We were in for a treat, Hilight Tribe was playing and it was an incredible show! Amazing music, the mixed scent of incense and Kashmiri hash along with stunning fire performers and dancers. We fell in love with Arambol in a very short time :) After dinner, Sandra, Rico and I walked with our arms out and our heads tilted back on the beautiful long stretch of beach.

The way back was difficult though. Average price for a ride from Arambol to Anjuna is 450 on the street, 500 through a hotel. Since it was quite late, we were being asked for 1000, finally a driver said 700 and we considered it a late night tax and hopped in. He drove for a bit, stopped the car in the middle of nowhere and told us it was 700 EACH. Sandra and I were firm in our ‘hell no’ and I pointed out I’d spent 3 months in India in 4 different provinces and there was no such thing. We payed attention to all the road signs just in case he was taking us somewhere else and kept our phones handy. He ended up dropping us off in an abandoned market in the middle of the night in the dark about a 25 minute walk from home. Thanks again for cell phones which also do double duty as flash lights!

Got home safe and sound and even after the unfortunate ending to our evening, we were still in love with Arambol. Sandra decided to move there the next day :)

Friday:
Moving day! We went back to Arambol with Sandra’s things and got her set up in a hut on the beach for significantly less than what we were paying in Anjuna. Our driver was the opposite of the last and quite entertaining, apparently Swedish girls are the easiest and Canadians are hard to get. Also, the Russians are fine because they bring their own women but the Israeli’s have a thing for the local girls.

This place is hippie/performer/awesome heaven! We wandered around the Magic Park to meet up with Rico and check things out before he had to teach a workshop and Sandra and I shopped in the village. The village was kinda neat, we had people recognize us from hilltop the week before. Sandra was the performer and I was the girl who ran across to get the drummer drumming. Met a swiss girl, Jaqueline, who makes beautiful macrame and visited (I would run into her several more times after, she was lovely), we smelled different teas, battled with ladies with broken math. I met a Bengali girl who says my ear tattoo means something different in Bengali, sounds like it will be fun tracking down the meanings, that’s 3 now.

At sunset, everyone gathers on the beach. Everyone as in the large foreign community that continually shifts throughout the season in Arambol. People play their instruments, play with yoga and perform with props, or just sit in contemplative silence while the sun goes down.

Saturday:
Took things a bit easy on Saturday. Whatever the belly bug was that I had in Turkey was back and making me look 4 months pregnant, lazy with no appetite. I spent some time blogging and tweaking the dreads and went to a place called Tantra to drink Lassi’s and tea with Steve and Papi. Took a nap in the hammock and managed to drag my lethargic self to the Saturday Night market.

Many lovely things from everywhere! Even found a great shop run by some Calgary boys and bought a beautiful wrist cuff from a Spanish man who makes them himself. Ran into several people I knew; Jelena, Sparrow, Jaqueline, even the happiest man ever from last year. Feeling at home just in time to pack up and leave again!

Went back and konked out for several hours, when I awoke, I had henna on my face and Shreta and Wayne had come by for a visit. There was a party at the guest house again. I can apparently sleep through anything when I need to. After a lovely visit they were on their way, shortly after, Wayne’s brothers Kurt and Krishna showed up for a visit and some dancing.  It was great to actually see their faces after 7 months of facebooking with them. Went back to sleep through the music again after they left. Seems to be a bit of my pattern, do a whole bunch of stuff for a few days, then lay low for a day to catch up physically and mentally.

Tuesday, was the first of several girls days which have been lovely. Went to the internet cafe and caught up on things for a couple hours. Back to the beach, this time Cafe Lilliput. We went to the upper balcony and had our first dose of actual Indian food. I missed you mushroom mutter! The scenery was lovely as well as the music, no messed up raucous tunes distracting the conversations. We’ve also taken to pinching eachother to return us to the moment, we both have busy brains and the tendancy to lose ourselves planning if we’re not careful. Walking down the street and pass a cow? Pinch. Sitting in the shade with the sea in front and a lovely breeze? Pinch.

