a week in Purchena

by annie

We took a 2 and a half hour bus ride from Valor to Almeria, where we would finally meet our British hosts Sandy and Phil. It was about 7pm when we arrived and were approached by Sandy, a self-described hippy. She's a lovely lady who loves living in nature and has done quite a bit of traveling herself- taking along two of her children when they were young. She's been living in Spain for 9 years, and she and Phil just in March bought a new property. Her youngest children, Rosie and Marley live there with her, while Phil is still living and running his solar/wind power business out of their old house. Everyone is anxious for him to move to the new place and we were sorry not to get to spend more time with him.

The drive from Almeria took over an hour and we were grateful to have dinner waiting for us, prepared by Bobby and Becca, a sibling helper duo from Scotland. We stayed in a lovely caravan and felt lucky that our legs could stretch out all the way! Phil and Sandy's home is always full of people, whether it's neighbors, family or friends visiting. Bobby and Becca were their first helpers, so they haven't established many systems for helpers, yet we felt extremely welcome and comfortable. Their property spans many hectares and overlooks a serene valley and surrounding mountains. The land is home to many fruit trees, including a fruit I've never heard of. They call it "nipolese" fruits. They are small orange fruits, with a juicy, tangy flavor. The texture is similar to a nectarine with thicker skin. Truly delicious. I saved some of the seeds to plant after travel. They also have almond, olive, fig, pear and apple trees and are starting on their garden. They plan to harvest the wild oats and wheat that grow around. The hope is that they will be able to eat mostly off the land. The water comes from a natural spring, flowing at about 1 litre per minute. It has a distinct taste and must be collected frequently because the water held in big barrels tends to attract mosquito larvae. We used this water for washing up rather than drinking. During our stay, we enjoyed oil from olives that their family picked and pressed at a local co-op (it's very common in Spain for even the tiniest of towns to have olive and grape co-ops where locals can turn their grapes into wine and their olives into oil). Meals were communal affairs, sometimes with 12 or 13 people present. We ate a lot of fresh veggies, olive oil and traditional Spanish bread. I was introduced to my first barley cup- a dissoluble cereal mixture that kind of tastes like coffee. We all drank loads of tea and played cards almost every day. One night, the weather treated us to a fantastic thunder and lightening storm. We could see the lightening all across the valley and surrounding hills. Unfortunately, we woke the next morning to see a fire on the neighbor's property, started by the lightening. The local fire crew promptly extinguished the fire, to the relief of everyone.

We helped on various projects such as painting the caravans, varnishing wood, digging, raking, etc. Brian designed a "piss catcher" for the compost toilet so that the urine can be used to feed the trees and won't interfere with the composting poo. The design process included a one-hour consult with the local hardware store owner. The final product turned out quite nice and can be moved from one toilet to the other. The compost toilet will have two stalls: one for pee and one for poo. Becca and I made signs to indicate which is which. After two years, the stalls will switch so that the poo can compost for two years prior to use. At that point, it should be safe for growing food.

We would wake around 8am (inevitably due to a persistent fly continually landing on our faces) and the heat would have us sweating by 9am. We'd work until it got too hot and then we'd lounge around, swing on the swings, or hide inside until it cooled off. We'd do a bit more work and then have dinner.

Brian hasn't had a haircut in a while, so I took his beard trimmer and made him a Mohawk with it. The six year old neighbor, Alejandro, told him he looks like a rooster. Point taken. But I still think it's quite charming.

The shower provided some hilarity for us- it's a metal bucket strung in a tree. One must boil water, mix with cold water, pour in the bucket above head-level, and stand underneath in a larger metal bucket. The bottom of the water bucket has little holes, like a shower head and the water comes out when the lever is pulled (and sometimes the water keeps flowing even when you stop pulling the lever). We had to help each other with the shower, and it started to rain mid-way through. We laughed the whole time and decided that it would be our only shower that week. We didn't mind because showers on fincas feel nice, but don't last. Dirt is everywhere.

They had two kittens scampering around, that Bobby and Becca named Bob and Bob ("the Bob sisters"). Sandy's 14 year old daughter, Rosie, was fighting against the rest of us for different names, but in the end, the kittens come when called "bobobobobobobobob" in a high-pitched voice.














We really enjoyed our time in Purchena, with so many lovely people. We might have stayed longer, but we needed to keep moving onwards towards the beach.


The neighbor's baby wild boar: