Well,
well, well, here I am again at a computer after about a week of no internet
connection other than whatever Wi-Fi I could steal from the neighbors’ on my
cousin's phone.
I've
spent the last nine days in Cabo de Palos, a seaside town just outside Cartagena,
Spain. My aunt, uncle and cousins have had a beach house here since before I
was born, and some of my best memories are from spending time here throughout
my childhood.
So,
what has my day-to-day life looked like this past week? Hard to recount exactly
because my internal clock has been smashed to pieces.
You
see, I arrived at the train station in Cartagena at about 12:30 am last
Saturday the 28th, and went directly to meet my cousin, Leti and her friends at
the Zoco, a common hang out spot for
teens and adults, surrounded by bars, restaurants and night clubs.
Gone
were the days when little pre-teen us had a curfew, meaning that we wandered
home with our group of girl friends at around 6am. That commenced the usual
backward, mixed up schedule I always develop when I come here in the summers.
The
daily routine begins with the two of us (me and Leti) getting home extremely
late- or early, depending on how you look at it. If we have not dragged
ourselves out of bed in time, we are woken up by 12pm by my aunt and we have
breakfast, followed by walking down the street to the beach, or one of the many
cliff spots to swim and snorkel.
On
some occasions we might go directly out on my family's boat, like that first
Saturday when Leti, our friends Veronica, Marina, Paloma and I spent the day
sailing with my uncle, celebrating Leti's birthday.
We
docked near an isolated beach near Cala Dorada and went for a
swim before having a lunch of bocadillos (sandwiches), salad and melon.
After lunch came a nice nap, sprawled out on towels in the sun on the deck as
my uncle sailed the boat back towards the Galera, a cliff area near my
cousin's house, where we met my aunt and went for another swim.
That
night after docking, showering and primping, my aunt, uncle, cousin, great aunt
and I went out to dinner to Los Dos Mares, a boating club, to have
dinner, again in celebration of Leti's birthday.
After
a lovely meal of fish, octopus, salmorejo,
salad and, of course, bread, we showed off our moves on the dance floor.
Other days, when we don’t go out on the boat,
after waking up and going for our first morning (really early afternoon) swim,
we get home, shower and help my aunt set out lunch. So far I have almost had my
fill of gazpacho, one of my most
favorite dishes in the entire world, and of course, have loaded up on fresh
baguettes bought from the backer truck that comes by every morning. One day, my
aunt made Caldero, a typical, Carthaginian dish of rice cooked in an
amazing, flavorful fish broth:
Lunch
is always followed by a 2-3 hour nap/relaxation time, watching the Olympics or
reading.
After
that, we might go back to the beach, go into town, snorkel and swim some
more....
By
8 or 9 we are usually back home, showering and getting ready to go out after
dinner. Then, by 10 or 11 we have met up with our gang of girls and guys and
are finding some way to spend the night.
On
Tuesday night we went to the outdoor movie theater just outside Cabo de Palos,
where the first movie session starts at 10, and you can see two back-to-back
movies for 6 euros. We saw Madagascar 3 and The Avengers. As fun as the
laid back, small town movie theater setting is, I still can’t come to terms
with watching dubed movies… Marty the Zebra and Iron Man just aren’t the
same without their real Chris Rock and Robert Downey Jr. voices...
Wednesday,
a group of nine of us camped out on the beach in celebration of the full moon
of August (not that we really need a celebration of any sort to camp...)
The
next day we all trudged back to Leti's house where I made pancakes for
everyone. Once the rest of the gang was gone, Leti and I fell back asleep until
around 8, when we got up to have dinner and get ready to go out and about
again.
The
days basically continue like this for the rest of the week. We wake up late,
swim, eat, sleep, swim again, eat again and then go out. There is no use in
wearing a watch because there are no schedules, and no one wants to plan
anything in advance.
I
know that my details for this part of the trip are lacking, as are the
pictures, but it is what it is. I honestly have not spent the time preoccupying
myself with documenting what I do and just enjoy being here.
On
Saturday I was feeling fine about leaving Sunday, but then we went to Tehcnosys, a huge techno music concert,
(where you basically camp out at the beach whenever you get tired of jumping
around during the 26 hour length of the concert), and I had so much fun with
everyone that I decided otherwise.
I
love it here. I know the beach, sailing, sleeping in, might make this sound
like paradise, and in many ways it is, don’t get me wrong. But for someone who
has never been to Cabo Palos, and the surrounding towns, it’s hard to describe
the experience of appreciating all the not so glamorous parts of the culture
here. The dirtiness for one, the rudeness and bluntness of the people; it’s
really enough to scare away any foreigner. But I love that part of it just as
much. Geez, what does that say about my personality…? I am so grateful for this
place. It really is the perfect break from my busy American lifestyle.
I’m
going back to Madrid by train to spend the last few days of my trip with my grandma
and aunt Cuca at her amazing house in a town called Molino just outside of the city.
After
so much reminiscing, I guess I almost feel ready to go home. But then again,
not quite.
