4. May 23-29, 2011

At the beach with Freddie– We have missed each other.

When my taxi from Cruce de Conil (the closest winter bus stop to El Palmar at that hour) pulled in, Freddie and Hector were waiting for me. 

After I unpacked, Freddie and I took a long walk on the beach, up to the round circle near where the summer bus stops. Freddie says that he has been taking this walk every day and this was the second walk of the day. He took me to a place to eat, and counting every penny he had with him, we had just enough money to pay, with only 25 cents left over. Freddie loves his independence and has been managing his life alone here fairly well.

Before I came, Freddie helped Aspi, Mar and Hector paint the Azotea and now his muscles hurt. I have been putting oils on him. Because Freddie lives his life fully and is totally in the moment, he often will overdo something, in this case painting and sanding and not paying attention to his muscles. But the oils are working and his muscles are starting to relax and be less painful.  

Last night we visited Jose, who was working on the house that we will probably rent in July. He is the same Jose who owns the Cortijiyo and the Boat restaurant. This house used to be Jose’s mother’s house and is quite minimal. Jose is a local here. He is painting everything in the house and building some shelves. He has some new mattresses and new sheets. There is an outside sink and shower (in addition to the ones inside). It has two bedrooms, which we don’t really need, but I am sure that we will have visitors from Sevilla who will be happy about our extra room. Jose hasn’t figured out how much he will charge yet, and I just hope that he doesn’t decide to charge too much.

Jose is another artistic and interesting person. Freddie’s shoulders were still hurting when we visited Jose, so Jose massaged Freddie with an herbal mixture he had made, which he had in a jar. He is a healer too. He is also an animal lover and has a loyal dog that he had rescued last year. This year he rescued two cute puppies that his older dog takes care of. Hector has named the older dog Bestia (beast). Jose calls him Cachorro (puppy). Bestia, a large, shaggy black dog, is very intelligent and once helped save Jose when Jose was sick. I guess, they take care of each other.

May 23, 2011 Monday

The damp sand has ripples where the strong wind moved the water. It feels good on our bare feet. The wind has picked up today, but the weather is warm and Freddie and I braved the flying sand to wet our feet. The wind would come and go, but when it came, the sand stung my legs. When it went, it was heaven walking on the nearly empty beach. Yesterday there were hoards of Sunday people. Today the levante wind and Monday totally changed the picture. The dry warm sand massaged our feet and it felt so good! 

May 25, 2011 Wednesday

Today –overcast and windy, but not too cold. We have two more days left that we can cook in the kitchen upstairs. After that Mar and Aspi need it for their Lazotea. That is their business and negotiating cooking there was just out of the picture; it was not an option. 

Freddie and I took a long walk on the beach today. When we got hot, we took a short dip in the still-cold ocean, and then walked on. The wind came up in gusts, starting to blow sand, but then it would die down again. Overall, it was pleasant and refreshing.

My Angelita Vargas Flamenco dance classes will finally start on Monday, at Lakshmi’s studio. I am so happy. I guess I needed this short break at the beach. I have been walking, dipping in the ocean, eating, writing, and visiting with friends. It is a mini-vacation before I start work – the work of intensively studying Flamenco dance. 

Mar says that my Spanish is getting much better. I know it is improving, but there are some people who are still difficult to understand, although Hector assured me that Jose is hard for everyone to understand! I think that Jose said that we could use his refrigerator when we can’t use the one upstairs. I am still waiting for him to decide how much he will charge us for the rental. I am hoping that we can afford it. 

Mar has been trying to lose weight. She has been walking to the second tower near Conil, which is 3 kilometers away, and then back, twice a day. She has invited me to go with her and I just may. Hector says that it is only half way to Conil. I want to walk all the way to Conil. 

I was going to return to Sevilla this week, but it looks like I may just stay here until Sunday. Relaxing has gotten the better of me. I am still waiting to hear the news about whether my iPhone has been liberated or not. Yes, everything moves slowly in Spain, except maybe the wind.

I forgot to write another piece of good news, although it is not really related to Spain. Just before we left for this trip, I had ordered the new book of one of my favorite authors, Victor Villasenor. I inquired as to whether it would arrive before we left, because I wanted to read it on the plane. Victor’s sister, who handles this type of business, was kind enough to express mail it to me so I had it in plenty of time. I emailed back to thank her. Yesterday I received an email from her saying that their youngest sister, Teresita, was very much into Flamenco and she had seen on my email signature that I am too. She asked me to get in touch with her when we returned. I felt truly thrilled to now be connected to Victor Villaseñor and his family. –Another gem to be thankful for.

Walking with Freddie along the ocean, feet in the cool salt water, I felt so grateful to be an in-shape, sexy, sixty-six year old woman. I felt beautiful and good and very thankful.

