This afternoon I was in the market at Noviciado, buying fruit. All the fruit sellers are from South America, shouting things at each other that aren’t quite words. Things like: ‘Eeeehhhh… Aaaaya, eh?’ I sat down and read the newspaper, El País. I was thinking: these guys don’t read the paper, these guys have come […]
Tonight is not a normal night. Tonight I have achieved time-travel.
This morning was a more-or-less normal morning. I woke up, and the first thing I new was that it was very cold outside the bed. As usual, before even moving a limb, I had to carefully plan what clothes I would put on first, where […]
Last night I dreamt that John Howard had proposed a new version of the Australian flag, and having the dictatorial position in Australian politics that he currently enjoys, the new flag was directly adopted.
The Australian flag was altered to picture the face of Captain James Cook, in place of the previous Southern Cross. James Cook […]
Much of the last week, I have been working on rebuilding a house, under the tutelage of Adolfo – an exhilarating combination of alcohol and power tools. But today I was working out in the field, in the still, frozen morning. Everything was covered with frost – not just an icy surface covering the grass, […]
This journal entry is dedicated to my nanna, who just died.
I don´t have anything particular I want to say, just that I wish I had been able to see her again before she threw in the towel.
NANNA MANSFIELD (real name unknown)
Riposum in Pace
Today I learnt to say “don´t shoot me”: no me dispara. I was taking a long walk over the mountains, with Olli, but we found ourselves in an area infested with hunters. Apparently there are a lot of hunting accidents in Spain, not least because it is quite popular to drink while hunting. Every one […]
Today I turn my attention to a recent fracas between the presidents of Venezuela and Mexico, at the summit for the American Free Trade Area. Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, is in the anti-American corner, along with Cuba and Brazil, and I´m not sure who else. Vicente Fox, of Mexico, is on the American team, along […]
I climbed up this afternoon to the peak of the Cabeza Gorda, and found out why it is named so. At the top, there is a large round rock, with creases that look not unlike a human face. This rock is very precariously balanced on a thin section, which might qualify as a neck. Thus, […]
I am staying now in another wwoof place, further inland, in the province of Jaén. We are located just beneath a mountain named Cabeza Gorda, ‘Fat Head’. While Órgiva was a fairly crappy wwoof, this one seems to be one of the best. We are located quite high up in the mountains, and it is […]
After five days, I have departed the wwoof farm near Órgiva. It was a beautiful place, but not what I’m looking for at the moment. I came to Spain, primarily, because I want to practice Spanish. At Órgiva, I was installed in a caravan, given food rations, shown what work I was to do, then […]