Aloha's

As I walked in search of an Internet cafe two hours ago the sun began it's routine decent towards the visible horizon and eventually as I crossed between streets the only thing keeping me from complete darkness were overhead street lamps. The sky became completely black as I exited the building and paced alongside palm tree laced sidewalks towards the city center. 

Currently I find myself in Malaga, a medium sized Spanish city that hugs the often sunny Andalucian coastline. Famous for its beaches and as the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, I arrived here last night after a brief twenty four hour visit of Amsterdam. The daylight that escaped a few hours ago was the last sunset that I will see in Spain for possibly a long time because tomorrow morning before it rises again I will already be flying home. 

In less than ten hours I will be on a Norweigan Airlines flight destined for Los Angeles and a second plane will eventually send me to San Francisco. A trip that started with wandering New York City with one of my best friends Jack Colombo is now coming to a close in Malaga, Spain. A lot of different feelings have arisen since saying goodbye to close friends and former co-workers in Murcia. Sadness, happiness, readiness, and curiousness are all ingredients of a current smoothie of change. I feel sad parting ways yet again with a life that was created last school year but at the same time I feel ready to start progressing towards a new set of goals that have blueprinted in my mind during the course of this trip. Inside I know it's time to come back, to be with family, to see friends from home, and also to start working again. A big thank you to my bosses Julie and Kamran at Cellar Door is necessary because they were generous in letting me keep my job for when I came back. 

After visiting Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles in El Esparragal one last time on Friday and saying "hasta pronto" to my friend/mentor Ascen, the students, and the rest of the teaching staff, a farewell dinner was hosted at Lola's house. Food, laughs, and goodbyes were shared between myself and some really great people. Early the next morning I left my set of house keys on Lola's, my host in Murcia, desk and walked with a full backpack to the cities' bus terminal. The sun was beginning to lift it's head above morning clouds as I headed via an ALSA bus to the Alicante airport and flew to Amsterdam. 

The reason for a single night in Amsterdam was to meet up with a longtime friend Jow Gallardo. We met when I was traveling in Quito, Ecuador over three years ago and the last time we hung out was during a night of dancing with Nick Holmberg at Bungalow 6 in March 2013. She currently is studying German in Düsseldorf and by luck we were able to arrange a time to see each other before both of our Europe experiences drew to a close. In spirit with us were Nick and John Beswick, the other two members of our "Wolfpack" who weren't able to make the journey. Jow, her friend Adriana, and myself met in the lobby of the Hans Brinker Hotel yesterday afternoon. From there we took advantage of our single day in the city by going to the Anne Frank House, the Sex Museum, Red Light District, Kebabs, dancing at the Remember Cafe, and more dancing at Smokey's Bar. After multiple attempts we were unable to get a DJ to play the original version of "Light it Up" by Mazor Lazor however we did hear a few interesting remixes.

After taking pictures on Sunday morning in front of the "I Amsterdam" sign it started to snow. This was a cold signal that it was time to leave the city, and a short while afterwards the three of us parted ways. It was truly great to see Jow again, and like I've written in previous posts I absolutely know that we will see each other again in someplace in the world. 

Jow and Adriana took a bus back to Düsseldorf as I boarded a plane to Malaga. The main reason for me coming here was to visit the small white painted Andalucian town of Ronda. I saw a picture this place for a brief instant last year in a magazine I can't remember and from that moment I wanted to witness it with my own eyes. With an unreal mountainous cliff passageway that guides visitors to a monumental stone bridge the town of Ronda has statues dedicated to Orson Wells and my personal favorite Ernest Hemingway. The views of Ronda are hard to capture with words but as I crossed Puente Nuevo which was constructed in the 1700's inside it felt fitting to have waited to see this place during my last day of the journey. 

