Third (3!) post of the day today. Be sure to check below and the bottom links for any updates you may have missed. There have been quite a few recently as I try to close out my Spanish experience.
This section as mentioned in the title is a two parter. The first part took place one special night in which Juan and Maria invited my roommate Justin and I to go watch their son sing flamenco in downtown Granada. We were pretty excited to do it, and it was really the first time they had ever invited us to do stuff with them.
A little about Juan and Maria: First off, they're great. I really enjoy being a part of their family here. I don't complain much here, but one thing about the two of them - they walk REALLY slowly. And not because they can't walk faster (I've seen them scurry about the house at a lightning pace) but because A) they enjoy taking their time and B) they know EVERYONE on the street. Justin and I literally had to stop multiple times on our way because they kept having to stop and greet (aka give a kiss on each cheek) many people on the street on our 10 minute walk that became 30 minutes. It was insane, but hilarious at the same time, since we had never really seen either of them out in public like that. It was certainly fun seeing them in a new environment.
Anyway, as we crawled up to the theatre, we entered and noticed that there were not going to be any other Americans there. This was probably a first for me in Granada; generally there are Americans everywhere. We grab a seat up near the front and the show begins about 10 minutes later. The first to play were these two young kids. Both were extremely talented. The one on the right made playing advanced guitar look effortless. Really something.
Later on, the father of one of the kids and a friend came on stage and clapped the traditional flamenco beat.
Up next was this gentleman, a solo act.
After a bit of waiting, Juan and Maria could not hold back their excitement as their son took the stage (on the left). His name is also Juan, and he was probably the most talented singer of the night in my opinion. A little bit about flamenco: it isn't as melodic or paced as you'd think. In fact it is a bit hectic. There are a lot of octave changes, loud to soft singing and long drawn out sounds. It's interesting to hear, certainly. One of Juan's signature moves (I suppose I can call it that) is that at the end of a song, he generally belts out a loud, long phrase with a lot of power and emotion, and then stands up with great force and bows/signals to his guitarist. Definitely caught me off guard the first time he did it, but it was an interesting way to begin the applause.
I wasn't looking, but Justin who was sitting to my left was watching Juan, who was sitting to his left, throughout each performance of his son. He mentioned that Juan was sitting on the edge of the seat, literally trembling with excitement and mouthing the words to the songs. I wish I had looked over. Juan is a funny man.
Afterwards, these two guys came on stage and performed. I guess you could call them the main attraction? The fellow on the right is actually Canadian. Go figure.
On our way home, we spotted this Ren and Stimpy van. Yeah, I don't know why either.
Part 2: Las Alpujarras. This was another ISA sponsored trip to a part just south of the Sierra Nevada (check my last update) that is famous for its mountainside white appearance and its food. The trip up here was very much like that of the Sierra Nevada - windy and vomit inducing. Thankfully everyone was able to stomach it, but it was quite windy.
Pretty cool to be up here in the mountains like this. Our main goal here was a hike with our whole group, which was about 80 or more people. Yikes.
Around the very beginning of our hike, we come across this line on the ground. Upon further inspection...
Inchworms of some kind. A whole bunch of them slowly making their trek across this path. The tour guide mentioned some stuff about them, and as we were about to walk away, one girl almost touched one. The tour guide quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back, mentioning that they are super poisonous and that even touching it once could hospitalize you. Crazy.
He we are, crossing a shallow river, our directors helping us across some of the harder parts.
Yes, what you are seeing is a keg. Not the best photo, but this was a guy leading a donkey with two big kegs of beer.
About halfway through, we found a nice plateau and ate our bocadillo lunches. This was our view.
Here's our mega-group relaxing after lunch.
All I can think of here is Lemmings, the old computer game.
Our hotel was one of these buildings. The weather this day was picture perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Our hotel was very cozy. I think everyone really likes staying in the hotels, because they don't have to worry about using too much water/electricity, which some house mothers really try to limit.
Across the street from our hotel was this little bar, serving the main beer of Madrid, Mahou. Not my favorite, but this was a primo location.
We sat down, got a beer, ate some olives (you always get olives here, always) and played Euchre, while the sun went down. Bellisimo.
I don't think theres much more that a man needs in life than a good beer, good friends, and a cutthroat game of cards with ridiculous amounts of smacktalk.
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