I sit here in my warm deck chair, watching as the hot sun blazes down intensely on the unprotected mountains. The sunlight lighting up the copses of the terrain. Brilliant colours of rich amber, copper, and a subtle hint of rust that once was, lush greenery of the mountain shrubbery. Once tended, and sadly now forgotten orange and almond trees, dotted randomly amongst the backdrop.
Pathways deeply ridged clearly embedded in the mountain slopes timelessly carved in history by the dedicated trackers, who painfully climbed the steep mountain slopes, testing their own determination, 'just because it was there'.
The scattering of whitewashed houses, once full of energy from persevering people; who survived by planting fruit and vegetables, raising pigs and cattle, to market; chickens and rabbits to eat; and scrimping and scraping, just to make ends meet. Sadly, their houses now crumbling and dilapidated, the roofs, raided and collapsing, a deteriorated property no longer fashionable to any family member who may have been lucky enough to inherit them, the repairs been far beyond any potential resale value.
The shade of the old apricot tree was thankfully keeping the sun off me. I watch the snails slowly climbing the tree, clinging on with experience, to the old, weathered bark, the juice from many years of producing fruit seeping out of the old tree; it was far too precious to be cut down. If only the tree could talk what tales it could tell, it would certainly make fascinating reading.
When I sit here and drink up my surroundings, contemplating what to make for dinner, I think it was, for us the right choice for us to move abroad, I know it would not suit everybody.
Our grasp of the Spanish language, is not good, we are OK until someone talks back to us, then it is a mad scramble for the pocket size Spanish-English dictionary, trying to get the correct response, without looking as we have come straight from the Jeremy Kyle studio. We are trying our best to learn, and have even resorted to hourly episodes of learning with the benefit of You Tube.
My immediate neighbours are German, and speak both Spanish and English, which is particularly useful, although slightly embarrassing. Whilst there are ex pats around us who speak our language, I know we would integrate much more, if we tried a little harder, Tomorrow, we will make a start, that should be fun.
