This is our beach

Last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and I didn’t have school. With some of this free time I chose to go to the beach. I went to the Almeria province which is tucked in the southeastern corner of Spain. Two very good people accompanied me, Anichka from the Czech Republic and Markus (whom I affectionately call Fancy Zorba) from Austria. While there we met up with some friends; a German girl, two Hungarian girls and a boy from the Czech Republic. We camped out three nights on a large beach called Genoveses outside the town of San Jose. It is part of a small but beautiful natural park called Cabo de Gata. I brought my guitar and it was really very nice. We all drove back in one big green volkswagon van called 'the frog.'

This is our beach
Where Fancy Zorba told me about the Myth of Sisyphus.
Where I taught him to play ‘Riders on the storm’ on the guitar and to drawl a golden rectangle in the sand.
Where we drank cold instant coffee and ate sardines and talked about our fathers.
Where we climbed a mountain and swam in the sea.
Where I learned from him and he learned from me.

There were very few tourists in Cabo de Gata however, I did have one kind of nasty encounter. It was early our first morning on the beach and I got up to walk a little before the others woke. I had gotten dressed and was moving towards the ocean. I came across an old couple pushing their bicycles through the sand, breathing heavily. They were both wearing matching Gilligan’s island hats. I said to the misses, ‘Buenos días!” and she gave me the strangest look. Again, I greeted her, ‘Buenos días.’ Still with that dumbfounded look she replied, ‘Bonjour!’

I thought this quite harmless and laughed a little as I walked on but, in principle, what a travesty! People need to learn at least some basics before traveling to a different country, its only polite.