Whoever You Are, No Matter How Lonely, The World Offers Itself To Your Imagination.

Dreams come true and imagination is key. I want to introduce you to my new family: Jose, Bea, Hector (6) and Sara (4). I will be staying with them in Redes a port-town in Galicia (Northern Spain) this September, teaching the children English. I am so incredibly lucky because Jose is a seafood chef, he cares much about food quality and organics, their house is literally a palace and their town, absolute paradise – a place I have imagined visiting since I was a little girl. Believe me when I say it’s breathtaking. But don’t worry, you can live vicariously through me (hehe).

And for those interested, I found Jose and family through workaway.info. It’s an organisation with hosts and volunteers from anywhere and everywhere and it’s relatively safe. I Skyped Jose and his family several times before coming here. Also, do you remember my friends Hiromi and Olivier (the yoga instructor/baker)? They are also hosts on Workaway. Actually, why don’t you go and stay with them? They live in a completely different paradise and they have fresh bread!
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Sara has kindly lent me her room.
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Having fun playing with Japanese magnets. Jose says I am a world citizen because I get to teach him and his family about Iran, Japan and New Zealand.image-57
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A typical breakfast: squished cherry tomatoes, salt and olive oil on bread. Jose tells me the best olive oil comes from Spain and that most of the olive oil advertised as coming from Italy is actually from here.
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Spot the Japanese (hehe).
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On my first day, the children had a birthday party so Jose and I hit up their town and its Friday market.
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Just on the street! For free! Same with lemons, apples and oranges. In Japan, a small punnet of these is 800 yen! About 10 New Zealand dollars!
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Baguette delivery is a thing and we all need it!image[2]
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Isn’t Spain just gorgeous?!
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Trying my best to photograph the locals.
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My first view of the market :O
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Spain is food heaven!
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Jose made a phone call to order his fish. He said if we go early we will have to wait an hour for the old ladies of the town to finish their business. Sure enough, as we walked by, this was exactly the case! The locals here are priceless – such strong characters. I really hope my pictures can capture their brilliance – I’ll do my best.
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Live Octopus.
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This  frightening thing is a sea spider! I don’t know about you but I will never swim again.
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As I said, their house is a palace.
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Jose says the Spanish locals find it funny how people are so into kale as a “superfood” these days because its simply chicken food in Spain! Also, I posted this image on my Instagram and a regular follower commented this, which I found hilarious: “That chicken is peering into my soul and judging my ambitions.”image-29B E A U T I F U L desu ne.

15 comments

  2. A wonderful post and your photos are stunning! You have brought Spain to life. I love Spain and we’ve visited several different regions in the past, but not Galicia. Our visits have been brief, two-week holidays, of course, but if you’ll be staying there for much longer, you should get to know the people and customs so well. Your job sounds so interesting and a good way to see the world. As for the sea spider…! I now need to look up about those weird-looking things.

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  3. That’s interesting to hear about “Italian” olive oil coming from Spain. I work at a department store and we make a killing with olive oil. I’ll have to read the labels and see how many of them say they’re Italian. Did your friend say why Spanish oil is better?

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    1. I think because they have more trees than in Italy so maybe there’s more variety or something. Basically he was saying that food is a big business and also that Spain often buys oil from Morocco and sells it as Spanish oil which Italy then buys and sells as Italian oil (just to confuse you a little more hehe).

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  6. Your photos are always great and it’s big help to understand what you write. I love them so much. I’ve been to Barcelona by joining a tour. Next time, I want to use workaway website too. It’s absolutely wonderful way to know locals and cultures in stead of staying hotel.

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  8. Wow Redes looks amazing. I was up in Galicia a few years back and loved it, a lot cooler than where I live down in Seville. Interesting that you stayed with a family. I have two kids too, 3 and 2, can’t wait to start traveling more with them. Looking forward to more posts.

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