Gut decisions, new faces and a lazy day on the beach

 This week is still sliding by in a lazy swirl of relaxation.   I fought with the washing machine to figure out how to use the spin cycle and I won.  It was exhilarating.  It is the small things that cheer me on.  The clothes were dry this morning and smelled fresh on the covered, private patio.  I'm learning to make my own café con leche with real milk and instant Nescafe coffee. (really!)  I can peel the Níspero fruit Lyn gave to me from a tree my father planted years ago that grows beside her pool.  They are orange, look and taste like miniature melons with four giant seeds in each one.  They are quite delicious.  My friend, R, introduced me to audio messages in WhatsAPP.  (what fun).  I found the CD player in my living room and my new flamenco guitar CD sounds lovely.  My clothes still fit me.  El Carro is still behaving.  And I got my 50 cents back when I went grocery shopping.  This is such a great way to make sure people return their baskets!  They are all chained together.  To unlock the chain to use a basket, you put in 50 cents.  When you return it and hook it up again, your 50 cents pops out again.  Very cool.

I had only two plans today:  Go to the beach, read, laze and relax and grocery shopping for tomorrow's lunch party.  My friends, Lyn and Saidie are driving over for lunch and check out my new digs.  Made my menu, created a list, put on my swim suit and off I went.  Now that I know the easy way to Luna Beach, it was easy.  However, there is parking near the beach and also above the beach where a tunnel takes you to the sand.  Today, I decided to drive down the steep incline, through the tunnel and take my chances.  I lost.  No parking spots.  And then I was stuck.  I couldn't go forward and I didn't have room to back out again.  That is, until a Spaniard who was evidently watching me, came to my rescue and helped me by raising his hands, moving them in a circle, shaking them backward, putting them up to say stop...and I did it!  Once I got back through the tunnel and parked above, I made a pact with myself.  Never again will I go down into that abyss.  It would be worth the walk up, up, up to get to the car again.

I was ready for my day.  Lugging my bag filled with a towel, a book, sunscreen, water and other stuff we ladies think we can't live without for a bit of time on the beach, I found the boardwalk and spotted a perfect place to settle in.  Once I was sitting on my towel and looking at the Mediterranean, I glanced around and time stood still.  Every woman within sight had their naked breasts staring at the sea without a qualm.  Hmmmm... I had heard the adage, when in Rome, do as the Roman's do.  And here I was in Spain with those words slipping through my head.  What to do?  I started grinning.  It was such an odd feeling.  Join them?  Grab my book and ignore them?  You decide.

Within a few minutes, I was approached by a young black man who was selling brightly-colored shawls.  I said, "no, gracias."  He pulled several from his bag and I said no again.  And then I realized I wanted one.  A hot pink one.  It was soft and lined with a hotter pink.  Just for me, I thought.  We started talking.  He sat down and ended up talking (in Spanish...lalalalala) for about ten minutes.  He has lived in Fuengirola for ten years.  His family still lives in Senegal and he sends money to them every month.  That did it.  It is now mine.  By the time he left me, we were friends.  Alex asked me to  meet him in Fuengirola on the weekend and he would buy me a drink in a bar near the beach.  I politely declined, but enjoyed the conversation.  A nice boy.

Altogether, it was a sweet time at the beach, children running after dogs, waves crashing and four ladies (sans tops) jumping over the beautiful waves...  It was really a very interesting afternoon to say the least.  When it was time to go, I really didn't want to but I'd read about a thousand and one words from my book and I wanted to prepare for my lunch date tomorrow with my friends.

After a very late lunch, a glass of red wine and several squares of dark chocolate that Lyn gave to me for just that purpose, I pulled out my book again...

And after tomorrow, my outline begins for my 4th Callie book.  The words are beginning to find their way in my head and they want out.

I have been in Spain four weeks and four days, a little homesick missing my loved ones back home, but life is good.