Went back to our rooms to get ready for the evening. We had to test out Shiva Valley to ensure it would be an appropriate location for my birthday festivities the week after. It passed. We adopted ‘George’ who has been abandoned by his Israeli friends, and when we were crossing the rocks to get to the other side of the beach, we adopted Steve, an Oregonian who has been a good addition to the conversations. Once there, I managed to find Jelena and her brother and noticing that it was our first time really dancing together (not counting breakfast bowl dancing at BM in ’09) and that we had had to come to the other side of the planet to do it. The music was really good and I’m starting to learn to keep my eyes open when I dance because I keep losing my balance in the sand otherwise. Not even sure how I got in the habit of closing my eyes but I’ve been annoying myself with it since I noticed a while back. We didn’t shut down this party, it went until past midnight but when you’re expecting the night to end at 10:00 and you’ve been dancing hard with that in mind and it goes way longer, one can be pretty exhausted.

Wednesday was less exciting but no less enjoyable. We hung out with some cows and drank ginger tea. I moved back to the room with the hammock which was pleasing, trying to figure out if I’ll be able to fit one on my balcony… My dreads have started to completely fall apart, apparently my hair is too healthy. This is what I get for never dying it and rarely heat treating it. Papi was kind enough to share his experience and come over to start unhealthy-ing it so that they can start behaving better. I think they’ve gone from age 2 (not listening and running amok) to about age 4 (starting to figure out that mommy knows best but still tripping up the stairs). Soon they’ll be in the awkward, gawky years.

Went to the Wednesday market, almost overwhelming! Didn’t even know where to start and ended up mostly wandering around, noting how everything was what will be later sold in festival markets back home. Also inspiring us to create more. Instead of seeing something cool and thinking, I want that, we look and think, I can make that, but with a tweak here and an adjustment there and maybe a little… It will be interesting to see what I’ll be able to pull off by festival season :)

Heard from Jelena, YAY! And Adam and Sandra, YAY! And made plans to meet at Shorebar and then check out the Saturday night market. I had no idea how to get there so ‘George’ offered to show me and we hung out with his friends until Jelena and her friends showed up. Later on Adam (after a brutal 16 hour bus ride from Bangalore!) and Sandra arrived so I had 3 much loved Albertan faces to keep me company, bliss! We sat and chatted until it was too late to go to the market, and continued to chat until Shorebar packed up and turned out the lights. Adam and Sandra made plans to join me in Anjuna the next day as they were both staying in boring Panjim.

Slept in finally and got Adam and Sandra settled at Sai Prasad and it was time for the beach!! We had some ‘finger chips’ (fries) and booze and then Adam and I ran across the beach like 5 year olds and jumped in the ocean. We thought we had avoided most of the rocks but I still scraped my ankle, at least stingy salt water is good for it. We danced around the water for a bit before drying off and heading back to do the lame but necessary things like laundry. What a difference in mid season! It’s ready the same day! No having to wait 3 days in monsoon with nothing every really drying and a musty smell that never goes away.

Then it was off to Hilltop, where I had gone dancing last April. Much more crowded, much more people to meet, and a lot of fun. I danced, Adam and Papi played with Poi, Sandra hooped. I played with both the poi and the hoop and managed to not injure myself or anyone around, but just barely. Law here means the music shuts down at 10:00. Or depending on who’s been paid off, sometime between 10 & 4. This time it was around 11:00 and then everybody’s left wondering what’s next. A fellow in the crowd happened to be a fire juggler. Another from South Korea, happened to have a drum. So a big semi circle developed around the drunken fire juggler with some serious skills and the crowd created a rhythm with the drums, clapping, someone had a shaker, another kinda beatboxed for a bit. Once the juggling was done, he joined up with another fellow and they played with fire staffs and did some crazy cool stuff. Afterward, there was a lull and I was all, ‘SANDRA GET IN THERE!’. I ran over to the drummer on the other side and his rubber arm was twisted to play more and then Sandra worked her hoop magic for a while. The crowd dispersed when the lights started going out and we hung out with a couple from Puna until security finally convinced us to leave. 2 nights with Adam and we shut it down both times :)

