Sevilla 2008  Part V

Our Flamenco Journey Continues

Monday May 26, 2008

    I emailed another update today, Part IV, but I didn’t go to the cante class I had planned to go to. I have arranged to take a class from Juan del Gastor tomorrow, finally. I am ready. Lakshmi came over and practiced again. Freddie and I did palmas for her Siguiriyas.
    Then she and I made dinner and we all ate at home. That felt good. She is going to wait in line early tomorrow morning at the El Monte Theater to get us tickets for Angelita Vargas. The box office opens at eleven AM but people gather before nine to wait in line. That is so archaic. I hate it, but that is the way things are here and we do want to see the show. Delia and Francesca will also be waiting in line, but they plan to get there even earlier. Delia is Angelita’s sister-in-law and Francesca is Angelita’s niece. And even they have to wait in line.
    Yesterday I hung up four small, embroidered mantones (Spanish shawls) on our walls, green, red, black and turquoise. I had bought them in Sevilla during other years here and I brought from back with me from California. They make the apartment look cheerier and brighter and cover the blotched walls.
    Our friend Lucy in California wrote and asked us how the high price of oil has affected us here. Fortunately we don’t have to pay gas at this apartment and we don’t have a car here, but the euro is out of sight. Our exchange rate is awful so everything here is terribly expensive. Something that’s only 24 euros is really $40 something dollars. This is the most expensive trip we have experienced here.
    Things are also hard for the Spanish people. They feel that things have gotten very expensive for them too and that life is more of a struggle than it used to be here. And for us it’s even more expensive here because of the horrible exchange rate. I keep wishing I could earn some euros. The economy is not good here either. Many buildings are for sale but they are not moving.
    There is a man with a cane who begs on a street corner near us. Freddie makes a point to give him a euro every day when we go to breakfast. Freddie says he just likes the man, he feels a heart connection with him.
    I notice that many old people walk with canes here, more than I notice in California. This morning for a while, each table at Bar Algabeño had a person with a cane. Of curse, people walk more in this culture than they do in Santa Cruz. Maybe that is why I notice so many canes. Crippled people still need to walk to get places. Or is it also that the health care is worse and there are really more people needing canes?

Tuesday May 27, 2008

    I had a good class with Juan today, all cante (singing), Alegrías and Bulerías. We reviewed some of what I had learned already and then we added a new Bulerías. It felt good to continue my studies, however, my energy is still low. But maybe I’m not counting the energy spent walking.
    This morning, after breakfast at Bar Algabeño and orange juice with Lucy, I walked back to the American Consulate, twenty minutes away at a very fast pace. Yesterday I had gone there because I needed to get a document notarized but the Consulate was closed for an American holiday (Memorial day).
    I have been trying to find a notary here for almost a week and finally discovered last Friday that the American Consulate is the only place I can get something notarized for America. By that time it was after one PM and the Consulate closes at one every day. They take both American and Spanish holidays. What a life. I tried Monday and they were closed so I had to wait until today.
    When I arrived there again today the woman at the desk who had told me they were closed yesterday, remembered me. She smiled and said yes. I love that about Spain. Today they were open and the older American man at the Consulate was very nice. But the notary cost me thirty euros, which is quite a bit more in dollars!
    From there I had to go to the post office to mail the document by certified mail. It was the opposite direction from home. I took a number and began to fill out the forms required for mailing internationally. At last they called my number. When I was finished I rushed off to the Mercado near home to get some things before they closed.
    I had to take another number at MariCarmen’s always-crowded Fruteria in el Mercado. There were ten numbers in front of me, so I went to the organic stall to see what they had and returned to the line at MariCarmen’s with still a lot of time to spare.
    Finally I headed for home. I had my class with Juan scheduled for 2:30. And I did get some good walking in, at least an hour at a brisk pace. I don’t seem to count walking as exercise, but I know that walking is exercise.
    I managed a shower and a hair wash this afternoon after my class, while there was still hot water. (There was not much sun to heat the water today). It is now eight PM and feels like four. Freddie is resting on the couch and I am still pushing myself.
The weather is cold and I saw people outside with umbrellas, although I don’t hear the rain. Last year I don’t remember so much cold weather. I’ll probably complain, though, when it gets too hot.
    We are settling in here. We are getting to know people in the neighborhood and my Spanish is improving. Each trip we take is so different. This one so far seems low key and more restful for me. Thursday night we go to a show to see Angelita Vargas, a wonderful dancer. Then Friday we plan to go to Moron to see Juan and Miguel Funi perform again. Saturday our friends Susana and Paco are having an open house. They are moving their art studio to the country.
    Tomorrow Freddie wants to visit Andres at his guitar workshop in Triana and to see how the repairs for his guitar are coming along. Paco and Pili are back from Paris and we talked to Pili and instant messaged with Paco today. Pili offered to pick Freddie up tomorrow and take him to Triana.
    I am trying to decide whether to rest or go out and buy a needle and thread so I can sew a button on Freddie’s shirt. I am definitely more domestic here than at home.

