Saturday, December 17, 2011
My last week in Ubrique for the year 2011 was bittersweet. Everyone is traveling for the holidays and won’t be back until after the New Year. Many of the Americans are flying home to the states or visiting with family, the other teachers are getting ready to go back to their home towns, and I opted to spend the break traveling.
This week was pretty easy at school since many of the students only had exams and stuff. The only serious task I had was to help the second level kids with a speaking presentation in science class. They get really nervous about speaking (a problem we have with in-class participation!) but many of them ended up doing really well with the activity which made me happy and very proud of them.
Seana and Clint were the first of the Americans to leave for break. They each caught a different bus around 3:30 after school Thursday and headed off to their destinations. Kendra, Javi and I grabbed a coffee with Sean and saw them off. I know it’s only 3 weeks, but it’s gotten to the point where this place is like my home and these people are like my family. Moving to a new place, especially on your own, you get to know people quickly and form a special kind of bond with those sharing a similar experience. Not to be a debbie downer but it made me think about how terribly awful it’s going to be when – or if… - we all go our separate ways next June. I can’t believe when I get back to Ubrique it will be 2012 and I will only have 5 more months there (considering I don’t reapply for next year... it’s still up in the air). Only 3 months into the program and if I haven’t said it enough I will say it yet again - this has been the most incredible thing I’ve done in my mere 22 and a half years on this planet. I can’t help feeling like I’m in the right place at the right time, and I hope it’s just the beginning of more good things to come.
Anyways, I had plans to rest up and leave bright and early Saturday morning but Friday just so happened to be our favorite bartender’s birthday, so needless to say we went out with a bang. Kendra, Alysha and I ended up staying out with the birthday boy until 5 am (early by Spanish standards). Our friend Lobato gave our drunk butts a ride back to my place and the girls helped me finish packing (aka took a nap on my bed while I threw last minute things in my bag) and then they saw me off to the station at 6:30am. True friends right there. Kendra also borrowed my radiator while I was gone so you can imagine her slightly intoxicated self hauling that thing down the street at nearly 7am, I’m sure it was quite a sight. Overall, it was an excellent night and the lack of sleep made it nice and easy to take naps on the bus and in the airport.
12 hours of traveling and waiting later and I made it to my first stop - London - in one piece! My super packed holiday travel plan currently includes: 5 days in London with my friend Madison, followed by 5 days including Christmas in the Canary Islands, then meeting my family in Madrid, spending New Years in Sevilla, giving the fam a tour in and around Ubrique, then back to Madrid to see them off…. and somehow making my way back down to Ubrique before I have to work the next Monday. It sounds crazy, but I love it. I think it’s safe to say I’ve got an incurable case of the travel bug…
For now, it’s time to go take on London with the one and only Madison Lynn. Look out for blog updates on these crazy adventures. I’ll try to keep up with them as I go along, but no promises... fun first, blog later!
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