17 Jul

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday kicked off a series of “lasts,” the first of which was the fact that those days were my last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively. On Friday, my morning class had a despedida for me at the “circulo militar,” which is a sporting club for members of the military. One of my students, Hector, was a naval officer, so he could get us all in. We got there at about 9, after an hour’s worth of conversation with the few students who showed up to class that day. I figured we�d be there til 11:30 or so. We played soccer, then Ecua-volley, then basketball. It was 1:30 when we headed in for lunch. Needless to say, I got the worst sunburn of the year. It hurts a little.

On Friday afternoon, I picked up my SECAP check! Just about 30 minutes ago, as we were walking down the street near El Ejido Park, a car honked at me. It was Maritza Sin Cabezas, telling me that my check was ready. I told her I picked it up on Friday, and, ironically, the last word I ever said to her was “gracias.” See ya, Maritza.

On Saturday, Eileen and I cleaned a little, then ran some errands, then picked Will up from the airport, then had some friends over for a cookout. Half the people were my students; the other half were WorldTeachers.

Today, we went gift shopping. And we packed. We packed everything, so that Eileen will know exactly how to pack it 12 days from now.

I’m in Madison on Thursday or Friday, depending on what happens with the roofing thing. There’s still a possibility that we�ll do it next weekend, in which case, I�ll be in Madison all day Friday, unless I�m out buying parasite-free food, the thought of which is getting me so excited, I might start making a grocery list now.