The People Who Made Our First Year Wonderful

Special people who one encounters along life's path are the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  It is my experience that no matter where one goes it is the people along the way that are most memorable and bring joy to the heart.  This chapter of the blog celebrates the people here that brought us joy.

Rainbows along the evening walk

The foundation of our ability to move here includes our family, kids, and grandkids. One of the advantages of living here was our ability to have them see another culture from the view of a resident instead of a tourist.  We had the pleasure of living in Haiti when our kids were tiny and I think that all kids benefit, as do adults, from seeing up close and personal how others live.  It eliminates a lot of the 'they are different' mindset we get from only seeing people on the evening news or described by experts. 


Anilia and her family made it here for Christmas and New years so we got to see how different the holidays are celebrated here in Spain.  Gifts aren't really given until January 6th, but we had some good times each day.  The weather was good and we did get to visit our Flores del Camino friends in nearby Castrillo de Los Polvazares, the wool town of Val de San Lorenzo, and a visit to León.

John, an amazing artist, kept busy in his journal while here converting activities into images and words.  I think they all liked their holiday time here.  Summer next time ...

Jack and his family were able to make it here in August, just in time for Fiestas de Santa Marta activities.  This included a lot of outdoor activities and very long days.  They also got to walk to Castrillo de Los Polvazares to meet Basia, Bertrand, and their kids, to eat a fun meal at Mesón de Arriero where they have vegetarian specialties as well as Cocido Maragato, a meat-intensive meal.  We got to spend some time in Madrid as well and that experience led us to later spend a week there on our own to figure out what to see with kids.  Next time it will be better!

Lisa, my sister, and her husband, Joel, in 2008.  I don't know why I can't find a more recent photo, we spend every Thanksgiving with them and we spent a week together in Germany this summer, but, Oh Well...  They are another part of the foundation material with their love for us and their love for European travel.  Ignore the spots on his shirt - he is the master turkey carver!

Also fundamental, of course, is my Camino Family.  Not all are in this picture but where are those good pictures when I need them?  This was a fancy meal, likely in Santiago de  Compostela, the destination for most pilgrims.






More members at a more typical meal.  It brings back great memories.  I  recall a very funny line from the young woman across the table from me, one that only could be said by someone after walking the Camino.  Ask me when we see each other, I can't type it!

Really...

The foundation continues with our friend and language teacher Maria.  In this Christmas picture, Basia from Flores del Camino in Castrillo de Los Polvazares joined us for the class session too.  Never a dull moment in María's class!  

Now I'll introduce you to the others who have made our time here a pleasure.

Tomás, our landlord. He looks angry, but he is just thinking about how best to replace a section of the tile floor that failed last winter.  He responded immediately to our call about the problem, brought materials and a flooring guy the next morning, and only made a little dust fixing the problem.  But he was willing to take a chance on renting to us, and the apartment came with so many little things that make it livable such as kitchen devices (immersion blender, orange juicer, dishes, etc.), an iron and ironing board, and even a bathroom scale - in kilograms, of course! 

We would never learn to really hear and speak Spanish if we just took lessons, watched TV and spent time together and with our English speaking friends.  So we were thrilled to be introduced to Tomás and Mari Carmen who are the parents of a friend of María's.  Tomas speaks some English and they are both taking English language classes at the local school of languages.  We used to get together, before the lockdown, and enjoy coffee in a local bar, play cards or just talk about what is new in each other's lives.  They have a granddaughter and we had some time with them and Anilia's family trying to get three kids around the table to be content and patient.  We have run into them on our evening walks for the last couple of days.  They are our age and live one block down the street.  So good to see them!  

 We do miss our dogs and enjoy watching all the people walking dogs around the town.  This picture happens to include another friend, Mary, and her new dog meeting another dog walker along the Roman Wall, a common dog-friendly zone.  We met Mary through María - if fact the first time we met with María she invited us to come to lunch with her at Mary's home.  Mary is an American and also teaches English.  Her husband Enrique is from this area of Spain.

 This is the 'after the meeting' gathering of people that are involved in maintaining a Camino Pilgrim memorial garden near our home.  At the table are Camino Association leaders, local government officials, and a few of us supporters of the work that needs to get done. 
Breaking bread is an honored tradition in work as well as social situations.  It was great meeting these folks just days before the stay-at-home started.

 I love this picture.  It is Ann with Basia of Flores Del Camino and Annette, a British woman that came here years ago and started a sheep farm with friends and family.  I look forward to hearing more of that story, but she is also an artist also and has participated in some of the retreats and other activities with Ann at Castrillo de Los Polvazares.  In this picture I think Annette and Ann are coming up with some idea and Basia, in the middle, is not so sure ...

Stanislav, from Ukraine, could be my brother.  He has an interesting story that might be a blog chapter of its own.  

 Using this picture because you have to see the fun that (from left to right) Annette, Kerri, Andrea, Ann, and Bertrand had at the stained glass retreat at Flores del Camino.  This was a really fun group of people and they made nice stained glass art.

Andrea and her husband Alfonso run the Mesón del Arriero restaurant I mentioned in the comments about our kids up at the top.

 This guy could also deserve a blog chapter of his own.  Alexander John Shaia is a modern polymath.  He is an author, and so much more.  We met him at the stone carving retreat, where this picture was taken, but he also leads an Easter Retreat at Flores del Camino, which we just participated in via Zoom, and hope to do it live next year.  You could join us!  Let's just say that you might hear ideas that are new to you.  His book, Heart and Mind: The Four-Gospel Journey For Radical Transformation (soon to be published as a hardcover with a title Radical Transformation: The Four-Gospel Journey of Heart and Mind) is enlightening.  The word Radical in the title is important, you will be engaged with his journey.

That's it for today - our 1 year anniversary of life in Spain.  Still enjoying it even with the stay-at-home conditions.  But it will end one day and we will all learn something from the experience.

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The Other Jew Of The Day is Marilee Shapiro Asher, a 107-year-old working artist, who recently survived COVID-19 had already survived another global pandemic, the Spanish Flu of 1918.