La Sorpresa Grande

  Mollina, Spain
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

'...Woza!'

It certainly was a big surprise and while things have calmed down a lot I still don't think it has sunk in yet for the old gel. She's off somewhere right now telling more neighbours.



But as with most things I nearly cocked the whole thing up. First off I missed the bus from Malaga this morning. Traffic. The taxi driver spoke broken baby English, and as we raced through the streets of rush-hour Malaga he communicated to me quite clearly with his many hand gestures how disgusted he was that we weren't going to make it on time. Though in consolation, he thoughtfully pulled out a glossy tariff sheet and started quoting me all sorts of extortionate sums to drive me north. And so commenced the bartering over a fare to Mollina. I had no alternative. The next bus to Mollina was at 6pm. I'd come this far without a balls-up. It couldn't happen now, not after all this. As we pulled in to the autobus estación my bus ride turned the corner and drove right out of my life. My fate was now in 'Señor Cabby's' hands. We eventually agreed on 55 euros 'total' and went and chilled out over a cafe con leche in the estación cafe. He paid.

The drive to Mollina was superb. This cabby actually turned out to be a bit of a legend. He was clearly fanatical about his new car and I got him all excited about it. I had him pulling out TV's and gadgets, pumping up the bass on his stereo and we sang flat out at the top of our voices to some appalling 80's tunes all the way to Mollina.

The shocker itself was a bit haphazard and didn't go exactly to plan. Not that this surprised me. I filmed a bit of it but I think I've been a bit cocky about all this big surprise stuff. I thought I'd be in control of the situation when it happened. The truth is the moment was huge and I didn't think to hold the camera up properly as things were happening. My legs were shaking and emotions went silly. It was their reaction which actually pushed me over the edge. I hadn't anticipated so much raw emotion. But it was so so surreal, like I'd just walked back into their lives after been presumed dead for ten years or something. The moment was massive.

So I've made it to my final destination. I'm here, and the relief is nice. It feels good. I'm back in the feathery comfort of the family nest for the forseeable future and I won't have to do any washing for a while. Tea and biscuits will flow like water and I can leave my belongings lying around without a second thought. If I need to throw-up there is privacy. I have a bed. In a bedroom. And I've got two months of quality time with these two lovely old beanies. It's been quite a journey..

Nos vemos mis amigos. Te salgo esto cuadro de mis padres despues la sorpresa grande:-