What happened last weekend!

Ok, I was going to talk about last weekend and Fallas, but I cannot get both to fit in a reasonable amount of writing. In the next few weeks, I will just make a new post only about Fallas... it will be worth reading, trust me! So for now, I will just talk about my experiences from the last week.

Last Friday night (as in April 20th), I was invited to a party on the beach. Jessica and Robert, the German guy I roomed with in Gandia, told me about it. When I first got there, it was just me, Robert, and Maria (Roberts roommate). Then, Jessica came. "Hmmm..." I thought, "Four people is not a very happenin' party." Then, some Spaniards showed up, followed by some French. Once we were about ten strong, we headed towards the sea and sat down on the cool night sand. We sat in a nice circle, and talked amongst each other and in small groups. I don't know when it  happened, but suddenly, or group was growing very large very fast. And suddenly, a bonfire appeared right next to us. So, I stood up and hung out by the fire since it was getting a bit chilly.

Smaller group at beginning.

Valentino, myself, and Jessica... aren't we so cute?!?!

The fire would be the end of the big party. After a  while, a group of police showed up and told us we couldn't have a fire on the beach. They also told us we shouldn't be partying in this area of the beach because there is a hospital right across the street, and we might be disturbing the patients. The police (overall) acted quite reasonably, and the ones I saw were very calm about the situation (although I heard stories of some not so calm policemen). The police put out the fire, and sent us all packing.

 Bonfire!!!

After the fire... and after the cops... so many people without a party...

Jessica wanted to go home at that point, so I decided to walk her back to her place. After walking her home, I returned to the beach to find some of the group had gone into a club nearby, while others were going to walk South a bit. I went with the Southward group. We ended up spending most of the time just chatting on the sidewalk, instead of actually walking anywhere. It was getting late (actually, early, since it was around 4-5 am), so we decided to start heading back. We passed by the Hotel Las Arenas, a 5 star hotel on the beach... and 3 of the guys decided to have a little fun by jumping the fence. However, they also decided to exit the fenced area right in front of the security guards. Some police came, and two of them (I don't know where the third managed to escape to) calmly talked to the police and guards while the rest of us looked on with amusement and a bit of sympathy. In the end, they just took down the fence-jumpers names and let them go with a warning, which we all felt was a good thing.

 Jumping the fence... into unknown enemy territory...

To sum up the night, there was a party on the beach, a bonfire, fence-jumping, and two run-ins with the law. Overall, an exciting night.

Saturday night I went over to Miranda's (Sweden) flat for a belated birthday party. I was one of the first to show up, so it was just us talking casually for a while. Jessica showed up next, so the casual conversation continued. I met two of Miranda's Swedish friends who were visiting for the weekend, and it was fun chatting with them. I think it was two hours later that the majority of people showed up... and by that time I was getting tired. I also don't like parties in apartments with too many people... I am not claustrophobic typically, but in these cases I get uncomfortable. Jessica told me she was going to leave, so I decided to head out at the same time. The rest of the group was going to go out to the clubs soon for dancing and drinking, and I didn't want another late night.

Miranda's party. Her two Swedish friends are on the right.

Well, that sums up the last week. The rest of the week involved boring schoolwork and such. So what is coming up this week? I will tell you! I am going to Morocco!!! I became friends at MSU with several Moroccan foreign exchange students. They were involved in a two year exchange program with MSU, and they graduated last May. I am really looking forward to seeing them in their home country. After that, I will spend two days bumming around Barcelona. I will be in a hostel close to the city center, so it will be easy to walk to many of the more popular tourist sites. The next update wont be until at least next Sunday, so don't worry checking until then. Have a good next week everyone! I know I will :)

Finally, an update... for the past month

Hello loyal readers! I apologize for taking so long to update my blog. Life threw me a curve-ball last month, and I didn't know quite how to hit it. Let me explain:

My grandfather John D. McCleary (Grandpa Doc to me and his other grandchildren) passed away on Thursday, March 22. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but had been given a year-and-a-half or so to live... so when he died of a massive stroke, it was a bit of a shock to me. The last time I saw him was before I left for Spain, around 8 months ago, and he was as healthy as ever. I was able to see him a few times over a webcam, but it still wasn't the same as actually being there with him. When he was diagnosed with cancer, I never realized how serious it might be. He had already survived a brain tumor and prostate cancer before, why should he not be able to battle it this time? Regardless, on March 22, I received an email saying he was in the hospital and to call home. My father told me over the phone that things were not looking good, so I immediately booked a flight home. I called home again a couple hours later to find out he had passed away about 30 minutes before my second call. The next day I found myself on a plane back to the US, and after 24 hours I was in Billings, MT, being greeted by my family.

My Grandpa Doc :) His obituary can be read here.

The whole experience was kind of surreal. There I was, in MT... and I wasn't supposed to be there for another 3 months. My parents, sister, and aunt were going to be visiting me in Spain that week, but instead I was back in MT seeing everyone (my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins). It was a very difficult and emotional time for all of us, but we were very lucky to not only have each other, but also many friends and extended family offering support.

I stayed in Montana two weeks, and was able to see the majority of my family. I even was able to go to Bozeman to visit my other grandparent's, family, and friends. So not all of the time was sadness, some of it was fun. I was able to watch John McLellan sing and play guitar, I was able to play a Nintendo Wii for the first time, and I was able to relax with friends and family. I even had my 22nd birthday while I was home (April 2)... but it didn't feel much like a birthday party with all that had happened. Ooh, and I saw snow!!! I was a bit bummed that I hadn't seen snow, since Valencia's climate doesn't really allow for snow... but while I was in Montana, we received the April snow storms!!! Yay!

 Left: SNOW!!! Right: Drive to Bozeman.

Left: Ellen, Jared, Brock, and ME! Right: Me and the ladies, Chandra and Ellen, aka Chellen

Left: 2 Trips and the 'Rents Right: Cousin Dave, Sister steph, and half of Dad on the left

 John playing Guitar and AJ singing back up... man they rock!

Now I am back in Valencia. I have been back for two weeks, but for a week and a half I was sick with a bad cold, so I didn't feel like writing this blog. Now I am better, and have started back into classes. It wasn't too difficult to get back into speaking Spanish... heck, I even think I might speak Spanish a bit more fluently after being gone for two weeks! I am having a hard time getting my homework done, as I have more than a week of classes to catch up on... but I should be able to get it all done soon, if I just work at it.

Well, this blog is already long enough, so I think I will end it here. Mid next week, I will post a blog not only about what I did this weekend, but also about something very special that I experienced last month... FALLAS!!! Yeah, I still haven't blogged on Fallas, and I need to put up pictures and such to remember it. It might be a long blog, so set aside 5 hours to read it! (just kidding)

Grandpa Doc, we all love and miss you. Rest in Peace.