~Molly in Spain~

Juen :)

2010-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

It's Been a while since I've written - I went through rough patch for a while, but it's looking like things are on the up and up. I met someone who makes me really really happy.

One day when I was working at Crechas (charging people at the door of a concert) A really really good looking stranger walked down the stairs. I was just about the get off work and the band was playing their final song so I wasn't very interested in mingling. I sent the good looking stranger away, but just as he got to the top of the stairs he turned around and we made eye contact (you know that fireworksy, spark-inciting, little-red-cartoon-heart-circling-your-head kind of eye contact) and he came back down the stairs. He made up some stupid question as an excuse to talk to me and thankgod he did - we started talking and it was as natural as if I were talking with anyone of my friends. He explained how he lived far away and had basically just wound up in Santiago on a whim. He had only been here for 2 hours and didn't know where he was going. He just happened to pass by the bar where I worked and decided to pop in -- (three minutes before I got off work!) -- I'm so lucky he did. I asked him if he wanted to follow me to a bar nearby where my friends were playing a session. He did, and then he and he said he was enchanted to see the magical warm scene that I have here in Santiago. Then he followed me to the next bar to meet all of my friends from theater class. I was weary about men at this point and was not looking for anything in terms of a relationship, but he just seemed so sweet and charming. He spent the night at my house and the next day when it was time for him to leave he asked me what I was doing for Christmas. I said I didn't have any plans and he didn't either. He proposed something that at first sounded like crazy talk. We were pretty much total strangers, but he suggested that we spend the week together until Christmas since we were going to be alone anyways and we could keep each other company. He said that if at any point we got on each others nerves or decided we didn't like each other, that he would hop on the next bus back to Salamanca....That was more than a month and a half ago. Since then I've gone back with him to Salamanca to help him move his stuff to Santiago to be nearer to me. He's amazing. Funny, soulful, talented, sooooo cute, smart, playful, passionate, interesting etc., etc., I'm not making any predictions about the future, but for the moment I'm as pleased as punch :)

Cork and Galway

2009-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Boy, I wish I had written this right when I got home while it was still all fresh in my mind. Anywhoo -- My trip to Ireland was amazing. Exactly what I needed - Good music, good friends, good food (I know, in ireland...shocked me too) I stayed with my sweet lovely Caitriona in her huge falling apart mansion in Cork. We played sessions.... I met up with my dad and Cano and Javier and pat -
Drank Guinness....

Then Sinead and I went up to Galway (where I havent been in 7 years!!) And Saw old friends. Stayed with Anthony, made some new friends :)

Session in the bus....

hahahah, poor sinead and I, when we got on the bus we took the only two seats left... soon to realize we were sandwiched between two heroine junkies on their way to Limerick.... Mine kept trying to rub up against me until he told me he was going to pee in a plastic bottle and I had to make a run for it... The girl on the other side of Sinead was harmless (once we realized she was just really really high and not roadsick like it appeared, this was actually comforting because it really looked like she was going to hurl....) hahaha and then after my junkie finished peeing in the bottle, Sinead's junkie asked if she could have the bottle to take to her doctor for her piss test later on.... And just like that, a friendship was made.

Went to visit Ita Murphy and her kids Ruby-Jane and Eamonn (my old host family) ~ It was surprisingly emotional, brought back a lot of old memories.

Then on my way home - I freaked out on the plane and decided against getting on another flight - so I went to the train station where I met up with my old Cuban boyfriend Jorge in Madrid! It was really fun and nice to see him. I feel so lucky that I can go back and re-visit the people from my past and still feel so connected to them all!

It was a good trip~~

Las Islas Cies. . .

2009-09-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

I spent 3 days on this amazing island with a complete womanizing sleezebag . . I made it clear that I wasn't interested in anything romantic with him, and once his gigantic ego got over the shock that his genius plan of inviting me into this island in order to seduce me was in fact a wasted effort -- we actually had a really good time :)

Corcubion

2009-08-21T13:12:00.001-07:00

Sweet Diana took me out to the town where she grew up - It was great - beautiful music, good food, I met her family - went out on her brother's boat -- so nice.

