Sunday, October 5, 2003

It is Sunday and we are about to take a walk through the streets. I have dressed up in my white linen skirt and matching blouse. Freddie is wearing his white Panama hat and his white Philippino wedding shirt. The gold guitar necklace he bought from Carlos Heredia in 1999 and his two Spanish gold chains sparkle and shine on his brown neck. His white hair is pulled back neatly in a pony tail. He looks like a Gypsy as he walks through the streets. Here that is what people do on Sundays, after church, they walk the streets all dressed up. They call it a “paseo”. My ankle and leg feel a little better today but I will rest from dancing and walk carefully.

Last night Amit came over and we did a little Yoga together. I didn’t realize before how out of shape my body has gotten. I guess that is normal for almost 59 years (October 23). But I still remember my body as being more limber. I do need to start doing Yoga regularly. I think that is how I can preserve my body a little longer. And hopefully that should help my left leg. Yes, getting old is not for sissies!!! Although I talk a lot about being old, I haven’t really felt old until now. I have always prided myself in having a youthful body that could defy age. Now I have to take steps to make that happen. With proper exercise and stretching I think I can probably extend my body’s “life” for more years. Last night with Amit I reminded myself of my mother. She always had a youthful image of her body even when it was old and slumped and out of shape. Now I understand her oblivious denial. Next to Amit my body looked like my mother’s! But I know I can still get back my flexibility if I get my discipline going again. And now I know that I need more than just Flamenco dance to do it. So I will make the time.

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

We have decided to stay here an extra week so we can attend a Farruquito concert. We will be returning home on the 11th of November.

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

Every time we walk past the patio and through the front door of our building, especially at night, I smell the jasmine. So now I associate this apartment with jasmine. I might have overdone my legs today. I took four dance classes and I practiced for over an hour. But it felt great and it didn’t hurt.

Torombo’s sister is teaching for him while he is gone this week and I took a wonderful private class from her on upper body and arms this morning at 10:00 AM. I had to get up at 8:00 AM – so early!!! But it was worth it. Then I took the group class at 11:00 AM. After that Freddie and I went to La Carboneria and then to Carmela’s to find Paco. We thought the Armenians were coming in today (after receiving a telephone call from Souren yesterday) but we (and he) forgot about the time change and that they will be leaving NY today but arriving here tomorrow morning! But we did visit for a while with Paco and Rebecca at Carmela’s.

Then we went home and I ate some leftover chicken and Freddie made me a salad and I packed some yogurt and green powder and I loaded my camera and dance bag into our red shopping cart and took off to catch the bus to Triana. I arrived at the studio around 3:30 and practiced by myself until my private class at 5:00 PM with Concha. I had learned most of the escobilla (foot work) for the Alegrías yesterday and I needed to memorize it before class! I did. So Concha gave me almost all the rest of it today. After my class I watched her teach a private class to Keiko, a twenty three year old Japanese student of hers who has improved immensely over the last year. She will be returning to Tokyo this February with Concha after living in Sevilla for over a year. There Concha will present her at the most prestigious theater in Tokyo where Concha will also be performing. Keiko seems nervous but I think she will do very well. She is a very good dancer and a nice person.

After Keiko’s class the seven PM group class was about to begin when two policemen knocked at the door. They served Concha with some complaint papers re Flamenco dancing, singing and palmas. The neighbors have already complained! Of course the double pane glass for the two pane-less windows has not arrived yet and the walls have not been insulated. Here in the heart of Flamenco, as I have said before, the neighbors seem to rule. So tomorrow I will not be practicing and I have to take my class at 6:00 PM, just before the group class so we will not interrupt siesta. Concha says that I can practice in the morning, but I have my other class in the morning and I do not want to have to make two trips to Triana in one day. I am considering returning to La Carboneria to practice, but the floor is bad there (and definitely not recommended for my ankle) and Paco has neighbor problems too, so I still can’t practice during siesta. I am not sure how I am going to learn the rest of the escobilla that I got today during class. Looking at it on video is not enough. Last night I looked at what I learned and I couldn’t believe it. It sounded great and very complicated and I couldn’t remember what I had done. It sounded much more complicated than it had felt dancing and learning it. I tried tapping it out with my hands while I watched the video. Maybe that helped me recall it today. But I had to move my feet too to get the patterns into my body. All those classes and practicing today did make my ankle a little sore. Tonight Freddie and I walked to a meat restaurant near Rubina’s on Calle San Esteban and my ankle hurt while we walked there. But the meat was delicious. We both felt a need for protein. It didn’t hurt much on the way back. Maybe I just needed to rest it for a while. I just soaked my foot in ice water and now I need to get to bed. The refrigerator door fell off this morning and the landlady is sending over her nephew to fix it tomorrow morning before we leave for dance class. I think it just needs a new screw. Freddie already went to bed. We are both exhausted but still having a great time.

