Back in Spain

Jet lag, rain, grey skies, mudslides, snow, flooding, leaks in my roof, part of the track infront of my house collapsed , stories of extraordianry dramas of cars, caravans and bridges being swept away, and many lovely hugs from treasured friends were what greeted and enveloped me when I returned to Spain. It then felt like I slept for the next ten days .

And now three weeks later, parts of Peru are experiencing the same kind of flooding, but worse. Most of the villages where we went to distruibute the hot chocolate and presents are high in the mountains ,so they haven't been distroyed, but many settlements in the Sacred Valley leading up to Machuu Picchu have been. Machu Picchu is inaccesible.

Today I'm especially remembering the little girl on the bus I wrote about in the last blog who, as we were driving beside the fast flowing muddy river (which gushes right through the Sacred Valley) , told me that ten mermaids live in the river, that five of them are princesses and five are enemies. I wonder what she and her amazing imagination are making of all this? I hope she and her grandmother are safe.

That same river we drove beside has swept away all the bridges leading out of the valley, so everybody is trapped in their own village. Tourists have been helicoptered out of Machu Pichuu to Ollantaytambo where now there are food shortages. No tourists can get to Cusco, so everybody is stuck where they are.

And Haiti.
What dramas, what unimaginable heartbreaks, what feats of courage and endurance, and what golden opportunities for helping each other are happening world wide.

It was market day in Orgiva today and the sun shone and the sky was blue, and American Captain Jeem sat outside Gallindos playing his accordian as he often does on market day. A young woman traveller whith very short hair stood close beside him , revelling in his happy music , swaying and smiling and tapping her feet. And we who were sitting at tables nearby, sipping coffee and swapping news, clapped every time he stoped. I tried very hard to whislte with two fingers in my mouth, but failed completely. Unfortunately I haven't yet learnt that knack of appreciation but, if anybody out there can teach me, aged 64, I'm up for learning.

So as always, and with much gratitude, there are always reasons to smile whatever is going on on the inside and the outside of my life.

More soon about the adventures in Peru and Bolivia.