(I caught Diana and her mother singing while they were cleaning the kitchen after lunch, SO beautiful :)

I'm Baaaack. . .

2009-08-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

!!!! wow. I can't really describe the feeling I have when I walk around here - my heart just feels so full. I'm incredibly fortunate.

I have been having such an amazing time so far - playing music, going to concerts, eating delicious meals with my sweet wonderful charming friends, going to the river, to the beach . . . and to top it all off - today I found the apartment I was dreaming of. If there is a god, I swear she's trying to tell me something because I found this place by sheer coincidence. The agency that rents it is called 'inmobiliaria AMOR' . . . and it just happens to be right next to the very church where I played that concert with my dad and brother - the very concert that brought me to Santiago to first place, where I met Silvia and Xacobe and Xabier (my friends here) - the concert that inspired me to really start playing music...
Today when I went to go see the place, I got the keys and they didn't work. I stood there for 15 minutes trying to open the door but there was something else blocking it. I called the agency and they apologized but said there was nothing they could do to help. I had been sooo excited to see this place and I was equally as frustrated that I couldn't get in. I went to go have a tea to calm myself down, and wouldn't you know it, I spilled it all over myself and my book :/ I was about to return to the keys to the agency but I decided to go back and try one more time. As I was walking over there - just like clockwork - the sun came out. And the women who lives upstairs just happened to be looking out the window when I walked up, so I asked her to come down and let me in.
It's just like my dad once told me - sometimes the universe sends you little signs to tell you that your on the path your supposed to be on. I think today was one of those little signs :)

Maribel, Lucia and Me

Gon

The view from my new apartment

My 23rd.....

2009-05-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

I had the best birthday ever !!! Really it was just perfect. I woke up and Gon made me a delicious meal. Then he and Catriona and I went to the beach. It was a hot beautiful day and the three of us laid in the sand laughing and swimming and talking for hours. we stopped at Castro de Beroñas to walk around some ancient Celtic ruins and watch the sunset. We, some friends of mine that we had run into and a group of 7 or 8 old people from the basque country all huddled together on a rock joking around and watching the sun go down. SO charming.

We had a peaceful drive home and then went for a kebab (my favorite!) and then to the session. I saw my sweet Silvia and played music with all my friends. it was just a perfect day.

I walked to the end of the world, and boy are my legs tired....

2009-04-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

The Country Life

2009-04-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Porridge by the fire

Playing tunes at the bus stop on the way home

Just got home from an enchanting weekend. Catriona and I took care of Cristine and Suso´s beautiful house in the country while they were away. It was the perfect relaxing getaway from Santiago. We spent the whole weekend swapping tunes (my fingers are still aching) and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. I went swimming in the river and we played with their sweet animals.

Ah, Good ol' fashioned wholesome fun. ;)

2009-03-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

After my two week initiation course and 8 minute silent monologue I was accepted into theater school!!!! eeeee!!

It just keeps getting better!

2009-03-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

The truth is that I´ve had to refrain from writing some of the things that happen to me because I´m afraid that too much enthusiasm on here might get repetitive... but this weekend topped the charts. I´m gonna backtrack a bit first though-- do a little updating.

So the past few weeks I've been investigating what to do with my future. I started looking around for theater schools in the area. I found one online and decided to go by and check it out. It turned out to be quite aways away and the address on the website led me into a dimly lit, creepy sleezy porno shop with an unsurprisingly friendly employee. (the school had moved up the street). I spoke with the quirky Transylvanian director who suggested that I come by and watch a show there "to get a feel for the place". So My friend Agata and I bought tickets and witnessed what turned out to be the most bizarre theatrical experience of my life. It was, in essence, a naked woman in a box writhing around while screaming in demonic voices and humping a pirate hat for 45 minutes. And perhaps the worst part of all was that they seated Agata and I directly across the box from one another. Not only were we forced to stand politely by and watch this ridiculous excuse for theater, but we also had to forcefully concentrate on not looking at each other because we would have, undoubtedly, burst into skrieking screams of laughter.

