17 May 2024

It was a quiet week for me.

On Wednesday, I met Richard and Steve (friends of my friends Jack and Greg in Denver), along with their brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Peggy for lunch. They are visiting Valencia and I was thrilled to share restaurant suggestions and get to know them.

Thursday was my birthday. 65. I took a carrot cake and some pralines to my Spanish class. The sweets were a big hit. On Friday, some of the administrative staff were asking for my recipe. Thank you, Betty Crocker!

Thursday night was choir. We recorded an original piece that will be used to help promote the university. it was interesting to be able to record sections at a time, stopping to perfect each part.

The director wasn’t nearly as rude and abusive that night. Though, one friend told me that their section was cringing as he was scolding me and the bass section again. I said, “Oh! He wasn’t so bad tonight!”

Monday (tomorrow), I’ll meet with the university department of diversity and inclusion to figure out how I should deal with this issue.

On Friday, a Couchsurfer arrived from Madrid. Wim is Dutch, but has lived in Spain for more than 20 years. He’s in town for a conference for a group of volunteers who visit Dutch prisoners in Spanish prisons. They do interesting work helping the people connect to their language and culture.

On Saturday, we went to Peñiscola, a beautiful seaside town and castle about an hour north of Valencia.

Today (Sunday) we went to the beach in Gandia, about an hour south of Valencia.

Then, we came home, Wim packed his things and left for his conference. I put the sheets and towels in the washing machine, in order to prepare for my friend Francesco, who arrives tomorrow from Venice.

As always, thank you for reading.

Have a great week!