Wistful cleaning

I think I look damn good in an apron. I hope I never wear one on a regular basis.

Kate in Grandma´s apron...

...dutifully preparing for our housewarming party. This woman

is my sanity here in Granada. And she´s cute, too.

Once upon a time...

There was a group of new friends in a strange country, on a hunt for the unthinkable. We´ve all had the dreams: riding through the prairie, braids flowing in the wind, our angel--his sculptured cheekbones and flowing chestnut hair--sitting quietly on our shoulder. Riding on that highway to Heaven. Ahh, Michael Landon. How has the world gone on without you? El Rincón de Michael Landon, that´s how. And, although this entry is a little out-of-date, we found it and we keep on finding it.
That´s me, Kate, and Zack a week or so after we got to Spain, finally finding our favorite bar. It makes me happy. Colleen just gave me some pictures, so I thought I would add some so y´all know who it is I talk about. Now onto more recent happenings.

I feel like there´s been a little back-up in my brain and the words are fender-bending all up and down the inside of my skull. That´s why posting pictures is so nice...
I just got back from an amazing trip to Portugal with Spencer and Kate. I had a lot of time to think and soak up the beautiful, sad, rhythm of a very under-rated country (can we keep it that way??) Lisboa has broken forcefully into my list of my favorite cities in the world, and I had an amazing night of dancing and debauchery in this awesome venue called B. Leza, which had a great band from Cape Verde and plenty of willing dance partners who were so good that they made me look like I know what I am doing.
We spent some good time in the wilderness, too, in the enchanted (no joke here) forest, Buçaco, where fairy tales are made (the sad ones...) And then, along with two sweet dogs who adopted us, we trekked across a valley that was almost eerily like Scotland, and almost as wet). The whole time, we met people who were helpful and open, a phenomenon so rare in Spain, I almost forgot that it existed. I´ve been journaling a lot and some off it will probably spill over here, so it´s not the last you´ll hear about Portugal.
I head to Morocco tomorrow for the first time in three months. Strange. I am happy to see my wonderful friends, though, so I am getting excited. I am also having a doubtful sort of day, so it´s a mixed bag. If the future would just arrange itself in a nice, orderly fashion, it would make life so much easier. I would also go crazy...
I am posting some more pictures from my early days in Granada. Portugal will be added as soon as Spain stops celebrating whatever saint´s day it is and opens again for consumption.
Much love. Heather

A staircase in the Albayzín with at least five different artists who all worked with each other. The left wall (not pictured) is amazing... I´ll add more later.

Some color...

This is a house mural in Realejo done by Niño de las Pinturas, who is probably the best known of the Granada graffiti artists.

My friend Ben, me a day after the mullet fiasco, and a large pig leg. Hair included. I love Spain...

This is Paco and Maria´s house in the Alpujarra, my getaway, a little piece of heaven...

Worse than Satan

This was my Sunday morning chuckle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdqgSBqGTno

On MSNBC, no less.

Saturday morning coming down

It really has been a long time since I have had inspiration to sit and write (it´s actually just really cold in the internet café). Some things have happened since the last bit, so I´ll go back a little ways...

A week and a half ago, Ben and José were out at Pata Palo, which was our favorite bar. Ben was having a conversation with Omar, a really nice guy from Morocco. After a few minutes, a couple Spaniards pulled Ben aside and told him that if he wanted to talk to that guy, he would have to take it outside. Ben nicely told them that he had his friends, they had theirs, and they could mind their own business and leave him to his. He turned to walk away and the three of them started swinging at his back, catching him pretty good on the neck and the ear, & getting his eye a little.
I am a pretty firm believer in non-violence, and I am not sure what my reaction would be in this situation. Ben is not, and he can be pretty aggressive when put to the test (or at Dillinger Escape Plan shows, say...) I also think he probably could have done quite a bit of damage to these assholes. But he was also in his favorite bar, where he has gone for more than a couple years, and he really didn´t want to disrespect the people around him, so he did nothing. The bartender kicked him out, saying that the other guys were his friends, and that he had to believe them.
He called me at 3:30am really angry (rightfully so). He came over for a little bit, and was so upset that he went to the police at 5 in the morning to report it. Bad idea, since Spanish police are renowned for their outright racism. They informed him that he should be more careful about who he talks to.

I think it may be his first encounter with his own privilege, so in a way it is a good thing, but it´s never fun to watch racist assholes in action. As one of my friends from Mississippi told me, at least here, as in the South, you know straight up who is racist because they don´t pretend to hide it.

Other than that, I am still trying to figure out exactly what my next step is. I was ready to jump ship three weeks ago and head to New Zealand 8actually, I am still ready to do that, but I don´t think I am going to). Now I am wondering if I should aprovechar this opportunity and spend some time WWOOFing around Spain and Portugal, maybe get some Portuguese under my belt. Things with my boss are still absolutely absurd and it´s worth graduating a little later in order to avoid his ridiculousness.

I am definitely headed back to Colorado after I leave here. I miss the West so much it hurts. Plus, my family and puppies and mountains are there, which are some of the more important elements in my little life. So if anyone out that way has my dream job, let me know!

More later. Love H