3 Weeks in Spain
Reassured to know I can still speak Spanish
Because I’ve included so many photos in this email, it will probably get truncated in your inbox. If that happens, make sure to click “view entire message” at the bottom!
For reasons I don’t have the energy to investigate, I have not felt motivated to write about this portion of my travels. I suspect it’s partly because going to Spain felt like an obligation I had tasked myself with—and now I’m glad it’s over. Logically, I had assumed that settling in Spain might make more “sense” than in Portugal because I already speak the language. But as it turns out, I didn’t feel much of a connection there, and I found myself counting the days until I could return to Portugal.
Regardless, here were the highlights:
Granada (Oct 7-12)
I met up with my mom and our family friends in Granada—aka I crashed a 70th birthday trip :). We stayed in a big, beautiful house on the outskirts of town and spent the whole week eating, drinking, and being merry. The best thing we did was a wine/cheese/chocolate tasting at Al Sur De Granada, a natural wine shop with the nicest people and most delicious food. The second best thing we did was get soaked, scrubbed, and massaged at Hammam Al Ándalus. We also visited the stunning and storied Alhambra, but I was ready to throw a tantrum by the end of the 3-hour tour.
Barcelona (Oct 13-22)
While in Granda, I spontaneously booked a 9-night stay in Barcelona, a city that I have always wanted to visit. I’ve oft assumed I would love Barcelona, and I was right! In fact, I wish I had moved there five years ago while I still enjoyed living in big cities. It has beautiful architecture, parks, beaches, and street art, as well as a plethora of bike lanes, natural grocery stores, and empanada shops. What more could I want? Plus, I find its octagonal intersections very charming.
In terms of nourishment, I enjoyed SAGA Coffee Stories (good coffee and açai bowls, great place to work), Lulu & Flyn (brunch), Brew Coffee (great place to work), Muchacho (sandwiches that I recommend eating topless on the beach), Flax & Kale (healthy food), Quicherie: The Pan’s Club (wholesome and delicious), and Chinese Tofu Magician (tea/snack).
In terms of culture, I enjoyed visiting La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and Casa Batllo (all Gaudí stuff) and watching people dance the Sardana in front of the Barcelona Cathedral. As I wandered the city, I particularly enjoyed exploring Raima (the largest and most amazing stationary store in Europe), La Central del Raval (great bookstore recommended by my friend), and All Yours (natural beauty store).
Los Portales (Oct 22-29)
After my wonderful time at Lost Valley, I wanted to see if there were similar intentional communities in Europe. While zooming in and out of the map of the Iberian Peninsula, I came across Los Portales, a community and ecovillage located about an hour north of Seville. I saw they were hosting an “Experience Week” just 10 days after my Granada visit, so I signed up to get a feel for the place. I was particularly intrigued by their focus on personal development and Jungian dream work, as well as the fact that they make and sell their own bread.
I really didn’t know what to expect before I arrived, and it ended up being a very intense week. For starters, I had decided to do the whole thing in Spanish; nobody else in the 8-person group needed translation and I was excited to practice my rusty South American Spanish. For the most part, this was fine. I haven’t had much exposure to Spain’s accent or vocabulary, but I understood about 90% of what was being said (which I think is pretty good?). However, being in Spanish Mode the whole time required a great deal of mental energy on my part, and I found that it really kept me in my head. Because of this, I noticed that I wasn’t having as profound of an experience as the others in my group, largely because I was swimming in the shallow waters of proficiency while the more fluent guests were able to experience everything with more depth and connection. Sometimes, I’d get tripped up by a word or phrase, but wouldn’t want to pause the flow of things to ask a question. Towards the end of the week, the group graciously incorporated more English, which I initially resisted but ultimately appreciated.
Mild language barrier aside, I realized about halfway through the week that this was not the home I’d been searching for—and at that point, I started to check out. It’s not that I didn’t like the people; everyone at Los Portales is incredibly kind and welcoming! However, nearly all of them seem to be in a different life stage than me. Approximately 70% are my parents’ age, 20% are 20-something volunteers, and the remaining 10% are children or parents of a family. But the real dealbreaker for me was the meal schedule. The community eats all meals together (breakfast at 7:30am, lunch at 1:30pm, and dinner at 8pm), which I think is really special and lovely from a community-building standpoint, but I simply need to be in charge of what and when I eat to not go crazy.
Another reason I wasn’t having the Absolute Time of My Life was that I had now been staying as a guest in someone’s home or sharing a bedroom for almost two whole months, and I was beginning to unravel from lack of personal space and general autonomy. Finally, I ended up catching a cold towards the end of the week (also during an eclipse), which sucked, but also forced me to slow down and listen to my body’s need for rest and isolation.
But I swear it wasn’t all bad! I harvested olives, processed artemesia, ate delicious homemade bread and goat cheese, practiced breathwork and yoga, shared and investigated my dreams (in Spanish!), learned more about sociocracy as well Los Portales’ history and economy, and, of course, met some really great people. Neither good nor bad, it was certainly a semana de experiencia, and I’m sure it all worked out to teach me lessons I needed to learn. One was certainly to “stay open,” while another was to “stop being so mean/judgmental towards myself.” We’ll see what else rises to the surface as time goes on. I’d love to continue doing dream work, but am not sure how to go about that. Open to recs!
Current location: Ericeira, Portugal
I arrived at Outsite Ericeira on October 30 and will be here until I fly back to the States on December 14. Being in one place—particularly a place this beautiful—feels absolutely luxurious. I’ve already made some really great friends and am thoroughly enjoying my time here. I’ll share more details, and thoughts on the future, as my departure draws closer. <3
All experiences are so worth while. We are all different if we were the same how boring that would be. Sounds like you learned a lot. See you in December