In the morning, we did a quick run to the market before Adam had to leave. Thankfully, we passed an elephant so he was all happy as he hadn’t seen one yet and he’s been in India since Jan. Somehow after that and him packing, there was still time for a beer but just barely. While we were sitting a young Russian fellow came back from the rocks gushing blood from his foot, I’ve never seen so much blood all at once in real life. He just kept saying ‘no problem’ while they finally convinced him to elevate it while I went for my first aid supplies. He got bandaged up with my antibiotic ointment from my dogbite in Turkey and sterile gauze (my first aid kit is very international with the random supplies I’ve picked up along the way). We tried to tell him to not go in the sand and keep it clean but he proceeded to get a tattoo right there and I saw him the with the same bandage the next day, and it was filthy. It’s that whole youthful invincibility thing I suppose, I just hope it doesn’t get infected. Somehow in the bloody chaos, Adam made it to the airport in time and after several delays and missed connections, made it to Kolkutta where he’ll be working until he returns to Canada in April.

Once in Taipei, I met a couple who live just north of Vancouver who have been traveling the world on a regular basis since the early 70′s as well as a man from Manchester who had been stuck at the airport for days due to multiple delayed flights. These were the faces that would keep me company for my brief stint in China. Being there made me wish I had more time so that I could visit my sister and her family who moved there in August last year but it was not  in the cards and I’m fortunate that she will be returning for nearly 2 months in the summer. From there, I flew to New Delhi and OMG I’m in India!!!

Night and day difference from last year’s dumbstruck arrival. Mostly because that was night and this was day. And it’s a shiny new airport. And I knew what I was doing. Shared a cab to Karol Bagh neighbourhood with an Australian couple who was staying near the Major’s Den, where I was staying. It had the same trees out the window that I had at the Ashram and it was a little chilly *gasp* and the room was bigger than the flat I’m moving into when I return home. Basic, clean, cheap, and walking distance to what I might need like internets and water. I checked mail, made photocopies of my passport, and then dodged rickshaws, cows and motorbikes like I’d never left. Had an early night so that I would be ready for what the next day would bring. A 7:00am cab ride to the airport.

Once at the airport, I met some other Calgarian’s who were en-route to Varanassi for a wedding and we chatted until it was time to board our flights. Mine was delayed for 2 hours, no surprise, the fog was thick and as I’ve flown to Goa 3 times now, it was nothing new. I had no connecting flight so the only thing I had to worry about was my ride waiting for me on the other end. I tried to call but couldn’t get through and ended up with a phone number from the attendant that insisted I take it and call him if I ever return to India. My lily white skin is making me stand out a lot more than last time where I was darker when I started than my touring friend Neena, who is Indian.

Finally got to Goa, grabbed my pack and my friend Papi was waiting with his ancient and much beloved Enfield named Edna that was just fixed that morning after a year and a half in hibernation. Riding 70km on the back of a motorbike with my pack was not as scary as it sounds but it did feel like I had ridden a camel by the time I got off. I keep having to insist that it’s not Edna, it’s me, as Papi is very sensitive about Edna’s feelings.

First stop was Ainsley’s bar, Shooters in Baga. Ainsley had recommended a place for me to stay so we left my pack and went to go check it out. Got there and the Psy was pumping and there were hammocks!! Done. Went back for my bag and some rum and once back at Sai Prasad, danced on the rooftop with my new neighbours. This is what I came for :)

Saturday:
I had a slack day and spent the morning going through all my stuff and started to pack. It was so strenous that I had to take a nap. Or I was being lazy… I then managed to get all my photos organized to my OCD standards at the internet cafe. Because I had initially thought I’d be going to Granada I had made no plans and couldn’t reach anyone or didn’t know how to, I ended up watching TV for lack of anything else to do. A pleasant break from my chaotic schedule :)

Sunday:
Woke up at a leisurely time and went to Triana to meet Teresa for lunch beside the water. Turns out we can talk a lot. Stopped at her place to take her dog Nina for a walk and afterwards, went over to Marianna and Freddie’s. We all went for some fabulous, locally made ice cream. Teresa and I continued on after M&F went home, chatting the whole way, and before we knew it we were near her place (the other side of the city center of Seville from me, Marianna is in the middle). We figured we might as well continue our conversation and found beer. A bizarre feeling being able to walk openly with alcohol! Took the bus home and went to bed, 12 hours of walking and talking can wear a girl out!

