Granada

I'm in Granada! I arrived on Wednesday and have been spending my time with rediscovering the wonderful streets of the Albaicín. After 7 years, I forgot a lot of things and some places have changed. But the city is still the same. I'm so happy to be here.

Terrace view from Carmen de las Cuevas school in the Albaicín.

Albaicín street.

Right now I'm sitting on one of the beautiful school terraces. We can see the Alhambra from here. It's very hot, around 40 degrees. Fortunately the nights are cool. 

I'm staying in a student flat from the school at the top of the Albaicín. People are very nice here and all crazy about flamenco. We already had a party on our rooftop terrace with some guitar and singing. Last Thursday I went to Los Veranos del Corral, a summer flamenco series. I saw Concha Jareño. She is a master of rhythm and I liked her performance very much.

Dance classes start in a week. Until then I will keep taking care of myself. I've been doing a lot of thinking about why I came to Spain. I feel a bit stressed out because there are so many things I want to do and learn. I want to be active and progress. I want to learn all about flamenco. I want to see more of this beautiful Granada of my heart. I want to dance. I want to sing and play the cajón and draw and make websites. At the same time, there are only so many things that can be done in one day. It's time to listen inside to find out what I REALLY want to do.

Decisions

Recently I posted this on Facebook:

"Sometimes you have to go against reason... go against your endless needs, against what you think is best... against your biggest fears. Just go with what your deepest guts tell you and things will happen you couldn't have imagined in your wildest dreams."

It seems I have to take my own advice now and listen to my guts. Things are not easy in Cádiz. I'm not in a good place right now. I won't go into detail, but I'll share that the living circumstances are taking up a lot of my energy - too much of it! There are a lot of good things about being here and that makes it hard. But my body has been acting up. It's been trying to tell me things and now it's time to listen to it. It's too bad because Cádiz is beautiful and I'd love to stay. But I can't right now.

I have decided to not continue exposing myself to bad vibes anymore and to leave Cádiz the day after tomorrow. I'm going to Granada! I've signed up for horse riding classes next week, yay! It's crazy but I'm very excited.

I left Granada over 7 years ago. It's time to go back. :)

Los Jueves Flamencos I

There's a concert series every summer organized by the Peña Enrique El Mellizo called "Los Jueves Flamencos". They take place in the Baluarte de la Candelaria, one of the fortification castillos around the Old town. I went to see it this week. On the way there I walked through the beautiful Parque Genovés at dusk. Again, the light was amazing.

The concert series used to be a big affair with a lot of big names but due to the crisis, 2 of 7 nights were cut and there are no stars on the program. No stars is not necessarily a bad thing, so I was prepared for anything.

First, the whole thing was quite a posh affair. The Peña members (all of them people aged 40 and older) dress up and sit at tables with tablecloths. One of the best restaurants in town, El Faro, caters for the guests. The ticket costs 20 euros. I was surprised. But then the concert had five parts so you got more than enough for the money.

Eva Rubichi from Jerez sang first. Unfortunately I didn't like her style at all. She might have sung with all her heart, as she told the audience. But her voice and tone failed to captivate me. Her performance lacked subtlety and was very loud and very long. Sang for more than 45 minutes. Next up was Joselito Linares. His singing was just fine, but it was getting late and I was getting tired of listening to cante. It does require a lot of attention! After that, an excellent Miguel Téllez from Jerez gifted us with a hilarious parody of baile por alegrías. I could see he was a very accomplished dancer. He had every single part of his body under control and still managed to dance in a completely relaxed way. I've never seen such a corny "silencio" before. It was very funny. 

It was one thirty and I had to go home. I was sorry missed the great María Mezcle and Ezequiel Benitez. 

Up next week: Flamenco en los Balcónes! 

P.S.

I'd like to extend my warmest thoughts to Oslo, to my friends there, and the victims of the tragedy along with their families. Please stay safe. Let's keep the hope going that one day violence will end.

Image from here.