Anybody want a puppy?!? She's just about the most adorable thing on earth, and smart too! U.P.S. won't ship her, so don't ask.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
15 strangers decide to live in a house...
Their lives are not taped, but they oughta be.
Seriously, someone should make a reality tv show based on this house. It would be riveting.
On Friday, I attempted to make it through one night without any alcohol, but as my will power faded, I found myself going down to the kitchen to make myself a vodka cocktail. Isabella and Marcia were going out to some schwarma shop down on Elvira to meet a friend of Isabella's, Patricio from Peru. I decided to tag along, and David did too. We'd busked for the first time that afternoon and made 20 euros in an hour, so I think we both felt we deserved a little imbibing time.
When we got to the schwarma place, Patricio was nowhere to be found. We ordered pitas and got some litres of beer and sat on the nearby steps to just hang out until we decided what to do. Avi, from Israel (the couchsurfing friend who had stayed with David one night and hooked up a few times with Isabella), walked past and joined us for a while. Then he disappeared and eventually Patricio came by with his Italian friend, Guiseppe. We decided to go to Entresuelo.
At Entresuelo, we had several beers and some chupitos (shots) of tequila (girls only) and tried to teach David how to dance. This was moderately successful. After several hours, we decided to head down to Perra Gorda (Fat Bitch) and see what was happening there. On the way, Marcia had to pee real bad but didn't want to cop a squat on the street, UNLESS, she said, we found a Mercedes. Apparently, Marcia doesn't care for pissing in public unless it's to make a statement. Lo and behold, just before we reached the bar, we spotted a Mercedes. Marcia christened the hood as an unsuspecting passerby caught sight of it and veered off to avoid any further witnessing. When we reached the bar, there was a party on the steps outside. Tons of hippies and dogs, a drunken flamenco player, and (thank god) a man with cold sandwiches and beer. We bought a bunch of cans of beer and sat on the steps for a while, taking photos. When we'd run out of ideas on what to do next, someone suggested going back to the house and making some food. So we set off to do this.
At the house, David played a folk song and then Patricio played a classical song on the guitar. Ramon came out of his room in is underwear and asked us to be quiet. Marcia made a bunch of pasta and we continued drinking beer and then ate like drunken madmen. Isabella and I talked about gratifying sex versus sex just for the sake of it, and the boys were riveted. After we ate, I went outside to the patio and was delighted to see a bright blue light coming spilling into the terrace. I made it to dawn!! I was so excited. David was too, so he set off to the Mirador to watch the sunrise. I didn't have the energy to go with him, so I stayed and eventually went off to bed around 8am.
Saturday, I took it pretty easy (slept in til about 4pm). I entertained Ann, Cecile, Lisa, and Jenny at the house and made a superbueno salmon dip (which I will certainly make again). We sang old songs from our LSMSA days, and it was a goofy, happy time.
Then on Sunday (yesterday), Isabella and I returned from a trip to buy cigarettes to strange distressed puppy noises coming from up the street. We mentioned something about the noise being irritating, but didn't think much of it. Then a buzz started to build as others mentioned the noise and that there was a puppy up the road in an abandoned building. The door to the building was locked, and the puppy had been sitting in the barred window for two days, trying to get someone to save it. It had no food or water and was just about the cutest thing you ever saw. Isabella went to the building and kicked the door in to save the puppy, and we brought her back to the house and everyone had happy puppy time. Isabella named the dog "Cosma"...she wanted to name her "Universe" but we thought "Cosma" had a better sound to it. So, obviously, we can't keep this poor abandoned dog at the hostal for very long, but it's so nice to have a little baby running around. Isabella really wants to keep it, but being a traveller makes it really difficult to keep a pet, especially a dog. We are searching for good puppy parents, but it's a difficult time (SPRING) in Granada to give away a puppy.