Monday:
Since Teresa lives so close to my morning class, I stopped by and we had some breakfast before my next class and she had to go work on her paper. After running a bit longer on my second class, I managed to catch a few winks before my third class. After my fourth class, I went to meet Teresa at the Palacio Andaluz where we were meeting M&F to watch Lakshmi perform. As I was walking down the street and heard someone call my name and it was Lakshmi, Stephanie and Joshua so I joined them at Josh’s until Teresa arrived as it was right across the street. Kind of a cool feeling to run into people you know in a foreign city, makes it feel like you belong there. Shortly after settling in, I got a panicked phone call to hurry from Teresa as the location was not what she expected. It’s kind of a dinner theatre touristy kitchy kind of place but the talent there is incredible, it’s where the up and coming performers work to earn the coin that enables them to pursue their art. I recognized 2 faces on stage besides Lakshmi; Juan, the cantor from Friday and one of the classical dancers is in my morning class with Manuel. Teresa had met a couple from San Francisco while they were wandering Seville checking out courtyards and had invited them to join us. I was talking to Harold about my trip so he asked who I worked for that would let me take so much time off. I mentioned the name and he choked a little and looked kind of excited, I told them that no, we have nothing to do with large groups of cyclists, we were an agency. He got even more excited; turns out he worked with us, client side, before retiring a few years ago. It’s one of the few accounts I haven’t done any work for though so we hadn’t had previous contact, he did send me with a hello to a few peeps and we quite enjoyed our 1 degree of seperation discovery. I suspect they had no idea they would end up having tapas with the performers and having a fun small world story when they went wandering Triana that morning!

Tuesday:
Today was the big day to go to the Alhambra. I picked up my last groceries for the remainder of my time in Seville and some snacks for the 3 hour bus to Grenada. Arrived on the grounds around 3:30 and ended up waking up Marie in Victoria and having a good chat before I went in. I went to see the rest of the site before my 7:00 appointment for the restricted palace areas. The fort part was kinda meh but only because I’ve seen so many now, the generalife and the catholic portion were quite nice but nothing tops the amount of detail and quantity of the stonework in the Navarre palaces. I wish they would allow more time! I had to book it out of there though, the last bus I could get a ticket back to Seville for was 8:30 and I couldn’t find a cab at the cab stand so I had to jog down the switchback to town where I found one that got me to the station with only minutes to spare. I was home by midnight, exhausted, but it was worth it!

Wednesday:
After Manuel’s class, I joined Marian, my Estonian friend from class, for tea and wifi. After Angelita’s class, I went for a tinto de verano with Marianna, Lakshmi and Stephanie. Why is it that I develop a great social life at the END of my stay? At the same time I guess it’s kind of good or I would have never survived as long going out so much and it would have been even harder to leave. For old times sake, I stopped by the pub I went to in my early days before I knew anyone and caught up with Fernando and the crew. There was a lady there who was kind of a nutter and wouldn’t let me go on my way without correcting my grammer by talking in riddles. I went straight home after my evening classes as I was tired from the last couple days and I made sure to close my windows because now the Spanish Mosquitos are EATING MY FACE. Seriously, I’m a delicacy the world over.

Thursday:
It was Manuel’s turn to kill us today, footwork over and over until my legs could barely handle more. Went for tea with Marian again, both of us exhausted. I was understandably relieved when my class with Angelita was cancelled. As it was my last full day in Seville, I took the opportunity to wander around and take a few photos as I had been neglecting my tourist duties in favour of my residential experience. I met a charming man who spoke Spanish I could fully understand and was celebrating his 91st birthday during my wanders and even managed to squeeze in a quick nap before my private class with Lakshmi. I have a lot to learn but at least now I have a better understanding of where to begin. My last class with Juan was fun, Regina had on one of her fancier outfits and I wore my new dress. I figured it needed to be danced in at least once before being shipped home in all it’s multicolored polkadotted glory. On my way home, I received a call from my momma finally, she had arrived in Madrid on Monday. Turns out there’s a 24 hour strike on the trains the next day, hooray! I went to the train staton pronto and I was fortunate to have booked on one of the few trains that would be running. Went back home, shared the info, then called Teresa as that little adventure made me need beer. The plan was to meet her in Triana where she was with some other friends. What she forgot to mention was that I’d have to squeeze through thousands of people and caravans of revelers returning from a pilgrimage to Rocio. Every 20m of people a different band would be playing Sevillanas and people were throwing flower petals from the windows. I managed to cut through some bulls so that I could get to the other side of the street and managed to find Teresa on a much quieter street which was good because I had forgotten my cell phone and was worried we might not connect. We chatted with her friend and after he left, we continued after a super long wait for empanadas. When it was much later than intended, we started to walk to her place to call a cab for me and some drunko carrying a big beer bottle started yelling questions at us and then came between a couple parked cars and grabbed my arm quite roughly so I broke free and Teresa and I booked it. He followed us for a bit but we didn’t see him after we had found some other people on the street. A bit of an adrenaline rush to say the least, there was really no time to think of what could have happened as it was a total jumble of events in my brain. Not quite how I had expected to end my last night in Seville! Got home safe and sound though and had my last sleep in preparation for my coming day of transitions.

