Mountains and Voodoo

I leave tomorrow with Kate on my great adventure to the Alpujarras to plan next week´s trip. The house where we´re staying is more than 500 years old and was built when the Arabs fled Granada in 1492. Not much has changed since then. I am really excited, and prepared to be really cold. There´s snow in them thar hills, and that means that skiing is within reach. I think I might have even found someone with a car that is as addicted to mountains as I am!

The other night, Kate, Zach and I tried out Spain´s public transportation (which is really fantastic). We did have a little bit of an adventure and ended up waiting for an hour and a half at, apparently, the wrong bus stop. Luckily, we were well rewarded by the amazing hospitality of our friends Annette and José. They also have a cute baby, Iker, and two quite spunky dogs, Pincho and Frank. I am helping house-sit this week while they are scouting a trip, so that means I get some doggy snuggles.
Last night there was a big Smiths celebration at a bar near our house, so we decided to see what kind of freaks come out for melodramatic, androgynous ´80s music. Apparently good freaks, because we had a nice time, and managed to leave quite happy, which, after three hours of the Smiths and Morrissey, is quite a feat.

I just talked to Chris on the phone about my new linguistic habits. First off, I have officially dropped "S" from my Spanish, mimicking my dear Spanish friends (but better, I think, than adding the hideous "th" that Spain is famous for-- "¡Vamoth a Tharagotha!") I´ve also begun saying "insha-allah," or God willing, anytime I am making plans for the future, which is a key part of speaking with Moroccans (and Muslims in general). "I am going to mail this postcard, insha-allah." "Let´s meet in ten for ice cream, insha-allah." "I hope the gas man comes before I get dreadlocks, insha-allah." I think maybe God is too busy willing other things to worry about those sorts of things, but you never know, I guess. Better safe than sorry, although that´s never really been my religious philosophy so I may have to make up for a few years...

I thought this was funny:
Voodoo Practitioner Tries to Jinx Bush
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=977070