It's been nearly seven weeks since seeing family and good friends in the United States. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to do this trip, and I feel equally fortunate to have people like you to share it with. Writing about things like this are for me a way to remember because my memory is mediocre at best, but also because even though traveling is a major passion of mine, maintaining bonds with people who are important to me is also a life passion. Thank you for reading, for being my friend, and for being truly awesome. 

Tomorrow I'll be home in California. As one journey ends another one continues where it was last put on temporary pause. 

This isn't goodbye, Spain. After leaving and coming back I know that will share a tapa together again. Take care of yourself and save a seat at the dinner table because you will see me again soon :)

This isn't goodbye, 

this is Aloha.

The Best House in Limerick

Today is Thursday and currently I am drinking a Roobois tea in Cafe Haskell, my favorite cafe in Murcia. With 80's music playing from a white ceiling speaker this Italian owned hangout is half full with university students and families chatting about things I can't understand. 

It's been a while since writing and the past two weeks have been mainly filled with sharing time between visiting my old primary schools from last year, Vicente Medina in Azarbe and Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles in El Esparragal. Despite a seven month gap since last working as an English Language Assistent the friendships and bonds created between myself and the people in those schools haven't felt the strain of long distance. It's been uplifting to be back in the classroom, and after only revisiting each primary school a handful of times during this vacation a strong desire to return to Murcia has started to circulate in my mind. Seeing kids wanting to learn English and more importantly being excited to have their old teacher back has given me inspiration to pursue this route further. 

Outside of school I've been reconnecting with friends from last year. Going on a "Ruta de Tapa," having coffee at Ficciones, catching a show at Revolver, walks along the Segura River, and trying out previously unfrequented bars like Tremolo, Cafe Zalacaín, and El Ahorcado Feliz have been some of the activities undertaken since coming back to Murcia. A large number of English teacher friends from last year didn't come back for a second contract in Murcia. Despite a lack of familiar faces, some really great people are still here and it's been truly great to spend at least a little bit of time with them again. More friends gained through intercambios are still either in Murcia or in El Esparragal which has been nice as well. Lieven and Claudia, Lola, Jesus, Lorena, Laura, Zaimi, Charo, David, Sarah, Gretchen and Lindsey are a few close friends who are fortunately still here and I feel very luckily to have seen them.

One of the biggest highlights of this trip was a reunion of what a select few used to call "The Best House in Murcia." This group consisted of Lola, myself, and our friend Lucia who is currently working in Limerick, Ireland. The three of us lived together most of last year and we hadn't been in the same place since parting ways at a bus station in June. We gave our house that unofficial title and maintained contact through a whatsapp group with the same name. Last weekend Lola, her friend Manuela, and myself booked a plane to Dublin, Ireland then rented a car to go visit Lucia in Limerick. 

The time together was for only three days, however we managed to visit some really interesting places like the Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch Beach, Galway's Latin Quarter for seafood, Gleudalough, a roadside cabin-style restaurant for Irish Coffees, listened to Celtic music at pubs while have some necessary Guinness', and exploring Limerick's dance scene at Nancy's during a causally rain soaked evening. 

It was great to see Lucia and having "The Best House" together in a different place outside of Murcia was special. This world we live in is huge, yet at the same time it can feel ever so small. I don't know when we will all be together again, perhaps in Lola's house or maybe in a pub drinking a dark tinted beer at a still completely unknown location. I'm not worried about it because deep down I know we will meet again, someway and somewhere. 

This blog post started with tea at Haskell and it's about to end with an Alhambra beer at Cafe Ficciones. In a few minutes I'm about to meet up with some friends to get tapas in a nearby plaza, chat in English, then give a round of hugs...of farewell. 

In two days I'm leaving Murcia and in less than a week I'll be back home. The trip that started on December 29th, 2015 is about be given a toast of completion on February 16th, 2016. I'm grateful for this experience but equally as excited to be making a return to the Bay Area. To anyone from home who is reading this we should definitely make plans to hang out!

More updates are coming soon, enjoy your day and more importantly enjoy being you. 

Cheers.