Over here - fiesta de cumpleaños

John and I have been living in Spain for almost six years and, in spite of our limited language skills, we are proud to say that we have made many Spanish friends in our local town of Jumilla.

John celebrated his 70th birthday party on 1 March with friends and family in London, however he decided to have another party in a local bodega (winery) back home in Spain the following weekend. As well as prolonging his birthday celebrations, John wanted to say thank you to all our Spanish friends for welcoming two foreigners, who hardly spoke a word of Spanish, into their community.

Our neighbours are very patient when we try to speak to them in Spanish, which is of course essential when you live in a mainly Spanish-speaking town. They have seen our ability to speak their language improve slowly over the years that we have been living here though, being over 65 (in my case) and over 70 now (in John's), we often forget or mispronounce words.  If only we had been taught Spanish when we were at school.....!

Me with Andrés Junior

One thing that I love about Spanish people is how generous they are with their compliments: everyone greeted me with "guapa" when they arrived, which as you can imagine was very much appreciated! They were very generous with their presents too, though I have to say that my favourite one was the picture that our friend Angel had painted.

I'm happy to report that everyone seemed to be having a great time, partly because of the delicious food and drinks provided by Pascual, from one of our favourite bar/restaurants Bar Paraiso, as well as from Bodega Viña Campanero, where the party was held. Partly because our good friend Johnny Sax entertained us with his great music, which had everyone up and dancing. Oh yeah!! But mainly because Spanish people know how to enjoy themselves, which is one of the joys of living here  in Spain. I'm already looking forward to the next fiesta.

Spanish friends at the party