Needless to say I will not be studying there.

I did however find a different, more normal school that is just down the street from my house. This one has white walls instead of black... I think that says a lot.

Now about Ourense. We (two of the best Irish girls on the planet, and I ) got to the bus stop 3 minutes before it left for Ourense. We arrived at 6pm and without any other plans or incentives started playing music on the street. We sang and played our mini repetoire (a gazillion times) and made good money! People kept comming up and crowding around and before long we had made a big group of new friends. Everyone sat around enjoying the warm night and drinking wine until 1 in the morning. Then we used some of the money we had made and took everyone out to eat a big midnight meal (Spanish egg tortillas) mmm..... The bartenders at the restaurant asked us if we would play a little there, so we did for a bit, until our irritating french guitar playing friend become unbearably obnoxious and it was time to leave--- At 330am we parted ways from frenchy and the rest of our pals and went to some incredible natural hot springs. We bathed under the moonlight untill 6 am, then went back to the train station (still without having slept). I finally got in the door at 9am in the morning and fell onto my bed with a a huge grin on my face. . . 13 incredible hours in Ourense.

2009-03-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

Never in my wildest dreams could I have dreamt up such a night. Or was it that last night was something I could only dream of expiriencing..... well at any rate - Last night was like a dream...

Gon brought me out to Balboa, a small town on the outskirts of Leon. All the hot shot musicians from Santiago were playing a concert there and I was invited along to be the fan.

Nothing about it could have been more enchanting. We were treated to the most exquisite and delicious dinner you can imagine, all the wine and deserts we could ask for--

The music was wild and passionate and beautiful (and I was up there playing with them!)

The audience, who were originally seated and eating were up until 3:30 in the morning, screaming and clapping along with us in this huge old hut. We drank and played music with the owners and all the wait staff after all the people had cleared out.

We were dancing and singing until the sun came up and then we went back to the hostel and sat on sofas and told jokes until we couldnt keep our eyelids open anymore.

We woke up this morning, ate another delicious meal and played car games and giggled the whole ride home.

-------It was another magical night in this amazing part of the world.

Dad´s visit and the first days of Carnival

2009-02-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

A magical week with Dad here. One I will remember for the rest of my life. I couldn´t be more fortunate to have such a man as my father.

Dad left on Saturday morning. After a good cry and a nap I went out with Silvia to a Carnival parade in her little town. It was such a bizarre and funny mixture of old sweet traditions and wild modern humor. Elections are comming up here in Galicia, so they had an Obama theme for the parade....

Then Later that night I was woken up at 1 in the morning and convinced to go out with my pal the Magician.... I threw on my costume again and had a crazy night... out till 8am wandering the city and meeting tons of new people :)

Happy as a clam. Another perfect week :)

2009-02-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend I experienced true romance -- it included: chocolate chip cookies, cheese,wine, hours of foot massages, gymnastics, gyspy music, giggles snuggles and juggling.

Then Monday I went to a going away party for one of my bandmates :( a few of us tried to play some music but it all sounded AWFUL. I´m talking painfully, earbleedingly awful. I wanted to go home and cry but it´s a good thing I didnt. Someone asked me if I could give them a lesson on the spoons, which turned into a group lesson, which turned into a whole roomfull of people banging away on everything they could see with whatever they could reach. Then we threw in a few instruments and it got even better (or worse depending on whether you asked one of us or one of the neighbors....) at one point someone yelled, "STOP! ..... SWITCH!!" and everyone passed whatever instrument they were holding to the person next to them :) we carried on like this until 3 or 4am, with people occasionally singing on top of the chaotic noise or reciting poetry. It was really really fun.

