A Quiet Interlude in La Cala Del Moral

I am now ensconced in a small house near the beach (la playa) in a small coastal town called La Cala Del Moral, which is near my ancestor’s village of Benagalbón.  My biggest worry was parking, so I took my landlord José María’s advice to stop in front, put on my flashers and go to house #50.  He said he would tell me where to park.  He saw me immediately, slipped through the gate beside a gigantic pink-flowering bougainvillea where the blooms trailed over the stone wall...and gave me the wonderful Spanish greeting: a kiss on each cheek.  He is what the Spaniards call muy guapo, which means very handsome.  (He and his wife live upstairs from my apartment.) And he was such a friendly and sincere gentleman.

I’m happy I am here and look forward to sorting out all the thoughts that zip through my mind.  I know I just need to feel the space around me, with nothing to worry about and no decisions to make.  Here by the sea, I am sure to find an anchor again and maybe find out what I want to do with the rest of my life.  Yes, Spain 🇪🇸 makes my mind gentle and as my friend Steven Alonzo says, es muy tranquil.

The beach at La Cala is very pretty.  I walked down Calle Jábega to explore the area this afternoon and passed beautiful flowers and quaint streets lined with Spanish houses.  They are small and most of them in this part of the village are all connected.  The mailbox caught my eye embedded in the gate of this house.  Most have wrought-iron locked gates and when I peeked inside, I was enchanted with the tiled patios and neat flower beds.  It is, indeed, a different way of life here.

I looked into windows along the street near the beach and stopped in a touristy shop for a few moments.  When I saw the Cannabis Incense Sticks, I broke out laughing.

Tomorrow , I will be happy to see my friend Cristóbal Navas Pérez from Barcelona.  He and his son (who speaks some English) will meet me at 9:30 a.m. and we're off to Malaga for the day.  Afterward, we are going to a chiringuito restaurant on the beach for lunch with his family, including his mother.  I will need my Spanish translation APP, I’m sure, although I conversed nicely with my landlord José María today, so maybe.....