Friday:
My last day of classes in Seville, I’ll likely never be able to do something like this again so it was hard to say goodbye. To have spent a month dancing with the masters I had the chance to dance with is the stuff of dreams. First it was Manuel, who runs the toughest school in Andalucia, then Angelita, who has more spirit in her late 50′s than I can ever hope to have. The skill and patience of these two I am so grateful for. I had to run home afterwards to place my fan, shoes and practise garb into the box I had prepared to ship to Canada. I staggered with my enormous box to the post office, 11 kilos, wouldn’t have been so bad except for the awkwardness of the box. Back to the apartment to have my last Sevillian shower, meal, and to pack my backpack. I passed off what I didn’t need but didn’t want to waste to my roomate, handed over the keys with a grateful goodbye and I was back to being a homeless backpacker and off to the Almeda de Hercules to meet Teresa. She got lost because she hates maps and made the mistake of asking tourists for directions but we eventually met up and went over to Marianna and Freddie’s place. Lakshmi, Chris and Stephanie were there along with Joaquin, and the 8 of us went off for a dose of the best ice cream in Seville. I had Cinnamon and Ginger to treat the taste buds while I continued to lament not having connected with this amazing group on my first day so that I could have spent more time with them. I know our paths will cross in the future somehow, they must! The time came when I had to put on the pack and head to the train station, many hugs, kisses and promises shared and I was on my way.

A 2.5 hour train ride later and I was in Madrid and my momma was there! She had come with the help of Fernando and Maria Jose, her childhood friend, who had braved the chaos of a city with no public transport, due to the strike, and police searches at Atocha, to make sure no-one was going to blow it up again. Went to the hotel and the two of us went all OCD on our baggage and eventually went to sleep after catching up.

Saturday:
Carrying that stupid box made me very ouchie but I managed to move my arms enough to be able to function. My mom and I took a bus to Madrid (we’re staying in a nearby town called Alcorcon) and went to visit relatives my mom hadn’t seen in 50 years. These are the children of the man who had found the nurse to care for my grandfather when he was sick with TB in his early 20′s, at the beginning of the civil war. Many memories were shared and adjustments made to the family tree my mom brought with her for such a purpose, 6 generations worth of the line San Juan De Santa Cruz. After 6 hours of visiting, not nearly enough, it was time to go. We had patatas bravas for dinner and Franklin made his debut, he’ll be chill Smurf’s companion while my mom is with me. He also likes to eat a lot too so they’ll get along great.

Sunday:
Today we went to visit my mom’s cousin Manolo and his family in Madrid. I can still remember them from ’92 when they came to visit us at our hotel. After catching up and sharing stories for several hours, my mom and I went for bravioli which is patatas with the brava and alioli sauces combined; proper patatas too, I’ve seen them served with French fries which is really lame.

Monday:
Stayed in Alcorcon today. Had my now usual serano ham, manchego cheese, flan and fruit breakfast. We went shopping at the Corte Ingles with Ma Jose where I found some jeans that fit well (my Mavi’s I could pull off without unbuttoning them) a hoodie and a light raincoat for my return to India. We went to chill at Ma Jose’s house with the wifi and I had a gold ice cream that I hadn’t been able to find since Olympos in Turkey. Gold tastes like peanut butter. The bullfights were on TV and it was pretty sad, the poor bull was so weak and it just dragged on, the fights have been particularly horrific this year. Went home, ate, chatted too late again, went to bed.

Tuesday:
Took the bus-train-bus combo to Valdemoro to visit with my grandmothers cousins, Rosario and Nieves. It was kind of neat stopping someone for directions and when they heard the street name we wanted they referred to the area as the Mazaracin homes, Mazaracin was my grandmothers maiden name and the name hasn’t been there for 2 generations but the locals still remember. We went to a cafe to have a nibble to avoid interrupting the aunts from a siesta, they’re both in their mid 80′s. Within minutes, the familiar faces of Pepe and Nieves (the daughter) were spotted and we pub hopped until it was time for Nieves to go back to her shop and for us to go to the aunt’s. These women are so incredible as are the rest of the family they created, everyone so warm and open. As the day progressed, various children and grandchildren dropped by to visit and share stories and I met Sara, who was quite little the last time I was here, and Hector, Angel’s brother who had been at summercamp last time and I had never met. We took photo’s saying ‘crisis’ instead of ‘cheese’ and eventually it was time to go. I made plans with Angel for the following night before Hector took us home in his Golf, first ride in a VW since I left home! It’s always so hard to leave these gatherings and it makes me wish I had a videographic memory so I can keep all the faces and stories in my head forever.

