It's almost time to go

Today was the first of many final goodbyes here in Spain. (Claudia dear, you might not want to read this.) It almost didn't happen though. You see, I was supposed to meet my German friends at a place called Alameda, but I assumed we were talking about the park named Alameda when they actually meant the metro stop. So I felt kinda sad about not getting to say goodbye. But later this evening, I came across Pia at Zara's, and I'm so thankful that I at least got to say goodbye to her. She doesn't even live in Valencia, so coming across her like this was definitely an unexpected and wonderful surprise.

I realized that saying goodbye here in Spain is a gritty experience. The chances of us seeing each other again are slim jim. I mean, it could happen, but realistically, it might not. Four months was not long enough to become bosom buddies, but the good-byes are nevertheless hard because human disconnections are painful.

Some little things I'll miss:

Skyping with my parents

The cuteness of Spanish children. When it's chilly the little girls wear a variation of this Mary Jane shoe style with thick stockings and woolly coats. We spotted this pale pink one perched on this bush. What a kind stranger to have put it there just in case the owner's parent was looking for it.

Sunday lunches. Since Saturday was Spain's labor day, all the markets were closed . Thus, my host padre had no time to go buy green beans and lima beans for this paella dish, yet it was still tasty.

Valencia and its riverbed park