Friday:
Angelita has a new grandson! My caracolles choreography is going well and I managed to get a nap in before jumping on the high speed train to Madrid. 2.5 hours and tada! In Madrid! I managed to recognize my 4x removed cousin Angel that I hadn’t seen in 18 years. (we share the same great-great-great grandparent) We had some proper tapas with his mom, Nieves, and Pepe and he got me settled into his super sweet flat in Valdemoro, just outside of Madrid. It’s one of the locations I have fond memories of from my last visit, as does my mom, who had spent her summers there growing up just as I had spent mine in Sylvan Lake. We called it an early night as we were both quite tired from the week’s exertions. (he’s one of the civil engineers responsible for Spain’s wicked transportation system)

Saturday:
Woke up at a leisurely hour and popped downstairs for breakfast before jumping on the train to Madrid. We went to the center which had the crowds I was expecting in India, almost as bad as WEM on boxing day but we managed to see some of the places I don’t remember from the last time I was here. There was a feria happening so there were lots of people dressed up and at one point I heard a familiar rhythm being played on casteñets and came across dancers doing the jota that I had danced when I was 8, a traditional dance from Aragon. We stopped at his favorite people-watching pub for a beer and later on went for lunch in one of the trendy neighbourhoods. Full of food and with no plans until later, we went back to Valdemoro for a siesta.

We woke up a touch later then expected, got dressed for a night out and went back to Madrid to eat at his friend Pepa’s. I tried not to make a pig of myself but the bread here is so good as is everything else. There is definitely some mediterranean blood in me! We watched the downtown feria craziness on the news and when we figured the chaos was winding down, Angel and I said our goodbye’s to our lovely host, Pepa, and went off on our adventure. We went to his typical evening-starting pub and started with the whisky while we people watched and waited to see who of his friends would end up joining us. Gonzalo showed up to rescue us from the people we had been talking to and were starting to get too drunk for their own good. From there we went to a place called Gris and had a few more and chatted for a good while and just when I thought the night was over (by Canadian standards) we went to Elastica which was wicked awesome and we all danced our asses off. Apparently the music usually sucks but tonight we had a special treat and we only left the dance floor to replenish our alcoholic fuel. It was a great night and it was more than pleasant to find how well Angel and I connected after so long and I don’t think I could ever let 18 years pass between us again.

Sunday:
Had another good sleep in and Angel was cursing himself a little over not following my lead on breaking up the previous evenings beverages with the occasional water but his head was fine after a beer and some tapas on his patio. We went to visit his grandma and great aunt who still live in one of the few traditional homes left in the area. Just as I remember it but with less people (though it will be full of people I suspect when I go again with my mom soon) It was fantastic to see how well the ladies were doing as they’re both octogenarian’s now and still independant. We went into the city for lunch with more of his friends, I wasn’t able to say much but I’m finding I quite enjoy observing conversations to see how much I can understand. We then went for coffee and had to endure clowns honking and yelling while the entertaining discussions continued. I sadly had to go back to the train station and leave the weekend behind but made myself feel better by starting to figure out the plans for my return to India. It’ll still be monsoon so I’ll have to find a raincoat!

Monday:
Managed to survive my first dance class though tired and a little sick. Missed my second one after getting some meds and getting completely lost but decided to continue wandering and enjoy it instead of rushing to try and get unlost. Had a nap and went to my evening classes. The end.

