An unusual celebration

We got up late and I made breakfast. I wasn't feeling that good, so Clare and Ann let me and went down to Los Boliches beach while I sorted myself out. I should know better, but at this time of year when it starts to get warmer and is less humid, I forget to drink enough water to compensate, and slowly the effect of dehydration creeps up on me. The trouble is that I never feel thirsty, and had to make myself drink extra. I learn a lesson which I later forget. Anyway, once I'd regained equilibrium I walked down to join them, and we had a drink and something to eat in the Granier cafe by the Mercado Municipal. 

Since she arrived and started playing it Clare's been having problems with the house piano. It's not terribly out of tune, but a third of the ivory/plastic key covers are detached from their wooden levers. Not she's on a mission to restore them to working order. She went to a Los Boliches ferreteria and bought some araldite with the aim of sticking them together. The challenge is ridding them of their layer of glue that no longer does the job. How to get rid of it is what she needs to find out next.

I cooked myself a very late lunch of past with a veggie sauce, leaving a portion for Ann at supper time, as I was being picked up at six thirty to be taken to the Cerros del Águila urbanizacion where a new street is being named in memory of Val Artachio, founder of Marbella's English International College. It's located on a hillside about five kilometres out of town, overlooking the Fuengirola river valley and the Sierra de Mijas with a superb view. A group of two dozen of of gathered, family, friends, colleagues from school including young children and one nonogenarian. A name plaque at the entrance to the street was unveiled by Val's husband, and I let the prayers of dedication which I'd prepared, wishing that I'd had time to render them in Spanish, as it was evidently a bi-lingual congregation.

Afterwards everyone went to the restaurant which is the social centre of the urbanizacion, where a long table to accommodate the assembly, had been laid out for drinks and tapas. It was a most enjoyable experience, giving me an opportunity to listen to Spanish social conversation and understand what was being said, plus an opportunity to converse in English and occasionally Spanish with a largely bi-lingual gathering. It was an unique event and experience for me, which I couldn't have imagined taking place forty eight hours ago. Val's brother and sister drove me home. After an evening of talk and drinking Rioja joven, I was so glad that I didn't have to drive.

Dedication invitation

Despite making an effort last night not to go to bed late, getting into a relaxed sleep was difficult. I woke with the alarm I'd set, but started the day feeling tired. I got to Calahonda in good time for the first of the two services of the day. There were seventeen of us present. I didn't stop for coffee afterwards as I drive to St Andrew's via the chaplaincy house to collect Clare for the service. I was glad that Peter and Linda were there to greet her, amongst others of course, but it meant I could ask Peter to read the over-long Gospel passage about the raising of Lazarus. Reading that and then preaching about it earlier took a lot of energy on a morning when I felt I didn't have much to spare.

Among the people in church after the service was José Artacho, whose wife Val had been a key member of St Andrew's when we were here last. On my first stint in Fuengirola at the end of 2013, I stayed in a flat which they owned in Urbanización Albañil for eight weeks.  In the following year Val had been part of the group which negotiated the purchase of Casa de la Esperanza and furnished it as a Chaplain's residence. As locum priest at the time, Clare and I were the first occupants. 

A year later Val died unexpected of an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Now, some seven years later, a suburban street of new houses between La Cala de Mijas and Fuengirola has been named in memory. She and Jose were involved in founding Marbella's English International College, so naming a street after her is a form of public acknowledgement of her services to Costa del Sol residents. Jose asked if I would be willing to devise a dedication ceremony for the unveiling. I was naturally delighted to be asked, given that we'd met and worked together on the house. Val's sister is here at the moment with José for this occasion, and we agreed I'd attend and perform the ceremony this Tuesday evening. 

On the way back from church we called at the greengrocer's shop opposite Mercadona, as Clare was keen to start stocking up on food, as Ann arrives to stay tomorrow morning. Lunch of veggies with trout fillets was quickly prepared when we returned. Afterwards we walked down to the Paseo Maritime and shopped for a few more necessities in Chinese stores which were open, including a proper peeling knife, as the one from the kitchen drawer went missing before my time.

Ann from church called by at supper time with more bedding to supply what's lacking for the two beds she arranged to be delivered on Friday. The house can now accommodate as many as four guests, which hopefully will be an advantage for an incoming chaplain eventually.