So, once we got the puppy settled, we set off to Booga (which we do every Sunday night), which is a bar in the city center that has an open jam session - jazz, latin music, bluesy stuff sometimes. I started to feel sick but decided to try and drink through it (bad idea). I had about 5 beers and then we did chupitos de ron con miel (shots of rum and honey), then a few more beers, and some dancing ensued. I ran into the guy who does sound at Hannigan's II, where David and I have been singing at the open mic night every Tuesday. He said he normally doesn't come to Booga, it's not really his style, but I was glad to see him and get to chat with him a bit, outside of the open mic night scenario. Marcia started to feel not so good by the end of the night too, so we made the executive decision to hail and split the cost of a cab back home and up the hill. This worked out perfectly for just over 4 euros - can't beat that.
Which brings me to TODAY, fine folks, where I am laid up in bed at 7:30 in the evening in such extreme pain and discomfort that I'm considering calling my mother (I always feel inclined to call my mom when I'm sick...it's an old habit from when I was young). I have a sore throat which seems to have caused my entire body to seize up and fight the infection - I am achey, getting chills and hot sweats, and I have a slight fever. To make matters worse, I've read all the books I brought with me and don't have the strength to make it into town to the english book store, nor do I want to spend money on those expensive damned books. So, I'm stuck watching the same old dvd's over and over again, wishing I could just sleep this off. I'm going to be pissed if I can't sing tomorrow (open mic night)...the sound guy said maybe we could sing "Creep" or "Fake Plastic Trees" together...hope David doesn't get jealous.
That's all for now. I don't know how I had the strength to type this much. Must be the boredom.
Also - sorry no photos recently, a girl from England borrowed my USB cable for my camera and hasn't returned it yet.
Seriously, someone should make a reality tv show based on this house. It would be riveting.
On Friday, I attempted to make it through one night without any alcohol, but as my will power faded, I found myself going down to the kitchen to make myself a vodka cocktail. Isabella and Marcia were going out to some schwarma shop down on Elvira to meet a friend of Isabella's, Patricio from Peru. I decided to tag along, and David did too. We'd busked for the first time that afternoon and made 20 euros in an hour, so I think we both felt we deserved a little imbibing time.
When we got to the schwarma place, Patricio was nowhere to be found. We ordered pitas and got some litres of beer and sat on the nearby steps to just hang out until we decided what to do. Avi, from Israel (the couchsurfing friend who had stayed with David one night and hooked up a few times with Isabella), walked past and joined us for a while. Then he disappeared and eventually Patricio came by with his Italian friend, Guiseppe. We decided to go to Entresuelo.
At Entresuelo, we had several beers and some chupitos (shots) of tequila (girls only) and tried to teach David how to dance. This was moderately successful. After several hours, we decided to head down to Perra Gorda (Fat Bitch) and see what was happening there. On the way, Marcia had to pee real bad but didn't want to cop a squat on the street, UNLESS, she said, we found a Mercedes. Apparently, Marcia doesn't care for pissing in public unless it's to make a statement. Lo and behold, just before we reached the bar, we spotted a Mercedes. Marcia christened the hood as an unsuspecting passerby caught sight of it and veered off to avoid any further witnessing. When we reached the bar, there was a party on the steps outside. Tons of hippies and dogs, a drunken flamenco player, and (thank god) a man with cold sandwiches and beer. We bought a bunch of cans of beer and sat on the steps for a while, taking photos. When we'd run out of ideas on what to do next, someone suggested going back to the house and making some food. So we set off to do this.
At the house, David played a folk song and then Patricio played a classical song on the guitar. Ramon came out of his room in is underwear and asked us to be quiet. Marcia made a bunch of pasta and we continued drinking beer and then ate like drunken madmen. Isabella and I talked about gratifying sex versus sex just for the sake of it, and the boys were riveted. After we ate, I went outside to the patio and was delighted to see a bright blue light coming spilling into the terrace. I made it to dawn!! I was so excited. David was too, so he set off to the Mirador to watch the sunrise. I didn't have the energy to go with him, so I stayed and eventually went off to bed around 8am.
Saturday, I took it pretty easy (slept in til about 4pm). I entertained Ann, Cecile, Lisa, and Jenny at the house and made a superbueno salmon dip (which I will certainly make again). We sang old songs from our LSMSA days, and it was a goofy, happy time.