Friday May 30, 2008

    Today is another día de fiesta and things are closed. Wednesday after breakfast at Bar Algabeño Freddie and I realized that the shop next door sold fabric so we went in a bought a needle and thread. It was so easy.
    In the afternoon we went to Triana with Pili and Soleá. Freddie spent time at Andres’ shop watching him work on guitars. Andres is truly a master. He has almost finished work on Freddie’s broken guitar. He has made a new inlaid head and attached it so it looks seamless. He put the wooden pegs in that Freddie had wanted. He just has to polish the guitar and Freddie will have it back. Pili and I went out for a tapa and Andres, Soleá and Freddie met us a little later when Andres left work at 7:30 PM. We went back to our house and showed Pili the photos of Soleá’s communion on the computer.
    I sang an Alegrías for Pili that I had learned from Juan and then she sang one and I danced in the bata that Cihtli had just given me. Cihtli said it was an old bata and would probably be too big but that she didn’t want it anymore and I could do whatever I wanted with it. So I took a little while to unpack it, dreading what I would find. I thought I would be getting an old moldy, ugly unusable skirt the way she had described it. However, when I did unpack it I found a gorgeous purple and orange skirt and blouse. The bata (skirt with a long train) is very long but it is beautiful. It needs a zipper and to have a few holes repaired, but it will be perfect to practice in. Soleá and I danced and Pili and I sang.
    Then Pili drove us to Plaza de Armas where we were meeting Cihtli and Ethan to see the movie of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull in English at the Cine5. We were starved and Soleá wanted Mac Donald’s (pronounced “MaDohna”). Then Freddie decided he would get one too so I also had one, but without the bread. Who would have ever thought …? Then Pili took Soleá home because she had school the next day and Freddie and I went to the theater and saw a wonderful movie with Cihtli and Ethan.
    Freddie and I both slept ten hours that night. Thursday Pili came over with some beautiful clothes from her aunt’s store. She has been working there, and so brought things she thought I might like. I bought a few things. She is taking in one dress for me, which she will bring over today. Lakshmi came over and was using the computer because her internet is down.
    After Pili left the three of us got ready to go to Angelita’s show. We decided to walk, although Freddie was a little achy. That seems to happen when the weather is rainy. It didn’t actually rain, but it could have. I carried the raincoats. It is normally about a ten or fifteen minute walk, but with Freddie it took about forty minutes. He was tired, but he was glad that he had walked.
    Because we hadn’t had much time to get ready I decided not to bring the tape recorder. What a mistake. We loved the show. We thought it was better than most of the Bienal shows we have seen.
    We were in the fourth row way on the end. We could still see very well. It is a good thing that Lakshmi arrived at the line by nine AM last Tuesday, because the associates of El Monte and the Press already had most of the seats. Not everyone of the public who waited in line that day was lucky enough to get a seat. Although people could only buy four tickets per person, there just weren’t many places left. I didn’t realize that the show would be as good as it was.
    Esperanza Fernández substituted for La Macarena who was sick. She was beautiful and sang many songs that I have learned, some that she taught me last year.
Then Angelita Vargas danced a Soleá and was a joy to see. She wore black with red embroidery. I could feel her years of dancing and her difficult life. Now she has re-emerged. She had five musicians to back her up, two palmeros (people who do palmas), a singer, and two guitarists. One palmero was the most well known in Sevilla and three of the other musicians were Amadores (from the talented, Flamenco Gypsy Amador family.
    Next came Pansequito, a singer whose tapes I started listening to in the 70’s. He now has a shock of thick grey hair but his voice is strong and pure, perhaps even better with age. He sang so movingly, accompanied by a superb and sensitive young guitarist, Diego. Pansequito seemed inspired and sang many more songs than were on the program. His Siguiriyas, which he doesn’t normally sing, brought tears, which streamed down my face.
After that Jose Menese sang. He is well known and acclaimed but Freddie and I have never been moved by him. He made the show too long!
