my weekend with the gypsies

i feel like granada spain was a city made for me to blog about. it reminds me of austin a lot. it's a small town but has a big city feeling to it. (and this whole country is kuku for recycling!) it's also a college town so it comes with the young urban vibe. why it's possibly better than austin? the fortress. and tapas. (more on tapas in a min.) why it's not? no music, except for flaminco. (more on flaminco in a min.) and the whole city shuts down on sundays.

granada is basically divided into 4 different neighborhoods: the muslims, the jews, the catholics, and the gypsies.

i'm all about the gypsies.

the guy working at the hostal said the neighborhood was super close and super safe and they don't mind people going into their neighborhood. they live in caves, and they are aware that people don't live like this anymore.

altitude ass kicking #2.

these caves are on cliffs. so you have to get to the cliff to see the cave. and no, it's not far. but it´s ALL uphill. no joke- i walked about 3 miles down this road looking for gypsies. i saw one cave on the side of the mountain next to the one that i was on. i had to see something better than that. i wasn't going to give up- i had a cliff bar and a half full bottle of water on me! i'm fine! and then standing in the middle of the road was a posse of men. so then i thought to myself- "self, you have 2 choices: 1. possibly see what my distorted vision of a gypsy is (think aladin- monkeys, genie lamps, bells...) or 2. possibly be gypsy lunch." so i left.

i'm walking the exact same road, just going a different direction and now i can hear music and children playing. but i can't see anyone! i keep looking harder and i see something bright green showing between some branches. then i zoom out- i was looking at the wrong side of the street the whole time! there were caves for days and a whole 30 feet away from me.

the fence is pretty obvious in this picture- but if you look closely into the sides of the cliff you can see two entrances into the cave. it's amazing!!

life lesson #3: everything is better with your eyes open!

i should have known that an afternoon like that would lead for a very interesting evening. lovisa (tight swiss chick) and i go out for some tapas (another reason why i love granada) and in this city every drink you order comes with a free tapa. 1.80 for a cerveza and tapa! unfortunatly, this evening a little girl standing right next to us decided to have a vom-fest all over herself and the bar. we can't get away. gag. her parents aren't helping her. gag. people are stepping in it. gag. moving along... it's a saturday night in granada and the hostal staff takes us out and my life becomes like a song: SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!!!! (if you don't know, you need to know.) this bar has only shots- 140 of them actually. divided by weak, medium, and fuerte. the best part of the whole evening- i was the only american there, and to "celebrate" we took the USA shot.

omg look at their faces!!!! it was horrible!!!! super sweet at first and then the most bitter/sour taste ever!!!

the next morning lovisa and i get up early to do my favorite thing. free walking tours!!! we make our way to the square about 5 min. early. we see a group of people gathering & let's go! a man hands us a little flier with info. on it and it's all in spanish and they are all talking in spanish. dang- but that's ok, we can walk with them and look at stuff, between the two of us we can figure something out. we then begin to piece together what's happening here- some of them have walking sticks. that's ok, granada is hilly, the sierra navada mountains are right there. one man has a full pack on. that's a little weird. yep, they all have on legit hiking boots. yep, we're on our way into the wild. stop following them.

i don't even know how to begin the next topic. did i deserve it? sure. was i freaked out? oh yea. was it amazing? yes.

arab baths. (when in rome, right?) after wondering through small streets with too many turns i arrive, aljibe baños árabes for my 4pm reservation. after a speech i didn't understand, i am given a number for my massage, told to put on my swimsuit and then walk through this big wooden door. and now i'm in a cave. it's hot and humid and smells like tea, there is arabic music playing quietly in the backround and the whole place is lit with 100s of tea candles. there are 7 different shaped baths scattered all around. some are long and rectangular, some are small octagons, and then there is a raised one in the center. this bath is the temp. of ice water. i sat in this bath for 10 min. this was not nice. but then it got amazing. all the water in the other 6 baths are different levels of hot. 10 min. in the cold bath, 10 min. in a hot bath, back for 10 in the cold, and then 10 in a different hot.... i've decided we need one of these in austin. and a real tapas bar. after my second round of baths it got real weird. my number was called for my massage along with another young lady by a "big bertha" looking woman. she leads the two of us to a secluded area in the cave and tells the other girl to lay down. i'm standing there- and then bertha continues to take off the girls bikini- and i'm right there. WHAT. THE. FUCK. then a small woman who looked freakishly like steve urkel came to get me. phew... followed by a slice of pizza, i took the best siesta ever.

this night we went to see some authentic flamenco. we went to a local hole in the wall bar where the patrons took turns performing. the style of singing is so strong and so full of emotion. it's all about oppression and you can feel the pain in their eyes! the skills of the guitar players are amazing. it almost sounds like there are 3 or 4 playing at one time. i was most amused by the clapping. this man could clap so loud and make sounds i didn't think could happen! then i was told that in spain, they have an expression that is only used here: tocar palmas. which means to play the palms. it's amazing!

the people in granada (not the bus drivers) were a kind of their own. one afternoon wondering with lovisa we found our selves in an area with no people, many different ways to go, and we're pretty sure we have no idea where we are. then we see a man sitting on a chair by himself. he's smiling and says, "el centro!" while pointing to a trail. "yea right, buddy!! we're gunna walk down that unpopulated trail that you say is going to take us back downtown!" well 10 min. later we circle around, get a little more confused, figure it out- and i'll be damned. the creeper was no creeper. that's just how he rolls. he chills and tells people where to go. people sing while they walk, the streets came alive at 11pm on a sunday when granada's futbol team won, old men in electric wheelchairs play songs for you on their horns, and they make a bomb falafel.

it was a little weird when we came home one night to a flock of paralyzed spanish midgets drinking 40s on the stoop to the hostal.

i'm sure many of you are wondering, "what about the CHI?? how does erin's hair look??" well... not that great. but i haven't wanted to straighen it once! get this- a girl asked me if i wanted to use hers, and i said- no thanks!!!! (so- dear dubby, you were right.)