"If you need anything..."

So maybe I have met with frustration when it’s come to inconsistencies and disorganization in the Spanish educational, transportation and governmental, systems, but the one thing that has been consistent since the day I arrived in Ubrique, is the amazing hospitality. People are genuinely kindhearted here. They are open and trusting and very generous. I also, have had the great luck of being placed here with 6 other girls like me, teaching on a grant given by the Spanish government. We are all very different, but get along well. My roommate, Tessa, from northern California, is very even tempered, an intellectual who loves witty comedy and tea and has a great smile. My soon-to-be second roommate, Candice, is from southern California and also extremely even tempered, laid back, loves to dance and makes delicious pumpkin pie. Kate, from Liverpool, England, is Oxford educated and self-assured, a great story teller and wishes she were from a Jane Austin novel. Dee, a feisty Irish girl, is also a most excellent teller of stories and the most loving of all of us. Irma, our own local “J-Lo,” is Bronx born and bred with Latino heritage and has a real knack for picking up old guys. They are all excellent company especially when it comes to needing to vent our scholar frustrations but also to discuss the stunning generosity of people here. We have all come to the consensus that the most common phrase with which we have all been met by the locals is, “If you need anything, just ask.” And it is meant whole-heartedly.