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The move came and went, we settled in !
The neighbours could not have been more welcoming. Jesus and his elderly father Paco, what characters they turned out to be and the generosity overwhelming ! Paco in his eighties struggling with bad legs yet out working the land everyday, driving a motor bike to town once or twice a week, slightly worrying. He would sit on the wall the other side of the road to get some sun, a small man with a large smile, radiates love and kindness a real joy to know ! Jesus his forty something son, now suffering from a mental handicap, we are told he hasn't always been like this. He left Seron a bright, intelligent young man searching for adventure, he disappeared for 15 years and when he resurfaced was a totally different person ! He tells me he was in Ibiza for that time and the amount of drugs he took over that period left him that way. He still retains his Dads warm smile and kind heart.
Their story is a sad one, Paco, his wife, Jesus, their older two sons and younger daughter where living I can only assume happily, when disaster stuck. Paco's wife became sick and died, he was left with four small children and couldn't cope. The eldest son stayed with him, we have never meet him he has not been back to Serón in about twenty years. The youngest three children where sent to live with different family members, it has taken a toll on them all ! The other son still lives in Serón we have meet him a number of times but never saw him visit his father. The daughter now lives with her daughter in Albox about half an hour away, she was around a lot, when not working, making sure that Paco and Jesus where living in a clean house and eating well, to be fair it seemed to me they coped very well on their own.
I would often met at my front door with black bin bags full of peppers or potatoes. Country wine (brain damage as I call it !) Chilli's, cabbages the size of a table, bay leaves (enough to last a lifetime) basically anything they had grown they would give us a share. In the early days before the bar, I was feeling so out of exchange with them I started to make cakes and biscuit to give them, the girls never complained either ! I just wanted to give them something back and as we had no land to grow, what could I do, it became easier when we had the bar as we started swapping beer for veg, win win !!
The rest of our neighbours where just as friendly, the old lady next door, who lived alone, very kind, her family owns a large house the other side of the road (the sunny side), always greeting me with a smile and a kiss. Then you have the Spainish property developer, who showed me around his rather plush house, in comparisons to the others here, with its swimming pool built behind in, not that I think it has ever been used !
Then the old lady with her mentally handicapped son, Jose, she looks about 100 with no teeth and very badly fitting dentures, that fall from the top of her month when she speaks. They live in one room, a very basic kitchen with open fire and then I think they have a bedroom, which they have to walk outside to get too !
I find him a little difficult, too touchy feely for my liking ! However always turning up with popcorn or asking for a fag. Nice enough but just didn't totally trust him, I will stress he never did anything for me not to trust him.
Rumour has it that the Dad walked out when he was a baby, and he had a older sister, who he was playing with one day and accidentally drown, I don't know if this is true or not and there is noway I will ever ask !
So for now that's the neighbours, our landlord also had another house to rent opposite and there is a few holiday homes, the other end of the row of houses was a few other people, but we didn't really see them, as they never past our house or us theirs.
Would things stay this calm ? This is our story so of course not !!!