Two Beautiful Ladies

First, A New Do...
Karen has not been able to find the perfect hair stylist ever since we moved to Jacksonville in February 2005. She has been to most hair salons in town (do they still call them "beauty parlors"?) taking along the several 8x10 photos I took of the front, back and sides after she had it done by that French guy, Claude in Virginia. They all say "Sure, I can make your hair look like that" but they don't. They all add their little tweaks and personal preferences, perhaps their artistic flairs. That is not what the customer wants in this case. She does not want what "they" think it should look like but she wants what she wants.

Monday Karen called the swankiest hotel in Sevilla, the Alfonso XIII and asked for the concierge who recommended two salons. One didn't answer and the other didn't take appointments. Tuesday we were walking down Calle Zaragosa and saw Peluqueria Miguel Angel so she walked in and made an appointment for 4:30 yesterday. Here is the result:
It is short, doesn't look exactly like what Claude used to do but I think it looks very good. Who cares what I think...there is only one person who has to like it and if she doesn't like it no one is happy. Karen called me on the way home from the peluqueria shop and said "It's really short but I think they did a very good job". She recombed it when she got home and fluffed it up a bit.

I suppose now instead of going back to Virginia for a hairdo Karen will now want to go to Sevilla.

Flamenco
Sevillanos claim that Flamenco was invented here, not only the distinctive style of guitar playing but the singing, the dancing and the design of the Flamenco dress. Last night we went to a local Flamenco show featuring dancer Maribel Ramos, Singer Sebastian Cruz and Guitarist Manuel de la Luz. Tickets were 15€ each but Karen showed her student ID and got in for 13€. The show is held in what appears to be the courtyard of a building that is open at the top about three stories up but has a canopy over it in case it rains. There were about 100-120 folding chairs set up three deep on three sides of the stage. Karen and I were told in advance that there are no assigned seats so we needed to get there early so we could sit in the front row. We were first in line so sat directly in the middle facing the stage on the front row. This was our view before the show:

They had several signs posted saying no photos and made an announcement before the show that photos were not allowed during the first part of the show but that a few minutes before the end of the show one of the performers would let us know that it would be OK to take photos. The performance began with the guitarist and singer seated on stage. As the guitarist began his strumming, the singer at first sat quietly then began clapping rhythmically. After a few minutes he burst into a soulful, very emotional ballad with the facial expressions and body language of one wounded by a great sadness. It was very moving. After the first song they moved their chairs to just behind the stage and began playing and singing again. About halfway through their number, as they continued to play and sing, the dancer leaped onto the stage and began her performance. It was nearly indescribable! Her entire body, head, face, arms, fingers, hips, legs and feet was used to evoke the full range of emotions, from the deepest sadness, to bitter anger to great joy. Her form fitting Flamenco dress revealed her lithe movements while the bottom ruffles swirled with the rhythm. Within the first few seconds we were caught up in the performance. She danced without stopping for 20 minutes then left abruptly. We were blown away!

When she returned a few minutes later she had changed from her dress to the outfit shown on the left. She danced again and we were mesmerized. I wish the young ladies in the States who think it is sexy to wear their jeans and slacks eight inches below their navels could see this outfit. Wow! The waist on her pants is above the bottom of her short jacket, therefore not revealing any skin but sparking imagination, the way a lady should draw attention to herself. She twirled and writhed and stomped her heels with gusto and worked into a frenzy.
We are going back soon. They perform seven nights a week with different performers each night. Some performances have two dancers, a man and a woman. Ole!

(Note to self: I never thought I'd be writing about ladies hairdos or their apparel.) Life is full of surprises.

The Things We Miss the Most

We left home on April 30 and left the US on May 5 so despite our multiple but too infrequent Skype video calls I have to say we most miss family and friends. We have loved our trip so far and are enchanted with Sevilla. It has replaced some of our other most favorite cities and is now very near the top for charm and beauty. We'll be in Sevilla until July 16 (with some planned side trips to Extremadura, Cordoba, etc.) then will make our way back to the US via military Space-A through the US Navy base in Rota, Spain. We are not sure how long it will take to get home since: 1) we don't have a scheduled flight and 2) we don't know where in the US we will land or how we will get home from there. It's all part of the adventure though I imagine that by mid-July we will be very eager to see family and friends.