Then on Sunday (yesterday), Isabella and I returned from a trip to buy cigarettes to strange distressed puppy noises coming from up the street. We mentioned something about the noise being irritating, but didn't think much of it. Then a buzz started to build as others mentioned the noise and that there was a puppy up the road in an abandoned building. The door to the building was locked, and the puppy had been sitting in the barred window for two days, trying to get someone to save it. It had no food or water and was just about the cutest thing you ever saw. Isabella went to the building and kicked the door in to save the puppy, and we brought her back to the house and everyone had happy puppy time. Isabella named the dog "Cosma"...she wanted to name her "Universe" but we thought "Cosma" had a better sound to it. So, obviously, we can't keep this poor abandoned dog at the hostal for very long, but it's so nice to have a little baby running around. Isabella really wants to keep it, but being a traveller makes it really difficult to keep a pet, especially a dog. We are searching for good puppy parents, but it's a difficult time (SPRING) in Granada to give away a puppy.
So, once we got the puppy settled, we set off to Booga (which we do every Sunday night), which is a bar in the city center that has an open jam session - jazz, latin music, bluesy stuff sometimes. I started to feel sick but decided to try and drink through it (bad idea). I had about 5 beers and then we did chupitos de ron con miel (shots of rum and honey), then a few more beers, and some dancing ensued. I ran into the guy who does sound at Hannigan's II, where David and I have been singing at the open mic night every Tuesday. He said he normally doesn't come to Booga, it's not really his style, but I was glad to see him and get to chat with him a bit, outside of the open mic night scenario. Marcia started to feel not so good by the end of the night too, so we made the executive decision to hail and split the cost of a cab back home and up the hill. This worked out perfectly for just over 4 euros - can't beat that.
Which brings me to TODAY, fine folks, where I am laid up in bed at 7:30 in the evening in such extreme pain and discomfort that I'm considering calling my mother (I always feel inclined to call my mom when I'm sick...it's an old habit from when I was young). I have a sore throat which seems to have caused my entire body to seize up and fight the infection - I am achey, getting chills and hot sweats, and I have a slight fever. To make matters worse, I've read all the books I brought with me and don't have the strength to make it into town to the english book store, nor do I want to spend money on those expensive damned books. So, I'm stuck watching the same old dvd's over and over again, wishing I could just sleep this off. I'm going to be pissed if I can't sing tomorrow (open mic night)...the sound guy said maybe we could sing "Creep" or "Fake Plastic Trees" together...hope David doesn't get jealous.
That's all for now. I don't know how I had the strength to type this much. Must be the boredom.
Also - sorry no photos recently, a girl from England borrowed my USB cable for my camera and hasn't returned it yet.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Fiesta de Corpus Christi
Does anyone have any idea what all these fiestas in Spain are about??! I know they're religious, but I can't for the life of me figure out what, exactly, each festival is celebrating. Two weeks ago was the Fiesta de las Cruces (Festival of the Crosses), and now this....
Oh well, it's an excuse to party. And to shut down stores early, apparently, and often to do African dance. I'll try to upload a video clip of the dancing we watched at the park yesterday - sometimes blogger doesn't cooperate when I try to do that.
Anyway, David and I have been hard (or semi-hard) at work this week, practicing the 6-8 songs we're going to be singing around town. We had a really rough day of it yesterday, and I think it put him in a weird mood.
In other news, I bought a yoga mat at a cheap German store called Aldi - it only cost 5 euros! Major score. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for this weekend, but getting in some yoga time is a definite must, as I've been out of it since we came back from the beach last weekend.
So far this week, I've sung (again) at an open mic night, then saw an amazing guitar and singing duo at Tertulia (a bar in the city center), including incredible flamenco singing, witnessed in-home flamenco dancing by a professional as well as flamenco singing by a different professional, and seen spontaneous African drumming and dancing in the park. Not too shabby, Granada.
That's a run-down on what I've been up to since my last post. Ciao.
Oh well, it's an excuse to party. And to shut down stores early, apparently, and often to do African dance. I'll try to upload a video clip of the dancing we watched at the park yesterday - sometimes blogger doesn't cooperate when I try to do that.
Anyway, David and I have been hard (or semi-hard) at work this week, practicing the 6-8 songs we're going to be singing around town. We had a really rough day of it yesterday, and I think it put him in a weird mood.
