Wow! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of traveling and baby stuff. Dima and I have covered southern Seville and Granada in Spain, Paris in France and Porto in Portugal. Plus we have learned we are having a little girl and have found and rented a new apartment (2 Bedrooms! Yay!).
Southern Spain was freakin’ awesome. I went to my first (and second) Flamenco show, which was really a great experience. The first one was in Granada. The participants were gypsies and it took place in a real cave. The only way I can describe the atmosphere and the show was it was like they were having an argument and then a dance-off. I never knew this but a big part of Flamenco is the dancers tap/bang their feet and create a beat, like a drum that adds to the guitar and singing of the other participants. Everyone sits around and watches the feet of the primary dancer so they can work the beat off of them. It is like they were jamming.
The Gypsy Flamenco show was emotional and raw… they were so serious. It was funny – between
shows I was standing in line for the bathroom (of course) and I heard clacking coming from the floor above. The dancers then proceeded to come down after the break – they were even having a dance off in their spare time! It was nutty and great. I have to admit that the whole time in the back of my head I saw a huge potential for a Will Farrell movie (like Talladega Nights) based off of these people and the craft. Not in a making fun of them sort of way, but they seemed so dramatic – 2 of the women on stage even got into a fight in front of the audience and then proceeded to out-do each other’s performances. It was cool because it didn’t seem like it was for show – they were trying to be discreet with the fight (think dirty looks and a few small hand gestures) but when they danced, you can tell they were saying “fuck you bitch”. The one girl lost her flowers from her hair and was full-on disheveled by the end of it all. In the movie version I could see a limb flying off or a fire being started under her feet. Total passion. Plus the man they had dancing totally looked like a Spanish version of Naum! He was hard core as well just all by himself. He would pull at his clothing and bang it out in a way that was show stopping in its own way.
The second show that we saw was in Seville. I was so into my new find (Flamenco) I made Dima take me to another show! I had read that the styles were very different but equally impressive so I wanted to see and learn more. The Seville show was super cool in its own right. There was not a dance-off type of vibe. It was more of a refined but skilled type of dance and show. I have read that many of the dancers that are nationally recognized and praised have danced on the stages in Seville and after seeing the show I get it. The show was fantastic with bold colors and a variety of performances such as women singing and dancing as well as beautiful Spanish guitar playing. I have to say the one man that we saw dance had to have been the best dancer I have ever seen in person. Dima and I were both like “holy shit!”. So, if there are Flamenco dance lessons available for our little chica I would totally be into signing her up.
The week after we went south we went north to France -Paris that is. Yep.
Then last weekend we went to Porto, Portugal. Going into this trip we were a little tired from all of the traveling and really didn’t have any
expectations. Sometimes that is the best way to go into a situation because we were totally wowed. The city is old and in need of renovation but wow, it was beautiful, interesting and far away from being a tourist trap. The buildings are so decorative and colorful. I loved it. It makes me think that the people who made them were not concerned with their building looking like every other building. They decorated them to be bold and colorful and interesting. That is not something I am used to seeing in the states or even in Spain. Besides the beauty the food was off the hook..and cheap! One of the things that I did not realize before we booked the trip was that Porto is known for their port wine. Yeah, duh. I will def have to go back again when I can drink because I loves me some port, like for real.
While we were there we took a bike tour of the city and I got to ride an electric bike because of my “condition”. OMG, so much fun! I found out on the tour that the author of the Harry Potter books actually used to live in Porto and the whole idea for the book comes from the scene around the city. Too funny. This was another thing I did not know before going there and was happily surprised to learn. I am a huge nerd and have read (and really liked) all of the Harry Potter books. The university students wear long black capes when they are on school business and out and about in the city (uh, yeah, just like the students in the books). And there is a bookstore that has a crazy staircase and décor that was the basis for the library and the moving stairs in the book as well. That was fun to see and learn about as well as the Portuguese history. 2 thumbs up fo-shizzle.
So, now we are home again in Barcelona and have some time until we travel again. We are happy to take a little break. In about 2 weeks we are moving to the new digs. I am really excited about that because now we are living in a studio that is in the center of town which means with the nicer weather it is uber noisy – and generally speaking we are ready for some more space. The move to a larger apartment coincides with our decision to stay for the birth. This is something that we went back and forth with for a long time. Since Dima has 3 months off from work (OMG, for once I can say “good job BOA”) we thought it would be nice to be trapped at home figuring out what to do with a baby in Barcelona. The plan is to comeback before the 3 months are over and settle down somewhere in the Philadelphia area. So, that will be some time in October.
I am a little freaked out about giving birth in a country where I really do not speak the language or fully understand my rights. But I hear they deliver babies here every day and the mortality rates are very good – similar, if not better than the US so I am just going to practice letting go a little more than I am used to. Something about being pregnant has made me a bit more of a control freak. If there is one thing I have learned over the past few births of friends/family it is that the birth is something that you really can’t control. You can have a plan but that shit gets thrown out the window a lot of times. So, I will have a plan but be open to the “safe mother and safe baby” train of thought (totally stole that from Kareem). They are going to do what they need to.
Okay, this post is super long so I am going to stop. But I will write more later – not 3 weeks again, I promise.
Xxoo,
Jen (and Dima)
