Gramma Barbie Goes Global

Each day at the school I only spoke Spanish.  Each morning when I woke, my thoughts were in Spanish.  Last night I was speaking English before I went to sleep and I awoke thinking in English.  It felt weird.

One afternoon my teachers took me to Frigiliana.  Frigiliana is apparently the most beautiful pueblo blanco (white village referring to the color of the houses) in all of Spain.   It was definitely beautiful and hilly as well.  We enjoyed walking up and down the narrow streets and taking pictures.  Later, we had a light supper on the patio of a restaurant and watched the sun goes down. 

I will share a few of my pictures with you.  

Planters can be found built into the walls.

There are fountains with clear running water.

Some door knockers are interesting. 

I like the old doors and especially the blue ones.

This window covering is made of fibers from a local plant.  It is woven a little like one would weave pine needles and the fibers are similar to pine needles.

Another blue door.

View of a street we walked.  It is steeper than it looks.


In places the rocky hill is simply a part of the buildings. 

This touristy part of the village is built on a steep hill so there are lots of stairs.

The streets had designs made with black and white stones and the concrete colour matched the stones.

Cats roam the streets freely. 

Most of the houses in the village are white…hence pueblo blanco.

My beautiful teachers Fina and Eli. 

Not the same…….

I will miss the fresh fruit, too.

Today is the last day of Spanish and my last day with this incredible family.  

My brain is full and ready for a rest…..not that it will get a true rest because I intend to continue to try to speak only Spanish during the next week. I will not have lessons though.

My heart is a little heavy because I have loved being part of this family. They have welcomed me into their lives without hesitation.  Sus casa es me casa. 

Tomorrow I head to Granada for a couple of days.  Eli and Fani went to university there and loved the city.  They have given me many ideas of how to spend my time there.  After that, perhaps Seville, I have not yet decided.

In Granada, I will be staying in an Airbnb again.  The hostess does not speak much English so I will again be communicating in Spanish. 

I have a lot of pictures and stories of my stay at Agualivar Spanish School.   My days have been very full and I took advantage of siesta time to rest.  I needed to after eating lunch…..

A typical day here starts at 8:30am with breakfast.  After breakfast there are lessons until shortly before lunch which is the big meal of the day.  Then there is siesta time until 5pm when the special activity of the day begins.   This goes until about 7pm when preparation of the evening meal begins.  After a late meal is the time the family gathers round the table to play games.  All conversations are in Spanish.   As the only student this week, I got special attention and tons of practice.   In fact when I  communicate by text or email or even when I post in this blog, I am constantly translating- or trying to – everything I want to say on to Spanish!!

If ever you are interested in learning or improving your Spanish, I highly recommend Agualivar Spanish School. 

It is weird to see ashtrays on restaurant tables.

Jose cooked fish fresh from the sea for one of our lunches.  They were small and not cleaned before cooking.  Carmen explained that they had been swimming in the ocean just that morning and, by the way, they were finger food.

They were very delicious!!

It was the only meal with wine though I was offered wine or beer at several meal times.

They just move under cover.  Jose breaks the almond shells and Carmen separates the nut from the shell.  They keep the shells to use in the BBQ.  Jose and Carmen are the parents of my teachers. 

The bells were even louder in person.

Here are some pictures taken during the procession that I was lucky enough to be at in Malaga on October 8th. The videos won’t load right now.  I will try to upload them in another post.

Lots of people.  Yet it was easy to move through the crowds.

The figure representing Santa Maria del Monte Calvario 

The procession from the window of my room

Another picture looking down on the float. 

As the float passed.

Santa Maria’s long train.  There are men holding the float up from under the train.