In other news, I bought a yoga mat at a cheap German store called Aldi - it only cost 5 euros! Major score. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for this weekend, but getting in some yoga time is a definite must, as I've been out of it since we came back from the beach last weekend.
So far this week, I've sung (again) at an open mic night, then saw an amazing guitar and singing duo at Tertulia (a bar in the city center), including incredible flamenco singing, witnessed in-home flamenco dancing by a professional as well as flamenco singing by a different professional, and seen spontaneous African drumming and dancing in the park. Not too shabby, Granada.
That's a run-down on what I've been up to since my last post. Ciao.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Working in the BLACK
Being an American in Spain SUCKS, in short.
I went on an interview yesterday to a school that has a (underground) reputation in the TEFL world here for hiring non-certified or non-legal (a.k.a. ME) teachers, but they seemed very adamant about not hiring Americans and said, basically, that they wouldn't hire me. Ever.
Very demoralizing.
But, on the upside, I might have a possible job with a summer camp in Madrid lined up for July. It will pay 1300 euros (woohoo!) plus accommodation, food, and transportation to Madrid - can't beat that with a stick. I'll live in a little wooden cabin and have to work six hours a day, but the rest of the days will be mine to do what I want with. If this falls through, I'm going to contact the guy at the Finland camp that Lindy knows about and possibly try to line up work then. Madrid or Finland...hm??? Decisions, decisions, decisions.
I went on an interview yesterday to a school that has a (underground) reputation in the TEFL world here for hiring non-certified or non-legal (a.k.a. ME) teachers, but they seemed very adamant about not hiring Americans and said, basically, that they wouldn't hire me. Ever.
Very demoralizing.
But, on the upside, I might have a possible job with a summer camp in Madrid lined up for July. It will pay 1300 euros (woohoo!) plus accommodation, food, and transportation to Madrid - can't beat that with a stick. I'll live in a little wooden cabin and have to work six hours a day, but the rest of the days will be mine to do what I want with. If this falls through, I'm going to contact the guy at the Finland camp that Lindy knows about and possibly try to line up work then. Madrid or Finland...hm??? Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
La Fiesta de Chema!
On Saturday night, when I returned from San Jose, I got straight down to business preparing red thai curry for Chema's birthday party (Chema is a guy from Seville who lives in the house and is just about the nicest guy on the planet). He'd bought all the ingredients and requested that I make a shit ton of food for all the guests, which included the 15 people living here now and their various friends or significant others, plus his friends from Nostromo, the comic store in town where he works.
There was a slight emergency when I realized Chema hadn't bought coconut milk - ppl suggested that I use cream instead, and I was in hysterics. "You can't make thai curry without coconut milk, you idiots!!" Well, two of the housemates saved the day by finding an open tienda at 10:30pm that actually had coconut milk, and all was right with the cooking world. The curry was even better than the last time I made it for the house, and easier too because this time I had an immersion blender at my disposal. Magnifico.
In addition to the thai, there were croquettes de atun, aceitunas, fried corn thingies similar to hush puppies, and LOTS of dulces: tarta de queso (cheesecake), homemade ice cream, strawberry & fudge cookies...OMG. We had so much beer, it was literally falling out of the refrigerator, and lots of wine. Somehow we made it through this party without drinking all of our booze - we had 9 litres of beer and 5 bottles of wine left over this morning! Success! Complete with trick birthday candles and several rounds of "Feliz Cumpleanos," I think the party met all of Chema's requests.
After drinking a bit at the party, we went to a bar called Entresuelo (which means "between the floors"), which is where all my photos are from. I was almost too drunk to stand, let alone finish my SINGLE beer that I bought there. After about an hour and a half, I made the journey back uphill to the house and to bed at 4:30am, and I slept til 2pm. When I woke up, I realized I'd been slightly sunburnt - guess it took all day and night to "set in." Way to go, melanin.
