Summer's Here

Now that we have half days of school, 9-1 instead of 9-12:30 and 2:30-4, I've been eating more at home, which involves more cooking and grocery shopping. I've discovered that eating at home in this manner does not always give me more time. But, I've enjoyed cooking some. Despite two more free afternoons than before, I don't spend much more time at home. I do note that I have more time to relax and see my friends, to read and to rest and organize.

I officially have 12 more days of work before summer break and 20 days until I depart for the US. It is so close. I have mixed feelings about it. I'm really excited to see my family and friends back home, but know also that I will miss people here. I remember that it's goodbye for just the summer. At school, I've been learning to be more assertive (aka not a doormat). It was kind of stressful to stand my ground, but the situation has cooled off and things are good.

In other news, the church Angelita goes to, which is the mother church to mine, was robbed last week, though they only were able to run off with a laptop and something else. They had everything ready to take, but a neighbor called the police and they headed off further loss. This past weekend I went to a play/musical downtown Madrid to see some of my students and their parents perform. Thursday (yesterday) was a holiday, and I spent my day off visiting friends in Alcala and then walked around downtown Madrid with some friends. The best part of walking downtown in 90 degrees was stopping to eat pineapple and raspberry sorbet (one scoop of each) in a waffle cone. I have to say that it's scorching hot here, so I don't even want to see what it's like in July and August. It's been getting up to 95, though it's bearable since it's fairly dry heat. Imagine that...95 degrees three days in a row in June.