Immersing ourselves in village life

Who said "The rain in Spain falls mostly on the plain" ? - well, they'd better come check the weather up here at 613 metres!

Weather aside, life both in this house and in the village continues to entertain and fascinate us and it feels like we've been here far longer than 5 weeks!

There was the morning we came across the pig in the middle of the street refusing all coaxing and cajoling by the guys and their sticks to go down the steep path off the street. When finally grabbed firmly by his ears he sat down on his haunches and had to be pulled/pushed, emitting ear-piercing screeches, down the path! Must be quite intuitive, pigs - a few hours later we saw one of the guys returning up the same path with some pork chops! And I think I want to witness the Matanza!

Not long after our arrival, desperately in need of some serious attention to my hair, Val (our neighbour and new-found friend) told me there was a hairdresser in the village and suggested we went up together one morning - visions of rollers and hood driers flew to mind!
So, that Friday morning (timed to coincide with the weekly doctor's surgery which means there's rarely anyone at the hairdressers!) we made our way to Incarne's house. This was a bit tricky as the entire little street had been dug up, out and down to about 4' leaving a very uneven, narrow pathway between the house frontages and the chasm beside us - it was nothing short of an assault course - including having to stoop down under the huge stabilising arms attached to the cement lorries and a very unsteady totter across unstable planks of wood where there was no longer any sort of pathway - health and safety? Then we had to repeat the whole 'course' again without much of a breather between since Incarne was out! Back to the village to get a couple of bits in the local shop and Val suggested a coffee in the bar where the fellas seem to enjoy their dominoes over their morning tipple. Hour or so later we were on our way back when Val suggested she introduce me to another English couple living in the village - so another hour or so later (very friendly, social folks here!) we finally headed back to Incarne - by now it was mid afternoon and 4 hours later so I decided I ought to pop in on Michael to let him know I was still on my way to the hairdresser!! Having survived the assault course first time round, we had to face the challenge once again - we found Incarne in. Val, being fluent in Spanish, explained what I wanted Incarne to do and she set to with speed with the scissors as I watched very anxiously! No rollers - no hood drier (though they were very much in evidence) my hair was blown dry - and to my delight an excellent result and all for 8 euros! However, she was determined that it would look 'mucha guapa' (very pretty) if I would allow her to do some highlights another day - as by now it was a very natural silver grey. A few days later Val and I returned - all I can say is, it took over 3 hours, looked absolutely fine and cost me all of 15 euros. However, the greatest revelation was the social event going to the hairdresser appears to be here. There's no appointment system - Incarne has a most flexible approach as clients arrive and it's not unusual to see her managing at least 3 clients at a time. When she reaches her limit folks wait their turn - helping remove rollers, washing hair, sweeping up - with constant chatter - how they all talk at the same time around here!! It seems that until reaching very mature years and allowing their hair to be a natural grey, all the women appear to have their hair tinted varying tones of brown. However, now Incarne has proudly shown them what she can do with my grey hair they all want highlights!!

Paying bills presents somewhat of a challenge - particularly the electric bill! The whole banking system in Spain is so very different to back home. We have a little bank in the village with the most helpful, accommodating bank manager I have ever met or are likely to meet in a lifetime and who is usually able to process utility bills. However, this electric bill is presenting some difficulties - it still remains unpaid over 2 weeks from our initial attempt. Attempt 1 was to pay cash at the village bank but for some reason cash couldn't be accepted. Attempt 2: we used our debit card from our Spanish account - no problem! Meantime, the electric company were giving us a deadline of 3 days before they would terminate the contract (ie cut us off!). However, a few days later we learnt our debit card payment had been refused! We had to pay into a branch of Caja Madrid only - OK, attempt 3: we go to Rute (nearest town about 20 mins away) to pay - ah, one problem, there is no Caja Madrid in Rute - but there is one in Lucena! By now we're out of time to get there before bank closing time! Attempt 4: off to Lucena well in time to get there (22 kms distance) and locate the bank before 2 p.m. Just as well as it took us nearly three quarters of an hour and visits to 3 other banks enquiring of non-English speaking staff, in my extremely limited Spanish, as to where we might find Caja Madrid. With thankful hearts we walked through the doors of Caja Madrid with half hour to spare - queued, reached the clerk, handed over bill and money - he spoke no English but I understood the messsage: "Martes - 09.00 - 10.30" - they only accept bill payments on Tuesdays between those hours! Was I to scream or laugh hysterically by this point! We headed for the nearest bar and enjoyed a glass if vino blanco with some yummy tapas which soon put us back in good humour again. Another interesting thing we've discovered: around here, if you order white wine, you get a rather dry sherry! So that's our saga of the electric bill - still unpaid and since we shall be in UK next and following Tuesday have had to hand all this over to Val to deal with next week! Hope she has more luck than we do - thanks a million Val!

