two days in

Mari usually goes to sleep early, right after dinner, just before 10pm; while Victor stays up to watch documentaries on tv till 2pm. But while she had gone to bed at her usual time, when we arrived from the airport around 1.30am, she got up to serve us some hot soup. I was so tired I didn’t think it was a good idea; but I was wrong, it made me feel better and refreshed, and slept very well on the air bed.

After breakfast, Wilbur and I went for a walk, and he seems to get along fine with spanish speaking dogs. There’s this river, just a block away, it called the Besos, and when I was young it was a toxic wasteland, with factories dumping shit, something awful, which made all the surrounding neighborhoods on either side of the river undesirable. 

Back in 2002, when Victor and Mari bought their new home, which is actually an old auto body shop, they did some basic work and transformed it into a cozy home and functional workspace. At that time they had learned that the city had plans to clean up the river, as they were building the “Forum”  just a mile away. However I don’t think anyone envisioned the incredible transformation.

This is the river Besos today, 
a nest for wildlife, birds of many sizes, and a preferred spot for joggers, runners, bikes and dog lovers. The few factories that remained, like this cardboard factory have cleaned up their act. 

And just before the Forum is a huge state of the art water treatment plant, right by the beach. Speaking of beach, it’s only a 15 minute walk, where we went to yesterday, and Wilbur dipped his feet in the Mediterranean waters, and did his usual barking at the waves.

My mother told me Victor is afraid of dogs, Victor told me Mari is afraid of dogs, however they are both very pleased with Wilbur, and are enjoying his company; so I was able to him with them today while I went to meet Belen downtown at Plaza Catalonia for tapas and strolling. 







Usually I while hope on the new streetcar that connects with the Metro, but instead I took the train today, while it runs less often, there were only 3 stops to my destination.

Did I mention how cold it has been, someone mentioned that I brought the cold, but I assured them, the Bay Area was perfectly warm when I left. It even snowed a tiny bit this evening, which is very rare here. Don’t worry, I have plenty of warm clothing.