And Dad´s comming tomorrow night!!!!!!!! I´m soooOOooooOOoOOooooo OO ooooOO excited to see him!!! -Life is sweet-

Playing tonight with some of the girlies....

2009-02-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

well here´s some photos of the band minus a few. I have some actual ´footage´ on my video camera, but I have to buy some kind of chord to connect my camera to the computer.... so we´ll see how that goes.... in the meantime.... here´s some pics.

Tonight was SOOOOOOO fun. We got there and the bartender seemed a little skeptical about letting us play, but by the end he was insisting that we sing another song, even though it was past closing time :)

And thankgod for that cause tonight was my SECOND night in a row being stood up. ugh, when will I learn.

but it all worked out perfectly in the end because we played great and then we went to another session which ended in a deep philosophical and political debate -- my favorite! ;)

2009-02-01T05:18:00.001-08:00

Friday was hilarious... awkward, painful at times, but in retrospect, hilarious. The session was fun, then afterwards we went to another bar where I was confronted with all the ghosts of romantic interests´past. Not only were all my ex/current crushes there, but when I walked out of the bathroom.... they were all standing outside the door....dancing....together. Mind you, I didn´t even know they were going to be at this bar, nor did I know that they even knew eachother--and I especially wouldn´t have expected that they would be DANCING together.... but what can you do? (besides a little shimmy as you pass by them ;)

So the precursor to this story is that when I was here in the summer with my dad and brother, we were all playing in a session and one of the aforementioned men (we´ll call him Mr X) apparently leaned over to someone else in the group and made a (flattering) but inapropriate comment about my chest.... everyone tried to shush him and look away until someone finally said, "don´t you know that Molly speaks Spanish?? and her Dad even better??!!"

....So fast forward to current day. Here I was in this bar, and I walked over to my good ol´friend Gon. We were chatting and laughing when up walked Mr X..Behind us was the infamous magician with some `lady friend´ of his and to our other side was another one of my objects of affection.... Granted, everyone had had too much to drink, but somehow it didn´t seem to ease the discomfort when Gon blurted out " Hey Molly!! THIS IS THE GUY WHO SAID THAT THING ABOUT YOUR TITS! " .....

I generally pride myself on being someone capable of easing awkward situations and making people feel comfortable--- but in this instance I failed. What followed was about 3 minutes of people alternating their gaze from their feet to the ceiling (myself included) while murmuring and sputtering things like ,"so..........." or "heh, anyways....." followed by more silence.

So that was friday.

Saturday I was stood-up and spent the night (all dressed up to go to the theater) on my couch eating pizza and corn nuts and watching Episodes of ´House´. ...I have it down to a science now. At the 15minute mark Dr. House wrongly diagnoses the patient, by 33 minutes he discovers the problem and comes up with an unthinkable cure, by 41 minutes, the patient is completely cured and the last two minutes of the show are shots of Dr. House alone in his living room playing the piano and looking listlessly into the distance......

I´d say its time for me to make some new friends :)

2009-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Last night my band played at a house party. It was neat, an Erasmus birthday party so there were people from all over the world. The poor girl had to sit through the song ´happy birthday´ sung in French, Italian, Portuguese, Gallego, English, Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Russian and Gaelic :) I had a great time, until the police were called and threatened to start stamping people´s passports!! So I left..... but it was a lot of fun----

Today´s another rainy Galician day. I had classes with three of my favorite students so I´m happy as a clam

wow.

2009-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Santiago? I just had the most amazing night ever. I can´t really explain it - band practice with my dream band, drinks with my friends, before I knew it it was 5am and we were being kicked out of the bar but no one wanted to leave because we were having too much fun.... I just hope one day when I don´t live here anymore, I will remember how happy I was :)

home sweet home

2009-01-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

Just a little update. I haven´t written in a while, I was sick and cranky when I got back for a few days, then I got busy with new classes. I LOVE my job. Are they seriously paying me 12 Euro an hour to come to their houses and talk?? well there you have it... I´ve slipped and fallen into heaven.

