This 10-day period was the nice, relaxing time in our grandmother's house where Vanessa and I found a few weekly things to do. I spent a lot of time reading (I finished Rook the day after we got to Alhaurin), and watching obscure but really good movies and Spanish shows with my grandmother. Vanessa was working a lot on writing scholarship applications for college. We are both going to NC State University next fall, and I received the Goodnight Scholarship last spring :). It pays for most of college tuition, so I only have to pay $2,500 a year. And there are absolutely amazing science internship and job prep opportunities that come with it. I am so grateful that I got the scholarship. Now, it's Vanessa's turn to get an awesome scholarship! She is absolutely amazing, so I am confident that she will receive one.
Our grandmother took us to a charity clothing store the first full day of our stay. The owner of the "ABC Ropero" is Sarah, an extremely nice British woman who speaks Spanish very well. We talked to her about volunteering, and she told us that she needed help on Fridays. So, the two Fridays during this period we went to the ropero for three hours and helped sort clothes. The clothes either have stains and thus go to the weight bags (a company in northern Africa pays money per kilo and used the worn clothing for rags and towels), the ropero, which is the free area for beneficiaries, or the sale area. The other volunteers are so nice. There's my best friend Mari Carmen, an absolutely fantastic woman who treats us like her children and talks to us about the Andalusian jizz that we all have; Karla, the very nice Belgian woman who works flawlessly in the ropero section; and Sarah of course. There are some women who filter in and out volunteering too. I have really enjoyed my time helping this wonderful charity, and it's so rewarding as people come in and exclaim about the beauty of a piece of clothing or the perfect toy for their child.
Another awesome activity that Vanessa and I did those two Fridays was the language exchange program in a bar called Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem is literally a thirty-second walk from our grandma's house, and the language learning building that the program derives from is called e-Speak. The owner David, is a British guy who speaks perfect Spanish and French. He is so nice, and he introduced us to the dozen or so other people at the first meeting. We talked in a mix of Spanish and English with people there that first day with the younger people there: Spanish Victoria and Lea, British Lydia (the daughter of David and his wife Jenny), and Lydia's Argentinian boyfriend Ramiro. It was so fun just talking, and meeting people our age! The next week was even more fun,because it was the trivia day. We split into five groups with each group having at least one Spanish, French, and English/American person each. The trivia questions were so random and sometimes really difficult, but it was great.
The Saturday, October 8, before Vanessa and I left to have another big adventure, we went with our awesome neighbors to El Torcal. El Torcal de Antequera is a nature reserve about an hour away from Alhaurin. The habitat is karst: limestone created millions of years ago that are very susceptible to weathering by water or wind. It is absolutely beautiful. Vanessa and I had been there before, but it was great to be with our friends. Isabel is the wonderful mother, Dani the 15-year old quiet but funny boy, and Celia the joyful, talkative, adorable 9-year old girl. We grew very close with them two years ago; we spent most of our time playing outside with them. But now it's not summer: it's fall, thus school :(. So they don't have free time until weekends. I really enjoyed "hiking" with the three of them, walking pretty slowly on the rocks, admiring the views, V and I birding, and stopping for 15 minutes at a time to pick the delicious, wild blackberries from the enormous bushes scattered throughout the trails. We hiked for a couple of hours on a 40-minute stretch of trail, but hey, we had fun and enjoyed each others' company, along with the company of the awe-inspiring rivuleted karsts. We hiked back to the visitors' center and ate lunch at a sunny picnic table: tortilla de patata (Spanish omelette), jamon serrano sandwiches, chips, and water.
October 9th was the first day of Vanessa's and I's adventure to El Coto Doñana. Doñana is the largest national park in Spain, and an incredibly popular spot for birds, thus birders. September is the best month the last half of the year, because that´s when the bulk of birds migrate from Europe to Africa. The spring is apparently the absolute best time to see migrating birds; this time from Africa to Europe. Our grandmother´s friend Paco who does some plumbing and carpentry work for her, has been to Doñana several times, and he suggested El Gran Coto Hotel. So, we booked a room in El Gran Coto for five days, from October 9 to October 14th. Paco drove us the 2.5 hours there, and we made a pit stop in El Rocío, a famous town made for horses and their owners: all of the roads are dirt, and there are the wooden fences to tie up a horse all around the town. It was surreal and awesome to see a modern car next to a horse, with the car driver and horse rider having a normal conversation. The main reason El Rocío is so famous is because of the chapel they have honoring the Virgin of Rocío. Many people make pilgrimages to this chapel in time for the summer Virgin of Rocío ritual:
people march with the statue of her around the town. There´s also a separate house for candles/offerings to the virgin. It was cool to see culturally. South of the town is a part of the maritime area of Doñana. It´s supposed to be a lake essentially, but right now it´s dry. The flamingos and waterfowl come once the rains do, and there hasn´t been a drop of rain here in months.
So, we got to the hotel in Matalascañas, and the view from our room is unbelievable. We are looking at the Atlantic Ocean in all of its glittering vastness (okay not all of it, but you get my drift...haha I made a pun :). Doñana is on our left, the beach in front, and Matalascañas on our right. It was the beginning of an amazing trip.
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