I didn’t sleep until 4.a.m. Saturday. I arrived in Madrid at
7:30 a.m, which was midnight in Tulsa. There were no buses to Alicante until
late that night. Trains and Flights were too expensive.
Feeling frustrated and being Madrid, I sat down at a local “cerveceria”
and had a drink. It was 11 a.m. After a couple copas de “tinto de verano” or
summer wine, I was certainly thinking clearer and formulated a travel plan; by
buying multiple bus tickets in connecting cities, I could arrive in Alicante by
5:00 p.m., rather than 10 that night.
So that’s what I did.
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Alicante hasn’t changed drastically in the year since I
left. The bus station is new, and construction sites that were once dusty piles
of rubble are now new sidewalks and buildings. The weather is great. The sun is
still bright.
And Maria smiles and laughs like always! I had to ring
everyone’s doorbell until I figured out which number was hers. I saw her
daughter, Mari and grandson, Iago. Both welcomed me warmly.
That night (Friday), I went out with her host student,
Amanda, who was leaving the next day. Despite having been in Alicante the
entire semester, it seemed they hadn’t learned the rule of discretion. They
knew about “ir de botteon”--- or drinking wine in the streets. But they naively
brought it in plastic bags, were caught by the Police, and told to leave. They
also had no idea where to get post-drinking food other than KFC. Their last
night here was the first night they ate “Kebaps,” a type of Turkish snack food
that is basically a gyro in the US. They
had no Spanish friends. I felt bad for them.
Fortunately, I passed two old friends of Jesus and mine that
night. Both Adolfo and Rafa looked like they had seen a ghost! I sat down with
them and we had a beer at 1 a.m. under the bright lights of the Barrio. Drunken
Alicantinas passed us as we caught up. I asked them how they were; “fine.” I
asked them how their families are; “fine.” I asked them about Jesús. But they
didn’t seem keen on talking about him. Haha--- I’m sure something is up that
they didn’t want to tell me! Either way, we said our Goodnights and parted
ways. Whatever.
I walked back to Maria’s at about 3:00 a.m. It had been a
long couple of days.
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The Wedding party didn't seem to have trouble or frustrations navigating around the protestors--- its pretty common. After that, I literally slept
all day, and then woke up around midnight for an hour or so before falling back
asleep.
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Today I’ve gone to the beach and swam a bit. Walked along the
Esplanada and just looked again at all the places I use to go. Today I’ve also been in contact with Jesús by
email. He wants to meet tonight in the barrio for a drink. I’ll see how it
goes. But I feel like this may be the last time I see him, and I’m okay with
that.
I leave Alicante tomorrow for Budapest in the evening.
