I Like The Way You Burke It

Our fun beach game.

We call it BOOBS. We look around the beach to spot BOOBS. I know what you are thinking…

There are usually several BOOBS to choose from and they are NOT the type of BOOBS that you are picturing in your head right now. They are usually in the ballpark of 60+ years old, at or below the bellybutton, of the tube-sock variety (got to give credit for this visual to Nikki), or are the size of volleyballs with the inflated rest of the body to go with them. This game is so fun to play with men because THEY ALWAYS LOOK when you tell them there is a BOOB sighting. And when Wells sees them, the site of the BOOBS is so incredibly heinous that it (and I will quote) “burns my eyes.” On the off-chance that you see a fantastic set of BOOBS that we both agree are ‘bueno’ they generally seem to be accompanied by something that makes them as equally as hideous as the 60+ tube sock BOOBS. For example, we saw an amazing set of BOOBS yesterday – the kind I would not be afraid to discuss with a surgeon. And then we saw the BOOBS’ owner’s 4 year old son playing on the beach right next to her. This grossed us out so much that we took her fantastic set of BOOBS and placed them highest on the offending list. Feel free to borrow our BOOB game but you will have to be in Europe or on Fire Island to play. And no, I have not gone topless for fear people will confuse me with a boy. Sorry guys, no pictures to go with this post!

It is a good thing that you type with your hands and your hands are connected to your arms and NOT your legs. Why, you ask? Because my legs are so sore that I could probably not even strike a computer key with them. Again, why, you ask? Because we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro yesterday. Ok, ok, maybe not Mt. Kilimanjaro but we did climb the Navachica Mountain, the HIGHEST in the region. Did I mention the HIGHEST?!? It was 1800 meters and the entire hike took 9.5 hours. I consider myself in decent physical shape (at the moment… it comes and goes) but this hike kicked my ass. Pardon the French but it really did.

We went with an organized group and if we hadn’t gone with this group we would likely be 1) dead 2) still on the mountain 3) in Portugal. There were about 25 of us in total and our Welsh-turned-Spanish friends Steve and Ruth and their 8 year old son James went with us. I don’t know how James did it but he was a trooper and was first to the summit.

The last hike went on to Pinarillo was 5 hours and a real workout for me. Most people gradually move up in their athletic endeavors…but oh no! Not us! We just jumped right into doubting the workout and climbed Navachica. But as much as I want to complain about it I hate to admit that I loved every moment of it and would do it again tomorrow with a smile.

The views were amazing and we passed through what felt like three different forests because the topography changed so much during the ascent. There was even snow at the top!

Wells has added great captions to our pictures attached below. It was one of many really, really wonderful Nerja days.

We planned on making the Navachica hike two weeks ago but Kate and I had to cancel last second becuase my leg was busted up with shin splints. Fortunately for us, weather canceled the hike for everyone else and we got to try the whole thing again today.
The day started out cold with a serious hazy fog hanging over the entire cost. After about an hour we hiked up above what had not burned off. You can just make out the leftover fog behind the tree in the center.		Navachica is the hightest peak in the area at 1800 Meters. Almost the entire approach runs up this dried river bed. A few years ago massive rains filled the entire bed with rocks. I’m not talking about one section, I’m talking about 3 hours of gully washed rock slide debris. It must have been a hell of a rain storm.
The lower appraoch was really spectacular becuase of the size of the surrounding mountain/cliff walls framing the freequent views back to the sea. Every kilometer brought an amazing new vista.
The camera could not capture all of the light range in this picture, but the overexposed background is actually a fabulous steep mountain face drenched in the morning sunlight. Not to mention it was towering above us and since we were on our way to the hightest point around, we had to go even higher.	Did I mention the river of rocks? It was not bad on the way up but on the 8th hour on the way down, we were ready for some stable ground.
Steve, Ruth, and James were super fun on the hike. The Brits and the Yanks made a great team.	Our first rest stop about 2 hours into the climb.
	It doesn’t look like it in the pictures, but the sky was as blue as it could be. A heat haze hung low over the entire coast all day but by the time we reach the top we could still see Nerja and the Mediterranean.
	With about an hour to the top we were finally out of the river bed and the views really opened up. Over my righ ear, you can just make out the forest service road at the base of the hike.		The last half hour was all above the tree line. In this picture we are about two minutes from cresting the ridge…
…opening up an amzaing view of the Sierra Nevada. And wow, the wind really started whipping around up here.	A few minutes and couple of false peaks later and…	Finally! We made it to the top. 8:50AM – 1:30 – All up hill.	The geography on the opposite side of the ridge is completely different. The Granada planes appear dead flat and are covered with olive orchards that create perfectly symetrical black polka dot patterns. You can just make out a beautiful lake in the bottom right.
James made sure he was the first out of our entire hiking group to the top. The youngest and the first, as he pointed out. Good job James! We all had lunch huddled against a low rise rock wall to try and keep out of the wind. A serano and Havarti baguette with fresh alvocado. Delicious!		Flowers were in bloom all over the hike, not to mention the endless expanses of lavander blanketing the sides of the trail.
	I think the hike down afforded the best views of the day. The steep rocky slopes are amazing and completely diffrent from our Appalachian hikes. A few hours later and we were back to the car by 6:20. A fantastic nine and a half hour day with amazing scenery, and no accidents, pop outs, or blisters. This is one that won’t soon be forgotten.

