I swing open the door and the sun shines into my eyes blinding me momentarily.  As my eyes begin to adjust I walk outside onto my balcony and peer out over the enormous ocean that lies beyond me.  Along the shore I spot the massive forty foot rocks jutting out of the water due to the low tide.  Reckless little kids attempt to climb to the top with no regard of anything but themselves.  I hear their father yell, “¡Joder! Txeco, Iker.

Venga ahora! ¿estais stupido?”  I laugh to myself as the two kids immediately jump down from the rock.  I continue to look out onto the ocean and my mind begins wander when suddenly my nose catches the smell of la Barbacoa.  It is the most wonderful smell in the entire world.  I get a hint of the sausage and seafood being cooked.  My senses tell me that it is Pinchitos, Jamón, Chorizo, Lomo, and Calamar. I stand there not moving a muscle as I continue to take slow breaths through my nose in order to soak up the magnificent smell.

“¡Lynden, vamos a comer!” Koldo, my host brother yells from down on the beach.

“Vale, estoy viniendo.” I respond with excitement.  I go back into my room, put on my flip-flops and book it to the beach where the feast awaits.  Ten of my friends are there, three of them cooking and the rest are lying on their towels soaking up the sun.  I walk over to the grill and the smell of the food is so good that my stomach screams with hunger.
“¿Ellos terminais?” I ask my friend Oscar.
“SÍ, supongo,” he responds with excitement.

After we grab our food we head over to a large oak tree in order to catch some shade and eat lunch.  The cool breeze blows in from the ocean, and the leaves of the tree rock back and forth all in sync with one another.  We all sit there conversing with each other, making jokes, and planning for the night to come.  The conversation ends rather quickly and we all get up and sprint to the water.  With no hesitation we dive into the seventy degree water and do the freestyle all the way out to the giant rocks.  We finally arrive and the rocks tower over us like skyscrapers in New York City.  We start to climb hoping that we make it to the top without falling.  Of course it is nearly impossible to succeed on the first try.  It took me three tries in order to make it to the top.  Once we are all on the top we stand in a line and look at the life within the city.  There is not a single thing blocking the sight between my eyes and the city.  I can see are the little kids playing in the central plaza and the adults conversing with one another.  The smoke from the  food vendors in the street rise above the buildings making me hungry again.

When in Noja I  have the luxury to experience this everyday.  The smell of seafood and sausage is unreplaceable and  being able to walk out of my bedroom and see as far as the eye can see out onto the ocean is the best feeling in the entire world.