The second last night

It's sad to go into a pub all alone. Well, I was not alone because of Mike and because all of the great bartenders he has... But any friend of mine was at Portland when I got there and I felt sad, lonely and helpless. However, I emerged from my ashes like a Fenix and I asked for a beer and I went inside and, with a shy little voice, I told some estrangers if I could sit with them. Those strangers finally turned to be, after some minutes of conversation, Ana and his boyfriend and a friend of them. It was Ana's first time at Portland and she was too afraid, too scared to death to speak English. His boyfriend encouraged her and, finally, she started not only trying but speaking. We were talking about them, about Portland and about all the good things Portland does with people. Alex came late, as always, and he was talking to an American girl who considered -perhaps after three pints of beer- that he was quite handsome... And he didn't wait for long to brag about it. Then we met Coreen, a girl from New York, and we were talking and talking about politics, economics, phisics, chemistry, literature. Yes, kids: it's completely false what people say about Americans and it's completely true what people see in the United States: they have the best educational system of the world. Elena didn't make it this time and Andrea, who was with some other friends, didn't even say goodbye when she left. She appologised some minutes later so, OK, we're going to forgive her. At least this time. We also met Paco. He's a very funny guy. He loves The Lord of the rings, just as we do, and he loves talking about the moments he cried watching the movies, just as we do. Next Wednesday will be my last Portland night this year: I'm moving to Alicante and I'll be there for a whole course in order to do a Master. I've been searching for people interested in speaking English there and, at the moment, I've found a Chinese girl who is interested in speaking Spanish. It will be difficult to find such a great group, such an amazing place there but I'll try to spread the message of Portland wherever I go. I promise.