    The close of the show was a Tientos/Tango and then a Bulerías by Angelita. She was joined in the Bulerías by her two grandchildren, who were cute and talented. It is always nice to see the next generation of Flamencos emerge.
After the show we all congregated in the nearby bar where the artists eat afterwards. We were invited to sit at the table with Angelita, Delia, Maki (a Japanese Flamenco dancer and aficionada who has lived in Spain for many years, whom we met in 1999), Lakshmi and Susana and Paco. We hadn’t seen Susana and Paco yet this trip and it was nice to visit with them.
    Juan and Lucy sat with Aurora Vargas (a great Gypsy Flamenco singer whom we had passed on the way to the theater and to whom Concha had introduced me in 1999), Pansequito and his guitarist and others. We could have joined them too. How nice.
We had planned to take a taxi home, but Freddie decided he could walk, so we walked home. It took us forty minutes but we did it. We got to bed late again and slept for nine hours!
    Shortly after we got up Lucy and Ethan stopped by. They had gone by Bar Alegría but we weren’t there. (Bar Algabeño is closed Sundays and holidays). Lucy was not as impressed with the show as we were. But she agreed with us about how good the young guitarist was who had accompanied Pansequito.
    Angel came over to fix some things, but he didn’t want to disturb us, although we assured him it wouldn’t bother us. He also told me that I could borrow his eleven-year-old daughter’s bike after he asked her permission. After everyone left we went out to eat. Both Ethan and Lucy were too busy to accompany us.
    We found out that the cook at Bar Alegría is French and that she lives in our neighborhood. I tried to pay with a credit card but they didn‘t want me to. They said that if we didn’t have the money we could bring it by tomorrow! –Another thing I like about Spain. We did have the money, though, so we just paid with cash. I had noticed that the exchange rate had improved a little, so I had wanted to take advantage of that while it lasted and to use the card at that rate.
Pili will come over today and so will Lakshmi, who wants to practice here at five. Cihtli was going to check to see if there were stores open today. If so, we get to go shopping again.
    Lakshmi has a friend who will drive us to Moron, so we will probably go to hear Juan del Gastor and Miguel Funi tonight. We had decided not to go, last night, because we thought it would be too complicated to get there.  
We have a little more sun today, so I wore my new pink cotton skirt and blouse. I felt festive.
    Freddie and I have been thinking about our party and have decided to postpone it. He wants to go to Portugal instead. We have always wanted to visit Portugal so this may be the time. We had also thought about going to the Canarios, but then we heard that they are so volcanic that it is very arid and ugly. So we might as well see Portugal instead. We are hoping that Paco can come and then we would rent a car and he would drive. We have fun traveling with Paco and Pilar.
    Today I haven’t coughed once. Freddie just had a little cough. I think we are just about better, finally.
    I decided to take siesta a little late. After fifteen minutes Lakshmi came over to practice. Then Cihtli came and we went out for coffee before she had to leave. Cihtli says we are “grand central”, that we are the meeting place for everyone. She also loves the feeling of neighborhood here and the fact that we often run into each other. We had seen her earlier when we were eating at Bar Alegría as she hurried to her studio to teach a class.
    Pilar and Soleá came at seven, but we had been expecting them around six. Pilar sewed the button on Freddie’s black shirt because she thought I would never do it. She may have been right, but at least we had the needle and thread. She had fixed my new dress and was about to tighten my new skirt. Soleá danced with Lakshmi and me.                Lakshmi started working with her on ballet turns and spotting. Soleá showed us what she had learned in the children’s ballet class she is taking. I showed them the new Bulerías I had learned from Juan Rios. Paco is busy rehearsing for a show he will do on the fourth so we haven’t seen him in a while. Of course we will go to the show on Wednesday June fourth.
    Around eight thirty I realized that I was too tired to go to Moron. The weather had turned cold again and I had no energy. The show was going to be outside at ten PM and we didn’t know about the chair situation for Freddie. My cough returned.
    After everyone left, around ten, I heated up the cooked vegetables that Lakshmi had brought us this afternoon and we ate. Now it is after eleven thirty and I am ready for bed, early. I am listening to my body and realize that I still have very little reserve energy.

