Malaga

I must say that having turned in my thesis was a remarkable thing for me.  It's as if my life changed over night.  I had no more classes, my paper was done, and my classes switched to mornings-only (apparently it's too hot for the kids to go to class in the afternoon, despite the fact that I've had to break out my jacket again this week, but I'm not complaining!).  On top of that, my private lessons are kind of winding down as the end of the year approaches.  All in all it's rather lovely!

This weekend I also took a quick trip down to the southern coast of Spain to visit Malaga with Carissa, Katie, Juliet, and Leslie.  Juliet and Leslie lived there a few years ago, so we stayed with some of their friends, who were lovely and generous people.  And I have to say that I did no sightseeing.  I partied all night, slept all morning, and spent all afternoon on the beach.  And there was a distinct moment where I was lying in the sun, and my body just sort of relaxed.  I consciously felt all the badness of this year just sort of flow out of me.  My shoulders dropped, my breathing slowed, and my jaw unclenched.  And I must admit that until that moment, I was rather unaware of how much this year was affecting me.  I mean, I was physically wound up from all that I had going on.  But in the sun of Malaga, I closed my eyes and my body opened again.  It was fantastic.  And to top it all off, I managed to escape with a sunburn on only my nose and the outer half of my right foot, despite hours in direct sunlight.  A true miracle.

our view
(The tower is the Cathedral.)

the river

tropical flowers

hibiscus

palms

beach

amazing salad with jamon, goat cheese, caramelized onions, apples, walnuts...

the other beach on the second day

me, only mildly pink and happy