Tomorrow, I have an interview at CL, a prominent school here in Granada. The connection is a very good one, and I've got a good reference from Vince at Via Lingua. Hopefully the DOS (director of Studies) will know something or other about the summer camps here in Granada and be able to refer me...if I don't find some work to line up for June or July, I'm going to be in dire straights. I think I have enough money to get me through, but my self dignity will suffer a low blow, as will my mental health. Left to its own devices, the mind can be very self destructive. There's only so much busking, writing poetry and leisurely reading a girl can put up with. You think I'm joking, but I'm dead serious. All this leisure is so decadent...it's lovely, really, especially with the glory of Granada to compliment it, but it's getting to a point where I can't imagine myself actually having a job again. Read: DANGER ZONE
Anyways, that's whassup. Oh yeah - I met some Brits today who live at a sister house to this one, and they had lots of disparaging comments to make about Americans - and they made them in my presence! Shocking, but I guess I'm lucky that's the first time it's really happened since I've been in Europe. It's funny, really.
Playa Paradiso
I took the opportunity to get the hell out of dodge, if only for a few days. Ann invited me to the beach near Almeria with a few of her girl friends. Ann, Lisa (from TN), Cecile (from France) and I rented a car and a beach bungalo in San Jose, on the Mediterranean coast, and it was heavenly. I had to leave early on Saturday via the bus back to Granada to cook for Chema's birthday party at the hostal, which was kindof a drag, but I'm so thankful for the time I had on the beach. I've got a bitchin' tan to show for it too!
We went to Playa de los Genoveses for the first day, on Friday, which was small and quiet without a lot of people. We had to hike a bit through incredible terrain that reminded me a lot of the beach towns in Mexico. There's a pic above of the hike back from the beach. We went back to the house and made pina coladas, and Ann prepared pork chops with asparagus risotto. We ate like queens. Then, we decided on a movie to watch and pushed two of the twin beds together and had a slumber party in the blue room (the bungalow was set up with different colors in each room...the kitchen/main room was orange, one bedroom was yellow, and one was blue). We watched Stranger than Fiction and Ann was the only one who stayed awake!
The next morning, I woke up at 7:30am and drank two cups of tea. Then I realized Ian would still be awake in the States, so I called him. He was quite surprised, and it was nice looking out from the terrace at the sunrise while we talked. Then when the rest of the ladies woke up, we ate cereal and strawberries (fresas) and headed to a new beach, the Playa Monsul - the first two pics above are from there. Ann and I kept saying, "This is just retarded," about how beautiful it was. I was glad to have a fellow American who uses that expression as often as I do and understands that there's nothing offensive about it. Then, I made the decision to take the later bus back to Granada so we could soak up more sun. We had a tapas lunch at the bungalow before the ladies dropped me off at the bus stop in San Jose. I rode 40 minutes to Almeria then changed buses and rode another 2 hours to Granada. As soon as I got back, I had to start making the curry for Chema's party.
I was glad to get out of Granada for a while. It really broke up the monotony and made me realize that you have to seize every opportunity to have a good time.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Rainy Day Woman
I made a to-do list today, for the first time in a long while it seems. There's not much of importance on it: buy new phone minutes, get batteries for the camera, toilet paper and other various groceries. I also am going to take this guy, Ben, around the city center to put his C.V. out to as many schools as possible. He's desperate to find work but isn't certified yet, so...we'll see how much I can actually help him.
The recent days of gray, cold rain have awoken a sense of despondence and near severe lonliness in me. There was a party on Saturday, and we went out last night to the booga club until 5am. These drinking adventures serve as nice distractions when the sun goes down, but I find myself through the days not knowing what to do with myself. Should I just go for a walk? I bought a book called The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Choello. It's really beautiful, but I'm reading it too fast and worried about what I'll do once that's finished. I'll have to go out and buy another book, for sure.
Reading has been a very good way to kill the time pleasurably, but what I really want is a friend. I was hanging around with a guy from the house a lot, and for some reason one day everything just changed. He stopped asking me to go places with him, we stopped doing things alone together, which were the times when we really were able to talk. I felt for a while that I had a good friend I could count on, and now it's like he's intentionally pulling away. I'm not sure if this is common among travelers who don't want to get too attached to people they meet on the road so they try to avoid close connections, but I don't understand this. I think people are always going to be in your life for an undetermined amount of time, so it's important to make the most of the time together. I don't know. I feel guilty for expecting more from this guy's friendship. I feel stupid for wanting to ask him what's going on. I don't like feeling like I need something from other people...like I'm not self-sufficient or like I'm needy.
