Wind Mill Diaries

I'm planning a trip through all the Balearic Islands, and maybe go visiting Valencia too.   "Será maravilloso,     viajar hasta Mallorca     Sin necesidad de tomar el barco o el avión     Sólo caminando en bicicleta o en auto stop"     [Los Mismos - El Puente]   (El trío Los Mismos, en su inicio estuvo formado por Helena Bianco, Benjamín Santos y Toby Pérez.  En 1968 consiguieron el primer premio del V Festival internacional de Mallorca  con su tema más famoso "El Puente".)

In the last few weeks several sea turtles have born on the beach Sa Mesquida, under the eye of some volunteers from the ecologistic association GOB. My friend Nina has been the first person who saw the first turtle just came out of its egg! The biologists gave the turtle her same name. Nina with Baby Nina Baby Nina's first bath in the sea life rescue center in Mallorca

This version of  Can't Take My Eyes Off You  by Franke Valli (1967), is -if it's possible- catchier than the Gloria Gaynor's cover from the Nineties. Can't stop sing it in the car with my friends, when we go to the playa . Surf Mesa ft. Emilee - ily

Menorcan summer is famous for its traditional folk fests. From June to September, almost every weekend there is one, every time in a different village of the island. They are very typical, the whole population participates and a lot of tourists come from other parts of Spain and from all over Europe to take part too. They are called "Jaleos" and they are the celebration of horses, very important animals in the agricultural history of the island. During the festivals, the horses, festively decorated, as much as the jockeys, parade in the center of the villages, in the middle of the crowd, with music and dancing. The streets are covered with sand, the horses are blessed, and the people throw themeselves under the horses pushing them up to make them walk on two legs. Everyone drinks the typical pomada granizada (gin lemon slush). Dust, crowd, sweat, noise, alchool. Not this year, of course. I'm kind of sad to miss this big typical event. But maybe, from how they described i...

Every summer, the ecologist association GOB (in which my friends Nina and Fanny work as ESC volunteers), organizes a "owl night" in which, volunteers from the Wildlife Recovery Center, free the owls that have been hosted and cared for in the center. Yesterday evening, at sunset, I went with Nina and Fanny on the Mount Toro, from where is visible the whole island, and I took part to the ceremony. It has been very exciting and beautiful.

Some weeks ago I've participated to an art competition organized by the ecologist association GOB, to promote its plant nursery and native plants of Menorca. It has been a very pleasant morning, drawing in good company, surrounded by plants, with sweet French music spreading from the speakers, and a good brunch offered by the GOB's agricultural department. I won third place! [Photographs by Nina Chilà]

Despite the Covid alarm, I am finally working to the main part of my volunteering project: the service of summer activities for children offered by the municipality of Sant Lluís. Normally it consists of 6 weeks, this year is only 5. We started on July the 6th and will end on August the 7th. It's been very hard to organize the service and schedule the activities in line with security measures. And it's weird to play with children wearing (them and us) all the time surgical masks, putting constantly hand sanitizer gel and keeping the safety distance. It is difficult to communicate with the voice perpetually muffled by the masks, the smiles hidden by the masks and the looks by the sunglasses. But we are having a good time anyway. I'm playing a lot. The kids are divided for age in three groups of 20 people. Each group is accompanied by 4 educators. The activities take place from Monday to Friday, from 9.00 to 14.00. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we spend the morning in Bin...