Its almost one week since we have arrived and our Spanish is improving rapidly. Freddie is taking private guitar lessons from Carlos Heredia, Luis’ gypsy guitar player. He has a great smile and is a talented maestro as well as incredible and skilled guitar player. Freddie is learning Carlos’ techniques, cleaning and polishing, as well as some beautiful and difficult falsetas. I have taken three private lessons with Concha Vargas and have learned the first letra of a Siguiriyas. We have videoed our classes and go during siesta or at night arriba, to our high up attic room. Here in this ancient building, on the cool blue and white square tiled floor, we plug the video camera into the laptop computer and watch our lessons on the laptop screen. Its so hard to fit practice time into our day. Right now Freddie opened the window and we can hear Luis singing down below, on the garden stage. Do we drop everything and run down? Now Freddie says he thinks its not Luis, and I agree as I listen and so we decide to stay here a while longer. Freddies practicing is sounding so beautiful. Then he stops and the singing down below builds to a crescendo of driving tangos. Its two in the morning, (Wednesday AM) and the Carboneria is still packed. I try to get to bed early but still it gets to be four or four thirty AM. We often stay up late talking with Paco around the round table of Pacos apartment, and sometimes are joined by Manolo or other of Pacos many friends. I put oils on Pacos legs which are still improving, amazing even me at their power. We looked at another apartment today, but Paco has said to wait because he has a good lead on one. Paco knows everyone. He is a leftist, bohemian friend and supporter of artists, which means musicians, singers and dancers. He must have a lot of money because the Carboneria does so well, but Paco lives simply and humbly is his quarters on the second floor. In the mornings he gets up between ten and twelve and walks down the narrow winding old street to Mays restaurant, Alta Mira, on Calle (street) Santa Maria la Blanca and sits outdoors at one of the round white tables under the umbrella and drinks tea and reads the leftist Diario newspaper. Then, when not helping us with things, he heads back to the Carboneria to begin his day, which is a work day. The Carboneria is open seven days a week. So, we appreciate the time Paco has taken from his day to help us. Yesterday he walked with us to another two phone stores and now we have a mobile phone, a Movistar. The connector for the phone jack, so we can e-mail, has been ordered and will take two weeks to arrive. Then we will be able to access our e-mail on a regular basis. But, at least now we can be called at 34 (code for Spain) 616-005-837. Remember that Spain is 9 hours ahead of California so please dont call us before noon, Spain time!

This Friday we plan to go to the Feria de Jerez for the weekend in the furgoneta (camper) with Luis and Rubina. Then after that we will all drive up to Madrid so Rubina can talk to Flamenco Vivo who wants to distribute the CD she produced in America of Luis singing. We would also visit David Jones, a guitarist whom Freddie has known since 1958, and Clara Mora, David’s dancer partner, who have contacted us via e-mail. David has lived in Madrid for about thirty years and is known there as David Serva. Last night we visited Carla and Miguel Ochoa who are staying in a delightful room at Evelina Krones house. Evelina was a good friend of Anzonini del Puerto. (Anzonini was a wonderful warm hearted gypsy cantaor (singer) with whom I studied dance quite a while ago in both Berkeley and in Moron, Spain and who is long dead). Evelina died very recently of lung cancer. Evelina, originally from Germany, was a legend both in Spain and among the Flamenco aficionados in the United States (and probably other countries too). She knew (I think) every great gypsy Flamenco artist and was a gracious host to Flamenco visitors in Spain. In 1980 she took Marc (my former husband) and me all over Andalucia and introduced me to my singing idol, La Fernanda, in the pueblo (town) of Utrera. So now Evelinas long time partner Roberto owns the house but the feel of Evelina is everywhere. The books in the shelves reflect her tastes, the plants in the courtyard. The big old house feels like a place Hemingway would have lived. It is definitely the place of an ageless Bohemian artist. For some reason it reminds me of a much smaller modern day Alhambra, perhaps because of the way the house is laid out. This is also where Roberto and Alicia Zamora will stay when they come to Spain this May.