So long...farewell...

Well, my trip is shortly coming to a close.  I must say that I met some wonderful people like Phyllis and her son Jonathan from Seattle and Hope from Chicago.    You guys were the best shopping buddies ever.  Now, I have a reason to come to both of your cities.  I know that we walked forever but we found some good deals along the way.  The shops off the beaten path really are the ones with the best deals.   Seeing the firecrackers and standing downtown with the thousands of people as they prepared for their festival, Las Fallas, was amazing.  The Mercado Central was so massive and I've never seen so much ham, chocolate and seafood in one place in my life.  All I can say is that Sama Sama on San Martin is the best store in Valencia...I almost lost my mind in there.  Today I stumbled upon a store called Intermon Oxfam (Oxfam International) where women from developing nations created all of the products in the store.  It was great and all the proceeds go back to those developing nations to end poverty, hunger, and promote social injustice.

I still didn't get to try the tapas :( but I'm sure the opportunity will come available to try some.  The people of Valencia were beautiful.  The city was colorful and I saw a lot of Africans in Spain.  True story...we were in a store, off the beaten path, getting some good deals and so were the Africans.  A few blocks later, the same dudes that were in the store were trying to sell us the same stuff we just bought back to us.  Really??

I had anointed taxi drivers who could wheel those smart cars in and out of traffic like nobody's business.  God was gracious to me because He allowed me to have a taxi driver, Jacinto, who spoke and understood English fairly well.  I was able to witness to him...planting seeds. 

Excellent food...wonderful weather...great trip...amazing shopping...wonderful country and a very good conference.  God is Good!