Utrera....a place in the sun...

24.05.2015

Well, I loved my visit to Utrera, which is a twenty minute train ride out of Seville. It is a really ,picturesque town of 50,000 people and one expat kiwi called Linda. She arrived in Utrera six months ago to follow the urgings of her heart and create a new beginning for herself with a new partner in an unknown land. It is a real credit to her that she has overcome all of the obstacles that life has thrown her way. She could not speak Spanish, had no job in a place where unemployment is high, had nowhere to live, and virtually no money. She trained for and got a position teaching English, and eventually secured a really nice studio apartment at a price she could afford. From a fairly sheltered existence in New Zealand she has learned to stand on her own two feet, and has learned that as long as you have food, shelter, and warmth, together with a passion for someone or something, all your needs are taken care of. Everything else is merely surplus to that. Everyone who knows the risks that Linda took to follow her heart, would and should be as proud of her achievements, her courage and perseverance, as I am. Life is still a struggle for her but she is a much stronger person, able to cope and flourish and begin to enjoy the fruits of her struggle. Looking at the pictures I have posted, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that everybody spends all their time eating and drinking in the cafe/bars located on every streetcorner. Well I suppose it would be possible, the drinks and the tapas are really cheap. The reality is that Linda wanted to show me her favourite places and plates of tapas that she had tried maybe once a week with teacher friends from the English schools in the town. It is a way of life, where whole families meet on certain days and nights to socialise and have a nice time, but it is one she cannot yet afford. I was lucky not to have called there last week when the temperatures reached 40 degrees and it was scorching hot. This week it only hit about 35 degrees, but was 30 degrees at 8pm and only dropped to 24 degrees during the night. Linda is lucky to have airconditioning and will really get the benefit of that over the next 3 months of summer. I was sorry to leave Utrera, and head back into the big city, but we will see what I can squeeze into this week....

8pm on way to main square