Tuesday:
Went to classes, had a nap, went to more classes. Somehow ended up demonstrating sun salutations in my last class, downward dog in flamenco shoes is a little weird. Regina from class treated me to dinner and her lovely company after class, likely the most conversation I’ve had in Spanish since I’ve been here. The end.

Wednesday:
The city was very colorful today for a feria here, the dresses being quite different and the bulls are HUGE compared to the ones I saw in India. Managed to not get run over by the caravans on my way to my first class with Mercedes Ruiz who was covering for Manuel who was on vacation. We started a new allegrias with her and I quite like her style, lots of twisty knee stuff! I made my way through the caravans again to get to the Corte Ingles tech division and picked up an external drive, I decided I didn’t like the idea of trusting CD’s in my pack and risking lost mail packages so this way I can consolidate everything into one small package that I can carry on my person when I’m traveling about. Once my day of dancing was complete, I started to look ahead to the rest of my trip and started culling the items I intended to ship home. Also did a little maintenance with a sewing needle as the weight loss, though not huge, had made my bikini top a little too dangerous so I made it a little safer.

Thursday:
It’s hot now. As in 41 degrees kinda hot. And there’s no AC in the Castellar studio. I think Angelita was trying to kill us today, brutal, yet awesome. Nothing like being drenched from dancing until your body’s about ready to give out, it’s better than hot yoga! Oh, and I’m officially off the bandaids today, yay! There’s parts of my toes that no longer have sensation but there are no new wounds and my dance shoes are more comfortable than my Merrel’s now. I went and picked up a proper flamenco dress finally, it’s nice and loud and I’ll post a pic soon. I spent some time that night with the internets and started consolidating all my photos (you may or may not have seen some colorful language about it in my tweets and status) The café owner who is now quite used to me, treated me to some very tasty ham he was having for dinner. Meat is good, especially the kind where bacon comes from, also a sign of my western Mediterraneaness.

General updates:
Style: starting to think the clothing fashion is determined by Rajesthan, not Italy as there are droopy balloon pants everywhere I look, India, Turkey, now Spain. Some can pull it off, most cannot, especially when made with denim. Lots of hip belts, these have been around for years for us festival goers, they’re pretty mainstream here though. Style I cannot understand; dread mullets. Why? There may be a handful that look exceptionally good but the rest look exceptionally stupid.

Books: I ran out and am REALLY glad I got the classics app for the Ipod before I left, I’ve read Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass, Huckleberry Finn and am now on Dracula. If my mom doesn’t bring me anything to read, I’ll be on the Iliad before I get to english land.

Personal notes: My brother is settled back in Canada after his journey and is going to school for degree number 2 in Victoria. My sister is moving to CHINA within days of my return. That’s forever away so it really sucks but it will be a great experience for all of them. (yes my favorite little people are part of this package deal :( And for not good news, a family member has been in the ICU for a couple weeks and is very ill. The only thing I can do from this far is to ask you all to consider donating blood if you are able, it comes in handy.

Saturday:
At the ungodly hour of 11:00am, I got a call to meet the boys near my place as they had already been up for hours. While I waited at the Macarena gate, there were piles of people at the church in their Sunday best but it wasn’t for a wedding, there were about a dozen children, girls in white dresses and boys in sailor suits, having their first communion, it was a pleasant slice of life in Seville. The three of us walked about the town with Fehmi and I taking photos and Enrico getting bored and annoyed with us for being tourists, so we took even more photos :) We went to get something to eat and the boys got some pastries and I got croquettas. After a few hours, I left the boys to have a siesta which I’m getting quite used to. Got a text later that there was paella at their hostel that night and of course I had to check out what was being touted as being the best paella in Seville. Let’s just say they’re lucky my dad doesn’t live there as it didn’t come close to being as good as his. The sangria on the other hand was perfectly acceptable. The plans to go out were derailed by a futball match that kept the boys entertained until about 2:00am, thankfully I met Jen, a fellow Canadian from Kelowna that I had a great conversation with and we even had a friend in common (of course). A Swedish fellow appeared in the midst of all the conversations that also knew The Knife, but this time literally as he’s from the same town in Sweden. Fehmi had been texting me for the last hour trying to get Enrico to stop talking so we could go clubbing but I was busy with Jen and eventually he gave up and went to bed. I was about to head home to do the same but a now drunken Enrico insisted it was time to go out. I figured what the hell and we wandered to Triana. Apparently things don’t get bumping here until at least 2:30 so this time the club was packed and the bouncers looked discerning and we weren’t dolled up so we went to the pub from the previous night. Everyone was well into their cups and a fellow from Barcelona fed us booze and chatted and kept insisting that Enrico should be Canadian not Italian and why was he so serious? I pointed out that he was far from serious and only appeared that way because he was borracho. I was quite tipsy as well and after taking goofy photos with our new friend, we merrily made our way home.

