caught in a whirlwind in southern spain

i'm in madrid at the moment on my way back to ther states from a week-long, whirlwind trip to unbelievable andalucia in southern spain to attend the wedding of my friend and guide from africa last year, annie. what an incredible place. the history here is everywhere - you can't breathe without taking some of it in you. and once it's in you it instantly becamoes a part of you and you of it.

in granada i stayed in the old islamic quarter called the albaycín - which is filled with islamic art and architecture, whitewashed buildings, cobblestone streets old churches and gardens, all with the alhambra as a backdrop. simply breathtaking. all of my travel companions from my trip to niger last year were there - our first reunion since the trip almost exactly a year ago. so incredible to get to see them all again in one place for such a wonderful event!


the wedding was held in an old palacio with a huge cypress-lined front entryway. the ceremony itself taking place in a sitting room with an unbelievable view of the alhambra. we all ate dinner in the courtyard of the palacio - eating, drinking, laughing. afterwards we were treated to some authentic flamenco - a troop of friends of annie's. the dancers actually singled me and my friend karine out to come up and dance with them. for anyone who has seen me dance this was no more graceful than what you've already witnessed and (not too surprisingly) there will be no public record of it. at least as far as i know... everybody i met there was so warm and amazing. annies' friends and family, her husband mark's friends and family. couldn't have been more festive and beautiful.


the day afterwards we went to the village of mecina where annie lives - located in a region of the sierra nevada south of granada called the alpujarras - to enjoy a paella party and more drinks. we even got to participate in the procession of a religious festival at a nearby village. the alpujarras are so rustic and charming. 2-lane roads winding their way through the mountains to the various small whitewashed villages that sit precariously on the mountains. almost as if someone had come by with a big paint brush and splashed white paint on them in random places. further up in the mountains, people still adhere to the old traditional sheepherding life - only coming to town when they have to. it's like time has stood still in some places. annie's house is a masterpiece of design and form. she bought it 5 years ago as a completely rundown horse stable, i believe, and renovated it over the course of 3 years into the refuge away from the world it is today. truly inspiring.


back in granada two days afterwards we had time to visit the alhambra and do some shopping. there's nothing i can say about the alhambra that hasn't already been said. th place just takes your breath away with its simple complexity and attention to detail and it's vistas. since, in islam. you're not supposed to represent man or animal in art, the artisans developed writing and geometric patterns in such a way that they became art themselves. i couldn't believe the intricacy if the tile and brick work in the place. and the carvings that were everywhere were just astounding. we spent 4 hours in the place and really just left with a broad overview.


shopping in granada is definitely an overwhelming experience. there's a seemingly endless array of little boutique stores everywhere. turn a corner you've never been to before and up pops a gift shop, a guitarrista and a tea and spice shop. turn another corner and you have an ironworks shop or maybe a tailor or a panaderia. all on these steep, narrow cobblestone streets with mopeds and the occasional car or bus rushing by you.

and life there seems to be centered around food. more specifically, the ubiquitous jamon, manchego, sangría and olives the region is famous for. you're always either on your way to getting food, eating food or just coming from eating food at one of the countless cafés, restaurants or teahouses that you can find there. karine and i stumbled into the most amazing teahouse late last night. we'd walked by it tons of times but never stopped in. the proprietor, mohammad, welcomed us in with jokes and dancing and an irresistible belly laugh that had us in stitches the whole time. he served us this incredible cardimom mint tea - house specialty.

all of the main roads in granada seems to be under construction right now. which is fine since it's possible to walk everywhere anyhow - everything's so close to one another. actually had a driving in granada experience - returning the car i'd rented to drive to mecina. that experience lasted 3 hours or so mostly because of the traffic caused by the endless construction and also because of siesta when everything shuts down from 2 to 5pm - a great concept unless you need to do something productive like return a car. honestly, i prefer walking.

my flight departing granada today was delayed a couple hours causing me to miss my connection to london and los angeles. flight problems seem to be a theme for this trip. leaving l.a. i'd accidentally brought my old passport and had to book a new flight for later in the afternoon so i could go home and get my new passport - oops. total amateur move on my part. then in madrid, my flight to granada was delayed 2 hours bringing me in to the city around 1am. and now this delay which brings me to where i am now... overnight in a hotel in madrid courtesy of iberia airlines.

flight delays aside, i love this country and i can't believe it's taken me so long to come here. everything about it feels so familiar to me for some reason - the people, the language, the terrain. i can't wait to return!