog, we were not disappointed.

Sunday was departure day and I headed out for Morocco (with two suitcases and a backpack). My next adventure includes figuring out how do unload items inexpensively so I don't have to cart so much around to Turkey.