Monday Evening

It has finally warmed up and the sun is ever healing and bright. Yesterday we had the day off and we spent it roaming slowly through the streets. On our way to eat lunch we found boxes of artichokes, strawberries, and fava beans which we brought home and cooked for a late lunch. After we ate Jameson said, "let's go watch the sunset". We have been here long enough that he now knows his way around and he led me up the hill to an olive grove planted above the Alhambra. There you can see the snow capped tops of the Sierra Nevada and the whole city below.

We met an old man at the overlook, he had his three dogs with him, they were trained to give him kisses on command. He asked if we were German, we said no, but still he pointed to one of his dogs and said "este Es mi Frau" or "this is my woman"( Frau is German for woman). He walked home with his dogs.

We sat for about thirty minuites at the overlook watching the city, we had arrived much faster than we expected and there was still about an hour and a half till sunset. The wind was blowing hard and cold across the ridge and we decided to walk a bit to get our blood pumping.

As we walked back toward the olive grove we found the old man walking beside us on the road. He asks if we were from California, we said no but practically, and he began to tell us all about the mountain, how his family owned houses all along the ridge, how he had spent his youth hunting rabbits quail on the hillsides. He asked if he could walk with us saying,"no tengo nada que hacer" or "I don't have anything to do".

He was a kind man, I think he is a bit lonely. We walked across the mountain together. He showed us all kinds of edible plants and herbs. At the end of our walk I collected a whole grocery bag full of wild oregano, sorrel, rosemary, and other things whose names I do not know. As the sun went down we hiked slowly downward toward the river along a very narrow and stony tails. At the bottom Jose asked me for a cigarette and told us he will be going to the caves this weekend and if we meet him there we could all drink a beer together. We parted ways.

Back at the hostel we made a pasta with all the fresh herbs from the mountain and it was delicious.

Granada has this undeniable magic. Everyone that comes here can feel it. You feel it the most though, when you allow yourself to wander about completely open with "nada que hacer". I'm not sure exactly what brought me back to Granada but I think that it has something to do with this method of becoming more open, trusting life and that it will provide and inspire if I just have faith.

-Laney