Life cycles!

I had a busy day yesterday.  I went with Katie and Andy to pick up Lexi from school.  Personally I am not too keen on schools, having never liked going myself, as a child.  Santa Pola school, looks pretty impressive to to be honest. A very large, modern complex with state of the art facilities. Something else to put Britain to shame.  I don't have children myself, so it was also an experience, observing, just how different schools are, compared to when I was a child.  They have changed dramatically! 

We had a quick drink in La Glorieta in Santa Pola square, after we picked Lexi up.  It is a beautiful place to just sit and chat, passing the time of day.  After a few swift halves, we went on to the bar on the beach, along the old Santa Pola coastal road.  

Chloe is leaving for The UK on Friday, to return to University; we had  drinks last night before she leaves on Friday. Chloe and myself have become very good friends.  I find her company stimulating and her conversation intelligent.  She is studying creative writing at University in Wales, so we also have that aspect of life in common.  She is one of the good people in the World, wonderfully bought up by her father Steve; she is a credit to him.  I will most certainly miss her, when she goes back, but she will of course be here at Christmas, so I will see her then.

Both Andy and Chloe leave on Friday; I will be sad to see them both go. Once again life will change, as it does in this place, frequently!  Change is of course a good thing, and like my life now, I am embracing it wholeheartedly.  It can be hard, with people coming and going.  As soon as you get to know someone, they are off again, but that really is the nature of the best out here.

Next week is another new start in many ways.  The season draws to its end and Autumn kicks in; friends return to University and jobs in The UK and the World keeps moving on.  

It has been a good first season in Spain; certainly not financially, but in every other sense of the word.  I have never felt so at home in all my life. The fact that I can walk to my local pub, on my own and know those who not only frequent it, the patrons, but also the welcoming staff, is testimony to both this place and also how far I have come as a person.  I met Chloe, whilst working at Zest and she is now, what I would consider, a very good friend.

The success for me, is establishing new and varied friendships; living in Spain without my partner, while he works in Australia; writing for a local magazine; feeling well, for the first time in my life and most importantly restarting my life, when others made it fail.  Gran Alacant has been instrumental in starting a new chapter, with new challenges and new friends.  Now that really can't be bad!