But, just as I get into my intense schedule of studying my dance, the neighbors here in Spain put a crinkle into it. Now I have to re-figure out how to practice what I am learning. Toshi comes tomorrow to work on my ankle and leg and on Freddie’s back. Right now my sore leg feels OK. Hopefully that will last when I am in bed. Last night we drank Tila tea, a special herbal tea to relax you and make you sleep and we both slept wonderfully. Tonight I am too tired to make it.

I will need to watch my tape tomorrow. I wrote tonight instead of studying my tape, but with no practicing scheduled for tomorrow, I will make time to watch it. I also want to try to get to Menke’s to see if they have any Flamenco shoes that may fit me. And I need to get to a Clarins store to get more face creams. I am almost all out of what I use. Several of the old Clarins stores I used to go to are not there anymore. This happened last year too. Small stores are closing and big stores are getting bigger. Things are changing in Spain. In Sevilla more stores stay open during siesta every year, but in Triana, just across the river, things are more traditional and during siesta everything is closed, and between four and eight o’clock the restaurants are closed. The other day Freddie and I were starving and our restaurant plans were thwarted by the hour, so we found a wonderful supermarket and bought cold cuts, bread and cheese which we first took to the local bar to get coffee for us and for Concha and then we brought everything back to the studio. Sometimes it is hard to find the time to shop and eat!

Tomorrow we also want to find the time to visit and welcome the Armenians: Rayhana, Souren, Haig and Polly. Rayhana for sure will be arriving tomorrow morning. Souren is flying standby and we are not sure which flight Polly and Haig are on. How we are going to fit everything in a day still remains to be seen. At least we have leftover meat for lunch.

Thursday, October 9, 2003

The birds were singing as I walked through the patio to the door of our building after class. How beautiful Sevilla is. The weather is pleasant, with a faint breeze, but warm again. After all my dancing yesterday I woke up without pain, feeling good. But, after Toromba’s class today I was a mess. She has us dance so fast that I don’t have the control I need to take care of my ligament and I strained it again! Toshi worked on me tonight and I am going to rest it until Monday and then start dancing lightly and slowly. I canceled my afternoon classes with Concha today and my private class scheduled with Toromba tomorrow. I didn’t go shopping today. I just rested. And the Armenians arrived and the apartment I had arranged for Souren and Rayhana, Miguel’s apartment, seems to have fallen through. Paco doesn’t know where the key is! So they will sleep in our apartment tonight. It is so Spain.

I just talked to Rubina tonight and she said that Concha’s group class was great. Because of the neighbors, Concha worked on arms and upper body, just what I need, but of course I wasn’t there.

Sunday, October 12, 2003

My ankle is slowly healing again. As Toshi told me, after I re-injured it this time, it was not as bad as when I first arrived. And it seems to be recovering faster than before. I think one of the keys, besides rest, is soaking it in ice water. I am not dancing until Monday and am walking as little as possible. I love to walk everywhere in Sevilla but there are now many places that I take a taxi or a bus to instead of walking these beautiful streets. I am hoping that before we leave, I will be able to walk again freely, and without wearing the air cast.

Friday, again on Francesca-Diana and Delia’s suggestion, Rubina and I watched part of a class given by Angelita Vargas. The class looked wonderful and Angelita will be giving more of this workshop. Rubina and I have decided to sign up for a month. It is nice to have a “dance buddy” (Rubina) here. Angelita Vargas, (Francesca-Diana’s aunt) came to San Francisco in the 80’s as a member of the dynamic show, Flamenco Puro. Although a Gypsy too, she is no relation to Concha, but her style is similar. From what we saw, we know all the steps she was using in her choreography. I am not sure exactly what I think I will learn from her, but I want to study from this great dancer and Flamenca Figura for the experience of it. And I am sure that I will learn something that I am not expecting to learn! Angelita seems like a very nice person as well. It is fun this year taking classes from various teachers. I still think, after experiencing other good teachers here, that Concha is one of the best teachers and her dancing still excites something very deep inside me. But I am enjoying the experience of taking other classes and meeting other students.

Manuela Carrasco is giving a two-week workshop here in Sevilla starting this Monday. This is very rare and she is charging a lot of money for it. I am tempted to take it because it is Manuela Carrasco (one of my favorite dancers and a great Figura here). But, because of my foot, I am afraid. I also hear that she stresses intense foot-work which would most likely re-injure my weak ankle ligament. I think the timing also conflicts with the Torombo class which I have one more week of (already paid). I will probably drop Torombo’s class when my month is finished because there are only so many hours in a day and I want to take the Angelita Vargas class. And Concha’s classes are still my first priority.

