Primavera es muy simpático en Nerja - Spring is very pleasant in Nerja

While I write in my blog I am listening to español musica, Chambra. She is awesome. I bought a few CDs from the guys in the restaurantes. I only ended up with one dud so far. Yvonne, my German friend, made me 3 español CDs before she went back home and wow, has she ever got great taste in music. They will always be special to me as it is the first español music I got here in España. I asked Earla to bring me a few of my CDs from home which I do miss. Once in a while I need to belt out a good ol’ Inglés song. I wonder if my landlord can hear me, if so, he hasn’t said anything ahah.

ON A HIKE NEAR
BURIANNA BEACH

Abraham, my landlord is a pretty cool guy. He is very well read, speaks something like 4 or 5 languages, and enjoys walking, hiking and gardening. So we always have a lot to talk about. I was heading to the Tuesday Market and came across Abraham at what I like to call “my café”. This café is around the corner from where I live and I have spent many a morning sipping café con leches, reading or studying my español with Lucy snoozing at my feet. Abraham and I had a wee visit and he gave me a great suggestion about finding another conversation class to join. On the way to the market I stopped at the Town Hall and was given a telefóno número to call. I understand there is casual get together to sit around and speak. I am looking forward to joining another group with people of the same interest as me. I can’t seem to get enough español; it is so in my blood now. My shyness has flown out the window now that I have more confidence and what a difference it has made. I talk to español everyone that I meet up with now.

Nerja’s weekly market is huge. It covers many many blocks and they sell just about everything. Surprisingly enough, a lot of clothes. I was wondering where one would try anything on if you wanted to. It makes me laugh because when we were in Orjíva a while ago, I wanted to try on a pair of capris and had to go into the back of a van to do so. It was pretty funny. So Lucy and I scooped out the whole Market. Next week I will surely go back for my veggies and fruit, all very fresh looking.

Last weekend Abraham, Basal and I met at Maro, a small town next to Nerja, and had a 3-hour lunch until Lucy got bored and the rain had stopped. We took the long walk down to the beach and let the dogs run for an hour and then headed back up. On the way, we picked avocadoes and dug up some potatoes from an abandoned farm. So you can imagine what I had for dinner that night. It was a nice outing and Abraham was able to keep up with us no problema. He has invited me to go on a 7 hour hike which starts past the town of Frigiliana when he gets back from Ireland after visiting his family and girlfriend. Lucy is a little trouper when we go hiking as long as I take water for her. I have been taking her out every morning for a walk/run on the beach because dogs aren’t allowed on the main beach during the day. I have scoped out a beach that I can take her during the day. It is where the fishermen store their boats and Lucy is in seagull heaven. She would chase them for hours if I let her. She is then in siesta mode the rest of the day.

LUCY OVER LOOKING
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Last week we went to Orjíva again for a few days and hung out with Paco by the pool on his day off. Then we went to Ceñar, a little pueblo up in the mountains. There we hung out with about 8 people and had such a good time because no one spoke one word of Inglés. They noticed we could speak more español from the last time we were there. The restaurante where we went was run by an elderly man, Moreno, and his two kids, Rafa and Jóse Maria. Moreno has a farm with a vegetable garden; chickens ect... right next to the restaurante and when he found out my friend is a cook, the two of them were out there quite a while and came back with loads of veggies and eggs. So supper was cooked in a real grungy-looking kitchen. I had to let that go once the meal was served because it was so tasty.

We all took turns playing fooze-ball and what a laugh that was as they were all yelling in español. I learned quite a few new ‘choice’ words that night. My arms were hurting me the next day so I think I will stick to pool. The next day we went for a walk and vegged-out in a farmer’s field on the side of a mountain. I read my novel and then worked on our español (something I do every place I go, yes I am a school geek ahah).

That afternoon we drove back to Nerja since I was invited to a women’s get together at Bar Uno. Five women got up and talked about what they make or sell: a jewellery maker, a women from a beauty salon, a woman who sold casual clothes, an Avon lady, Juliet was there to talk about her Juls’ Gym, and also, June, my hairdresser who talked about highlighting ect. It was a nice casual get together and surprisingly enough I knew half the women there. It was in an English bar, so unfortunately no Spanish was spoken. My hairdresser and I have had cafés together a few times. June has lived in Nerja for 3 years and can speak español very well, so I pop into her salon if she isn’t busy and chat with her. She and I are planning to play tennis together sometime, but I have to hunt down a tennis racket first, wish me luck people ahha. Juliet seems to know all the right places to shop here in town, I will ask her.

I went to a casual conversation class at a Pizzeria on Playa Burianna last week and it was so much fun. There is a professor, Brian, there who helps us get started and then we just sit around and visit. At the end of the two hours we ask Brian questions and each have a visit with him. I can’t wait to go back, so many nice people there trying to get a hang of the language. I met a 14 year old girl, Megan and her Mom that have moved to Nerja a few months ago and hearing Megan’s story about being enrolled in a totally speaking Spanish school was something else. Megan is finding school rather hard and needs extra help outside of the classroom, hence going to this conversation class. I hope to see them again next week to see if her Dad has bought her a Vespa scooter. She was so excited because she just passed her scooter license and since they live in the el campo, she has a 45 minute walk to school each day.