Wednesday:
Went to the post office to send some packages home, charge the phone and get stamps. Chores done, off to Madrid to do the touristy thing and see the city from the top of a double decker bus. We went to the plaza mayor and had gambas a l’ajillo, my first dose since arriving in Spain almost 5 weeks ago. There were several human statues in amazing costumes and for some reason there was a fat guy in a faded spiderman costume hanging around. We went to my mom’s old ‘hood to see where she lived, went to school, went to church and her favorite pastry shop. Also saw where Pepe Iglesias used to have a cafe where his nephew Julio used to hang out playing music while nursing a futball injury. We went on an adventure looking for a jewellery store that sold charro style silver jewellery from Salamanca, nothing near the center had any in stock. We had to walk quite a bit more than we bargained for (uphill!) to get there but we made it and were rewarded by finding what we were looking for. We wandered to a park on our way to get the bus home and went to a park that my mom used to go to and much to her surprise, there was an ancient Egyptian temple she had never seen before. It had been a gift from the Egyptian government a couple years before she moved to Canada and hadn’t been assembled until after she left. Later than expected, we arrived at the hotel and instead of the nap I had hoped for, I had to jump in the shower and get ready to go back to Madrid to meet my cousin. Nights out here start after 11:00 and much to my mother’s amusement, go until after 4:00. We had a ton of fun with a group of 14 at our peak and lots of chatting at the pub and later on, dancing. All but Gonzalo from my previous weekend managed to make it out (apparently he was still recovering from the last time I came :) and there was another Natalia and a girl visiting from Columbia. The girls were a little disappointed though as the ‘scenery’ was quite nice, but having ended up in the trendy rainbow district meant that most of the boys were unavailable. Angel finally couldn’t stay awake anymore and decided his prima ‘has no end!’ and we went to catch cabs home and I made it to my bed at 5:30am. Oops!

Thursday:
This is where the Oops comes in. Had to meet Maria Jose and Fernando at 9:30am. Tired. Went to Segovia which was beautiful, I was excited for the aqueduct, the best preserved one outside of Italy and still functional. Turns out there was a lot more to the town too with it’s cathedral, the alcazar, and a smattering of little hippie shops which left me dreaming of a much larger backpack. We also saw the palace where a nanny accidentally dropped the heir to the throne out the window hundreds of years ago, I plan on googling the details when I have some decent wifi. Once our adventure in Segovia was complete, we went to our host’s chalet in a nearby village and I caught a few winks while Fernando did some tooling around. The summer homes here are way fancier that the city homes because they have the space to go all out, kind of the opposite of back home. We went for lunch and I found that I can never get used to seeing babies in bars filled with smoke. Once the day was done, our hosts dropped us off and the packing commenced. I still have room in the pack which is good because I’d like to try not to have to send another package home before I head back in August.

The End.

PS. I don’t know how to do accents on the iPod touch so there.

Friday:
After my classes, I determined it would be prudent to figure out the post situation as my time will be rather limited on my last day which is the only day I can ship unless I want to carry my dance gear with me for the next two months. Mission successful as the times will work, the location is close and I went home for a siesta armed with a box large enough to hold all my stuff. I had a nice long nap which prepared me for what would be a long night. I went to the Pena Pies Flamenco tablao to meet some of the girls from class to see our friend Lakshmi perform. It was fantastic! She was amazing as was the cantor and the guitarist. After a few numbers, the crowd was invited and there were many that took turns jumping in to sing and dance and all were quite talented and it looked like everyone really enjoyed themselves. After the show was over and the bar was near empty, the music continued as everyone sat around a table drumming and singing with the occassional dancing. During this time I met Teresa and we chatted and hung out and made plans to meet up soon afterwards. Eventually it was time to leave and we split off into different groups based on the direction we were going. My group; consisting of Stephanie, Chris and Joshua, ended up going to another bar and drinking tinto’s de verano and chatting for another couple hours and Lakshmi and Juan joined us after a while. It was eventually time to go home for real this time and it was a bit of a struggle to sleep as all the dogs decided to bark at the coming dawn.

