hmatt's blog

I haven’t been posting much because internet access is quite limited around here.. unless I want to pay for a cafe or catch the library at the appropriate hours (and hope their connection works).

Now that the Edge program is coming to a close, we’ve all moved into the same place for one last night together. I’m leaving for Oviedo tomorrow night, and today I’ve been catching up on some research things that have been on my to do list for a bit..

One of which is a quick way to create text files.. I’ve decided that this is the simplest solution to sort my plans and such (especially since my handwriting is so bad).

After a quick search I found http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-To-Create-New-Text-File-in-Finder-140373.shtml

Which is EXACTLY what I’ve been wanting for a while. Using this and TextExpander to quickly name the file by date- and I’m good to go.

I do have a list of what I’ve been doing since my last big update.. it is quite a doozy, and there is a lot to share.

I have a 12 hour bus ride tomorrow night, and then there’s the same amount of time for my plane ride home August 10th.. – A big thing to think about is how I’m going to answer the question:

“How was Spain?”

So much has happened, and I get to figure out how to encapsulate it all into a few minute spiel..

The quickest answer would be: “God is amazing.”

= )

These last couple weeks of the program are packed with activities. Tomorrow (thursday) Nick, Jacqueline and I are traveling up to Valencia to visit the science museum, which looks incredible!! http://cac.es/

Friday Jacqueline, Lauryn and I are going to visit the fortress at Alicante and then on to a barbecue at the home of an English couple we met at a party.

Next Thursday I’m joining Elí and Nick to visit http://www.aqualandia.net – the biggest waterpark in Europe.

I was starting to get stressed, trying to cram all the things I still want to do before I leave Altea… but it looks like everything is going smoothly now. = )

• I watched the world cup in Benidorm last night with thousands of Spaniards. That was amazing. #

The trip to Alicante was so interesting! There was a wonderful park area with outdoor workout machines. I wish they had those things in the US! They were amazing, it was like a playground for adults!

The ‘floats’ aren’t moving like parade floats. They are just sitting in the street really. From my vantage point I could see the edge of one catch fire, which was fine because I didn’t want to get wet because my camera and iPhone were on me. It was fun to see everyone having such a good time. I heard a couple catchy Spanish pop songs, and I have no idea how to find out what they were, but I’ll have to ask someone at some point. There is this ya-ya-ya song that I kept hearing the kids sing it during the San Juan festival.

This day and the 26th were free days and I took the time to finally combine all my many to do lists. It was a huge undertaking, but it was so nice to see all of my tasks in one place, and the progress and research I’ve already done in a folder of resources and such. Technology is great, because you can copy things easily, but it is also easy to have duplicates and clutter. I was able to cut through it all. It was nice to get through it all. I also evaluated what it is that I want to accomplish in my time here. Although the vision has changed slightly, I still want to be able to meet people easily. (at the time of this writing, I still haven’t done this too much, but I still have the rest of the month).

8pm we met at the art gallery and introduced ourselves to Steven and Brady. As we sat in the round a woman came up and happily chatted with the group, while Arianna and Xara translated. She was so bubbly.

Later that night we moved all of our stuff down to the guy’s place. It was supposed to open the week before, but there is some law in Spain that prevents a tenant from getting kicked out until they are ready to leave. Noah and Brady had to carry the bed, and Ariana thought it was great fun to watch. = )

8am, we met for a bus ride and then hike up to the light house in Albir, just south of us. The hike was along a mostly paved route up to an abandoned, but still working lighthouse. I had everyone stop for a moment and find a geocache. Hooray! It’s always nice to expose people to that awesome game.

Then we went down near some Moorish ruins and to the beach where were went for a swim in the water.

Our first spanish class. A bunch of us met and covered some words that are useful to know.
Then we had our first ‘conversation’ with Steven. It was all about cultural sensitivity and how to make sure to break the negative stereotypes. Also, not to get upset or defensive about their existence because they always exist.

Then we left to the Casafina, the girl’s house. They made us lunch of noodles and a salad.

I went to the open market at 8am, but lots of people were just beginning to set up. I’ve been looking for a camera bag, so I don’t have to haul my backpack around, but no one seems to carry them. Also, I need a beach towel. Everyone talks about how you are supposed to haggle with the sellers, but I tried and failed. I even sent in Rachel to try to buy a very cheaply made towel that was being sold for 6 euros. She couldn’t even get her to budge a little bit! So unless I can find another person to buy a towel with me (2 for 10 euros) I can’t get one. Even the ‘cheap’ store downtown is still selling them for 6. This is one of the many reasons I don’t like the haggling game. I’m not good at it.

We had our conversation at noon, then we had a wonderful meal together. I brought these ham flavored chips (the spanish love their ham!) and we had a variety of casseroles and a tasty salad.

Afterward we had a workshop at the round area near the shore. Sean had us do some acting exercises like walking around and imagining various things. The people around were very confused as we walked around with different walks and such, but it was fun. Then we spent 10 minutes writing. I wrote a short story about a centaur named Melon, who found a map leading to a cave that described bird people who used to live in his land. I’m sure with a little polish I could make it a book. = P

This day was our free day.

I think most of the day most of us laid out on the beach. Then that night we played the ‘Nertz’ card game and ended with the Celebrities game. Everyone in the program is so interesting. I enjoy everyone’s company immensely. Oh, both Jordan and I bought these cards that are VERY unusual. Perhaps they are greek or something, but you can’t play Nertz with them because they don’t have the proper colors.. or symbols.