Return to Balaguer, and a beautiful Saving Grace
POSTED BY JONATHAN
We awoke Sunday morning, our final day on the farm, after sleeping cozily in the top floor of Mas Lluerna´s two story storage garage. We had moved there on Isel´s suggestion that heavy rains were coming ( a tempest was more like it!). And indeed, we were thankful to spend several rainy nights in our tent in the barn-like cinderblock structure. On our last weekday at Mas Lluerna we both received welcome gifts in the mail (perfect timing) – I got my absentee ballot (the late Oregon primary actually means something this year) and Christine got a nice care package from Mother Hen which included work gloves and plenty of sunscreen. We are both REALLY grateful to Mother Hen for sending those our way – the´ve already been put to good use. After packing up our things we made porridge in the solar oven, just like the other thirteen mornings we were there, washed dishes and packed up the fresh produce, eggs and fruit preserves Ricard and Isel were kind enough to bestow upon us from their harvest last year. We all posed for the photo and said our fond farewells.
We were eager to return to the creature comforts of a city and to feel not so isolated, but first we had a 11 km hike ahead of us. We were grateful that the sun had returned and blessed us with a gorgeous day for hiking – with a pit-stop in La Sentiu for cafe, and another for stretching – we made the hike in two and a half hours, just in time to have lunch with Jordi. Christine, our intrepid communications specialist extraordinaire, had made arrangements for our reception with him last week.
We were so grateful to enjoy the bounty of Jordi´s table again and eager to help him in his garden for the afternoon. As usual the food was extra-ordinarily diverse and plentiful and we were even more impressed with the progress he (and the rains) had made in the garden we had come to know so well a few weeks ago. Much more had been planted and the barley cut. We helped a bit more with weeding then laid another irrigation pipe for the tomatoes – we also moved in more beehives (without the bees!). Afterwards we stopped by to see the new baby rabbits, one of which Christine held up for us to examine – soft and very albino. We were also very appreciative to have easy interaction in English and for me especially, it felt good to be able to communicate and be understood with ease. Jordi was excited to share stories with us about his experiences as a teacher – about being self-assured or how to have boundaries with others who might not understand what you´re all about. It was reassuring to know that we are kindred spirits in our life quests for greater self awareness and understanding about our world. We really appreciate Jordi´s company and his philosophy! After a late supper we were off to bed – two tuckered out travellers.
In the morning after a light breakfast we again said our goodbyes to Jordi and thanked him again for his extreme generosity and hospitality. He was off to school and we were off to see our new friend Carmen. Now how we came to have a few friends in Balaguer is another story in itself and only Christine can tell it best (tell it babe)…
(from Christine)
The second day we were here in Balaguer I wanted some time for myself to reflect and do some writing in my journal and…well, okay…I wanted a beer. I ducked into a bar a few doors down from Jordi´s house and went up to the bartender who also happened to be the owner. “Una Estrella por favor,” I said in my best dialect. The tender replied with a straight face and asked in Spanish if I needed to know where the stairs were. Uh oh, I thought, now I´m confused and I so very much thought I´d be okay directly ordering a simple beer. “No, gracias” I said, not even trying to hide my confusion. His face broke into a wide smile and he replied in Spanish, “well how are you going to reach for a star then?!” I laughed out loud both at the corniness of his probably well-worn joke and in relief that he´d only been teasing me and I had been understood. (Note for non Spanish speakers although this may already be obvious: “estrella” means star. It’s a cheap beer and a celestial body.) He brought me a beer and a glass then inevitably asked where I was from, adding that he thought I had a French accent. “No – Ingles” I said. To this he got very excited and said, “Then I will call my sister, Carmen!” and was already dialing his phone. Ummm, great! I didn´t know what Carmen needed to be consulted for but he seemed really pleased with himself, and as he handed me the phone with Carmen (whoever that is!!) waiting on the other end I could feel akward conversation immenent. “Hello, Carmen?” I said. “Yes, hello” she said. Great. Now what. So I told her in a cheerful voice that I was an American traveller and that I was having a beer in her brother’s bar and that he’d suggested we get in touch since she speaks English. “Can you wait 20 minutes? I will be right there” was all she said. Okay! I went to a table and did my journal writing and, as promised, twenty minutes later a woman with a big smile presented herself at my table. Carmen in in her mid-40s and a single mother to a 16 year old daughter. She was educated in France and England and married in Scotland for a while, but when divorced she and Caroline, her daughter, moved back here to Spain to be with her nine brothers and sisters. Her large family and all the extended members drifted by our table constantly as we enjoyed a great conversation, and by the end of an hour she’d invited Jonathan and I to dinner the following Friday (which we were very excited about). We eagerly accepted, had a great time, and a friendship was born.
