Julia, Granada, Flamenco and the 21st.

Hello! I was gone for the weekend and without internet and it feels like I have a thousand things to write about. I apologize in advance if this is a really long post. First of all, Julia got here Friday night. It was so good to see her and although her trip was long, she made it here without any trouble. We just went to bed because we had to be up early to catch the bus to Granada on Saturday morning.

We arrived in Granada at 11 am. The city is beautiful and has a completely different atmosphere than Sevilla. For one, it was actually kind of cold there. The air was nice and crisp, as fall air should be. It´s quite a bit smaller than Sevilla, but seems to run at a faster pace. Sevillanos tend not to hurry anywhere whereas Granada seemed buzzing with people going places. After exploring the city a bit, we trekked back up the enormous hill to our hotel which was across the street from the Alhambra. At the top of the hill were the gypsies. I don´t know if I´ve mentioned, but there are gypsies at every main tourist attraction in Andalusia. They carry little sprigs of rosemary and try to read your palm with them. This is fine, but they charge 3€ for this elaborate display and unsuspecting tourists easily fall victim because they don´t give you much of a choice,essnetially thrusting the herb into your hand while distracting you with a torrent of Spanish compliments. I was unsure if they would let Julia get away without her fortune told, so when the elegant gypsy woman in the gaudy fur coat approached Julia, I grabbed the fur-covered elbow to pull her back and firmly said "No". Life lesson here: Don´t touch gypsies. They will turn around with fire in their eyes and curse you. I didn´t understand much,mostly just something about my ugly face. That was my first birthday gift, a gypsy curse. Awesome.

Later, as we were waiting to go in to the Alhambra, I recieved birthday gift number two. A bird pooped on my hands. Equally awesome. Turns out though, that several people think getting pooped on or stepping in poop is good luck. I think the bird saved me from the gypsy curse. As of yet, my face is not disfigured. Knock on wood.

The Alhambra was stunning, of course. I will post pictures when my camara battery is charged. After the tour, we walked back down into the center in search of a tetería. Martín, Julia Zoë and I ended up in this tiny,dimly lit cafe with cushioned stools and benches around tables made for a dollhouse. We were brought the menu which consisted of three or four pages of tea options and a page of Arabic sweets. We made our selections, Hawaian for Julia, Chai for Zoë, Al Andalus for me, and some unpronouncible green tea for Martín and ordered them along with an assortment of desserts. We were each given our own little pot and beatifully colored glass. It was exquisite. The room was so cozy and warm and filled with the sweet smoke from the hookahs which were also available. The sweets were amazing. There was a brownie with walnuts, some sort of moist, well, more like dripping wet, almond bread, a miniature caramelized funnel cake and a large slice of what I think was fig pie. It was the perfect way to spend a chilly afternoon.

I have to go to class now, but I will continue the Granada adventure later.

Much love!