The other wonderful, amazing, delightful, exciting thing that happened to me today that almost made me cry: I played a tune I haven´t learned!! I mean to say, I picked it up, right there on the spot and played it like it was something I knew. That is something I never dreamed I could do. Santiago has brought music into my life -- well no, my parents brought music into my life, Santiago put in into my fingers. I´m so happy I could squeal!.... but that would wake up my roommates, so I decided to write in my blog instead :)

More pics....

2009-01-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

2009-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

P.s.

The day before new years I got some really upsetting news - Paddy was back in the hospital. I just wanted to make a little note on here for you Paddy. I love you much and I'm sending you lots of healing thoughts!! x

2009-01-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

I'm in a cute little hostel in St. Andrews with Lakshmi right now:)

The night I spent in Skye was wonderful, I made some friends with a cute Scottish couple who told me I should move to St. Andrews and go to University here. Then I had a really intense and long conversation with a woman named Rachael that lasted until they closed the pub. The next day I took a bus to the kintail lodge, a little hotel in the middle of nowhere --- I wasn't sure I was even in the right place until I saw a picture of Lincorne (Xavi, Xacobe and Gon's band) on a little poster on the wall.

I had a wonderful new years with those guys --just everything I had hoped for. Gon's lady friend from France and two of her friend's from Belgium were there too. The next day went took their rented Mercedes on an excursion around the highlands with Chic (their alcoholic but entertaining friend/manager in Scotland). We wound up in a charming pub in some teeny tiny little village where Chic apparently used to live. The lady running the bar was so happy to see Chic that she asked that we stay and have a session and a free meal there. I love playing with those guys :) Then we heard that there was a Ceili going on at the town hall right next door. A real traditional Scottish ceili!!!! It was sooooooooooooo fun. I danced every dance until I couldn't dance anymore!! It was truly a magical night. Like one of dad's fairy tales :)

Then I took the bus back down through Glasgow to Edinburgh to meet Laki. It's really great to see her! We wandered around last night in Edinburgh and when I told her I was considering going to College at St. Andrews, we decided to hop on a bus and come check it out. So here we are!

I've covered almost all of Scotland by bus in the past week :) I feel quite accomplished.

Skye and pictures of x-mas

2008-12-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm on the isle of Skye right now. This morning I woke up before sunrise to catch the bus. The sun rose just as we were passing the Loch Ness. It's incredible. I'm not joking when I say it's so beautiful it makes me cry-- twice just on the way here!

When I got here I walked around for a while before I started getting lightheaded and had to stop and eat something. I went into a cute little pub and sat by the fire. The lady felt bad for me and gave me free soup and toast:) There's an intriguing cutie-pie blondie server there... I think I'll have a nap and then go to try to make friends with him.... heh heh..... have I mentioned how much I love Scotland?

And here's some pictures of Christmas and stuff before I left:

Our Chilean Christmas feast

eating my burnt Christmas cookies:)

My bedroom

And here's my roommate veronica and I doing some Christmas Gymnastics:)

Just what the doctor ordered......

2008-12-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

I LOVE SCOTLAND!!! I swear my body knows this is the land it came from. I've broken into tears 3 times today just looking at scenery here. I'm convinced that this is the most beautiful place on earth. Tomorrow I'm off to the Isle of Skye - my idea of paradise.

So I'm not sure that it's appropriate to write about romantic matters on ones blog.... but seeing as how I'm a big blabbermouth anyway.... I'll go on.....

So. After a minor heartbreak, a fever and a hacking cough I was anxious about coming here. I was so dizzy the day before I left I couldn't even walk to the pharmacy to buy myself medicine. But, after a motivating conversation with dad (thanks dad) I packed my bag and got ready to go. Silvia picked me up and took me to the airport -- I didn't realize she was such a celebrity there! She knows everyone and I even got priority seating on the plane!