After the people that we miss the most the next thing, and pretty high on the list, is our shower. OK, everyone in America who takes their shower for granted stand up...I see a couple people in the back who didn't bother to stand but I believe most of you would agree. We take our showers for granted until...we use someone else's. The ones in the hotels in Virginia and New York weren't too bad. Not like home but not too bad. When we got to Köln, Germany we were in a four star hotel. One would think they would have a pretty snazzy shower. It was pretty, lots of glass, marble and stainless steel, but the shower had no curtain. It had this little glass panel about 18 inches wide that was attached to the wall so that if one stands under the stream, faces away and outstretches one's arms, they extend beyond the glass panel. How the heck is that supposed to keep the water inside the tub or shower stall? The four star hotel in Madrid was a little better. The glass panel was maybe 24 inches wide. Most people in the US have a curtain that covers wall to wall and has those little magnets to keep it in place. We are talking probably a six foot curtain.

The shower in our apartment in Sevilla is better than the one in Köln and better than the one in Madrid but it is a far cry from the one we have at home. The "shower curtain" here is a folding plastic door with two panels and is maybe 36 inches wide. It covers about half the tub. How do we keep the water from splashing out of the tub and getting the whole bathroom wet you ask? Well for one thing the water pressure here is about 14 pounds per square inch vice about 114 at home.

At our home we have a separate shower stall about five by six feet, with it's own glass door that closes it off and makes it a separate room. Right after we get home and greet everyone we haven't seen in a while I am getting in that shower, turning the water on "blast" and showering until we run out of hot water.

Kinda reminds me of when I came home after my first year in Viet Nam, I just stood there for the longest time flushing the toilet over and over and watching the water go down. I believe that after our loved ones it's the simple things in life that we take for granted and miss the most when we don't have them.

Lunch and Learning

Some of us can stay awake in class and some of us can’t. When the archivo closed at 1500 (that’s 3:00PM for those who need to know) Karen and “the girls” (previously defined in an earlier blog), OK: Ashleigh, Kryzol and Saber, arrived here for lunch and Spanish lessons by Kryzol, a native speaker. I had gone shopping this morning and starting about 2:30 made a big bowl of salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and mushrooms. I set the table for five, laid out sandwich fixings, opened a bag of chips and was ready.

I vaguely remember Karen asking me this morning to have lunch “ready”, which I could easily have done but I eschewed that idea in favor of giving “the girls” choices and not wasting time making sandwiches for four other people the way I like a sandwich made. Thin bread, heaps of meat, double or triple cheese, half inch thick slices of tomato, salt, pepper, maybe more cheese, more meat…like a “guy” sandwich. I could imagine four women saying things like, “I only like mayo on one side…or I wanted turkey not ham…or (Karen) I like to be able to read the newspaper through my tomato slices”. I had a flashback of the ordering scene in the movie "When Harry Met Sally" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnlm2e3EN78. So I let them fix their own and to my not so much amazement each of the four made a completely different sandwich. I believe I nailed it!

The boys are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, Tuesday and I am doing spaghetti again but will ensure there is an extra dose of meat in the sauce. I think guys need more protein. Oh, I almost forgot I mentioned above about not staying awake in class. My apologies Kryzol, I am the one who would benefit most from your Spanish lessons and I am out much of the day dealing with the public here while all of you are in the archivo…but after lunch I had a sinking spell and had to go lie down. It wasn’t a lack of interest, I think it was the ingestion of all that extra protein that made me sleepy. Perhaps the late nights recently were also a factor.

I look forward to more lunches and learning over the next few weeks. Perhaps I should try taking a nap before lunch so I can stay awake for class!

Bueno Fin de Semana

Dinner Thursday
Thursday evening Karen and I had dinner in our apartment for "the girls", Ashleigh, Kryzol and Saber, the three other female members of the UNF Paleography team performing research in the archivo here in Sevilla. We would have included "the boys", who are Dr. Francis, Spencer and Justin but we only have five plates, forks, knives, etc. so had to draw the line. We'll have just "the boys" another time soon. Even cooking spaghetti for five people I had to use two pans for the noodles and two for the sauce. We have enough pans but not any large enough to cook a whole box of spaghetti at one time or more than three servings of sauce.

We all had a great time and enjoyed some nice wines with and after dinner. We dined early for Sevillanos, beginning about 9PM and wrapped it up a little after 11. Getting up at 6:30AM Friday was a little more difficult than the morning before.