Anyway, that's a little bit of the undercurrent of emotion that's threaded through all of these dark, gloomy days in Granada. It's amazing what a difference the sun makes. I feel its power and like I can go out into the city and see and do anything. But with this overcast, I just want to stay in bed and fester about how lonely and bored I am. That's an overstatement, of course - I don't allow myself to stay in bed all day. But hanging around the hostal can only be so exciting. Perhaps I should go out and get a coffee. Yeah...that's the ticket.
The recent days of gray, cold rain have awoken a sense of despondence and near severe lonliness in me. There was a party on Saturday, and we went out last night to the booga club until 5am. These drinking adventures serve as nice distractions when the sun goes down, but I find myself through the days not knowing what to do with myself. Should I just go for a walk? I bought a book called The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Choello. It's really beautiful, but I'm reading it too fast and worried about what I'll do once that's finished. I'll have to go out and buy another book, for sure.
Reading has been a very good way to kill the time pleasurably, but what I really want is a friend. I was hanging around with a guy from the house a lot, and for some reason one day everything just changed. He stopped asking me to go places with him, we stopped doing things alone together, which were the times when we really were able to talk. I felt for a while that I had a good friend I could count on, and now it's like he's intentionally pulling away. I'm not sure if this is common among travelers who don't want to get too attached to people they meet on the road so they try to avoid close connections, but I don't understand this. I think people are always going to be in your life for an undetermined amount of time, so it's important to make the most of the time together. I don't know. I feel guilty for expecting more from this guy's friendship. I feel stupid for wanting to ask him what's going on. I don't like feeling like I need something from other people...like I'm not self-sufficient or like I'm needy.
Anyway, that's a little bit of the undercurrent of emotion that's threaded through all of these dark, gloomy days in Granada. It's amazing what a difference the sun makes. I feel its power and like I can go out into the city and see and do anything. But with this overcast, I just want to stay in bed and fester about how lonely and bored I am. That's an overstatement, of course - I don't allow myself to stay in bed all day. But hanging around the hostal can only be so exciting. Perhaps I should go out and get a coffee. Yeah...that's the ticket.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Mixed Nuts (and feelings)
I'm feeling a bit lonely and despondent today. Strange, after such a great weekend. I'm struck while here in Spain how every day brings something completely new and unexpected, including the occasional lonliness and writer's block. I was sitting there in my favorite spot just an hour ago, gripping my pen and notebook, and no words were coming. I had all the inspiration in the world around me...birds singing, incredible view of the river and the city of Granada, amazing sunshine, and yet no words. Maybe today wasn't set apart from the other amazing days in Granada, so it didn't feel unique or noteworthy. I don't know, but it's left me frustrated and a bit confused at the moment.
May 1-4 was the Fiesta de las Cruces in Granada, so all the schools were shut down as well as businesses. This meant I was left with no possible job hunting attempts, nothing to do but fiesta, fiesta, fiesta. Alastair, my neighbor in the house (which we lovingly call the Palace), brought a friend in from Madrid who was awesome and almost like having a little sister. With a little bit of home (she's from St. Louis, Missouri) and a whole lot of spunk, Lindy kept me entertained throughout my four-day weekend. There are pictures above for reference. She's gone back to Madrid, but I'm sure she and I will meet again. I miss having a girl friend to hang out with. Maybe that's part of the writer's block too.
It's been two weeks since the TEFL course ended, and I'm struggling to find some sort of drive to put myself out there and find work. I need to just decide on a day to get out there, put on my workin' clothes and hit the pavement. It's a bit frightening, and even more intimidating with all the decadent lounging I've been doing since the course ended. I feel like I've had to put aside the 9-to-5er Stevie and embrace a bit of the new Granada Stevie, who likes to hang out all day, play guitar and sing, make friends and eat dinner before heading out to the bars. But Granada Stevie might be taking over, and I'm not yet sure how I feel about that. Time to get off my hump (my lovely lady bump) and make some magic happen. Here goes nothing, right??
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