Sunday:
Did a whole lot of nothing. I wandered about town, had ice cream, checked my mail then went home for a nap that lasted until 9:00, oops. Apparently Enrico slept until 10:00 and Fehmi of the boundless energy went all over the place.

Monday:
It was supposed to be Fehmi’s last day and Eric was on his way too so we all met up after my second class and during Enrico’s lunch break and hung out as a quad for the last time. In my haste to meet them I realized much later that I forgot my dance shoes at the studio and I still had 3 other classes at other studios before I was scheduled to be back at that one which was bad. Eric and Enrico had left at this point so I dragged Fehmi to the hidey-hole location of the studio where I take Angelita’s class and as luck would have it, the door wasn’t locked so I showed Fehmi some stomping as he was flying out soon and hadn’t seen any flamenco yet. (technically he still hasn’t seen any flamenco yet because I suck but now he understands it’s definitely not salsa)

Tuesday:
Ended up skipping my last class of the day because I had no food left at home and my hours make weekday errands impossible. My 12:00 class was changed until 1:00 which means I have an extra hour in the morning but it’s not enough time to go home, and then 3 free hours in the afternoon when everything is closed for siesta and then when everything is open again, I have classes until everything is closed again. I had a sandwich with a new girl in class, Jessica, to stave off the junkfood cravings that happen in grocery stores when you go shopping with an empty belly. After filling the larder at home, I heard from Enrico that Fehmi was stuck in Seville because of the stupid volcanic ash so I went to hang out at the hostel for an hour and stayed for three.

Wednesday:
Booked my tickets to Madrid, for the weekend and for my exit, still amazes me how fantastic the transport is here, I wouldn’t need a car here at all if I was a permanent resident. Also picked up sunglasses, third pair on this trip so far. I originally had the philosophy of getting cheap ones all the time but then realized I get them all the time because I keep wrecking them because cheap ones don’t have cases so this time I got good ones. Hung out at the hostel too late again while Madrid won the futball game and we chatted and chilled. I heard from Kelowna Jen who invited me for the weekend to a beach in Portugal but I took a raincheck as Madrid is already on the table and I also heard from New Zealand Josh whose epic oddysey continues in Olympos. At the hostel, Fehmi met a Canadian couple who had tried to go to the Infected Mushroom show in Istanbul but didn’t get tickets and wanted to meet me but it was not to be so I told Fehmi to direct them to my Flickr where I posted some video of it. Bla bla bla, don’t worry, almost done.

Thursday:
Had two no-shows for instructors today, one was becoming a grandmother for the fifth time but we still had the class as the dancers are quite advanced and there was much discussion as to which beat to start a particular series of steps on. During my day-to-evening class break, I was interviewed by a fellow writing his phd thesis on foreigners coming to Seville to dance which was really interesting. I was then late to meet Jessica but we still had time for her to introduce me to tinto con limon and the two of us arrived to class full of giggles giving Juan a raised eyebrow, after laughing our way to the studio. As my last class was cancelled, I went to the hostel which had some bizarre moments including Fehmi begging me to let him wear my new dress, a guy burning his leg hairs, another one wearing my practise skirt as a dress and a very heated political discussion between two Brits that the rest of us backed slowly away from. I actually got home at a decent time (11:30) did some laundry, made dinner and went to bed.

