What a great birthday week! Thanks for all the messages and WhatsApp texts. I love hearing from you.

Monday, we got all our new music for the summer choir season. Check out this line up!

Nabucco is the first opera I ever saw. and when they sang this piece, La Pensiero (the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves), I almost cried because it’s so beautiful!

I’ve never sung Carmina Burana. So that’s exciting!

Then add Abba, I will Follow Him from Sister Act, John Williams and … we’ll all of these are fun, beautiful, interesting pieces to sing. This will be fun.

Tuesday was the actual birthday. As I arrived at my Spanish class, my classmate, Mandy, from Germany was lighting a candle on the chocolate bar at the desk that I normally sit at. Included on the plate was a marshmallow candy that her four year old daughter Mila wanted me to have. That started the fun.

As other students arrived, they wished me a Feliz Cumpleaños. After the first class and before the second, the administrative staff came in with a cake and all sang Feliz Cumpleaños and we all enjoyed cake together.

I’ve been here four and a half months and I’ve never seen them do that before! From the time I started contacting language schools in Valencia, these folks acted like they cared …and all this time later, they still care. That means the world to me.

That night, I hosted a few gay friends at the apartment for drinks and snacks and conversation. It’s a fun group of guys. All of them are in relationships. So I don’t get to spend much time with them. But I’m grateful to have them to help improve my Spanish and just know more people.

The next day, Emma, an 18 year old fellow student from Hungary came in and brought a gluten free, apple spice cake that she had made! More cake for everyone!

On Friday, we had a fun class. We walked to Mercado Central and divided into teams of two. We had a list of questions to ask the merchants. I paired up with my friend Marc, from San Francisco. We grazed our way through the assignment, stopping for oysters, and then scallops and then some white wine to top it all off.

Each time, we’d choose a vendor who wasn’t busy so we could talk with them. And each time, as soon as we did, they would be flooded with customers. We decided we were good luck for them.

I think I mentioned last week that the tradition in Spain is that you throw your own birthday party. So on Saturday, I invited a bunch of friends to the roof top bar that I was at a few weeks ago.

Palau Alameda has several bars and rooms. But the roof is the Atic. It’s open from 5-8. Then the party continues inside through the night. Great music and great fun.

Several of us stayed for the continued fun inside.

There were 11 people who came, mostly from school. And Rafa came at the last minute. My friend Julio canceled because he was robbed that morning! I’m meeting him this coming Saturday. So I hope to hear the whole story. And unfortunately, Dima and his wife Lisa were turned away because he wore sweatpants. Part of his English training will need to include dress code etiquette.

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By 9:30, I was exhausted and hungry. So we called it a night.

Sunday, I cleaned the apartment and when no one was available, I returned to Palau de la Musica. Walking there, through the Turia Gardens is always a treat. At the venue, there was a lovely sextet performance of Brahms and Dvorak.

This week, I have my appointment with the police to get my finger prints and next step towards temporary residency. Please send good thoughts and prayers for that on Tuesday.

Sending you lots of love from Valencia. As always, thanks for reading.