On Sunday we went to the Residentes Día behind the Town Hall and spent the whole afternoon looking at booths from many different countries, sampled some tasty wines and then watched a variety of performers. There were flamenco dancers of all different ages. Oh, the little ninos y ninas were just so adorable in their colourful outfits and dancing their hearts out. I took a moment to look around where everyone was sitting and thought, it doesn’t matter where people live, when parents have their kids in a show, they are sitting front and centre bursting at the seems with nothing but pride for their own child on stage and taking tons of photos. It made me think of Sarah when she was involved in things all the way up to graduation. Earla do you remember how we would get choked up when our kids were in anything? Fond memories for sure.

FLAMENCO DANCERS
AT RESIDENTES DAY

The teenagers were on next and whoaza, could those chicas dance. I wonder who makes their costumes with all those ruffles on the bottom of their skirts. There were also a few rock bands, mostly in Spanish but one band played a few old rock songs in English. Music to the ears haha, I very seldom hear English as I still am trying to go to true Spanish places. At the end of the show, the elderly danced flamenco and they were so graceful. There were kids and dogs running around the whole time, a real small town atmosphere.

The next festival is the middle of May when Sarah and Earla are here. I understand it is a fiesta (San Isidro) for the farmers and there will be a 3 hour parade that goes through town and will go all the way to the Caves. It is suppose to be rather fun as everyone walks to the Caves and spends the afternoon/evening with entertainment of sorts. The June festival is held at the various beaches where it is the only time you can build fires, cook, and camp out right on the beaches. I will have to ask the names of these festivals, Saint Something-Or-Other ahah.

I had met a very interesting couple, Mary and Jim, at the Residentes Día and a friend of mine and I ended up going out for a Moroccan dinner with them. They are from Dublin and have a place here in Nerja. Mary runs a dog kennel and breeds German Shepherds and Jim has a degree in animal psychology. He retrains dogs with behaviour problems. I had a few questions for him about Lucy, like how to get her to stop trying to catch every single bird she sees. Jim’s approach made so much sense. I will see if I can do what he suggested. It was a nice evening. I will surely keep in contact with them via email, plus they come to Nerja about 3 times a year.

I went to my very first movie in Spanish (no Inglés subtitles). It was the Kite Runner and it was fabulous. I read the book this year and highly recommend it to all you readers out there. The movie was so close to the book, it was so well done. I was able to understand what they were saying about half of the time, but it really helped that I had the gist of what was going on first. Be prepared, it is a tear jerker. Then I watched a suspense movie en español on t.v. and it was harder to grasp. I thought, if nothing else I was able to hear their pronunciation. A scary movie is the same whether it is in English or Spanish. I couldn’t watch the possible-nightmarish ending as usual. haha

I joined the International Club and they have an awesome library of over 3000 books. I was super happy to find a few Maeve Binchy, Rosamunde Pilcher and Wilbur Smith novels they don’t have in Canada. Abraham gave me a novel called Winter in Madrid. It is a love story set around the Franco era, so a lot of Spanish history which I am really enjoying. Now that I have a library I can go to, I am pretty happy. I am stocked up for a few months of reading my heart out when I have my fill of studying Spanish ahah.

LUCY SMILING ON OUR FOUR-HOUR HIKE
TO FRIGLIANA

Tomorrow is Labour Day in all of Europe so Juliet and I are going to Jenny’s in the country, meet Amanda and have a girlie’s day. Jenny is a dog lover, so Lucy is welcome to join us; after all she is a girl ahah. Friday I am venturing to Velez-Málaga to El Engino Mall and shop until I drop. I am taking the bus for the first time and it is about a half hour away. I walk absolutely everywhere so it will be fun to take a bus for a change. I just hope I can explain in español where I want to get off. Who knows, maybe I will end up in Málaga ahah. I am doing this as a trial run because Sarah, Earla, and I have planned a whole day of shopping in España.

Things I have learned, experienced and love about Nerja:

• Don’t hold your breath waiting for Telefónica to hook up the Internet.
• You can’t find regular lined writing paper, scribblers or journals. Here their paper is like our graft paper back home. I have hand written a few letters and blame my messy writing on the weird paper!
• And trying to buy a lampshade in Nerja is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
• When you make your shopping list in español, you need to memorize the words before you get to the store or you come home without the items you needed, too funny.
• Plant pot gardening is quite different than playing in my flowerbeds, but equally as relaxing and satisfying.
• Some English words leave a person’s brain when they are learning a new language. And I won’t talk about how bad my English spelling is getting, okay, it is getting bad (half English-half español).
• Have an extra Jazz Telefóno card as to not get cut off from family or friends in the middle of a conversation.
• I love watching Lucy run around the beaches playing with the local Spanish dogs of various sizes. It is so cute and reminds me of Lucy going to Annette’s Doggie Day Care back home.
• England and Ireland are a very short flights which I hope to take sometime in August.
• I love being on the beach first thing in the morning as we are usually the only people enjoying the quiet. I am glad the tourists and Spanish sleep in.
• I thank Bill Gates for Microsoft’s spell check in Inglés.
• My Inglés computer dictionary is getting rather long with español words.
• The nine-hour time difference really sucks when I feel the need to call home. None of you would mind if I called in the middle of night hey?!! ahah
• I love getting all the news from back home, especially swapping the juicy stuff with my daughter, sister & girlfriends. Sorry that stuff doesn’t get reported on my blog ahahaha.

LUCY & I OVERLOOKING BURIANNA BEACH

Well folks this is what I have been doing in Nerja lately. Thank you all for your emails and phone calls. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate hearing how you are all doing. And to hear your Canadian voices truly means a lot to me.

I will have lots to report with my Sweetums and Sista coming for a visit.

Until next time.
Adios mis família y mis amigos,
Leigh-Ann & Lucy Lou xox