My last day at Carmen de las Cuevas. Thomas and Isabel are in all of the photos, the first two of which are standard "Okay, let's stand in a cluster over there and ask the next person we see to operate the camera" photos. (Analisa, the girl from Italy, wasn't in class that day. Another student, who was studying Flamenco dance as well, had returned to Switzerland already.) That's Sofia, our morning instructor, on the right. I loved how she said "¡Hola, chicos!" when she came in the room.



Here's one with Maribel (short for Maria Isabel"), who taught our conversation practicum in the afternoons. I think she wore purple and yellow and orange all on the same day. She dressed to match her personality.



And, because I thought it looked just right, a final photo of Thomas and Isabel.



To say that the school was a lot of fun doesn't quite do it justice. The instructors were pros but they were fun and personable and endearing and encouraging and, really, everything you need when you're in a language intensive.

The network bandwidth at the school left a lot to be desired. The connections would break regularly and it was usually slow. But, that said, I'm using a link in my hotel room in Sevilla right now, and it's not very fast either.

Since leaving Granada I've had one extremely bad day, Friday, during which I looked all day for a hotel room in Sevilla and Cordoba, two major cities in Andalusia. Eventually, at 8:00 at night on a road between Carmona and Palma de los Rios (two minor towns in Andalusia), I found the Spanish equivalent of a Motel 6 that had a single room to rent, for that night only. The next morning, yesterday morning, I got a room in a pension in Carmona, and I managed to find a room for today in Sevilla via telephone. After checking into this hotel at noon today, I wrote a long email, longer than I intended, to my friend Mary about Hell Friday and, having gotten that off my chest, made phone calls to Orgiva and Cordoba to arrange hotel rooms for the rest of my time in Spain. The only days for which I don't have accomodations now are Tuesday and the day I leave Orgiva for Madrid. If I don't find a place in Sevilla for Tuesday, I'll drive back to Carmona and stay in the charming little pension.