A chapter ending (A Corunha, Spain)

Oh, shameful neglect of blog! But I plan to write weekly (that's not too ambitious, right?) updates when I am in Mexico -- I leave tomorrow morning! In fact, this post is largely an attempt to put off packing, not because I have to rack my brains deciding what to bring with and what to leave behind (I am bringing everything with, of course), but because zipping up my suitcase tonight will be an awful lot like closing a chapter in the Book of Watson Adventure, and I am in a state of disbelief. Leaving Spain already? Quoi?!

The past few weeks have gone by incredibly quickly, and I've met more wonderful people than I can mention and describe. In Santander I spent every night with a group made up of Germans (there are a lot of these in Spain), American (just one), Cuban (also), Argentinian (also also), and Spaniards; we walked around, drank chocolate and ate churros, and admired the light of the moon on the water. No joke. It was really pretty. In Madrid I stayed with Rosa, who was the friend of a friend of my mother's and is now my friend (a shorter and nicer title), and with whom I felt completely at home and happy. She introduced me to her friends -- more feelings of comfort and happiness -- and pointed out every cute thing that her two young cats did. During the days I explored the city (enormous! grand! overwhelming!), went on a day trip to Toledo (narrow-laned, beautiful and touristy), and spent an afternoon with Alberto, my Foz friend. This past weekend I've been back in La Corunha with Sylvia, Juan and not-so-little Giulia, who has grown a lot since I met her three months ago! Her favorite word is "agua". You say, "Hooola, Giulia" and she responds, "Aguaguaguagua. Agua. Aguagua." (There are infinite variations of this exchange.) I wonder what she thinks she's saying.

All of these people have been incredibly good to me and admirable. I love admiring people! And I've been sad to say goodbye to them.

The topic of time has come up on many occasions during my travels. Almost everyone I meet is willing to talk with me about it, so I have learned oodles from people. I have also noticed that artists are obsessed with time -- many museums that I've visited have exhibits with creative titles like "Representations of Time" and equally creative artwork (that I often fail to get, like a painting of a cute little dog face that was supposed to make me consider the meaning of "instant" and "present"; it made me consider the weirdness of dog breeding). Historical museums, too, are filled with interesting time-related things; I like to see how different ones set up exhibits that span many centuries. I hope to write about these things in my journal when I am less computer-averse, and I'll post something more concrete in this blog (as well as a summary of my fishing knowledge!).

I'm not sure what my internet situation will be like in Ocampo, Mexico -- I'm not even sure what my living situation will be like! -- so I'll publicly apologize to anyone who tries to get in touch with me but doesn't hear back for a while: I'm sorry.

Now I'm going to go back to packing, and at some point I will zip up my suitcase (my personal soundtrack will be playing dramatic orchestral music, lots of violins). Ciao now, Spain! Hooola, Mexico!

I hope that you are doing wonderfully.