Visitors!

Hey Y'all!

My mom is now visiting and yesterday we went to the most amazing flamenco show in Granada at this place called Eshavira.  A gypsy lady and crew played there for 2 of the most fantastic hours of flamenco I have seen in a very long time. It definitely was as good as the two times I have seen Son de la Frontera, a fantastic flamenco group from Andalucía! Her name is Ana Cali and I don't know much more about her. What I do know is that she can dance! She did not stop dancing. She would dance 2, sometimes 3, songs in a row without pause.  She completely engaged the audience with the quick tapping of her feet, the graceful movement of her hands and the rapid spouts of passion that enthralled the audience.  She could change her tempo and the mood of the dance in an instant, from a fast-paced, 100 foot-taps a second, arms snapping, body tort and powerful yet fluid to a cool and gentle bringing the arms down movement. She was supported by a fantastic, long-haired hippy on the cajon (the gypsy drum), a fantastic guitarist, who broke a string right at the end of their last song on the last set, and two singers, one a little fatter with a higher pitched voice and the other a cool skinny guy who could change the sound of his voice very deftly.

I was so surprised to see such great flamenco and in Granada. From what I have heard, most of the flamenco in Granada is of the more touristy variety. This was authentic and awesome. My mom has been visiting since Saturday and I have just been showing her Granada. We went into the royal chapel where Ferdinand and Isabel are buried today.  They were the two kings who funded Columbus's revolutionary journey to discover the Americas, defeated the last Moorish king that remained on the Iberian Peninsula and ordered the forced conversion of all the Jews in the kingdom or else be expelled, in a two year period (1491-2).  However brutal and racist they were, they are known as the Catholic Monarchs who reunited all of Spain back under Christianity for the first time since the Moorish invasion of 711. Their tombs are ornate and beautiful. And below, you can actually see their coffins, even though the experience is a little eery.

Last week, I had the flu which was no fun. Better now, and before that, my homo-life partner and college roommate Adam visited for a week.  We had a blast, staying out till 4 in the morning, singing the Boss (or el jefe as the Spaniards from Mallorca knew him as) and dancing on the bar on our first night. Those Mallorcans were absolutely crazy, incredibly drunk and a good time.

We went out, had some awesome tapas and also went to Sevilla for two days.

Below is a picture from the night of the gang, from left to right, is Me, Elisa, Colleen, Adam, Amanda, Lauren and Sergio.

And below here is the debauchery that the night entailed:

Those are two of our friends dancing on the bar, our friend Sergio is gay and the random spaniard on the right is also gay. 

We even went to visit the caves where many Gypsies and hippies live. Below is our cave dance.

So we went to Sevilla and there happened to be a random strange statue exhibit surrounding the cathedral, which Adam happened to love.

And we also had to get liter cups of beer in Sevilla for 4 euros!

So it was a great visit with Adam and the visit with my mom is going great. We are going to Salamanca, Segovia and Avila this week after Elisa and I get off work. This is definitely a busy month as the weekend after that, we are going to Basque country in the north, and after that a friend may be visiting and then my dad is visiting, so business. Anyways, have a great couple of weeks and let me know how y'all are doing.

Hasta luego!