I had a minor difficulty getting through customs in London (they didn't want to let me through because didn't have an address of where I was going) thank god I had a bank statement and lots of mascara for batting my eyelashes :) Then I took the wrong bus and got lost in London. It was ok though, in fact, I'm so glad I did. I love riding the underground (even though I got lost there too) and people were soooo friendly and helpful when I stopped to ask for help. That's what I've been loving the most about all of this -- traveling to a new place with no plans or idea of where you're going is kind of like falling backwards, and I can't tell you how pleased I am that I've been caught by what feels like a big feathery pillow, it's really been restoring some of my faith in the world. Or at least my belief that if you put out good energy into the world, that it will come back to you. (most of the time)

SO - when I finally found the coach station I bought my ticket up to Inverness (a 12 hour bus ride) but it didn't leave until almost midnight so I had some time to kill. I wandered around for a while until I found a nice place to busk. (Probably not the best thing for my fever, but for my soul, it was just the thing!) I played until my fingers were frozen solid and I had made enough to get a nice big warm meal.

While I was sitting in the restaurant I started thinking about that F-ing magician again. Arg!!! I had promised myself I wasn't gonna contact him (the magician hurt my feelings so I was trying to cut him off) but, in an impulsive moment I lost my head and sent him a text message. The instant after I sent it I wanted to smack myself! WHY!!! why would I try to contact the person who made me feel so bad. I sat in the restaurant finishing my food and glancing every 2 minutes at my phone to see if he'd respond. After about 2 hours it became clear to me that he was not in fact going to respond.

When I got to the bus station there was nowhere to sit, so I sat shivering in the floor. It dawned on my that if I didn't warm myself up quickly it was quite possible that I might become one of those nice ice sculptures that rich people use as centerpieces at their dinner parties. I went up to buy myself a nice hot cup of peppermint tea when I locked eyes with REALLY good looking Scottish guy all dressed up in 1950's rockabilly clothes. We flirted for a second before I went to sit back down. He came and sat down too.

We were both shy and didn't have much to say to each other until a crazy looking man took a picture of two black pigeons sitting on top of the doorway. I can't explain to you why it creeped me out so badly, (the man taking that picture) but it did -- it really creeped me out. What creeped me out even more was the sound of his voice and the look on the man's face when he asked me if I would watch his suitcase for him for 5 minutes. I told him I wouldn't (I know, a little counter to what I was saying earlier about the big feathery pillow, but sometimes you have to be discerning) Because come on! It was a tiny little suitcase, why couldn't he just bring it with him? He gave me a scary look when I said no and he left, but then he came back and asked the Scot if he would watch the bag. The Scot shrugged his shoulders and the scary man whispered something into his weird wiry headset thing he had around his neck. I'm telling you -- I was convinced there was a bomb in the bag. Especially when he didn't come back for more than 20 minutes!! The upside was that it gave me something to talk to the hunky Scottish guy about, the downside was that I was fearing for my life.

Whenever I would get up to try to tell one of the security people about the bag, the man would reappear so I would sit back down... but then he would leave again, without his bag! Finally my bus showed up. The hunky Scottish greaser guy explained that he was trying to get on the same bus as me, but that his ticket wasn't until the 2ND of January. He said his father had just had a heart attack and was in the hospital so he was rushing up to go see him -- we weren't sure if the bus driver would let him exchange the ticket. Of course I had my fingers crossed. The funny thing is, the second, and I do mean the exact instant that I smiled at my new Scottish friend and overtly flirtily said the words, ''well if you do make it on the bus, should I save a seat for you?'' ... my pocket started vibrating. The magician had texted me back.

Long story even longer, the scary man with the suitcase was also supposed to be on the same bus, but was detained and not aloud on. Thank god. The magician wrote me a really nice flirty text message (to which I didn't respond) and the hunky Scottish (Stand-up bass player I found out later) DID make it on the bus and sat right next to me.