(Jonathan again)
I´m tempted to name Carmen the most gracious and generous host in Balaguer except that she and Jordi are quite equal in many respects. But I don´t know where to begin with Carmen – she consistently goes above and beyond any expectation of super-host and well, frankly, Fairy Godmother. Well, she´s hosted us for dinner twice already – once with an overnight stay in the midst of our Mas Lluerna isolation. Ricard and Isel let us ride their bikes into Balaguer for the night and what a treat it was! Carmen is the finest chef I´ve ever known, and this was proved by an amazing sea-food dish that was quite simple in preparation (so she tells us) except the flavor was perfect! Every mussel, clam, shrimp, and calamari was cooked to perfection amidst an orange-colored red pepper and tomato sauce that held the perfect amount of spice yet allowed all the seafood flavors to mingle and dance in your mouth. Unforgettably the best dish I´ve ever experienced. As if that could be topped, she and her family have a wonderful sense of humor and very charming wit with humility and compassion to boot. I really can´t say enough about Carmen. She is well travelled and speaks five languages and we wondered if her knowing what it´s like to be a stranger in a strange land has anything to do with her kindness towards us. So now, we are once again enjoying her generous hospitality. Christine made some french toast for breakfast and the three of us went out to take her daughter´s puppy Cooper for a walk. Carmen is so amenable to us staying with her it´s somewhat overwhelming – we wondered if there are people like her in the States. In Spain, people generally mean it when they invite you to dinner like she did, but her kindness seems to know no bounds. On both occassions, we were joined by other guests, friends of her niece´s for coffee on the first night and then her nephew on the second night, a magician and musician in his early 20s who shared the same great sense of humor and was also speaking very good english and eager to learn more. He charmed us with impossible magic tricks before bed and we continue to be stunned by the talent and grace this beautiful family beholds before our weary senses. Tonight we´ll all dine together again and enjoy each other´s company before we rise tomorrow to begin another leg of our travels – a trip to Figueres on the way to France.
Tags: Travel, Tag Index
seeingspain
April 14th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Not fair! Not fair! Jonathan’s vivid description of Carmen’s cooking prowess (especially the seafood dish) had me drooling! Can’t think of anything that we get here that could compare, so I will just have to be gastronomically frustrated. (Wonder if she could make Wild Salmon Hash like Mother’s Restaurant?)
April 15th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I hate to let you down Mother Hen but that seafood dish was in an entirely different gastronomic universe than the Wild Salmon Hash – I could have never imagined anything so good! You´ll just have to make your way here and try for yourself 🙂
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
i’m glad you guys are having an awesome time. too bad you’re not here to help plant *my* garden! i quit my job at the PP…my last day is June 15th…so I really could come visit you this summer! If you have an idea where you’ll be in late July/early August, let me know and Theresa and I may be able to come and visit you! We are both taking the whole summer off!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:46 am
Gillian I’m so happy for you, and for you both how exciting! Right now we are thinking that we will be in Germany heading towards Holland around that time. There is an intentional community in Northern Germany we want to stay at and then some friends we’ve met have invited us to stay with them in late summer in Holland. But if you guys are game we’d be happy to meet up with you just about anywhere! I’m really proud of you, congratulations on your new future! _Christine
April 27th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Those are actually the two places we were thinking of visiting (Theresa’s mom’s family are all in the Netherlands, and my college roommate is in Munich and Theresa really wants to show me Berlin). This could work!
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