A Luxurious Shift: Our Granada Oasis
Okay, so River and I have rented a flat in the middle of Granada after our time in Orgiva so that we can acclimatise to going back to England.
Compared to how we’ve been living in Orgiva in the desert, this apartment feels like 10-star luxury, but also weirdly feels like too much.
I’ve always enjoyed both extremes: travelling and scrambling around in the dust for my survival, and five-star hotels, being waited on hand and foot. But somehow, something in this whole Orgiva experience has changed me at a cellular level.
The heat, the way of life, the stark poorness of the community in Orgiva, and the absolute lack of facilities or knowledge about how to survive before we got there, has affected us both quite deeply.
We arrived at this apartment yesterday. It has air-conditioning which has set the temperature to 23°C, which is the lowest we’ve had since we left England.
Nocturnal Rhythms and Silent Nights: Adjusting to Spanish Timings
Last night, I slept in a bed with massive, comfy pillows, air-conditioning, and no street noise at all. In Spain, people really come alive around 11 o'clock at night, and children go out to play between midnight and 2 am because it’s the only way to cope in the heat. So, we have been used to a wall of noise, even when we were in the flat in town in Orgiva.
We’ve woken up today and I’ve sat using the Wi-Fi, eating my breakfast, drinking a coffee, and watching Netflix in an air-conditioned room with a chaise longue and a kitchen island that is decked out to the nines.
The balcony area is beautiful, and the sliding balcony doors open up onto what is now, at 1 pm, 35°C. It is quite something else to be able to step into the heat and then step back into cool, clean, and quiet.
Reflecting on Our Journey: The Allure of Old Spain
I’m sat here writing this blog post, thinking about how I will write all of the posts about all of our experiences over the last 3 and a half weeks. And I’m really quite stumped at the moment.
But for now, I wanted to share with you this little taste of modern life that I booked for River and myself, two days before we fly tomorrow.
I genuinely think having this place, being able to pop out into Granada to see the hustle and bustle, be in the heat, and then come back into this cool, calm, modern environment is going to make the Transitioning from Orgiva back to England much easier.
Right now, I don’t want to undergo that transition at all, and all I can think about is when I can get back to the old ways in Spain. But I am grateful for the experience that we’ve had, even the struggles, which have been even more difficult for River to manage than for me.
We will write more about our experiences in Orgiva and in Granada when we have transitioned back into English culture, weather, and comfort.
Love and adventure always,
Emma and River.
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