Welcome Home

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.