Spain Chronicles 2010 – July 15-18

Written by Marianna Mejia

13. Sevilla & the Beach – July 15-18

July 2010
Our leaving Sevilla was fairly smooth. First we had to get to Sevilla. Our bus from Palmar pulled into Sevilla at midnight on the 11th of July, moments after Spain won their first World Soccer Cup. The joyous celebrations lasted far into the night.

The next morning, Monday, the first of our two days allotted to packing to leave Spain, we began to fit things into the beautiful plastic boxes with built-in little wheels that I had been collecting while Freddie was at the beach. I already had many things sorted by function and room, piled on the couch near the boxes they would go in. These household things get stored in Spain.

Before breakfast, I had to go to the market to buy food. I ran to the telephone store too, to see if I could exchange the cute little modem/phone I bought for Freddie, but it was too late. Too much time had passed. The little phone is almost impossible to read outside in the daylight. Sometimes it is hard to hear as well. When its speakerphone is on, the other party can’t hear me. But it is a Yoigo phone and was basically free and it was a good idea. The Yoigo phone company is the cheapest in Spain that I know of.

Nancy came with me because we were trying to change her phone too, but the week had passed and she had missed her opportunity to exchange it as well. Nancy loved her phone but the Movistar plan was way too expensive and she used her “saldo” (prepaid money) up very quickly. You cannot put a Yoigo (or any other) card in another company’s phone unless it is unlocked, like my iphone.

We solved the problem by my lending Nancy Freddie’s phone since we would be leaving so soon. Instead of buying a new phone, she would only have to put saldo on the phone. Our Yoigo plan would save her lots of money.

On my way home from the phone store, I took some money out of my American bank and deposited some of it into my new Spanish bank, using the easy automatic cajero. The exchange rate had already started moving up again (not good for us) and I wanted to have a reserve for when we return.

After that excursion, I had time to make myself some breakfast and then start to pack. After her dance class with Torombo, Nancy returned and helped us pack. She has a good sense of organization and it was nice to have her company. Carlos came over to say goodbye. Lakshmi stopped by later that night, after work. Of course, we were still up packing.

Angel’s land phone wasn’t working so we made our calls on our cell phone, which is always more expensive, as calling land phone to land phone within Spain is free. We had to call the airlines and the taxi and some of our friends. Luckily, we had already switched to Yoigo or we would have spent a lot more money than we did.

That evening we went out to dinner with Juan and Lucy, who had recently returned from teaching a two-week workshop in New York. Lucy had to go out of town the next day, so this was our only opportunity to say goodbye. It was nice to spend time with them. We are happy that we will see them in November, when they come to California to perform and teach.

Tuesday we packed some more. In the afternoon, our friends Susana and Paco came over and wanted us to take a ride in their beautiful new car, but we felt that we needed a little more time to pack and we were expecting Teresa, who was on her way, walking with her dog, to say goodbye and to pick up the guitar that Freddie was leaving in her care. So, we just waited by the new car that didn’t have a place to park and said our goodbyes. Teresa arrived and Susana and Paco were able to drive her, the guitar, and her little dog Ninya back to Triana.

Freddie and I had ice cream one last time at our favorite heladería. Later in the evening, Juan came by and then Lakshmi came again after work. We had the most relaxing packing experience we have ever had. And we got it all done. Our plastic boxes are neatly stacked under Angel’s stairs. Angel has already hung Freddie’s tricycle up on the wall. Lakshmi has our Brita water filter and one of Freddie’s guitars; Teresa has the other guitar.

At ten minutes to eight the next morning, Angel came downstairs to say goodbye. At eight o’clock, the taxi arrived to take us to the airport. Fortunately, taxis going to the airport in Spain always seem to arrive on time.

We had a long layover in Madrid and we had planned to meet our friend Miguel, but I had his old cell number and did not find his work cell number he now uses until I had time to set up the computer. There was no answer on his old phone, which I called as soon as we got off the plane. I left a message for him and later when I found his other phone number, I left messages on both phones.

Next, we arrived at the airport lounge, thanks to our business class air mile flight. There they had a sleeping room, so we both took naps while we waited. What luxury.

Miguel had left me a message, which I received when I woke up. I finally connected with him, but we had to say our goodbyes by phone instead of with lunch in person.

Then it was time to leave for Puerto Rico. Everything went smoothly, and we said goodbye to Spain and the plane took off.

***
July 15, 2010
San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan is hot and sticky. We arrived at our hotel last night at three AM Spain time. Puerto Rico is six hours earlier than Spain is. Freddie paid the taxi driver the eighteen dollars for the five-minute ride but he didn’t tell me. So when I came out to get the rest of our bags I paid him again! He took it. The porter at the airport also charged us sixteen dollars. At least he did more work for us. But he counted all the bags, including the one that Freddie and I carried. He did send all of them through the agricultural scanner but I could have done that as well. The four suitcases were the ones that we needed the help with because the cart rental at the airport was broken so there were no luggage carts available. Freddie always travels in the wheel chair in the airport so he couldn’t wheel any more luggage than what we could carry on his lap. That included his carryon with his computer, his cane, and his new guitar.

The small, oceanfront hotel had given away the specifically reserved room we had carefully booked way in advance, so they put us in the room we had been advised against by our friend Karen, who lives here. It has an ocean view and a small, ugly, concrete patio. It is not as noisy as Karen had thought it would be, being above the bar, but it was only Wednesday night. We slept well on the big comfortable bed and woke up early, still on Spanish time.

Freddie noticed that a window by the concrete porch had been patched with wood where we assumed that somebody had recently broken in! We decided that we needed to move, as we didn’t feel safe there.

July 17, 2010 Saturday on the plane home
We changed rooms the following morning, but we found out that the wood over the window in our first room was for the air conditioner and not the result of a break in. Our new room was on the street side but we loved it. We could see the beach and the ocean from the windows. The staff was extremely nice and helpful and immediately put us at ease that next morning. They even moved the tiny refrigerator from our old room to our new room at our friend Karen’s request.

Karen used to have a booth at the Renaissance Faire where she sold her hand painted delicate designs on ostrich eggs when she lived in California. She also was a Flamenco aficionada (lover) and loved Latin and African music as well. We have both known her for a long time and it was nice to see her in Puerto Rico. Karen, has lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico for 22 years

That first morning, after awaking early on Spanish time (six hours later than Puerto Rico), Freddie and I had coffee and orange juice at the hotel’s outdoor restaurant and watched the rain and the ocean from our covered table. A short while later, Karen came over to take us sightseeing. First, of course, we changed rooms and Karen helped us move our suitcases. Then we unloaded the beach chairs and the box of granola candy bars she had brought for us in the trunk of her bright red car.

Karen took us to another restaurant for breakfast. It rained several times while we were eating but then the weather cleared and became very hot and humid for our sightseeing trip.

First we drove to see old San Juan, which is very picturesque. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find parking so we just drove around in the humid heat. Next we drove up the coast to Loiza, a very poor, mainly black barrio, where Karen has many friends. Karen has been helping the children in that neighborhood for years. She collects toys, arranges for them to go to camp, and is generally concerned about their welfare. Karen’s Spanish is perfect and she speaks Spanish to everyone, although most of the people here seem to be bilingual.