July 15, 1990 - April 14, 2011
On April 14 of 2011 a dear friend of mine Jasmine Jahanshahi perished in a tragic apartment fire in Paris, France. She had visited me in Madrid and I had spent Thanksgiving with her in Paris. Her death and this past year have been strange and difficult. Living in Madrid I've missed out on a great deal of the events after her death although I was fortunate enough to be able to fly home for the funeral and be with her family, my family and close friends.
Not a day passes I don't think about her. Honoring her is ongoing. Her friends and family have started a fire safety organization in her memory that is a beautiful way of carrying on her memory. Check it out here:
http://www.firesafetyfoundation.org/
I miss her a lot. She was an amazing person, and all hyperbole aside the world is less of an amazing place without her. Ask anyone who knew her.
So the point of this extremely personal information on a blog that has been largely bereft of any sentimentalism (or text for that matter) is this: on the date of her birthday Jasmine's parents had mentioned planting trees in her memory. Being that I was working as an English teacher/counselor at a summer camp by the beach in Cobreces, Spain on her birthday I vowed to myself that before the summer ended I would plant a tree for Jasmine somewhere on the beautiful Iberian peninsula. Soon after the six weeks I spent slaving away in the summer camps I took a break before school started up again to travel and I did six days of the Camino de Santiago with Laura. We started in the small village of Tui in Galicia. I was always astounded by Jasmine's ability to enjoy eating limes and lemons plain, I remember vividly her eating a lime as if it was an orange. So finally, nearly two months after what would have been her 21st birthday in September of 2011 I was able to plant a lemon tree alongside the Camino de Santiago, 13 kilometers from Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain) in a small aldea (an incredibly small village) called Angueira de Xuxu (so anyone reading has an idea of the size of Angueira de Xuxu, it doesn't show up on google maps and I can't find any information on the web, however I do promise that it exists). While trekking the last day of the Camino with the potted lemon tree and potting soil we were looking for a spot that was perfect. After walking what must have been about six or so kilometers we were beginning to tire of carrying the heavy bag of potting soil and the potted tree we had purchased in the morning from a market as we left Padrón. We decided to ask the next local we saw if they knew of a place we could plant the tree.
Walking through one of the countless small aldeas I saw an older woman sitting outside her house peeling green beans. Nervously I explained my situation--I wanted to plant a lemon tree alongside the Camino in memory of a friend of mine who had passed away. Initially she looked a bit confused and maybe even freaked out, but after several minutes of speaking with her and her husband they told us we could plant the tree on their small finca (estate) where they grew fruits and vegetables alongside their vineyards. Once at the finca it was immediately clear that the site was as perfect a site as was going to be found. Nestled between vineyards directly next to the Camino, their finca was a place Jasmine definitely would have enjoyed.
So we planted the tree, thanked Josefa and Salvador and exchanged information, took a couple photos and left. Josefa and Salvador, gave us a bag full of grapes from their vineyard and vowed to take care of the tree.
About two months ago they called to say the tree is doing beautifully and there will be lemons in the spring.
The photos came out ultra high contrast due to slow film and overcast conditions, but here they.
Salvador and Josefa on their finca amongst the vineyards with the newly planted lemon tree.
Hugs and Bugs.