Saturday May 31, 2008

    It is the last day of May. We spoke to Juan today. He had looked for us in Moron. The fiesta afterwards lasted until five in the morning! If we had gone we would have been wiped out, but happy. Instead we took care of ourselves and slept. Juan said the show was wonderful. But they will be doing another show this coming Friday only twenty minutes from Sevilla. We will go to that one.    We are still sick and taking it very easy. Freddie took a long (for him) walk with Juan yesterday. I walked with them for a while and then met Lucy and a stuffy man from the rental agency to check out apartments for Elun, Donna and Josephine’s weeklong visit in June. The apartment they thought they liked (from the internet photos) is too far from us for Freddie to walk comfortably. It had marble floors but was on a third floor of a large group of apartments and felt touristy, nestled in a cute plaza across from a picturesque hotel and above its owner’s bar.
    Instead, we have chosen an apartment close to Juan and Lucy’s, which is also close to us and very close to Bar Algabeño. The neighborhood is quiet and the street narrow. It is very working class and not touristy. It will be a different part of Spain from the hotels and pensions. It has a kitchen, washing machine and a double bed, a rarity in the rental realm in Sevilla. There is a separate room for Josie, right next to Elun and Donna’s room. A small balcony looks out onto the street.
    We called Concha tonight after her class and sang Happy Birthday to her in English. Her students had brought champagne and wine and she said they were all drunk. I told her to enjoy her drunkenness and she repeated that for the class. She was very glad that we had called. I like to remember her birthday.

Wednesday May 21, 2008

    We are slowly getting better. Yesterday the weather was cold and rainy. Today it started off cold and then warmed up. Lakshmi returned yesterday and will stay with us until her apartment is free. They lost her luggage too and now she has to go to the airport for customs to reclaim it. We were lucky we didn’t have to do that. I’m not sure why.
    This morning we had our usual breakfast at Algabeño. We see many of the same people there day after day. It is truly a neighborhood bar. I am fascinated by the older women here. They dress up to do their grocery shopping. They wear knee length skirts and nice sweaters and look wonderful. Many of these women still dye their hair. They join each other at the small round metal tables and have coffee or tea. One woman, whom I think is the grandmother and not the mother, wheels her baby girl, Esperanza, into the bar almost every day when she is done shopping. Today she needed to leave the baby so she could put her groceries away. The other women watched the baby, cooing to Esperanza, whom they kept quite content.
    The younger women in Spain wear low cut jeans and shirts to their waist, exposing some stomach or hips and underwear. They wear tennis shoes and look quite un-glamorous. The older women with grey hair don’t seem to dress up as much as the ones who still dye their hair.     After Freddie and I had finished eating and were leaving, the three men who work there said “See you tomorrow” (but in Spanish). They now count us as “regulars”.
    We decided to walk to the Chino (Chinese) store to check for a shower chair for Freddie. We found one and also bought two mugs and two glass pan lids for the frying pans I bought at Carrefour a few weeks ago.
    Upon arriving home I realized that one lid was too large so I took it back to the store. It only took a few minutes to walk there alone. On the way back I ran into Juan del Gastor and Juan Rios (Pepe Rios’ son who lives in the Canary Islands). This was the second time I had run into Juan Rios today. It is nice to live in a “neighborhood”. When I arrived home I discovered that the new lid was still too big so I ran once again to the store and exchanged it one last time. What a luxury to have things so close.
    Then it was almost 1:30, the time I had made a date to talk to Karen. She is a very good friend of my Dad and Peggy’s and was in Sevilla for one day. Karen phoned just after I had arrived home and we agreed to meet for lunch in twenty minutes in front of the Giralda, which I hadn’t yet visited on this trip. Freddie felt too tired to join us. I hurriedly looked for my sunglasses, grabbed a coat, which I didn’t need, and set out walking. It took me almost twenty minutes, walking fast. This year I am finding my way around Sevilla so easily. I just head in a direction and I get there. Karen and I had a delightful lunch on Calle Mateas Gago (in view of the Giralda), eating outside in the now warm day. After lunch I pointed her in the direction of Barrio Santa Cruz (Jewish quarter) and then left her to browse in some open shops.
    I pointed myself in the direction of home and walked straight there. I was expecting a six PM phone call from California a little while after that. And I had a seven o’clock appointment with Cihtli. Lakshmi called as I was walking home and she met me at the house. She needed some computer help with a DVD. She had forgotten something at her house so she had to run back home for it. Then our phone call came and she returned towards the end of it. What a busy day. I lay down for five minutes to wait for Cihtli’s call.
    Cihtli and I went out in the early evening and after doing a little looking on Calle Sierpes we went out for tapas and then later for a desert on the way home. We are having a lot of fun together. And my energy improved with the walk.
    Ethan had stopped by earlier and Freddie told him that he wanted to watch another video at their house, but not so late this time! The taxi home the last time had cost a lot of money. They charge a lot more late at night and then the route to get here by car is complicated. Freddie had wanted to walk home alone from Ethan and Cihtli’s the other night but they (wisely) wouldn’t let him. If he had fallen there would have been nobody with him to help him. And he would have had trouble telling people what was wrong or what he needed. Cihtli and I decided that I should print him up a paper with his name, address, and telephone numbers on it. Freddie is getting better quickly, but he still has real disabilities from the stroke, such as lack of language.
    Lakshmi was getting ready to go out when we arrived home. I remembered that I hadn’t taken the laundry down from the line upstairs on the roof and my nightgown was there. Where did all my time go? I did try out my dance floor today and the sound is booming. Lakshmi suggested putting a blanket under it. I will talk to Angel about that in the morning. At least I felt well enough to try it out. I think the walking makes me feel better.
Now it is after twelve and I am ready for bed. Today is the second day I have not taken my siesta. I can feel it. I think that was why Freddie was so tired today, because he didn’t take his siesta yesterday. He did sleep today.
    Tomorrow is another fiesta day, Corpus day. I didn’t prepare for it because I didn’t know about it until this evening. Karen had mentioned something about it, but she didn’t know much. She just saw people putting up decorations and tents. A store person told Cihtli and me about it, telling us that the store would not be open tomorrow. I forgot that Spain has so many holidays where things close down. Now I remember. I will have to plan better and stock up on food.
    We finished our chicken soup yesterday and I couldn’t figure out what we wanted to eat, so I didn’t buy anything. I guess we’ll have to eat out tomorrow unless the stores are open in the morning.
    I am still waiting to feel like dancing.

