Cadiz Round Two

(Monday, October 24, 2011)

On Friday Clint, Deborah and I headed back to the city of Cádiz for a second attempt at securing our documentation in order to avoid potentially being deported one day. We were a little anxious and frustrated after our experience with the headache of a visa process and the multiple warnings about Spain’s strict yet unorganized system. However, the province of Cádiz is probably one of the most laid back provinces in the already very relaxed region of Andalucía, so the NIE process turned out to be insanely quick and easy.

We got up bright and early to catch the 6am bus out of Ubrique. (We had heard it was necessary to get to the Extranjería first thing as there’s typically a line out the door, but we didn’t encounter a single other person.) I had planned to stay for only a few hours to complete the process, grab a bite and relax on the beach then catch the evening bus home. Cádiz had different plans for me however. Armed with only a bathing suit and one change of clothes, I stayed the entire weekend and didn’t come back to Ubrique until 10pm Sunday night.  The lure of the beach and the good weather was too much to say no to (had to take advantage before the rain comes, yuck!) Can you blame me?

The weekend consisted of meeting up with other friends, spending virtually all day on the beach, eating at La Gorda multiple times, beautiful sunsets over the water and dancing the night away at La Punta. Since it is off season for travel, I think we were the only Americans out that night and it was a little bit uncomfortable. The people didn’t seem to be quite as friendly and receptive as they are in Ubrique, but we shook it off and the weekend was still a blast.

Sunday, I meant to catch the early bus home but my alarm didn’t go off and I was a zombie anyways, so it didn’t happen.. I decided since I’d made it that far, I could handle one more day in Cadiz and catch the late bus home. It was not as nice out as it was windy and mostly cloudy and even rained for about five minutes, but we still sat on the beach this time donning more layers. We also met up with jonny, another auxiliary from England staying in Cadiz. It was a pretty tranquil day minus that crazy person on the beach that stopped to admire Alysha’s beauty and begged her to take her sunglasses off for a good 15 minutes before we escaped. After that improvised long and fun filled weekend, I passed out on the bus ride home (which is a blessing because it means no motion sickness on those crazy mountain roads.) Though this was probably my last chance to catch some sun in the beach town, I have a feeling come spring I will be spending a lot more time in Cadiz.

Nevertheless, there’s no place like Ubrique… Last week’s series of stressful events may have put a moment of doubt in my mind - I won’t elaborate on that because I’ve had some time to reflect (perk of not having wifi) and I’ve realized that not every day is going to be perfect, even if you are living in a picture perfect postcard-esque town. It’s important not to dwell on the bad things though. Getting out of Ubrique and enjoying another city for a little bit was just what I needed to kick start myself a little bit (I’m convinced that sun, sand and sea can cure everything, including the awful hangover I had Sunday morning).  Cadiz is becoming another favorite place of mine, but leaving Ubrique always seems to make me appreciate it a little bit more when I come back. Whenever the bus pulls in and I see the sierra towering over the white washed town I’m just as excited as the first time I got a glimpse of that amazing view. In addition, it always feels good to come back to some place where the places and faces are familiar.

Here’s to having a balance between enjoying my time in Ubrique, and taking advantage of exploring some more. Up next: spending the holiday next weekend in Cordoba and Sevilla. More adventures to come!