Thursday May 26, 2011

Everyone is getting ready for the big opening of the Lazotea on Saturday. I won’t be cooking upstairs anymore and will bring our few refrigerated things downstairs. When I just mentioned to Hector that I might store things in Jose’s refrigerator, Hector told me that he will look for a small refrigerator for us. That will help a lot. Then maybe we can find a hotplate or something to cook on. Even buying a frying pan would be cheaper than eating out for every meal.

Sunset in clouds is always beautiful. Bright red showing through at times; the wind has died and the ocean is mirror flat. Hector, Mar and Aspi are cleaning the Azotea and preparing it to open on Saturday. Hector repaired awnings and Aspi cleaned spots on the cushion covers preparing them for the laundry. 

Friday May 27, 2011

I walked to Conil today. The weather was beautiful, with occasional wind, but Conil was much farther than I thought! When I got hot I would jump in the water. In some places the current was stronger than others, so I usually went in when I saw a person or two in the area. The only crowds I saw were on the actual Conil beach, which is beautiful and touristy. 

I was exhausted by the time I finally walked up to the town to buy some sunscreen and water. That took all the money I had with me and I still had to return. Since it was too windy for a hat, I wrapped my towel around my head, wore my sunglasses, and slathered my body with my new lotion. I was worried about sunstroke, but the water I drank helped, along with my head covering. Also, every so often, I dunked my head and body in the ocean and that cooled me down. 

When I got back to Palmar, after about three hours of walking, Hector told me that I had walked 12 kilometers. Later Jose told me that it was really 14 kilometers. That is 8.7 miles.

Hector and Mar and Aspi are still busy finishing getting the azotea ready for the grand opening tomorrow. Hector has been sewing and repairing awnings and cushion covers for days. He and Aspi hung some of them this morning. 

I thought with all the people coming for the opening that I would have an easy ride back on Sunday, but it turns out that Monday is a big holiday in Sevilla, the day of its patron saint. So my friends are leaving Monday instead of Sunday. But Angelita begins her class on Monday, despite the holiday. Hopefully Lakshmi will make it down here this weekend and I can ride back with her, but nothing is definite. I have been here way longer than I intended and am sick of the few clothes I brought with me. And I am ready to start my classes.

We have nowhere to cook or store food here now and that bothers me. It will be easier to just come on weekends until we get another place, but Jose still hasn’t given us a price. Spain just moves at a different pace than the US.

The “girls”, as Hector calls them, are transforming the azotea to Lazotea. The tile rooftop now has low white tables with cushions placed artistically around them. There are a lot of sitting nooks, arrangements of couches and tables. It is a creation, magical in its transformation. 

On the rooftop, the night before the opening, Mar and Aspi arrange everything; they decide where the glasses for specific drinks are going to go. They play with the seating arrangements. Yesterday they put the new geraniums in pots going up the stairs, inside the concrete walls. I love watching their work of art and seeing the behind-the-scenes preparations for tomorrow’s opening. 

Before we left to go to Spain, Freddie poured through online catalogues and picked the best design mosquito tent for beds. It was made in England, so we had them send it directly to Palmar. It arrived after I had left the first time. We now have a lovely white mosquito net held up by a string going through a hook on the ceiling and being secured to the metal shelf on the wall nearby. From this string Freddie has hung bag to keep some of his food in. It is designed to be animal proof, as if designed to keep out bears. It does keep out the ants.

The netting itself has metal stays that round out so that they tuck underneath the mattress at the corners. Each side has a full zipper opening. It is very convenient and already keeps out the mosquitoes. When Freddie got it, he made it too tight and it tore the first time he got in it. So now he keeps his bathrobe over the tear, and it works perfectly. 

I didn’t burn at all today. I was worried, because I was in the sun for over three hours. But I guess I took care of myself well enough. I am happy. My face is starting to tan; it has a little color now, and I like it. My whole body already has the look of the beginning of summer. I see myself in the mirror and I am happy and grateful. My feet are tired and my legs are tired and my body is tired and ready for bed. 

The wind outside is starting to blow; the levante is picking up. The round, red lamp that Hector hung outside, is swinging around over the small table beneath it. There are four chairs around the table. The area is covered by a fuchsia canopy that Hector hung between winds. I hope there won’t be too much levante for the opening tomorrow. It is predicted to be levante, the wind that drives people crazy. 

Saturday May 28, 2011

I have been out of sync today, I don’t know why. The day has been beautiful but with a little wind. We intended to swim early this morning, but there was too much wind when we got to the beach, so we took a little walk along the waves and the sand instead.  The restaurants were closed when we wanted to eat and have coffee. So we bought jamon Serrano and ate that for breakfast. Freddie bought a piece of fresh bread and made his un-toasted Spanish “tostada”, a jamon Serrano sandwich. 

