The Last Days--Thursday

Oh my GOSH what a great day! I understand this is a study abroad, but holy SMOKES was it nice to just have a day that felt like vacation! To preface, we went to the western most tip of Spain, called

Finesterra, or Fisterra depending on what map and language you are looking at. Its name comes from "Fin de la Tierra," or end of the world. And MAN does it look like it - once you get to that coast, it is just blue as far as the eye can see until it all blurs together on the horizon. And back in the day when they thought the earth was flat, you can imagine sailing off the end of the world from there.

BUT we didn't start there - first we visited this waterfall, I don't actually think I ever got the name of it, but at least in Spain it is the only place where fresh water flows directly into the ocean. Man, was it beautiful. And very tranquil. As we are coming to the end of this trip, it was nice to climb up on the rocks by the water and just contemplate. 

But the best part of the waterfall experience was when Jacek had a little accident. Jack is the kid who, at the beginning of the trip, had his luggage go missing, and he has never gotten it back (again, I blame the French ENTIRELY). But of anyone on the trip for that to happen to, Jacek would be the most likely to handle it in a super-chill  manner. He is just this very calm, funny, chill dude. The waterfall and the whole bay had these HUGE rocks all around it. We could get up right next to the water's edge on the rocks, but as soon as we touched the water, the rocks were SLIPPERY. Even the water flowing across the surface to the water's edge created these super slippery paths on the rocks.

So, we are all walking around looking at stuff, and all of a sudden I look over and just see Jacek literally like slow-motion slipping into the water. And I don't mean like time slowed, and I don't mean fell, I mean the tips of his shoes got too close to the water's edge where he lost all traction.  In the span of like five seconds, he slipped into the water without a struggle. The whole vision was so funny for a couple reasons:  

1. I think he thought he would hit the bottom at some point to stop the fall, so other than some last ditch efforts with his arms to grab onto the rock, he just went down like a toy soldier, totally straight with very little struggle.
2. The look on his face was PRICELESS. Jacek, because he is so chill, has his normal face, his smiling face, his thinking face (that I've seen during games) and then his mischievous face. His eyes go wide, his eyebrows go up, and his mouth forms this tiny oh shape at the bottom of his face. Now imagine that face, but instead of mischief, it was filled with pure surprise. Turns out the water there is SUPER deep, so his head got completely submerged before he flinched or flailed at all cause he was waiting for the bottom to hit his feet.  
3. Have you ever seen animals when they are trying to get out of a tub or a pool, but they can't get traction, or don't have enough leverage to get themselves completely out? Because these rocks were curved and the sides were so slick, we just had to HEAVE him out of the pool, and for some reason, only Madeline and I were there to help him, and of course I was laughing the whole time and was no help at all.

Again, if that was going to happen to anyone, Jacek was the best for it: he was super chill about it, got dry when he could and was totally fine with it all. 

Then we drove UP to Finesterra - did I mention it is the cliff of a town (not much of a town to be had once you get to the edge actually) with this beautiful Faro (lighthouse) that looks out over the entire bay? The

sun was bright and burning that day, and the ocean and sky were impossibly blue as far as the eye could see. The sun was beating down, but the wind from the ocean abated the heat. Finesterra is actually the official end of the Camino - Santiago is the destination, but Fisterra is where the Camino officially ends, and there is a single marker there that simply says Ok. It felt really cool, even though we hadn't walked the last 84k, to go to the actual end of the camino. If I was going to end a journey, that would be the place to do it!

Lunch was in the lighthouse which was super cool, but unfortunately it was more fish... So I spent

my lunch filling up on the FREE REFILLS of Lemon Fanta they had at the restaurant. Because all the "referescos" come in bottles, usually we don't get pop at all, just water, but this place had the Coke, Fanta,

 and Kaz FLOWING to the table, and that was a definite win in my book.

Then it was time for the beach! We actually only had about an hour and a half at the beach, but

for me that was PERFECT. Swim in the water, chase the fish around, look at the seaweed, walk the beach

looking for shells, and then dry off and draw. I just love this group of students.  It was so fun just swimming around in the water and chilling on the shore looking for shells. We are all so comfortable with

each other that we just have fun where ever we are. We didn't do anything complicated at the beach, no beach games or anything, but we still made it a great time 

That evening we went to the same park as last night, having picked up pizza to-go on the way. Let me tell you, I am EXCITED to have the convenience of food to-go when I get back to the US. MAN it was nice being able to grab some pizza, walk to the park, sit down on the grass and eat. And again, we just had a great time. Santiago was ALIVE while we were there at 8pm - on the longest day of the year I might add - and we were just living it up. I love these kids, they are just really great and fun and REAL. So often now, I just feel like people are fake, or trying to be something they are not, but all these kids are real and genuine, and we all know each other so well (there aren't really any secrets between us). We people watched, we chatted, we ate our food and we just took it all in. Tomorrow is our last day and we just wanted to enjoy it all.