The last full week before spring break. Here in Denia we have had our first week of amazing weather: sun, no clouds, no rain. Calvin students could be seen in most outdoor locales, scaling Montgó (Denia's mountain), enjoying the beach, running alongside the sea, or meandering through the numerous sidestreets and older neighborhoods of Denia. After looking at this blog, readers may not realize that we are taking classes here in Denia as well. All of our classes are at the local university, the U.N.E.D. (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia). We have two professors from Spain, who teach 308, 309, art history, and Spanish literature. Alfonso is a witty Spaniard from a small pueblo in León, and I have no idea where Ge is from, but she smokes like a chimney and it's great when she uses her cigarette box and lighter to illustrate architectural concepts. María Elena, or Prof. Bierling, teaches 340 (linguistics) and 316 (contemporary Spain), along with working on a myriad of administrative tasks for the group. Tracy Ariza, an American who married a local Denian a few years back and who lives year-round in Denia, coordinates the ethnographic study and helps the group immensely with her knowledge of and connections in the area. I don't know who teaches 301 or 302, but I think we have or had those classes as well.
This weekend the tourists came pouring in from different parts of Europe to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather here in Denia. It is funny to see sunburned Brits wandering the streets of Denia in search of the English-speaking bars and consulting their tri-fold Rand McNally maps as they search in vain for any kind of street sign that will help them get their bearings. I feel a certain satisfaction in knowing that I would have to try quite hard to get lost in Denia by now. Today there was a large procession to commemorate Christ's entrance to Jerusalem; the locals stay true to the Biblical description with their palm fronds and olive branches. I was curious to see where everyone was going for spring break, and according to what I found out, Calvin students will soon be roving the following locales: Amsterdam, London, Paris, Montpelier, Nice, Cinque Terre, Rome, the Canary Islands, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Florence, Pisa, Lisboa, Oslo, Dublin, and northern Spain hiking the Camino de Santiago. I'm positive that I missed quite a few places, but at least this gives a hint as to the good times that will be had by Calvin students throughout Europe. Since Calvin's spring break was last week, we have seen a few significant others come out to spend time with their other halves; it is fun to see friends from the states come out. At this point, I think that most of us in the group realize how quickly the time has gone by here and are renewing our efforts to make the most of what time we have here. Every day provides a new opportunity to learn something of great value. We ask for readers' prayers as everyone is traveling everywhere this coming week; prayers for safety and discernment.
--Written by Phil Videtich
Alfonso with some of us from his 368 literature class
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