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Published: February 16th 2009
Explanada
Family shot on the Explanada…Jueves 12 continued- I took the bus out to the airport to meet Mom and Dad. I arrived at there at 7pm and their flight was to arrive at 7:25, so during this time I wrote in my journal as well as people watched because there was also a flight from Manchester, England that was arrive at about the same time that caused the airport to be full of British people (and English conversations!). However, I didn’t see Mom/Dad until almost 8pm because they had been dealing with their luggage not arriving. Their flight had got delayed in Madison, but luckily they were able to get a different flight when they arrived in the Chicago airport. Although they were able to get a flight to Alicante that would only be 2 hours later than their original flight, they ended up going thru London, while their bags still were labeled for going thru Frankfurt, Germany. But most importantly was that my parents had been in 5 airports and 4 different planes and had arrived safely in Alicante. It was a great feeling t see them, even thought it had only been exactly one month since I had arrived in the Alicante airport.
Universidad
Dad and I outside one of the buildings We then took the bus to the hotel and dropped off their carry-ons. Mom had listened to me and had a change of clothes in her bag, so she changed before we went down to a nice restaurant next to the Co-Cathedral de San Nicholas. Since I haven’t been out to eat much, I didn’t know what to expect, but this place had great food and even a waiter that spoke some English. After dinner, we walked the 4 blocks back to the hotel and Mom and Dad went to bed seeing that they had traveled almost 5,000 miles that day. It’s really interesting that 100 years ago, the trip that they just had taken would have taken up to a month. It will be interesting to see how traveling will be in another 100 years.
Viernes 13 febrero 2009- I left mi casa early so that I could meet Mom and Dad at the hotel before going to school on the bus. Once, we arrived, I took them to one of the cafés on campus because I had 2 hours of Spanish class to go to. After class we met up outside one of the buildings and toured
Universidad
Discussing something the campus a little more by going into the library and to where my classrooms were. Then, we went to the supermarket near campus because I think it is interesting to see the different kinds of food. We then took a bus to near mi casa so I could show them where I lived. I thought that I had planned it well so that my host Grandma and 2 brothers would be there, but I was wrong and no one was home. This was a little disappointing, but they did get to see my room the place where I will be living for the 4 months. From here we made the 15 minute walk to the hotel then to a restaurant to eat the traditional dish of paella. We stopped at the hotel to see if Mom and Dad’s three bags had arrived yet, but they hadn’t. After, lunch we went to an Irish pub where I knew they had free Mujitos for happy hour. When the drinks arrived, I gave Mom and Dad my acceptance letter to the PA Program. I had been carrying the letter with me since Thursday waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell them, this
was it. I was so glad that I was able to tell them in person instead of over skype; it made the whole acceptance thing more real. We then went back to the hotel for a siesta. Mom/Dad got some sleep, but every time I was almost asleep I would cough, which sucked because I really need some sleep. When we got up, we tried to locate the luggage and then skyped with Brady, Will and Grandma before going to the beach to drink wine and watch the waves roll in under the star filled sky.
Sabado 14 febrero 2009-- Feliz San Vanetine Dia! I met Mom and Dad around 9am at the hotel. While they started breakfast, I ran up stairs and took a shower because I have to take a short shower at mi casa and the water is hot, but not as hot as it is in the hotel. When I was in the room, the front desk called up and said that the luggage had arrived. So, when I went back downstairs and had some coffee and pastries I got to tell Mom and Dad thatthey finally had some clean clothes to change into. Our
Mercado Central
One of the seafood vendors first stop of the day was the Mercado Central which across from their hotel, a huge meat and vegetable market. Mom really enjoyed watching all the old ladies while Dad was amazed but the sheer quantity of meat. He also enjoyed just watching the vendors and costumers interact. After, this market, we made the 20 minute walk to a huge outdoor market that has all kinds of fruit/vegetables and clothes. Here we got some gifts for Will, some spices and a scarf for Mom. We also got a ¼ of a kilo of strawberries and 12 oranges for less than 2 Euros. We then walked to a park nearby to eat some of our fruit while we watched some kids play futbol and basketball. Lets just say that the Spanish should stick with futbol. Since we were really close to the Castillo de San Fernando, we walked around this and decided not to climb the other higher Castillo in Alicante, the Castillo de Santa Barbara. We then walked down to the hotel to drop off our purchases before going down by the Explanada, which is near the beach for lunch. We again got more typical food like paella, roasted chicken
Mercado Central
One of Mom's old ladies with mushrooms and flan before walking along the Explanada on our way to the beach. We walked on the tile for a while before deciding that the sand looked to nice not to walk next to the beach. We then returned to the hotel for Mom and Dad to take a siesta while I took the stuff that they had brought me back to mi casa. Although I could have easily lived without these things, they were greatly appreciated. They included a sleeping bag for my Camino in April, a pillow from my bed from home (you don’t realize how attached you are to your pillows until you don’t have them, lol), 3 dozen homemade chocolate, walnut cookies, chewy bars, pop tarts, ho-hos, a jar of peanut butter, oreos, a bunch of school supplies, the News Sickle Arrow, Newsweek, my hiking shoes, adapters, different travel things that I had ordered since I got here and a few shirts. I think that I was almost more excited today as I unpacked this suitcase than earlier today when Mom and Dad finally got clean cloths. After I got back to the hotel, we went to the Bonfire Museum that I had went
to the week before, which was nice because I knew what to show them and the stories behind the exhibits. After getting shooed out as the place closed, we walked in one of my favorite areas of town looking for churros, a traditional Spanish treat made of fried dough dipped in super thick hot chocolate. We ended up eating in a hole in the wall place that was packed with people coming back from church and watching the Barcelona futbol game. When then went back to the hotel and watched some TV and packed everything up.
Domingo 16 febrero 2009- I met them at the hotel at 8am and then had breakfast with them. Before getting their stuff and walking to the train station. They had wanted to take the train instead of a plane even though it was more expensive and took longer because the train allowed them to spend more time with me and would be a 4.5 hour ride along the sea. Watching them leave was a little surreal because it was probable what it felt like when I had left them a month earlier. It was actually harder for me to watch them leave now
then it had been for me to leave them because I knew now how hard it is to be away from family and friends and that it would be 4 months until I saw them again. After staying in the train station until their train was out of sight, I went back to mi casa and took a four hour nap before meeting back at the train station to go to a medieval market in a town an hour away. However, I’m going to save this part of the day for the next blog.
Some people have been asking for this, but I don’t expect/need anything because it’s expensive to send stuff:
Quinn Seston
C/o Francisco Diez
Ofician CIEE Aulario II
Universidad de Alicante
San Vicente del Raspeig
03690 Alicante Spain
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Lisa
non-member comment
British folks
It's really funny that you mention people watching when those British people came off the plane because me, Amanda, and Katie (the girls in Straz who you met during Pretty Woman) have a running inside joke of attempting (that being the key word) to speak in British or Austrailian accents. Moral of the story: I would have been people watching too! Sounds like you had a lot of fun wiht your parents!