Posts
September 26-27, 2012
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the Plains. We are there.
The rain has deluged us for two days and I fear Torremolinos may fall
off our itinerary before we leave but we have been very lucky so far, so I will
not toss it off the list yet…
Today, we had two ah-ha moments for the Ruiz family
research!
We are in the south once again in a tiny apartment
as guests. It’s raining and since everyone
hangs their clothes on the line, we were stumped. We have a small washer beneath the stairwell
just outside the door where I can stoop to reach the washer (but happy to have
one). Steven’s optimism, however, took
us to the town of Puerta de la Torre
to buy clothes pins. He was sure it
would clear up…. The rains continued after our purchase so he headed the car to
Campanillas where we planned to look
for a lavanderia, a place to dry our clothes.
Just across the edge of town, he said, “I remember
this is the town where Grandpa Ben was baptized.”
“What? You
know where the church is?” I felt my heartbeat
speed up.
“Yes, I can see the top from here.” He pointed to a
white stucco church amid the raindrops.
Then we were hungry.
Across the street from the church, we had paella that melted in our
mouths and a glass of wine as we gazed at the church and marveled that the
church sits on Calle Ruiz-Maiquez.
Very sweet memory.
As we left the restaurant, I noticed a sign on the front
of a house across from where we ate. I’d
taken photos of its windows, liking it immensely. It was very Spanish with those fabulous
ceramic tiles and a stone courtyard wall in front of the house. As we neared it walking back to the car, I
thought the sign read “Cuidad con el pero” and asked Steven what it meant. He is feeling much more confident back in the
south with his Spanish but still, he tilted his head wondering what? We backed up.
As I read the sign properly, a growling dog jumping toward me near the
door and sign showed the painted ceramic tile of a police dog and jumped
back. The sign actually read “Cuidado
con el perro.” Steven laughed all the
way to the car. I’d translated “City of
the but” when in reality it was “Beware of the dog”. (smiling here – obviously out of my element)
Back home again, no place to dry our clothes, still
raining but a new umbrella in my pocket…. Our benefactor, Pepe, met us at the
door with an invitation for fried fish “pescado Jure” Malagueno and Rioja wine. Of course we accepted and he brought it to
us, sat down and chatted (with Steven). I
tried to follow his Spanish but as I was finally understanding many words in
the north, we are again in Andalucia where the words are chopped off and the s
is dropped… He and Steven do very well though.
I was amazed to learn he was 77 and his wife was
62. I’d guessed them about 85 and
75. She is younger than I am. Still shaking my head… but I regress once
again. The second ah-ha moment: Pepe told us he knows grandpa Bernardo Ruiz
was born in a house in a tiny hamlet called Arroyo
de Oliva near Campanillas. He also
knows an older cousin who can guide us to the house. We
will talk to that cousin soon and fill in more Ruiz blanks ~
Now, we need to find the internet to post and
contact our family. We are definitely in
the country; there’s a burro a short way from our abode who brays often, a
rooster who crows often and millions of flies.
I am wearing myself out swatting them.
But! We have coffee, food,
friends, cousins, a washer and oh! More
good news: Pepe’s wife (Pepa) has a clothes
dryer and Steven is changing the load now.
Another great day in Spain and tomorrow we go to
Gibraltar where the immigrant ships sailed from its banks to Hawaii.
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