After watching Angelita’s dance class on Friday, Rubina and I went to Menke’s because I wanted to look for a new pair of dance shoes. In 1999 I had ordered three pairs of shoes from Menkes, measured and made for my feet, and none of them had fit and I had returned home that year without shoes. Disgusted, I then tried Corales shoes (a cheaper company) and was dissatisfied and then I tried Yebra in Madrid (both stores by mail). Yebra shoes are not as strong as Menkes and their sizes vary according to the color of the leather, so some of them are too big and some are too small, but all in the same size number! So, I decided, since every dancer here swears by Menkes, to try them again. The size heel I use, boot or Cubana (low), is now a lot more popular than it was in 1999 and I thought they might have some ready made in my size (which they did not in 1999). I was right. They had two pairs. And my size turned out to be 4 1/2, not the 5 or 6 sizes I usually wear!!!! I bought a pair of red lace-up suede shoes and have walked around in them. I can’t dance until Monday, but they seem to feel great! I still like the lace up better than the buckle and so did not buy the black buckle they also had. I just couldn’t believe that my size was really that small! But they still seem to fit!

On the way to Menkes, Rubina and I passed a Flamenco dress shop and had to stop and look. I was looking for (and found) a simple black practice skirt to wear to class. Rubina ended up buying a beautiful dress that they are altering for her. I bought the black practice skirt. By the time we got to Menkes, Rubina had to leave for Concha’s seven o’clock class. So she left me there in Menkes and took a taxi to Triana. I had thought about going to watch, but I still had errands I needed to do before the stores closed. And I was afraid I would be too frustrated to watch and not dance! I ended up buying a beautiful skirt at Menkes in addition to the shoes! It was fun. The blond woman who works there remembered me from 1999! It is amazing. Then I walked to the Clarins store I had located nearby last Sunday (where I had bought my Clarins face products last year). I was able to get everything I needed. I was out of a lot of what I use because I haven’t been able to get to that store during business hours this year! It is much cheaper to buy Clarins here, even with the dollar still dropping in relation to the Euro, as Clarins is imported from France.

When I returned home, Luisito and Freddie were there. They had just finished a big grocery shopping to prepare for the upcoming three-day weekend. Luisito then gave Freddie a wonderful dance class. Luisito dances in the style of Andorrano (who was very influenced by Anzonini del Puerto) and Miguel Funi. This is an older style of Flamenco in which there is very little movement, no fancy footwork, and a lot of emphases on working in interesting ways with the compás (rhythm), accenting it, for example, with a twist of the hand or a subtle but surprising turn of the body. It is dynamic and full of surprises and I have always wanted to learn to dance this way, in the style of the old people. It is difficult because it is so simple and you must do it with “arte” to have it work. I ended up following some of Freddie’s class, carefully, because I was not “using” my foot and we were here in our apartment, upstairs! It was fun and Luisito turned out to be an excellent teacher. This year his art seems better. His singing is wonderful too and Freddie and I are now thinking that it would be great to bring him to the US. As I have written before, Luisito is one of the few young people in Spain to master and to carry on this particular style of Flamenco.

Yesterday Freddie and I went back to the Flamenco dress store I had been to with Rubina on Friday. The store personnel had been trying to get me to buy a style of dress that they would make for me in the material of my choosing. I always want new Flamenco dresses! But their hard sell seemed even harder and so we left with nothing. But that felt OK with us. I needed to exchange something in the Clarins store nearby on Calle Sagasta, so Freddie sat and had coffee and Orchata at an outdoor table in the Plaza de Pan where Calle Cuna, (the street that the dress store and Menkes are both on) leads to. Calle Sagasta also opens up to Plaza de Pan so I joined Freddie while the Clarins store was waiting for my product to be delivered from their other store nearby. This is a common practice with these stores. If they don’t have something in stock they telephone one of their other stores and someone walks it down to the other store. You have to wait between five and fifteen minutes. So I returned to Plaza de Pan (one minute walking) and sat with Freddie, people-watching, and ordered coffee and grilled mushrooms.

Earlier in the afternoon Amit and Rubina had called to say they were walking to the dress store to meet us (we had talked to Amit in the morning to invite her to go with us. We already knew that Rubina had scheduled a private dance class with Toromba that morning.) When they called us, we had told them that we had already left the dress store and were on our way to the Clarins store and to call us when they got near Plaza de Pan. We were just wondering where they were and why they hadn’t called us when we saw them on the other side of the square. We yelled to them and they joined us. Then we returned to the Clarins store where Amit bought a nice boar bristle brush for her twins.