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 neat 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 quite high, 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 was 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 oname 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 Colin 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!

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 met the greatest people 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.

Alright, a little behind so I’ll try to remember what I can, will be a little scattered.

Friday:
Angelita has a new grandson! My caracolles choreography was 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, who had come to meet me. (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 castenets and came across dancers doing the jota that I had danced when I was 8, a traditional dance from the north. 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 fantastic 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 Suryanamaskars in my last class, downward dog in flamenco shoes is a little weird. Regina from class treated me to dinner and her company after class. 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 she too has her own unique style that I quite like, 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 cafe 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 copycats 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.

Friday:
As I don’t have classes Friday evenings, I went to meet Enrico at a nearby plaza with his friend Fehmi who had just arrived from London. We went and hung out with beer and chatted about music and flicks and our official status of trio was cemented when I was able to prove that not only do I know who ‘The Knife’ is, I also had them on my iPod. I was almost kicked out though when I admitted to not having seen ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ but I was quickly forgiven as I was a fan of ‘Benny and Joon’. Also, turns out I just happen to be in London for Fehmi’s birthday and The Knife is playing so we made future plans for the end of July. We decided to find a place to continue the evening so we headed to Triana. We first went to a pub and had more beer, we wanted Jagerbombs but they ran out of Jag so we did some other random shot. Then it was time for a club. We were surprised to find it completely dead at 1:00am while everyone was at the pubs and on the streets so we promptly left after I took a moment to tweak my bandage situation (still breaking in the shoes I picked up in Turkey). We wandered about trying to find another place that could make Jagerbombs and after sitting for a while discussing our next move, we realized we were sober and that we would call it a night with plans to meet up the next day. Took a cab and Fehmi and I geeked out as he went into ecstatic praise about CS5.

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. 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 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. Apparently 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 tinto con limon and the two of us arrived to class full of giggles 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 is skill in classes that are both 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…

I´m 4 days in and somewhat settled. I have an address, a phone, and a nearby internet cafe. The apartment is nice though my roomates are a little strange, only one leaves to walk the dog and the rest of the time they´re watching TV or sleeping while I´m in and out constantly. The people here are great, it´s nice to have people say ´hola´as I walk down the street, and the men say ´guapa´without following you around or wanting an awkward conversation. The couples can´t stop themselves from nuzzling eachother, from teenagers to seniors. Everyone wants to help and assist, a woman from my dance class took me where I needed instead of just pointing when I was looking for El Corte Inglis to get some dance gear. It could be the difference that comes with speaking the language but it feels like more than that. The only sign of recession here is in the closed shops, certainly not in the people, everyone´s out and mingling and laughing. The sound of Flamenco is everywhere, on playlists and in narrow streets where you hear the sounds of palmas and zapateados echoing as you walk past.

As for the dancing, I´ve never seen so many amazing dancers at one time! 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, a true gypsy dancer, so much fire! Again, very difficult! Then in the evenings I have Juan Polvillo and Lola Jermanillo, a little more my pace and very good instructors although 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!