We usually go to Rute together to get our gas cylinder refills but this morning I had a few bits to do so Michael tootled off on his own. He seemed to be gone rather a long time and on his return I found the reason why: he had had to stop to move boulders from the road in order to continue his journey as well as being held up while diggers pushed back the mud slides from the road - torrential and incessant rain throughout the night was the cause of all this! Speaking of mud slides - the week we arrived here (guess they heard we were coming) crash barriers were installed along the steep, winding road out of the village toward Rute. However, we'd already noticed on our walks that along one section of the road, where there was a steep drop a couple of meters from the edge of the road, the tarmac alongside that section was badly cracking - a few days after the barriers went in and after a particularly wet couple of days,the entire piece of land had completely dropped away by a good metre along with that section of road. We'd also noticed that a digger, that had been 'parked' very near this spot, had been completely ignored when erecting the barriers - which made us chuckle - "which way out now" we thought - and great planning! It's amazing the digger didn't topple down into the valley when the land shifted - it's so close! (see pics)

Sam and Sarah have been for a visit - it was grand to have them here for a couple of days. Day 1 the weather was dreadful: raining and very poor visibility so Plan B in place: we had a wander around the village, took the opportunity to introduce them to Pili, who runs the shop, a visit to Val and to see the amazing reformation going on in that wonderful large Spanish house she and Tim bought a while back. Then we took refuge in the local bar - starting with coffees then moving onto the stronger stuff....
So Sam and Sarah have had some introductions and a good initiation into village life! Day 2 the weather improved and we decided it was time to show them some of this beautiful area we so enjoy including a walk by the lake followed by lunch and rounding off the day with supper in our 'local' restaurant - a simple no frills bar/restaurant with the biggest fire place I've ever seen - where they burn tree trunks, not logs! We had a table right inside the fire place, snug and warm. We were a little concerned the youngsters may have expected a little more sophistication but no, it was just as Sam had hoped it would be. A sad moment when we said our goodbyes at the airport on the Sunday morning but we were much cheered by the fact they both want to come back as soon as possible! We shall be back in the UK for a week shortly then we will have Jon and Jen's visit end- March to look forward.

I think the weather forgot what it's supposed to be doing last Friday - the day dawned bright and sunny and warm. We were in the supermarket in Rute when we bumped into Val and Tim who suggested we meet up, when done with shopping, at a little bar in town- where we enjoyed a drink or two with the obligatory tapas outside in the warm sunshine - it was just like a summer's day! Next day winter was back but what a joy to experience that warm sunshine and reminds us of what's to come!

We've learnt not to check what's on the TV - best just to see what channels are available depending on the strength of the rainfall!

Sadly we've had to curtail our lessons with Meshe on the coast - we just can't justify the 3 hour round trip each week. However, in the few weeks we've been taking lessons with her we've become firm friends and will be going back end Feb for her birthday party and once the weather picks she's coming to visit us here. She's also organising some cultural/language trips - hiring a minibus and driver to take a group of us on day trips to some interesting places where we'll pick up an English speaking guide. Finishing the day with a meal where we shall all be encouraged to use the Spanish we've learnt. First one scheduled for second half Feb.

We're making the most of our time indoors and planning our trips. So far we've booked 3 nights in Seville to coincide with the Feria (the spring fair which follows on 2 weeks after Easter in most Spanish towns) and the best time of year to enjoy the heady perfume of the jasmine and orange blossom. Sounds like a week long party - most people dress in traditional costume; casetas (canvas tent pavilions) are set up to create a temporary tent city - rather like hundreds of hospitality tents/dance halls I guess with food and drink and dancing to the Sevillan music from lunch time to breakfast time the next day. The recommendation for tourists is to follow the lead of the Spaniards in pacing oneself in order to keep going!! Then there are daily parades of horses and decorated carriages. The atmosphere at these fairs is described as "typical Andalusian - relaxed yet intense." If you're interested in reading more check out the following link: http://www.andalucia.com/festival/seville-feria.htm.
We hope to combine exploring Sevilla with some partying - we'll keep you posted on that one!

A further 3 night stay booked for Cordoba to coincide with the patio festival - you will already know of this festival if you saw Monty Don's programme last year on gardens in the Mediterranean. We've managed to find a little gem of a hostel of Mudejar style architecture which will be an experience in itself.

The calendar is beginning to fill up with folks wishing to come and visit so there's lots to look forward to between now and end of June when we shall either be returning to the UK or continuing our life here for a while.