Day 11 - The Olive Oil Journey

Day 11

Malaga --> Jaen, Spain | November 4th, 2022

Decisions decisions. It's 12:30 am and I have a 9am ride to Jaen via BlaBlaCar.

No brainer to go out because I'm only in Malaga once.

I head over to the pool table in the hostel lobby and met a group of 5 Moroccans (4 guys, 1 girl). I get sucked into playing a round of pool and win.

When I told them why I was in Europe, the girl says she has Moroccan Olive Oil from her family's farm and insisted that I try it (of course I have to say yes). I opt to go 2 out of 3 while we waited for her to retrieve the Olive Oil from her house, and of course, I lost the next 2 games - my pool skill level these days is at lifetime lows, but slowly improving throughout my time here.

She comes back with a 500 mL water bottle filled 1/10th with Olive Oil in a plastic bag and was so excited for me to try it.

OK oil (no pic or video :()

No matter how the oil tasted, that 30-second period of tasting put a smile on everyone's face. Little moments like that actually motivate me to keep going on this journey.

I find many of us (Americans) taking the benefits of living in America for granted. Speaking to these young Moroccans, what's interesting is they just want to get the visa and assume the world would be wide open when they arrive.

We end up walking the town and eventually finding a McDonalds at 1:30, and at that point, I was convinced to cancel the 9am car knowing there were plenty of others in the middle of the day. We walked some more and I made my way to sleep by 2:30 am.

Packed up in the morning and got out of there.

I still continue to forget that public transport requires a mask. I retrieved one for .50 at the pharmacy and upon arriving at the intercity station in classic last minute style at 11:57am, I try boarding the 12pm direct to Jaen and the bus driver just said no and left. Whatever. Next bus in 5 hours. Breathe...

Well it's now 12:24 pm and I schedule a BlaBlaCar for 3 pm.

Angry me journaling again:

40 f**king days left. It is not the reason for the trip / you literally have to find a ****** way. Call a farmer. Never go unplanned and then into cities again. That’s not why I'm here. I'm thankful for who I met. Got some nice perspectives. But you need to do what's best for the business.

I still don't fully understand what I was trying to say but felt it belonged in here.

My BlaBlaCar drops me off by Jaen University and I walk to the nearest bus stop. The last bus of the day was coming according to my app and I board the bus that comes as expected. Only 4 stops in I realize I took the wrong one - at least it went in the right direction.

Well, no English, no Taxis. My phone is basically at 0%, and the hotel is 2.5 miles away straight uphill. What do I do?

There's a first for everything...mom and dad I'm sorry and won't do this again. I was considering posting this on the @extravirginguy Instagram but didn't want to stress out my mom on her anniversary.

One (non-Olive Oil) takeaway is an education on optimal hitchhiking strategy [aside from my thumb pointing the wrong direction]. After going 0 for my first 200 cars and adjusting locations to the near part of the roundabout where cars stop fully, a nice enough guy in a dilapidated green car from many years ago pulls up and says come in (of course no time for a pic). Was the risk/ reward there? Probably not. But f*** it, I had to do it.

And guess what, I HITCHIKED THE WRONG DIRECTION. He drops me off 5 minutes later and heaves my bags off of me onto to the sidewalk and speeds away. At least it was in an area with civilization, and quickly a taxi came by and saved the day.

I've never been so thankful for a hotel in my life. After the first 6 days in the cortijo & sharing a hostel for the next 4, I was so ready for my own space and got it. Btw there wasn’t anything cheaper available.

Computer work and dinner occupied my night and I had my first pleasant sleep in quite some time.

1 Olive Oil Takeaway

Update to the Day 8 Olive Oil Takeaway

There is sensory and chemical analysis done at a time prior to sale in the open market to approve the extra virgin mark on an Olive Oil. Despite passing the extra virgin test, the olive oil needs to get transported and onto the shelf at the supermarket. Given the light exposure, variable temperature / humidity conditions, and bottle material, oftentimes that oil will quickly oxidize and break down past the legal chemical / sensory limit of extra virgin olive oil. Perhaps this is where the "70% of Olive Oils at Supermarkets aren't real" come from. Even though the expiration date of the oil may be 1.5 years after the current date, the extra virgin "expiration date" may be much sooner. Juan Barral explained this concept well.

-Jack

Thank you for reading and welcome to the blog! I'm traveling through Europe on a quest to find great Olive Oil.