With my phrase book still gripped firmly between my fingers I stepped forward from the back of the station platform and approached the elderly but robust looking driver and uttered, in my absolute best Spanish, the phrase I had been repeating to myself over and over for the last 10 minutes. Sadly the response it drew was not what I had hoped for; in fact the poor man looked at me as if I had just addressed him in Swahili. Undeterred I glanced down at my phrasebook, ran through the sentence one more time, took a deep breath and gave it another shot.
“Este autobus va a Lanjaron?”
 
Suddenly all the confusion on his face melted away into a huge, welcoming smile. ‘Si,si senor!’ he beamed at me before slapping me on the back and helping me to secure my backpack in the hold. Confidence restored and certain I was now heading the right way I climbed aboard the bus feeling rather pleased with myself. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, this brief exchange on a dusty platform in the middle of Granada bus station on a lazy Friday afternoon would perfectly summarize my time at La Casa del Viento. It has been a whirlwind of minor complications and triumphs, hard work being rewarded by wonderful hospitality, and an overall feeling of immense satisfaction. Let me explain.

The bus ride from Granada to Lanjaron must be one of the most beautiful in the world, weaving in between huge mountains and vast cliff faces and steadily climbing, always climbing, to its destination. It was wonderful, and felt like a reward for my hard work with the phrase book back at the station. Within seconds of stepping off the bus I was greeted by Ann, the host who had been gracious enough to give a HelpX newbie like me a try, and one of her entourage, the gorgeous German shepherd Luna. I had so many questions to ask about Lanjaron, HelpX, the land, the work, Spain and everything in between and Ann was kind enough to talk me through things and after a meeting my fellow helpers and devouring a stunning meal (these turned out to be a daily treat) I felt like one of the gang.

The work that followed over the next three weeks was really varied, and despite mixed fortunes it was always rewarding. The first big task to be undertaken was the clearing and repainting of one of the casita roofs. I spent my whole first day cleaning, scraping, and prepping the roof for the job in the most glorious sunshine. The next day I started with the paint, thick, waxy red stuff that would hopefully keep the roof watertight. The sun was no less radiant when I started, but as the paint went on the sky darkened. By mid afternoon the previous day and half’s work was cascading down the roof and onto the walls in a red waterfall of disaster. Not a great start then. The next big task was reclaiming a beautiful almond tree from a landslide and replanting it higher up the land. It was a hard days work digging the poor thing out and carrying it up the hill, but it felt amazing to see it replanted and to know it had a chance at surviving. Sadly it soon became apparent that it had lost a lot of its blossom in transit. Another blow, but it is impossible to feel frustrated when you are surrounded by such stunning views and the limitless enthusiasm of Ann. 

Other tasks I worked on included digging a drainage ditch, painting, olive picking and some general maintenance of the casitas, but it was the roofs and the tree that drew all of my focus. Day after day would go by with me nipping down to check on the tree or climbing up onto the roof for a look around. Sadly my time in Lanjaron is now coming to an end, I never did get to finish the roof and it’s too soon to tell if the tree will survive, but I hope to come back one day to check on both, and I know that if I do Ann will be here with a big smile, delicious food, Luna and the gang and the latest crew of helpers, and I know that it will feel like home.