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Little had I known that when I decided to jump off the train I hopped on Madrid to the northern parts of Spain that I would end up calling Navarre home. It was early September and my first time in the country of the matador. Dreams of visiting Granada and Seville has always haunted me, scene so of Vivacious flamenco dances and grand palaces close to the sea was what pooped out to mind Webber I heated a single “Hola”! I however fell head over heels for Pamplona . The city of the bulls captivates hearts before minds by its tiny alleys, colored windows, green meadows, ancient churches and paved pathways. I still remember the smell of freshly baked chili late almond cookies that swept me off my feet that rainy evening when I an unexplained impulse made me decide to visit the capital of Navarre and the jewel of the basque. I had no plans, no place to stay the night and no intention of spending more that’s few hours, that was before I met Pablo. Fumbling with my poor Spanish and trying to seek shelter from the cold I heard jazz playing from an unseen spot .Few things seduce me more than jazz and thus I decided to follow the music. Stepping into a medium lit music hall I found myself facing a couple of young musicians playing their instruments in what appears to be a rehearsal . Foreign looks ,wet hair , a backpack , my taste of music and bunch of Spanish words were all I had in my survival kit that night and they were enough ! “Hello stranger ,,” Pablo was the first to approach me inviting me in . And my mind started swirling. “what am I doing here , in a city I never planned to visit , on a route that in not planned , with few hours left before the sunlight and almost zero knowledge of Spanish “, I remember telling myself . Yet that night changed life drastically , not only I experienced firsthand how humans are indeed social creatures, and not only that I have found ways to connect, understand and make friends with minimal use of words , comprehensible ones at least, I also discovered how much people from all around the world have in common ..more than we know. Pablo and his friends were part of well known local band that lived and composed music in Pamplona and I was in Spain to enroll in my PHD degree at one of Madrid universities . But that night , with simple “hola” and acting upon my gut feeling of stepping off the train into the unknown, trying off an unbeaten road ,I ended up doing my studies in a city that one of my favorite writers immortalized in a famous novel “ The sun also rises “. Pamplona is now my second home. With friends I consider family, endless treks to the Pyrenees, lazy sunny days in plaza de Castillo, long walks along the Arga riverside and cozy jazz nights I now truly believe in the unexplained forces of attraction ! Not to mention the crazy fiestas I get to attend chanting along my Navarrese “cuadrilla” for life, peace and love .