Sunday:
As I finished my last post, I met Enrico the Italian who has just come here for a 7 month internship at an architectural firm. We went for a wander to find a pub he could watch the motorcycle races on and once there, I saw croquettas on the menu and got all excited until it turned out they have almonds in them so I went with patatas con ailoli. Stupid allergies but anything with garlic is a good substitute. Oh, and I had a beer, for real! I even finished it! There I go again, messing with the universe as you knew it. Unfortunately, his guy lost and we sadly walked back to the hostel with future plans as he has friends coming in from Turkey this weekend. There was a city walk arranged by the hostel which I joined, figured it was a good plan to know a bit of the city I’ll be calling home until the 28th. I’ve been on quite a few orientation walks in many places but this was the first time where the stories and history were familiar as my recent and distant ancestors played a role and were affected by it and technically I suppose my very existance is because of it. Dario was a fantastic guide, I’ll likely join in on some of the other tours he conducts daily, especially the flamenco and tapas tours he does at night. He’s not a fan of the bull fighting and gave a gory, factual description of what goes on in the ring, I didn’t mention that part of my ancestry… When I got back from the tour it was time to put on the pack and carry my stupid box and look ridiculous until a cab came to take me to my new digs. The owner is out of town so his brother and girlfriend were here to welcome me and show me everything. My room is nice, a little tight for yoga but as it seems they sleep really late, I’ll use the living room in the mornings, I’ll definitely be needing it to keep my focus for my classes. I unpacked my bag and put things in drawers and hung things up so it feels more settled. There is a dog here, Jaco, but he’s cool and I made him promise not to eat me. This one’s a Travis dog (cockerspaniel) and not part pitbull like the one in Patara. The only downside is that they don’t know the wifi password, I’ll try to email Juan directly to get it. I went for a wander around my new ‘hood, made a couple phone calls and got some ramen to tide me over until I can get some groceries. Having a strong Catholic population means the only thing you can really do on a Sunday is go to church and drink so most everything is closed.

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 tabacconists 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.

Saturday:
Today started with excitement over Spain and sadness over leaving Turkey. It quickly turned to panic. Omer suggested I do my web check-in before Idil came to go for breakfast. That is when I discovered my flight was for 6:00am, not 6:00pm and it was 9:30am. (these were the papers that went AWOL in Goa) Enter the feeling of absolute panic that is impossible to express and you find yourself wandering in circles because you have no idea what to do. Thankfully Omer is an experienced traveller and we were soon going over the options. I called the airline in Spain and as expected, you snooze you lose, literally. Then we started looking to see what the cheapest option was including planes and trains. We couldn’t book stuff online for some reason and we had to go to the airport anyway to mail my package so I packed my bag in weak hope that it would get sorted and get me to Spain in time for Monday. At the post office it turned out the machines were down for the weekend and now I was stuck with a box of stuff on top of everything else. Back at the airline desk that was supposed to open at 1:00 but it was 1:45 now. Turns out my flight was transferable, umm, awesome! The flight were sold out until the next evening though, boo. Unless I wanted to upgrade to business class, for a mere 197euro instead of the original 519euro, SCORE! After warm goodbye’s and inexpressible gratitude to my saviour and companions from the last 3 weeks (seriously, Omer even changed my Turkish Lira for Euro’s), it was off to wait until check-in an hour later. I waited in the slow going lineup until I realized I could go through the VIP one with people wondering what was up with the backpacking hippie girl in first class, I flew through with no extra charge on the box of stuff and up to the lounge where I had something to eat and access to wifi. Got a whole row to myself on the flight and a great dinner, the plane was nothing fantastic but I had piles of space and played musical chairs confusing the poor guy in front who unexpectedly tilted back to hear my clattering dishes that thankfully never spilled. Next flight, back to the VIP room in the gorgeous Barajas airport with power to charge the iPod and on my second flight, I had all of business class to myself. The flight was shorter than I thought and next thing I knew I was in Seville. I decided that the box was a bit of a pain but also good because now I’d have a larger wardrobe to work with for the month. I took a cab to the Samay hostel which is fantastic, after some twittering and facebooking, I climbed on my bunk and went to sleep.

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 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!