After that we continued down a half a block to Calle Sierpes to look for a suit for Freddie that we had seen in the window of a fancy clothing shop when we came down window-shopping last Sunday (the stores are always closed here on Sundays, except for the very touristy stores). We arrived at the store just before two PM (closing time). Because Monday is Columbus Day (which is a holiday here because it was Spain who sponsored Columbus’ journey to find America), everything will be closed from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday! It is a three-day weekend. So everything closes on Saturday at one thirty or two PM and won’t reopen again until Tuesday morning. But we got to the store just before they closed and asked about the suit that had been in the window last week (and wasn’t now). They knew which one it was. It is a large pin striped black and white suit. Freddie tried it on. We called it the Al Capone suit. He loved it and now they are altering it. It will be ready on Thursday. He bought a nice black linen shirt to go with it. He plans to wear it in the Flamenco musical play that Stephanie Golino has written and is producing and directing in Santa Cruz, California. Freddie will play guitar and be a character (in all senses) in that play.

After that we all took a taxi to our house and ate cheese and jamon serrano. Luisito came by and we arranged to have another Bulería lesson for three of us over at Amit’s house that evening. Amit and Rubina ran to do last minute grocery shopping at the MAS, which now stays open on Saturday afternoons between five thirty and nine. This is another way in which Spain has changed. Even last year, the MAS closed like almost everything else at two PM on Saturday and didn’t reopen until Monday. Now they have added Saturday afternoons, which is nice for us. But it is further evidence of the changing life style here in Spain. It’s funny, in Triana, just across the Quadalquivir river, the hours have remained more traditional.

Rubina was there at Amit’s house with us, but she only watched the class while Freddie, Amit and I danced outside on Amit’s top story tile porch (roof). We danced very very lightly. The Giralda, (the most famous and very beautiful cathedral in Sevilla), was in the distance, it bells ringing the hours. As the light fell, the Giralda was lit up and we danced until the dark and the rain sent us indoors to eat chorizo, scrambled eggs and salad. It was fun and both Amit and Rubina agree that it would be wonderful to bring Luisito to America. We want him to both perform and to give classes there.

Freddie is throwing up again this morning and his stomach hurts. Concha is sick too, also with stomach problems. What is happening? Amit was going to interview Concha today for an article she is going to write re Concha’s next trip to the US in May. But Concha was too sick. Amit came over here and then briefly ran home to get some stomach medicine for Freddie. Rubina was having coffee for an hour at Café India on her way here, and when she finally arrived she was dripping wet and freezing. It rained very heavily for a while and Rubina forgot to wear a sweater, but she did remember her umbrella. They just left for Amit’s house (3:00 PM) because when they tried to practice here their feet made too much noise and I was afraid they would disturb the neighbors again. They invited me, but I don’t want to leave Freddie alone. Whenever he gets sick now, I worry a lot. Will he have to go back to the hospital? Will we have to leave here quickly to get Freddie back to the US? We have trip insurance this time, but we don’t want to use it.

We haven’t been to see the Armenians perform yet because we have been too tired to leave the house late. We went to bed at midnight again last night, so early for us. And now I don’t want to visit Souren and Rayhana because I have to climb some more steep stairs and it hurts my ankle, and they don’t have a phone. I hope they decide to take a walk over here. We both love them so much and we miss them already! It was fun the night they slept over. It was like a slumber party.

We did finally get them into Miguel’s apartment the night they arrived. We were all sitting outside about midnight eating at El Cordobes when we saw Pisco, Paco’s son walk by. He is Miguel’s stepfather and he had a set of keys to Miguel’s apartment. He took us to the apartment, which had not yet been prepared for our Armenians. It had neither sheets, towels, nor cleaning supplies. So it was good that Souren and Rayhana slept at our house that first night. The next day Souren and Rayhana copied the keys and went to the store to buy cleaning supplies. They borrowed sheets and towels from Paco and began to clean. They and Polly are in the apartment now and are happy to be just next door to la Carboneria. Nothing in Spain seems to happen as expected or planned, but it always seems to work out.

SPAIN CHRONICLES 2003

Sept 14 – 15 Writings
Sept 17 – Oct 4 Writings
Oct 5 -12 Writings
Oct 17 – 20 Writings
Oct 25 – Nov 2 Writings
Nov 4 – 9 Writings
Nov 11 – 17 Writings
Nov 23 – 24 Writings
Nov 25 – Dec 2 Writings
Dec 5 – 8 Writings
Dec 10 – 14 Writings