This small town is truly a small town.

Sineu is like straight out the Truman show only the Spanish version of it. Its such a small town! It's an early Sunday evening and the sun is warming the last few corners of the town before it goes away for the day. The children are running free and playing their games, while the parents and their friends are at nearby cafés and restaurants having a glass of wine and tapas. As I make my way down the winding old streets of Sineu, almost everyone I meet says hello to me as if I am just another local having a stroll through the town. I imagine you must have grown up in a place like this in order to truly understand it and to appreciate it. 

Everyone seems to be on following the same rhythm which is a slow, relaxed and a no-worries attitude. Not bad I guess but the only stimulation I recognize here is gossip about who did what and about something that she said which then he heard, etc. No one walks around alone either, everyone is in pairs at least and the only time they are walking alone is because they are on an errand or something like that. All of this is certainly a big adjustment after almost a year in London which is known for its busy go-go-go attitude and people with expressions of stone passing you by. 

Living in the country side of Mallorca or any place requires a certain kind of lifestyle. You're so separated from everything and your neighbors are not really your neighbors since you never see them, they're almost these fictional owners of the land around your land. But then again, I am looking at it from my own perspective which is someone who doesn't have a cat, motorbike or even a bicycle. Having my own mode of transport would certainly make things easier. Nonetheless, the fresh air, the sound of birds and the bells of the sheep grazing in the distance create a very beautiful and serene paysage. 

My first weekend in Mallorca turned out to be very fun and adventurous, well the adventure part as you'll read later, was not exactly what I would like my future adventurous to be like, nonetheless, now it makes for a good story. So back to the beginning. On Friday Bob and Pat invited me to a barbecue at Bob's work in Palma. I had no idea what to expect but since I hadn't made any other plans, I thought it would be a good way to spend an evening and do something new. So Pat and I got in the car and drove to Palma where Bob ha just finished work at the port. He's a boat engineer which takes him all around the island on different boats. The barbecue was a charity event, right by the water at the marina with a beautiful view of the Cathedral of the Santa Maria de Palma standing tall in the distance, live music, delicious grilled food and wine and various people working at the marina or on boat crews. It was a beautiful sunny day and I finally felt like I was on an island and the sun was feeling great on my skin! Being at the marina and hearing about sailing boats and different journeys that people are making around the world, reminded me about my interest in that. It brought me back to the beautiful two weeks spent on the sailing boat from Cartagena, Columbia to various places in Panama, including San Blas islands. 

Bob introduced me to the crew of the boat that he's been working on which had three lovely people from New Zealand. I had a good chat with them asking about their roles on the boat and how it is living and working like that, since I've definitely been curious about all that in the past but just never got around to actually doing that myself. 

The evening went on with more wine and music and great company. I met more people from other boats and even met one Lithuanian guy from Kaunas, the same city that I am from! Pat and Bob ended up leaving back to Sineu and I stayed there as it was the weekend so I was off work. 

There were quite a few good laughs and a really chill afternoon was turning into a great night out...

End of part one

Part two coming soon!! :)