A mystery lunch for my friends and a Mediterranean sunburn

After the topless situation on my previous post, my granddaughter, Frankie Christina, sent me this photo she found in one of my mother's photo albums yesterday - This was about 1997, I think.  Huh.  I'd forgotten what I looked like with dark hair.  It made me laugh to remember this great cover up my friend, Elsie, gave me all those years ago.

LUNCH:  I thought it was beef.  All the meat behind the glass case had little white cards listing the types of meat.  I whipped out my smart phone for my translation app... and I had no answers.  It was confused.  I recognized chicken.  And sausages.  And lamb chops.  I wanted to make Swiss Steak for Lyn and Saidie.  It was a special lunch.  They were driving nearly an hour to get here.  I wanted everything to be perfect.  When I was shopping yesterday, I pointed to the little pieces of meat (looked like stew meat).  I thought I was safe.  I'd simmer and get it tender.  Make a green salad.  Add a fruit salad with the Níspero fruit from my father's tree in Los Nuñez.

And dessert.  These ladies always laid on such a fabulous 2:00 almuerzo.  Now it was my turn to make a splash.  When I told them I didn't know what I was feeding them, I loved the looks on their faces.  They both said it was pork!  And all good.

After drinks, tapas, lunch and lingering conversations, we gathered up beach chairs and bundled them and us into El Carro.  Down Avenida de España to Luna Beach (I did NOT park down through the tunnel) - we walked down the incline, through the tunnel, across the parking lot, over the boardwalk and found a nice spot.  The sky was robin's egg blue.  No clouds.  It was 25 C. Lyn told me.  Let's see, R told me to double that number and add thirty...so in Fahrenheit it was 80 F.  And heavenly.

The waves were serene, not like the other day when they roiled and crashed toward me.  The sand was already hot and more people were on the beach.  Today, I only saw one woman topless.  After yesterday's crowd, I was surprised.  Lyn took off her blouse since her bra looked like a swimsuit...and we both trekked down to the water.  The sand is larger than I see in America and some areas are actually tiny rocks, smooth...with shells interspersed among the rush of water.  The water is warmer today.  We grinned at each other.

Saidie, Lyn and I people watched and chatted comfortably.
"What language are they speaking over there under the umbrellas with dancing balls attached to them?"
"I think it's English."
"No, it sounds German."
"Really?  Mmmmmm...Danish maybe?"
"No, not English, surely..."
"The ladies are celebrating something and laughing a lot, no matter what their language."
And so they were.

When we saw a teenage girl haul a blow-up animal to the water and begin dumping cups of water in the bottom, our curiosity went into high gear.
"Is it a toy the little girl is going to sit on?"
"It seems pretty tall for that."
"Well, there's little handles or ears or something on the sides, so maybe..."
"Wait, she's just throwing it into the sea.  She's not trying to ride it."
"There, she threw it in again.  It's rocking in the water.  Maybe they're testing to see if there's enough water in the bottom to balance it?"
"Why would it matter?"
"Look, she keeps throwing it in and looking at it.  Maybe she's afraid of the water?"
"There goes her mother to help.  Hmmmm...the other little girl isn't trying to get on it either."
I got up and marched down to the shore.  When I got there, I said, "Okay, I give up.  What is this and what are you doing with it?"  I hadn't even thought of saying it in Spanish because I couldn't have done so.  And I hadn't thought how haughty I sounded.
The little girls grinned up at me.
The woman laughed (Australian or English).  "It's a punching bag and therapy for my daughter.  She's disabled and it strengthens her arms to throw it into the water.  It was only 8 euros and it works great."
"Well, we were really curious."
We chatted a bit longer and I returned to Lyn and Saidie.
"Okay, she's going to tell us the scoop now..."
We all laughed as I sat down and filled them in.  Dad told me that you never get answers unless you ask the questions --- so there it was.

I didn't realize how long we'd sat on that hot sand, under that sun until my knees and chest started burning.  Yep, my first sunburn.  Back up the incline, through the tunnel and back home again to catch our breath and then my friends headed home.

Now, I have THREE more adventures on my calendar.
1. Tomorrow is my first flamenco dance lesson from Laura Ruiz.
2. An Easter Dinner party at Lyn's in Los Nuñez (and spending the night)
3. The day after Easter, Miguel A. is taking me to the Juzgado (court) in Benagalbón (east of Malaga) to (hopefully) find a document(s) about my great, great grandfather, Francisco Ruiz García.

All in all, good friends, a bit of wine, lots of conversation, sun and good memories.