Thursday May 22, 2008

    Hanging laundry on the roof, I notice other rooftops and their innovations. We had sun today. Angel heats our water with a solar panel on the roof which is attached to his small hot water tank, also on the roof. When there was no sun, our water was only tepid, but with the sun it is nice and hot. I noticed other solar panels on other rooftops too. I guess Spain is learning to take advantage of its resources.
    Angel also has a vegetable garden of the roof. He grows tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and cabbage. He is very proud of it and it is doing well.
    This morning, since it was a holiday, our favorite Bar was closed, although they had told us yesterday, “Hasta mañana”. A lot of people here, including Juan, had forgotten about the upcoming holiday. Luckily Bar Alegría was open. Juan and Lucy stopped by after their practice and we walked to the Jueves with them. It was late and the people were leaving, but we bought a Flamenco print for a euro.
    Freddie and I returned home and slept most of the day. We are so much better, but this thing is still hanging on.
    We went out for salad tonight. While we were out Ricky Diaz called us on our movi and told us that he had heard on the news that there was a fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. When we got home we received an e-mail from Christine Chavoya telling us more about it. With the heat and the wind, the conditions were right for a giant, out-of-control fire. It started on Mt. Madonna and has spread to Corralitos already. Hopefully it won’t cross the next few mountains and reach our place.

