A chill-tinged late October wind blew me to the South of Spain, from my central location in the region of Castilla y Leon. I had been on a long and tiring journey, running from an Au Pair job that had gone ill, forcing me to leave the binding situation. Such a change in plans left me feeling quite alone and lost in the abyss of Spain.
I was in desperate need of a place to go and stay, clear my mind, and become inspired to travel once again. Remembering the intriguing website Help exchange (Helpx), recommended by a dear friend during her Europe travels, I decided to try out the idea. Helpx is a website designed for backpackers to globe trot all over the world, while working in exchange for room and board, as well as a cultural exchange, from different types of hosts.
A couple of days after I had created my helper profile, I was contacted by a Juan Carlos from The Southern Andalusia region of Spain, in the Genal Valley farmlands. My wanderlust days of confusion in Madrid where coming to an end, so this invitation was all I needed, along with a blind gust of trusting wind, to carry on South with my travels. And this trusted wind blew me to the small, white-washed village of Alpandeire. I’d like to think that I was supposed to end up here, this vortex of Spanish culture drawing me in, for a brief time at least.
The bus took me through winding roads, alongside quaint hillside buildings of cracked red and yellow. By nightfall I had reached the the little village perched up on a hillside of farmland. Yellow light glowed the upstairs windows of houses and flooded out from the door of the local bar, illuminating the town plaza. This is where I met Juan Carlos, in Alpandeire’s small central plaza.
After we greeted each other, and figured out the language barrier of conversation, Juan Carlos tried to convince me,“For good day, you see Morocco from up here,” in broken English. I can’t say I was ever fortunate enough, though, to see the horizon of Morocco during my time in Alpandeire. We headed towards the local bar where the bright light welcomed me into the world of loud Andalusian Spanish, greasy tapas, cañas (small beers), and passionate futbol matches. As I took a spot at the bar, I was quickly handed a Cruzcampo beer and a small plate of fried potatoes covered in a spicy sauce (patatas bravas) by the bartender, David. I soon discovered he was one of two people in the village that spoke English (himself and Jaun Carlos). I was beginning my immersion into the culture of Andalucian Spanish life, completely abandoning any notions of English comfort zones and familiarities: absolutely perfect.
And as each day came and went in Alpandeire, I found myself becoming more and more of a local, both culturally and lingually. The days would begin early in the morning, right before the sun had risen into the Genal valley, warming the dew on the lands. Before starting work on Juan Carlo’s family farm, I would wake up with a cup of pipping hot black tar (Nescafe), and a fresh roll from the town bakery, drizzled with fresh olive oil from the farm groves, topped with garden tomatoes. ”This is real food, all you need to live.”, Juan Carlos would tell me each morning.
My work consisted of gathering acorns for the pigs, building garden rows, planting seeds, and harvesting pomegranates and mandarins. During this time, I learned how to mediate in the moment, really enjoy what I was doing, digging in the soils of Southern Spain in the beautiful countryside. I realized that this was exactly what I needed to be doing and experiencing at this time.
The end of the work days would lead me back to the local bar, where I would receive multiple plates of tapas and Cruzcampo beer, accompanied with Spanish Conversation. I was known there as the lost American girl, who spoke poco Español, as the traditional locals never really grasped the idea of Help X (staying and working for a stranger who doesn’t even speak your native tongue?). Most of the people living in Aplandeire had never left Lost Pueblos Blancos, afterall. Nonetheless, I felt completely welcomed and charmed into the local community.
I found my place in Spain, for a while. A place where I could gain my bearings and mind, while being absorbed in an traditional environment of Spanish villas and farm-life. I was so humbled by this experience that I continued on my European travels, using Help X to find other unknown and enchanting places and people. I guess sometimes all you can do is let yourself be blindly summoned to places of mystic intrigue, as you never know where the wind might blow you.
For further information on Help Exchange, you can checkout the website: www.helpx.net
