On Thursday, Nov. 6th, early in the morning, Ana and I boarded a plane to Malaga. We both have just packed backpacks and sublet our apartment for the entire month of November. We booked another flat in La Herradura in the Andalucia region of Spain on the Southern Coast. We flew for three hours and arrived in Malaga, boarded a bus and found our place to see that we get to overlook the sea the entire time we are here.  Our plan is to soak in the sun and water for a month before returning to a much colder Berlin.

This morning with angst throughout my body for a few things but including the voting situation at home, I had to move. I got up and got ready and went for a jog. I jogged along the beach since it was still pretty soft sand for about a kilometer and explored around a new part of the town to me. I started to jog back and something pulled me to the waves. And here is where I stopped for a bit, the picture above.

What is striking me more than anything about being here…even more than how comfy it feels to speak Spanish rather than German and even more than the very friendly Spaniards and a small Brit population and even more than the amazing food and things I am starting to miss from Berlin which makes me miss things from home even more…is how I love regulating my day by the sea. I was moved by when I started to jog next to the rhythm of the waves, my anxieties and fears lessened. In the pit of my stomach a knot has developed as I wait for the Western part of the world to start to wake up and the numbers come in.  I feel a little helpless over here even though I voted.  Sometimes that manifests as guilt and sometimes it manifests as helplessness…on rare occasion it feels a little like I am too removed.  But today it was all very present as I watch people plead others to vote …our life really does depend on it.  Especially now. Especially this time in our history.

But then I heard the waves this morning and went to the sea where things can change but the reminder that I am part of something bigger and holy does not change. The beauty is always breathtaking and it is larger than myself.

Yesterday it was pretty stormy in the morning but when I had a chance I went to the sea…

The waves were much bigger and the sky more threatening and yet there it was, churning and rhythmic and beautiful.

By the evening here it looked like this…

Romantic and lovely. Things all cleared up.  Ana and I walked on the beach hand in hand and realizing how lucky we are to be here in this place in this time and that we can have this grand adventure.  We get to explore Granada and Sevilla and the towns around us.

The other day we rode on a boat on the sea for a few hours with some other lovely people. We ate and drank wine and got to know each other. Ana and I sat in front of the boat and dreamed and schemed. We saw dolphins in the sea and jelly fish (which meant we didn’t jump in(  but it meant we marveled at what was there.  I am in deep awe of the sea.

The ancients thought that water was evil which makes the creation story so much more powerful.  The God of the Jewish people created the water, the deep seas as it is said.  God isn’t afraid but in deep awe of the seas and the creatures and the water.  All that there is is Gods and all is connected deeply.  I am learning to connect to the water deeply in this place.

Have peace today and think of a rhythm that gives you deep peace.