summer on my andirons: adéu, mallorca. mos veiem algun dia.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning at 6am to start my 34+ hour journey back home. I have mixed feelings: I'm super SUPER psyched to be at home, but I am going to miss Mallorca.

First, though, a quick list of things that I'm not going to miss at all:

- the yappy, horny dogs across the street who bark and howl ALL NIGHT LONG.
- lots of shouting and little discipline in the classroom.
- uhm.... that might be it. A nice, short list, right?

***

And now for all of the things that I wish I could bring back with me to the US:

- greeting all friends with kisses.

I went to my last day of work yesterday, and when I said goodbye to all of the 1st graders, they all lined up to give me a big kiss on the cheek. They are SO DURN CUTE! (The 5th and 6th graders gave me a big bear hug, and I teared up a little.)

- my kids!

I´ve got a gazillion pictures of them all being adorable, but privacy laws = no pics on the internet, so you'll just have to believe me. After 8 months of working with the kids, I have built up a great relationship with (almost) all of them. I've loved working with all of them (even the tough cases), and I'm going to miss all the kids (even the 4th graders, who are tougher cases than most).

- everyone I've met here.

Outside of school, I have about two friends, a hiking buddy, a squash (raquetball) buddy, a wonderful roommate, and several great colleagues who I'm definitely going to keep in touch with. I'll miss them all!

- cheap, amazing wine.

A great bottle of wine costs €6 or 7, and a bottle that knocks your socks off is €15. If I'm feeling poor at the end of the month, it is perfectly respectable to go for the €.50 bottles.

Cheese with that whine?

- walking down to the local market twice a week to get fresh veggies, delicious cheese and sausage, and fresh pastries. Oh, and where €7, or about $10, gets you 2 pounds of fresh shiitakes:

- the honey-colored stone. All of the side streets in my town look like this:

- friends who bring 50-gallon garbage bags full of lemons to your doorstep:

When life gives you lemons, give them to the kitty.

- awesome street festivals:

One of the plazas of Santanyí during the festival of Sant Antoni in January.
Along with the bonfires, there was music, dancing, and public barbecues,
and the city hall handed out free wine and meat to grill.

- amazingly cheap flights to all of these places: €6 to Madrid, anybody?

- friends and family who wanted to come visit me here!

Joy, astounded at the empty beach on a cool day in early May.
Or perhaps she was agog at the handy boardwalk going all the way
down to the water (who wants sandy feet, anyways)? I don't remember...

...wait a second, I guess that's just her normal face. SLAM.
(Actually, it was pretty crazy when we found the beach full of jellyfish
after a stormy night. I was making this face, too.)

- having the Mediterranean at my doorstep: