Our neighbours from Lorca arrived on the seventh of October to tell us that they were undertaking a night time walk. These are not unusual here and make perfect sense as it's often still around thirty degrees in the day at the beginning of October.
We went to the local beach at nine thirty p.m. to see what was happening it was twenty-two degrees, and the beach was crowded with excited people.
About a hundred tents had been pitched, and around two hundred people and about a dozen dogs wandered around. People were carrying rucksacks, wearing walking boots and had lights on bands around their heads or torches slung around their necks. They were all in teams, most of whom would have been totally composed of family members. Of our neighbours the women were 'The Beach Nomads' and the men 'The Limping Eagles'. Of course I may have missed something in the translation!
The women were going to walk five or six kilometres and the men twenty. This doesn't sound that much but there are few good footpaths here. They were given maps and co-ordinates and the longer route involved fairly steep ascents through rough thorny scrub. It was well organised and teams were called out through a microphone by someone in the tent shown above. They set off to applause, cheers and laughter. This particular event is organised every year by the 'council' and this was the first time it had started and finished at Calabardina.
We went home to bed and left them to it. The women arrived back at around one-thirty a.m. the men around four-thirty a.m., when they all had a fiesta. Of course in this part of Spain that's not particularly late. In the summer months especially July or August, (when many people are on holiday), people don't go to bed before five or six a.m.
The next morning at eleven -thirty there were prizes, sausage or pork 'baps', beer and several long and flowery speeches.
By three p.m. everything had been cleared away and tidied up and one would never have suspected that anything had happened there the night before.
Many people enjoy walking in this area but it makes us realise how lucky we are in Britain to have The Ramblers and many other organisations like them to organise walks, keep footpaths open and lobby governments. There are Spanish groups here who do hikes in the mountains but there is no nationwide organisation, and no groups who do easy or moderate walks. In part this is because of our different history, and perhaps because everything here centres around the family, so if you want to walk you can organise it with your extended family. There are however several British groups who've set up in the Murcia area.
The following Friday seemed to illustrate to me what a place of contrasts this can be. In the morning I'd driven about twenty minutes away to a dance/exercise class (Zumba). Twenty five women, all English, exercising to Latin-American music exactly the same as the classes held in Britain.
When I returned hung on my neighbours washing line was lunch for four or five days time.
Her husband ((who's aged about seventy),had been in the sea catching octopus with a spear. She told me that these would be left to dry for four or five days, then she would cut them up into small pieces and grill them.
There are various ways to 'tenderise' octopus. Some swear by beating them, others by putting them in the freezer.They usually then cut up the long tendrils, fry them and serve them in an oil and vinegar sauce. They are delicious. So far I've bought them ready prepared from the local supermarket!
On this particular day it was thirty degrees in the shade. For lunch they were having 'Migas'. This is deep fried breadcrumbs with sausage. Our other neighbours describe it as 'comfort food' for the winter! I hope it's not too cold or too hot, or that you're not suffering from extremes of weather wherever you're reading this, and I also hope you can join me again in three weeks time, thanks for reading,
Cathy.
Espero que puedes encontrarme en tres semanas, gracias para leer,
Caty.
Contact me at www. writerinaguilas@gmail.com
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