Springtime Musings.....

April 21, 2009
Hi all, Spring has arrived and is gorgeous. We went on a mini-pilgrimage last weekend with Miguel and Pilar. Unlike the pilgrimage to Rocio which lasts 3 days on the road with camping out, this one went about a kilometer from the church to the pine grove on the beach. There the priest said a few appropriate words for San Isadoro Labrador, the saint for whom the pilgrimage was made. Then, it was party time, full speed ahead. We were invited for good food and many drinks. Andi ended up demonstrating who was the best dancer of Sevillanas and I ended up playing and singing in the center of a big circle until a TV camera showed up and someone shoved a microphone in my face. Really fun!

Here are some of the carretas parted in front of the fiesta.

Here is a handsome horse with a funny look in his eye.

The cutest thing all day was Negro's brother Manuel, who had gotten babysitting duty, with a matched team of little kids all roped together so they couldn't get separated. They were all so well behaved.

Other than that, the flamenco has been pretty intense. I am rehearsing regularly with Miguel for our show in Zamora and last weekend at the Peña, I played for many hours. In the afternoon, there was a really good session with some visiting singers from Sevilla including Isabel, the presidenta of the Peña la Fragua. I played about 4 hours. Then the same evening, there was a dinner for people from a Peña in Malaga who had invited the Roteños to a dinner in Malaga earlier in the year. They showed up with several good singers. The Malaga people had their own guitarist, but the Peña asked me to accompany the Sevilla people and the Rota people - so I spent a long time on stage. Andi and I finished off the show with some bulerias.

It is quite a change from when we first arrived and all the men in the peña were very wary about who is this American who keeps wanting to play the guitar. Now they scream encouragement and treat us like dignitaries. This is beyond a dream come true because in my wildest dreams I couldn't imagine this. Maybe I imagined being able to play and sing a little without people being rude, but I never imagined having a place of honor at the table.

Misc. thoughts - Olives: do you like Olives? Well we LIKE olives! Here, there is an olive lady at the market who has different kinds of olives in a variety of marinades. Olives are never refrigerated, but kept in flavored brines sort of like pickles in the days before refrigeration. We really like the "gordales", which are really big, meaty olives. We spend about $40/month on olives and I can't imagine being without them. In the US, we had to make our own. The olives that go in martinis are so-o-o-o-oooo boring. But the upscale markets are starting to have Sicilian varieties that may help us get along.

Speaking of foods you don't get in the USA, how about octopus?

Our US visit - we will be in the USA all summer (We need to rent a car from somebody - borrow is even better, but we would pay for the insurance to cover us. We let our insurance lapse when we sailed away, so need to piggyback on someone else's). Anyway, we are looking forward to reconnecting with old friends....

Here is a photo from Semana Santa here in Rota. This is one of the pasos from the church here, carried by about 20 young men (hidden under the skirts of the paso).

BTW, in the sidebar at the right is a new entry "All Our Videos" that takes you to a list of all our videos including new ones with Miguel and Negro.

Here is a video of Semana Santa....