As for the Flamenco…
The first couple days did a number on my feet, I would be afraid to sit in case I wouldn’t be able to stand again. This week they look worse than they feel and other parts are sore, somedays it feels like my legs might give out, others my abs have been worked so hard it feels like my ribs are bruised when I touch them. Love it! My instructors are so amazing, I wouldn’t be able to pick a favorite as their styles and characters are so different and they’re all so good and ridiculously patient with me, especially my two morning classes that are much more advanced. I’m definitely finding that doing some yoga in the morning helps and I’m feeling about 60% in my classes now whereas before I felt about 30%. I can do 90% of the steps individually but when it comes to tying together all the choreography, I mess up. I seem to need to go over things more than the rest but I guess at the same time it’s been over a decade since I danced regularly so I have to retrain myself. I have gotten a ‘mui bien’ from my tough teachers though so I know I’m improving. In the evenings it’s a bit of an ego boost in that I’m the one with my skirt hiked so people can follow me instead of the other way around in the mornings. One thing I realized as to why the morning classes are tougher is that the day students are the ones who are dancing to perform professionally whereas the evening students are dancing for fun which explains the vast difference in skill in classes that are all considered principiante. I’m currently learning 3 choreographies of allegrias and 1 of caracolles with an abanico, which uses the same count as allegrias so I hear the count in my head everywhere I go, un-dos, dos-tres, quatrocincosies, siete ocho nueve diez…

As for the dancing, I´ve never seen so many amazing dancers in one place, and my instructors are incredible! My first class is with Manuel Betanzo, one of my toughest, but even if I don´t remember all the steps or have trouble with them, I´m learning just by being there. Same with Angelita Vargas, so much fire! Again, very difficult! Then in the evenings I have Juan Polvillo and Lola Jermanillo, a little more my pace as the evening classes are little more mainstream. I haven´t met Juan yet but he comes on trusted recommendation.

Current status: Dog bite no longer needs a bandage. Feet on the other hand… blisters from hell! My heels are manageable, my pinky toe, not so much. I had to take the day off in the hopes it might improve so that I can at least mark my footwork. I’m hoping by my second week, I can put my full energy into it. Thank goodness I have 4!

Monday:
Woke up in a room that feels like a home now, I’m the only one in it, which has been rare on this trip, and all is unpacked and I don’t have to see my pack until the 28th. Went out to go to my first class, apparently it’s very easy to get a buspass charged, but near impossible to find the card itself. After being sent to about a dozen places, the kiosks said the tobacconists, the tobacconists pointed to the kiosks, eventually I found it at some random shop where the old men where pissy about the American girl who interrupted their conversation. I said in Spanish that I was Canadian. I may not speak it very well but I can understand plenty. Turned out with all my wandering to find the pass, I had walked nearly the distance I was going to bus it, but in the opposite direction. The blisters I got from the tour the day before were worth it because I was at least able to figure out where I was and where to go. The city has the best transport arrangement I’ve ever experienced. The center is about 10km square with a ring road that the buses continually loop on so the wait is never long. Also, there are public bikes you can rent and bike paths beside every sidewalk in the main areas. The only confusing part are the street names, apparently there’s one that changes names 25 times throughout the stretch of it, I’m regularly stopping people to get them to show me where I am on my map.

Anyways, the rest of the day went like this: go to my first class, stomp my feet, race to my second class, the time was moved so no stomping but now I’m registered and start tomorrow, then I go have tea and use the wifi, then groceries, lunch and a siesta, then to my third class, the time was moved again so I only caught the end but liked the teacher who was subbing for the class I wanted and now I’m taking hers too. Had dinner, a shower, took off all the bandages with the help of tea tree oil, now I’m in bed. This is how my days will be for the next month so I won’t be having daily updates cause that’s just boring.

Sunday:
I missed the sun! Oh heat, how I missed you too! I’m sitting on the rooftop at the Samay drinking tea and blogging at my leisure while my stuff waits in storage for when I go to my apartment later. I’ve been trying to figure out where all the places I need to go tomorrow will be and found that everything is pretty much walking distance. I’ll be taking a walking tour later to get my bearings and getting my plans for tomorrow tighter. I’m loving the ability to understand the majority of what people say and everyone has been so helpful! From the couple on the plane who gave me their daughters info in case I need it, to the futball scout who made sure I got to my next flight, to the cabbie who took me to the hostel, to the people at the front desk. Men actually offer their seats to women, stand up when you come near, ladies first through every doorway… I’m home.