I was still hungry when we passed El Cortijiyo. We spoke with Jose about the cost of the house, which is reasonable but much higher than we wanted. We have committed ourselves to a month and a half here, but we thought we would have the use of a stove and refrigerator. We don’t anymore, so we have to factor in the cost of eating out every day. For example, 50 euros a day on restaurants for 31 days is 1550 euros. Times 1.43 for the euro, in dollars $2216.50 would be our monthly food cost, perhaps minus a day for a 30 day month. But I digress.

Returning from our conversation with Jose, I noticed that the food on the tables looked good and the restaurant was starting to fill. We went home and intended to come right back. First we stopped to see how things were at Lazotea, but they were still cooking and said it would be at least an hour and a half before the paella was ready. 

By the time we actually returned to El Coritjiyo it was packed. It took forever to order our food and more than forever to receive it. The beginning of the season is not particularly efficient. They did not have the clams I wanted to eat so I ordered gambas al ajillo. They took about an hour to come. But the Romani accordion player that we met last year came in and kissed my hand so I did a little dance while we were waiting. 

Frustrated by the long wait, after finally eating, we went home to take a nap. I figured that the paella they were making upstairs would take longer than we thought. But by the time we went up to the Lazotea, the paella was all gone and they aren’t cooking more food until Wednesday so now we’ll have to eat out again!!!!!  Why am I out of sync? Is it because I am returning to Sevilla tomorrow?

Later we turned things around by going to the beach at about six in the evening. We lay in the still-warm sun and finally went into the smooth salt water. It wasn’t too cold and it felt great. One of my mother’s best sayings was that “You never regret it if you go into the water; you only regret it when you don’t.” 

We left the beach around 7:30 and stopped for tapas at La Cerveceria next to the convenience store, in front of the tower. We sat outside, at one of the high, small, round white tables. –A view of the ocean, a view of the street. Saturday the people come to the beach. The beach had a lot of people on it, but not too many. I felt much more connected to everything after lying down at the beach and then going into the ocean.  

And from there, we detoured to the Lazotea where the party was still going on, above our room. The night is balmy and it took a while even for me to go downstairs to change out of my wet bathing suit. I have been bored with the few clothes I brought here on the spur of the moment, and I was glad to notice that I had inadvertently created a new outfit. I had a green sleeveless blouse under my green-with-fuchsia, paisley silk flying-sleeves bolero top. My beach cover-up is an orange and green sarong, with sequins highlighting its design. It went perfectly with my top clothing and the green corn-maiden earrings I was wearing. I put the sarong back on after I changed out of my bathing suit and added a green belt from my jeans so I could hang the phone. 

I am waiting for Lakshmi to call. She is at another beach and I am supposed to get a ride home to Sevilla with her on Sunday. Most people here are staying until Monday evening because of the holiday on Monday in Sevilla. It is a little like swimming up stream. But I did meet one woman who is going to Sevilla on Sunday: she is actually leaving from a town about ten minutes away exactly at 4:00 PM, so that is my backup plan. 

Meanwhile at home in California the doctor is concerned about Freddie’s second to the last Warfarin (Coumadin) blood test reading. Apparently a sheriff came to the house looking for Freddie because the doctor couldn’t contact him. However, our outgoing answering message says clearly that we are in Spain. It also says that our assistant Rama will check the messages. But Rama’s sister died and Rama is now in Alabama for a few weeks helping to clear up her sister’s business. 

When I received the email about it, I assumed that the task of checking our phone messages regularly had just slipped through the holes. I found out later, that Rama, who efficiently and competently takes of our business at home, had indeed covered that, but that the person checking the machine was only coming up once a week. Who would have thought that a doctor would send the sheriff out because we reported a high blood level test result by email from Spain.

The music playing upstairs is now Middle Eastern pop. It is good and I am enjoying listening to it as I write. Freddie is still up on the azotea enjoying all the people. I am tired and will lie down. The Middle Eastern music is now alternating with good pop Flamenco music. 

Tomorrow I have to get ready to return to Sevilla.

Sunday May 29, 2011

I am looking forward to finally starting my dance classes with Angelita. Our friend Javier Heredia is teaching fiesta-style dance on Fridays at Lorena’s studio. He might have started this last Friday, but I was here, so I don’t know. I would like to take his class too.

This morning Freddie and I found a new place to rent where he can cook. It is in the same apartments where we stayed at first, last year. Now we have to find someone to rent Hector’s room for June. But we will save a lot of money by cooking at home instead of eating out in restaurants.

So I leave with things fairly resolved, and head back to Sevilla to begin my Flamenco dance classes, which is what I have come to Spain to do. My beach vacation is ready to end, and my work is ready to begin.

SPAIN CHRONICLES 2011

May 10-25 Writings
May 18 Writings
May 19-22 Writings
May 23-29 Writings
June 5-10 Writings
June 11-16 Writings
June 18-19 Writings
June 21-26 Writings
June 27 – July 9 Writings
July 17 – August 3 Writings
August 5-6 Writings