Las Cascadas

Two major things happened on Saturday: one was going to mountains, hiking, and swimming in the river. The second one was having my wallet stolen. For the post about dealing with my wallet stolen, have a look at August 22nd's I'm Two for Zero post.

I spent the day with my Czech co-worker, her boyfriend and some of their friends. They are some very lovely Spaniards – very friendly and open and willing to speak in English (after I spoke for some time trying to practice my Spanish). There was a real Madrileño, two Malàgans, and Andalucian (he came from a smaller town in Andalucía with its own name) and a Galician, perhaps? Yes, yes, I know that they have their own names (like Gallego), but I do not know them, and I am going to be culturally insensitive for a few moments.

We drove to the destination (I don't know where it was) in two cars, and I was with the Czech, her Spanish boyfriend, and another Spaniard. I was really amused when the two Spaniards started to talk about the work that they were doing, and how there was a problem with the software that they had been developing. The product was already delivered to the customers, and the malfunction had been picked up by a news station. One joked that they should they leave a comment on the article, saying, “Sorry, yes, it’s our fault as the programmers, not the company – we’ll fix it mañana!” “Yes, yes, we’ll do it after siesta!” they bantered back and forth. As you can tell, I was amused.

We arrived at a series of three tiered pools, each one a gigantic square. There was Kentucky bluegrass (or its cousin) beneath our feet – and a gigantic crowd sprawling along the beach. Preferring a more natural setting, we walked another hour and a half to the top of the falls.

Here there were two shallow pools, one falling into the other. The space was narrow and a little crowded but fewer people were there. We climbed up to the higher of the two pools and took a dip in very, very cold river water, and some of the guys tread water for a moment right beneath the waterfall. I cannon-balled into a lower (warmer) pool but didn’t feel like having really cold water splashed on my head.

After swimming, we took lunch, and then the chicos went off to explore the waterfalls above us while the Czech and I talked and enjoyed being down below. I was pretty tired, and drying off in the sun sounded just about right for me.

After they came back, we took our stuff and made our way back to the area with the crowd and the pools (las piscinas) where we regrouped and refreshed ourselves with restrooms and Coca-Cola.

Everyone was nice, and the Spaniards talked to me – in English and Spanish – and I had a really nice time out in the country with some very kind people.

Gushy ending, I know. Note – you can also find Mormon missionaries just about anywhere. While up at the falls, I ran into two of them on a Saturday excursion with their ward (Barrio 3 - I'm in Barrio 6). One was even from my city and knew Elder M from June 20th's When in Spain... post. It's a small, small world.