On My Own

Dad left early this morning. It was sad to see him go because it's always nice to be with family. For me, it also marked the end to the summer. Now, everything else begins.

We got a lot done in the time he was here, but it didn't feel like as much as we could have gotten done, at least on the apartment end (which, I only have myself to blame). But, in the end, I think he got a good sense of Malaga: the Castle, Alcazaba, Cathedral, flea market, the beach, and everywhere in between, also counting the few times we got lost too.

I finally moved into the room where I'll be living the next 8 to 9 month and got everything out of the suitcases. The first night I slept in the room, I woke up with a swollen eye from the worst mosquito bite ever that made me look like the Hunchback until lunchtime. If I believed in omens, that couldn't have been a positive one. Last night (my second night in the room), I got the same devil mosquito bite, this time swelling up my nose to twice it's size, and a third bite between my eyebrows, making for a nice unicorn-sized-lump. Thank goodness I'm not a vain person (ok, not THAT vain). The rest of me is itchy from more normal-sized bites (and the anticipation of them) and has convinced me that until I get the best bug repellant money can buy, I'm keeping the screenless doors closed and the fan on.

And now it's just final preparations of the apartment before I leave for Scotland on Thursday. I'm a bit worried that my body might be thrown into a state of shock from the 20+ drop in degrees. Thank goodness I'm there to really visit a friend and not to do serious tourist activities. I might be looking forward to the weather more if it was actually possible to freeze your butt off. But for now, I'm super excited to see old friends and new places.