Cocktails, Appetizers and Tapas Friday
Friday evening we had the whole team over for pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers. We started about 9PM with olives, grapes, strawberries, Manchega cheese, an herb cheese, crackers and various vinos. Everyone seemed to enjoy it since there weren't many leftovers. I took some photos so everyone would get credit for attendance.

Left to right, Dr Francis, Ashleigh, Saber, Karen, Spencer, Kryzol and Justin.

The whole group, six students, Dr Francis and me, left our apartment about 11PM and went out for tapas. When Karen and I left the group in a restaurant about 1240AM they were talking about going out dancing. The youngsters are getting into the swing of Sevillano life a bit more quickly than we are.

Santiponce and Italica on Saturday
Saturday morning I dreamed the telephone rang, then simultaneously the telephone rang in our apartment. What a coincidence! It was Saber wanting to know if we wanted to join her, Ashleigh, Kryzol and Spencer to see the Roman ruins at Santiponce. It was about 10AM and and we said sure, just not right now. She confided that they had also just gotten up and would like to meet at about 1130. More like it, vale! We quickly showered, etc., scrambled some eggs, made some coffee and were just about finished when everyone arrived here. Someone had thought the bus depot was near our place so they walked here. After consulting a map and turning it to the right about 85 degrees to orient it to north, consulting the web (what's bus station in Spanish?) we determined it was the other way.

We walked to the bus depot and fortunately we had Kryzol with us who is a native Spanish speaker. She was appointed to approach the information booth and ask about the how, when and where for the bus to Santiponce. Easy, see the big lit up board behind you, OK? See at the bottom where it says Santiponce at 1230 at slot number 34? Now, see the clock over there that says it's 1229? Hurry through those doors, walk to #34 and pay on the bus. Muy facil!

The bus was nicer than I thought it might be, left on time, was comfortable and rode smoothly. The driver said something to Kryzol that I understood to be the fourth stop is the last (ultima) and you get off there. We counted stops and at the fourth, Spencer, me and someone else got off. Kryzol went to ask the driver if this was our stop. He was kind of annoyed and told her rudely that he had said the fourth stop in Santiponce was the last. We were still several miles from our destination and were able to make it back onto the bus but not back to our seats before the bus roared off toward Santiponce. There is always one.

The Roman ruins are called Italica and consist of an entire city, probably 20 square blocks built by Roman Emperor Trajan who was born in 56. He was succeeded by the more famous Hadrian.

Many of the paving stones of the steets are still in place, parts of the walls and underground water supply and sewer system survive and most interesting many of the buildings still have intricately laid tile floors displaying birds, faces and other interesting patterns. There is also an amphitheater where the locals were entertained by various gruesome acts performed by man and beast.
















Tapas Saturday Evening
Saturday evening the entire group met nearby at 7:45PM to walk to a tapas restaurant that Dr. Francis had recommended. We were joined by Dr. Ken Andrien, a professor at Ohio State and his wife Ann. The group, save one, was assembled pretty much on time. When the last member joined us about 15 minutes late Dr. Francis set off at a pace that I could easily match but after a few blocks we noticed he and I were by ourselves and the rest were spread out over about two blocks. We slowed down a bit so the group could stay closer together because we were approaching one of the many labyrinthine sections of Sevilla where the streets are narrow, mostly unmarked and crowded. If one gets lost in there one may be lost for quite a while.

We arrived at Tapas Viapol just a couple minutes after our 8:30 reservation and were seated in an otherwise empty restaurant. By our second round of tapas the place was packed with every seat taken and a line outside waiting to get in. The food was great, the wine was excellent and we needed and appreciated the walk back just to work off the sizable consumption. The pace was more leisurely since we weren't trying to beat the crowd.

Slow Sunday
Karen and I slept in this morning and have spent the day cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. We did take a break and book a hotel in Trujillo in the Extremadura region of Spain for 4-7 June. It is called Parador de Trujillo and was a convent in the 16th Century, now a four star hotel. We will base out of Trujillo for the weekend and visit several surviving and authentic 16th Century medieval towns in the area, that are mostly unadulterated by modern architecture. Extremadura is also the origin of many of Spain's conquistadors and has many historically significant sites.

Karen is taking a nap on the couch with the doors open to the street below. There is a cocaphony of street noises including crowds of people talking, children yelling and crying, motor scooters, dishes, pots and pans, you name it. I need more quiet to sleep.