Thursday:
Today was finally the day to see all the things people come to Istanbul to see. After going past blocks and blocks of fabric shops, cell phone shops and mosques, I got off the tram at the Sultanahmet station. My first stop were the cisterns, eerie yet beautiful and almost solemn. They weren’t originally on my list but they came highly recommended from Omer and I’m glad I went. Next stop, ice cream. The crowds were kinda insane in the main center so I wanted to chill for a bit before things got crazy. I was expecting these crowds in India, not here, what was nice though was seeing Indian tourists, I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing women wearing sari’s. While I sat I was approached by multiple fellows wanting to practice English on thier ‘day off’, one went away on his own and wasn’t too bad, the other seemed like he would follow me to every site so I got rid of him by taking his number, I definitely prefer wandering at my own leisure and not feeling like I have to keep a conversation going. I checked out the blue mosque, the familiar arches, domes, intricate mosaics and tiles, stained glass and lanterns were stunning. Next stop, Aya Sofya. Again, wow, the golden incredibly high domes, the arabic influence seemlessly blended in with the roman, have to be seen to be believed.

The highlight for me though had to be the Archeological museum and the Topkaki Palace. I was originally going to save it for the next day but Omer suggested I did it then and there. I ended up spending 4 hours in total compared to less than than 2 hours for the previous 3 places. The museum had an enormous collection and I kept thinking I had come to the end of it but would find a whole other wing or floor of history. Millenias of statues and artifacts, gaining more detail as the centuries moved forward in the collection. My favorite was the necropolis, here were all the portions of the tombs that were missing from the sites. The most amazing item in the collection had to be Alexanders tomb though, absolutely incredible. I finally made it out of the museum and was surprised there was still daylight, I felt like I could have spent several more hours but I was getting tired and a little overwhelmed, so much to take in! From there I went to explore the palace museum itself, the highlight there being the treasury. I’m not even kidding, there were emeralds as big as my fist and an 83karat diamond. Drinking flasks with matching pen boxes coated in rubies, diamonds and emeralds. I even saw a jewel encrusted throne that was a spoil of war with the Moghul’s in India to tie my journey together nicely.

It was definitely a successful day of sightseeing. It ended with a light dinner after the previous days excess that included shrimp and Iranian watermelon. Only one day left!

Friday:
As I saw the sights yesterday, it was time to wander in Taksim, where people go to see and be seen. I was surprised at the large military presence but they were just preparing for labour day as it would be the first time in decades that the area would be open after violent protests the last time. I hadn’t meant to buy shoes, I was going to wait until Spain to replace the ones I had bought last summer in San Francisco that were now falling apart. I saw some from a local brand that I couldn’t resist and fit the bill of being comfortable, flat, and wearable with jeans and skirts. I walked up and down the area a couple times, stopping in familiar shops to browse and even Lush, just to smell it. Afterwards I sat in one of the many alleyways of cafe’s to drink some tea and people watch. Then I started the hunt to figure out how to get to Sultanahmet. In the end I had to call Omer who shared the secret I was lacking, I needed to go underground, which would explain why I couldn’t find the funicular earlier. Once there, I decided to brave the bazaar again to pick up a few things to send home. This time wasn’t quite as entertaining as it was quite busy so instead of being approached by everyone to enter thier shop, I had a hard time getting attention in the shops I entered. I feel I did well, the people I dealt with gave me appropriate prices except the guy who tried to sell me a necklace with plastic beads for 25TL, saying they were glass, he even went down to 5TL but the fact that he was dishonest in the first place kept my feet moving in the other direction. Once I had what I had come for, it was back home with a stop at the mall to pick up a few necessities, like cartoon bandaids for my improving wound. Tea tree oil I think is what finally got things healing again, it’s no longer swollen and it doesn’t hurt as much.

Back at Omer’s it was time to get dolled up for a friend’s birthday. It happened to be at the restaurant I had been wanting to take Omer and Idil to so it worked out well. Everyone was really welcoming and the birthday girl asked if she could hate me because I was going to Seville, danced flamenco, spoke Spanish and was half Spanish as we walked arm in arm to a Cuban club. What a perfect way to transition from Turkey to Spain! There was a live band and on the breaks, very familiar music that I love to dance to. There was a large group of us that took over an area of the bar where we all danced together amongst the couples that knew how to dance to Salsa and Merengue, mine was way too rusty to try with a partner! I gave out my contact info so we could all keep in touch in the future as we all hugged and cheek pecked our goodbyes once the length of the day started to show on our faces, with regrets we hadn’t met sooner. Omer and I finished the night with some Russel Peter and I slept like the dead.