Sunday May 25, 2008

The fire seems to have spared our house, partly by going the other direction. I feel sad for those who lost their homes.
Freddie and I are much better, but still have lingering coughs.
Yesterday I took a private Bulerías class from Juan Rios, the son of Pepe Rios (older brother to Agustín Rios). Juan del Gastor, his uncle, strongly encouraged me on Saturday to take the class, when we all met at Bar Algabeño. Lucy had taken a class with Juan and loved it. Juan Rios has all of his father’s steps.
His father, whom I met once in 1980, had impeccable rhythm and taught many of the fine dancers that I admire. I think I already wrote that Pepe Rios’ students included Juan Amaya, Concha Vargas, Carmen Ledesma, Ramon Barúl (Jairo’s father), Torombo, and many more. I remember Pepe as a lean older man with lots of gold. He used a straight black cane to tap the rhythms. Freddie knew Pepe Rios in 1985 when Freddie was here with Agustín Rios. Juan Rios is returning to Los Canarios (the Canary Islands) on Monday.
I was a little nervous because I hadn’t danced in two months. However I had just started to practice my palmas. Lakshmi has been rehearsing at our house on our tiny stage and Freddie and I have been doing palmas and bastón (rhythmical cane) for her. It is more of a challenge than it sounds, but we did very well. I felt my counter rhythms improve just by holding the base rhythm to Lakshmi’s counter rhythms.
My class with Juan went very well and now I feel like dancing again. I learned a whole little Bulerías choreography, which I can do at a fiesta. Before Juan arrived, we dragged the stage (with Lakshmi’s help) to the living room so we would have room for Freddie to video the class. I will have another class with him tonight and then Lakshmi will take one too.
I did get depressed this morning when I looked at one part of the video where I was learning a step. I thought I looked awful and saw that all my bad old habits had reappeared. I had a few minutes of feeling like I should quit dancing and I was fighting my tears during breakfast. Hopelessness comes so easily. Luckily it can leave easily as well. Freddie said he would help me work with the dance and my body today, so there was a ray of hope.
After breakfast and before siesta time, I went through the choreography and Freddie helped me a lot. I don’t have a dance mirror yet, so Freddie was my mirror and my teacher, correcting me when something looked bad or awkward. I enjoyed practicing again. And I again felt hopeful about my dance. We took our siesta and now I am writing and preparing for my class.
I can’t believe a month has passed already. It feels like a week. The weather is still cold and it has rained on and off. Friday night Cihtli and I were at Calle Sierpes in our sundresses and it started to pour rain. Almost everyone congregated in the stores to wait out the rain, although some people seemed privy to the rain; they had brought umbrellas!
We walked home during more rain and then went out to dinner with Freddie, as it was too rainy for Cihtli to continue home. Later on, when the heavy rain let up, I lent her a coat and she ran home in her bronze flip-flop sandals.

Now I have just finished my lesson with Juan and Lakshmi has started hers. Juan gave me an extra half hour “from his heart”. Unfortunately the tape ran out and Freddie didn’t replace it because we thought the class was ending. But Juan gave me an extra unexpected half-hour of class. I am sweating and tired and happy. Juan is a giving person, like his Uncle Juan del Gastor. He is trying to arrange things so he can come here in two or three months again. It would be great to take more classes with him. He works with me on details of head and arms and hands and gaze. I could learn a lot more from him. I find I pick up much faster than I used to and I did much better today than yesterday.
I thought I had my classes all planned in my mind before we arrived in Sevilla, but this surprise has me dancing again. I am so thankful for that. Freddie videotaped my class again. Now he is resting. I can hear Lakshmi’s class in the living room. Juan is pushing her too, at her level. The spirit of Pepe Rios works through his son for this next generation. Juan looks a little like Agustín, his uncle who is Pepe’s much younger brother. Juan holds his forty-one years well, and his body is trim and strong.
I love having dancing going on in the house non-stop. It is not exactly non-stop, but it is filling the house. It gives me the feeling of joy and inspiration. I am so thankful that Angel built my stage. Spain again opens up for both of us. Freddie’s walking is still improving. His speed is picking up and he drags his right foot less than before. And my dancing is waking up again.

I keep forgetting to comment about how ugly our street is. It is wide and filled with dog shit. None of the balconies have the traditional flowers growing in them. Why? Is that a tradition that is dying with the old people? I hope not.
I find myself gaining weight here in spite of the fact that I’ve stopped eating the delicious jamon Serrano. However, we have been eating late at night and that might be adding the weight. We are both getting fat, which we have to reverse soon!
Tonight we ate late, but at least we only ate salad. We went out for a drink with Juan and Lakshmi after class, although none of us drank alcohol. We drank fruit juice. Lakshmi hadn’t eaten much all day and was starving and Freddie and I were hungry too. Juan is in mourning for his mother and hasn’t been hungry. He was going to eat at home with his disabled sister. He is sad about having to leave her tomorrow but he has obligations at home in Los Canarios. His mother was only in her seventies when she died. I know I mentioned earlier that Juan was here because his mother had just died. He has a sister and brother here and the brother will now take care of the sister. Freddie told Juan that he wants to see Los Canarios and Juan has invited us to come and visit him. The story unfolds.

SPAIN CHRONICLES 2008

May 4 – 10 Writings
May 11 – 14 Writings
May 14 – 18 Writings
May 20 – 25 Writings
May 26 – 31 Writings
June 1 – 7 Writings
June 17 – 18 Writings
June 20 – 22 Writings
June 23 – July 6 Writings
July 7 – 17 Writings
July 18 – 30 Writings
August 1 – 6 Writings
Auhust 10 – 31 Writings
September  3 – 14 Writings
Sep 24 – Oct 3 Writings
October 4 – 12 Writings
October 13 – 21 Writings
Oct 24 – Nov 4 Writings