Wells has decided it is too hot for his full beard. He has also decided to take if off in stages. For those of you that don’t know Wells all that intimately, I can assure you that he possessed NO/ZERO/ZILCH signs of redneckiness
in the states. He had to come all the way to Europe and wuuuurrrrkkkkk to get this look. I am secretly hoping he gets a scorching sunburn on the mowed sections of his face. Mind you, the beard is still not totally off so this post could drag out for days.

Today was a terrific day. First thing this morning (let me stop here and remind everyone that ‘first thing’ in Spain is 9:30 a.m.) we took the dogs through Capistrano Village and up the mountain. There are three natural parks that converge on the mountain range. It is uphill to get through Capistrano and about a 20 minute walk from our house. This walk alone is considered exercise. It was sunny and warm and we hiked very far up and we turned around to see the town and water, which were really breathtaking. See the pictures below. When you are that high on the mountain the rocks are grey and striated, and they look just like elephant skin. The mountain is covered with wild lavender. I felt all Annie Oakley when I picked a bunch of it to hang in our house so it doesn’t smell like socks anymore. Anyway, I thought our hike was lovely and started to head back down the mountain. Oh no. Wells demanded that we go ALL THE WAY to the top of the ridge. I swear, he would hike uphill both ways if he could for the sheer joy of it. I rationalized the uphill part with, “If i go a little higher then i will burn off that extra glass of wine that might fall into my mouth by accident tonight.” There wouldn’t be party if Kate didn’t fall down so I included a picture of my hip from my tumble down the mountain. Sorry so fleshy. I should be tanner in the next few weeks.

[altpwa user=kate.s.burke album=20090226Hike]

Yesterday was the lowest day we have had so far here in Nerja.

Telefonica was supposed to arrive at 10 am to install our wireless. He arrived at 2 and said that he needed a buddy of his to help and would be back at 5. He called me at 5 and said that he would come with his buddy at 9 a.m. a punto, or on the dot. We were frustrated but couldn’t do anything about it so we went to H2O Bar to get coffee and use their wireless. I left Wells there to work and went shopping.

While in the grocery store I was trying to read the price tag on the beach mat I wanted to buy. The box was haphazardly located near the door and as soon as I bent over to read the  price the sliding glass doors rapidly closed…with my head in between them. Closed VERY hard. The next thing I know I am sitting in a chair in the grocery store with a bag of ice on my head. —Now let me pause the recount of my day here for a minute to inform you that the previous day I whacked the top of my head so hard with my own gate that we dubbed me ‘Unicorn.’ —

So two days in a row of my own headbashing put me in an increasingly foul mood. Wells was cranky because he had a conference call that he needed to be on at 8 pm Atlanta time, so 2 a.m Nerja time. He needs wireless to make his calls and since Telefonica could not perform he set his alarm for 1:30 a.m. to go back down to H2o Bar for the call.

In the meantime  Wells accidentally erased every song off my iPod. This simple accident caused some serious marital unbliss. Then we went to dinner – SEPARATELY! We got home, kissed and made up and went to bed. We figured that it can’t get worse, right?

Two hours later his alarm went off for his call. Two hours after that he came back to bed. Two hours after that I was jolted out of bed by the sound of Neena having a severe diarrhea explosion. Let me reiterate that the mere sound of it woke me up. Wells frantically popped up to take her outside and I could not help but to notice that she missed my precious Tory Burch slippers by TWO INCHES!!! We got everything cleaned up but the smell was so overwhelming that we couldn’t go back upstairs. I yelled for Wells to, “Come to the Lily!” and the two of us started huffing the Stargazer lilies that I had bought for an odor reprieve. So here we are with a sick dog, a pungent upstairs, no sleep, and huffing a flower like it is an illicit drug. The  next thing I know Wells is moving the downstairs furniture and rolling out the futon. And there we slept…I in my clogs again and Wells in blue jeans.

Telefonica did arrive the following day…just 1 hour late. And I bet Wells keeps me in yummy smelling lilies all spring and summer long!

So ill today but had lots of help.

Today was not a great day for me. I woke up with a little rumble in the belly and perhaps a low-grade fever. I have been sick all day and I can’t stop complaining to Wells. To my defense – it is frigid here!! The dogs are taking care of me.

Hi all! I promise my emails won’t be this long in the future!

I won’t bore you with all of the details of my trip thus far; I will just do you a favor and describe the highlights. To begin, my delta fights were perfect. I arrived Malaga on time and ready to catch the 30 minute shuttle to Nerja. Let me translate the 30 minute shuttle for you: First, wait 30 minutes to catch a bus from the Malaga airport to the center of the city. Then, wait 1 hour to catch the Malaga – Nerja bus, which takes a mere one and half hours. There you go, the 30 minute shuttle from Malaga to Nerja!

