I know some people don’t like list blogs, but I haven’t done one for ages and today is a special occasion:

 
• It’s late October and the sun is shining. I lived in London for 17 years and so, I still haven’t got used to this and it feels lovely

 
•  I’ve been living in Granada for nearly 10 months. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been here for years and things seem so familiar and yet, at other times I really feel like I’ve only just arrived and everything is so new and exciting. Either way, it makes the days interesting

 
• As a huge music fan, since I arrived I’ve been looking for a Spanish band that I genuinely like as opposed to one that kind of fits the bill and this week, I discovered Marlango – watch video for the beautiful ‘Dame La Razón’ below…

 
• I live in a city where they give you free tapas which somehow still manages to surprise me each time it happens and I’ve even found a bar where you get (very good) hummus tapas and as a huge hummus fan, this simple thing makes me strangely happy

 
• It was impossible to bump into people in London without booking dates several weeks or sometimes months ahead. Here I literally bump into people in the local supermarket, in the bar or en route to classes. I think I need a synonym for lovely here…

 
• I’m constantly surprised about how much goes on for such a ‘small’ city. In the last week alone, there has been:
   
  • a classic car rally
  • some kind of Cosplay convention (I stress I only know this because I saw a Harry Potter/wizard-like-dressed girl in the queue at Mercadona with her large magic scythe and no, that’s not a euphemism for anything. See below…)
  • Noche En Blanca (White Night) – a night of late-night free culture
  • fireworks for seemingly no particular reason (though imagine that it involves a Virgin and a Saint of some kind)
  • And of course, the ‘inevitable’ brass band of what looked like car mechanics in their blue mechanic overalls parading down the street playing mournful music

 
• Earlier this week, in my capacity as coach, I was guest speaker at the Granada InterNations event and it was a reminder how creative people can be with their lives here and in Spain in general. As some of you may know, I also recently joined the WABAS (Writers And Bloggers About Spain) group which has been an incredibly supportive community whose primary objective seems to be to basically help each other out as much as they can if they can. The ‘expat’ often gets it in the neck for all kinds of reasons but it’s been a constant revelation in my time here and especially this week, how supportive people can be to their fellow ‘expat’ and without getting too hippy on you, that’s a really (dare-I-say-it again) lovely thing…

 
Living in Granada, Andalucia and Spain may not be perfect, however today I feel truly lucky to be living the life I have here…
 
Oh and in case you’re wondering what the special occasion is, see all the above.
 
Have a good weekend wherever you are…