I arrived very tired because I could not sleep in the plane.  The coldest day Nerja has had in years was, of course, the day I arrived. It was cold and windy. I checked into my Pension and the room was the size of a queen mattress.  It is hard to make a room smaller so I included a photo for your disbelief. Anyway, it suited me fine and I went to sleep for 16 hours. Yes, 16 hours.

My first meal in Nerja was delicious and creepy. I am sure you can all understand delicious so I will get to the creepy part. The name of the place was Common Grounds, A Small Flock. It specialized in Amish breads and generally healthier fare. Three hippie-looking people asked me how my meal was so I asked if they owned the restaurant. They said they were a “Community” so they all owned it. Hmmm. I asked more and they are the 12 Tribes Communities. They live on a compound, share meals, don’t have a TV, etc. Keep in mind this was my first interaction with anyone from Nerja other than my bus driver. Not good. They were proud to tell me that they have a community in Brunswick and Savannah. Thanks, Julia. They extended a sincere invitation for Wells and me to their Friday night Sabbath service. Creepy.

Internet access is still regarded as a novelty here in Nerja.  Seeing as though Wells and I are both unable to breathe without internet access this has been a problem. I had a brief connection the last few days from an unsecure wireless user but he apparently caught on that I was stealing his internet and promptly locked his connection. So I have spent most of the morning walking about town trying to pilfer wireless connections. My best bet so far has been sitting on a step across the street from the hair salon. But they can see me from the window and something about my pink Dell laptop in my lap gives it away that I am online. I have spent three days investigating how we can stay online without stealing it but no solution yet. You know how frustrating it is waiting on Comcast? Imagine that but 10 times worse here.

The dogs. I am very pleased to see so many here! Most are on leashes with well meaning masters. I even got to hold this lady’s perrito this morning. So far as I can tell they treat their dogs like we do. Unless you are trying to rent an apartment, that is. I can’t wait for mine to be here!

Renting an apartment in some ways was easy and in others not-so-much. We only had two options to rent because of the dogs. When I told people that I was trying to rent a place for two people and two dogs they looked at me like I had three heads so I feel very fortunate to have what we have, which is a two bedroom, 1.5 bathroom townhome on two levels. The kitchen got hit pretty hard with the ugly stick but we have a charming outdoor patio that overlooks the common area (grass). We also have a pool!

Things we don’t have: dryer, air-conditioned or heater (I slept in my clogs last night), dishwasher, garbage disposal.

What we do have: marble floors everywhere, pool, hot water, big closets.

It is very narrow and I can hear our neighbor’s TV but it is also very sunny, gated, and has high ceilings (this will make my mom laugh out loud!).  Our apartment is four minutes walking from the center of town, 30 seconds walking to the Mediterrean, and is five minutes walking from the Balcon de Europa – the big tourist spot. Our neighborhood has a grocery, 4 billion hair salons, a Chinese restaurant, lots of bars, shoe store, small grocery, fruit stand, and an internet café. The streets here are t-i-n-y. If a car can fit down a street, it does. If it can’t, oh well. There really aren’t sidewalks to speak of so it is a little bit of a free for all with the cars, scooters, and pedestrians.

Two days ago I went into a knitting shop and the owner made me come back the following morning. She spoke no English but still somehow re-taught me to knit. I am working on my first piece de resistance for Sibley.

And for the ultimate in transitioning. Last night, after finally renting our place and shopping for the basics I was exhausted. You have no idea how tiring it is to have to think about every word to communicate for everything! Anyway, I was too tired to go out to eat or cook. I just sat on the couch watching the red carpet in Spanish (that is our red carpet of course) and I decided to eat the rest of the pack of Mentos that I had in my bag. Sure enough…the $&*% Mento pulled out a filling! Yes, a filling in my upper molar was pulled out of my head from a Mento. ( I am suing Mentos by the way) And the best thing is…I swallowed it because I sure as hell could not find it. So now I am thinking that I am going to die from swallowing a porcelain filling and panicked about the hole in my head.  It was too late to do anything about it so I just went to bed (in my clogs, mind you).  Lindsay, I thought of you here because this of course happened to me only because you are not here. If you were here, you would probably lost all your teeth or something!

The faucet in the bathroom was leaking so the real estate office (imobilario) arranged for a plumber.  He arrived exactly on time this morning at 10:00. Because my sleep schedule is still off I was not up yet. This is my first morning in our apartment and I wanted to make coffee. I have never used a French press and that is all we have. The plumber had to teach me how to use it. The hot coffee did not go over so well with me being toothless and all.

So who did I call to help me with my tooth??? My Realtor, of course!!! All of my agent-friends will really appreciate this. She looked at me like I was crazy because how do you translate “filling”? Anyway, she made an appointment with her dentist for me for today at 6 pm. Let’s be honest here – this is a terrifying thing to do in the states with your own dentist that you have known your whole life. Try getting a large filling by someone that doesn’t speak your language and is about to start drilling into your head. Crazy! They didn’t bother with any paperwork and the total cost: 45 Euros.

To recap I have done the following in the last four days in Spain: rented an apartment, learned to knit, learned to make my own coffee, and gotten a new filling.

I miss you all tan mucho!