I can't say that I got a sufficient amount of sleep but I will tell you that when the sun rose this morning on the Snow capped Scottish Highland mountains, my heart had never felt so full.

P.s.
Just to make things clear, my heart being full had nothing to do with the guy.

2008-12-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

The update:

I haven´t written for a while - Ive been really busy working and finishing my classes. I had an unfortunate hormonal overdose this weekend (I was really cranky) but I woke up yesterday with a huge smile on my face and it hasnt faded since :)

My band has gotten more organized, we´ve practiced a couple times now and its honestly a dream come true. The pressure is on though because everyone´s started talking about the elusive ¨chick band¨----

Yesterday I was invited to a dinner with the owner of the bar we always play in. It was another one of these ¨I have to pinch myself, can life really be this beautiful?¨ moments. (I can´t even count on one hand how many of these I´ve had since I´ve been here) But last night was really magical.
We had the whole restaurant to ourselves -- It was all older people, friends of the bar owner and his wife, and me. we ate DELICIOUS food and drank sweet wine. After a while of laughing and talking and getting comfortable, we started playing. The acoustics in this place were amazing and the wife of the bar owner had the most beautiful tradicional singing voice I think I´ve heard since I´ve been here. We played loud and for a really long time, the people who didnt have instruments were clanging away on percussion -- I just kept thinking to myself how lucky I was to be a apart of this world.

PLAYING IN CASA DE CRECHAS

roomies :)

Girls from the band

2008-12-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

Some more pictures....

My house in the middle of the night

My neighborhood

Church by my house

My roomies :)

Veronica

Moises

Veronica and me

Moises being a little camera shy and below is our happy little family :)

The magician......

2008-11-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I played in a concert in Bertamirans. Then Xavi, Arron, Silvia and I had dinner and went to the green pub for a session. At about 1 I was tired and thought about going home but I thought I´d call my friend Sinead first to see what she was doing. She told me to come to her friend Agatha´s party which was right near my house. I went, and it was so fun! Everyone was super friendly and fun. At one point someone pulled out a guitar and (geeky as this sounds) everyone, EVERYONE started singing cheesy Bob Marley songs together in the living room. I had my mandolin so I played a little bit too. It reminded me of the movie L´auberge Español.

There was a guy there--tall and funny, named ´Cayetano´. He was outgoing to say the least. We started talking and joking around and he asked if we could do an intercambio (a language trade). He told me he was a Magician and I didn't believe him until he pulled a deck of cards out of his mouth in mid-sentence... it was crazy! When he started balancing knives and chairs on his nose I knew I was in for a interesting night....

At about 330am when the party began to wind down, we all went out dancing and closed down this nightclub. Cayetano was HILARIOUS -- dancing with everyone he could see. He´s at least 7 feet tall and was wearing a green clown nose and a headband with two feathers in it. Needless to say he stood out. He dared me to steal the umbrella that was on the floor by my feet since I didnt have one and then he said ¨come on, lets go on an adventure¨. We went outside and under my broken, stolen umbrella walked to the next Club. This Cayetano guy was such a nut and everyone loved him! He was dancing and talking to everyone in bar- at one point he had a huge pink feather boa (don't know where he got it) and he was dancing like a drag queen and lassoing everyone in sight. After a while I started getting tired but he said¨We´re not done yet¨ and I kept thinking to myself ¨Who is this guy?!?¨

As we were leaving the bar this drunk girl came up to him and started begging him for his headband (the one with the two feathers) he told her it was special and she couldn't have it (it was plastic and couldn't have cost more that two dollars in a gift shop) but shewas insistant that he give it to her.... Finally he said, ¨Ill give you this headband if you give me your scarf¨.It was a really nice heavy wool scarf. She said she couldn't because it wasn't hers and because it was really expensive and bla bla bla, but she was drunk and ended up making the trade. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and gave her this silly little headband and we walked out....As soon as we got out the door, completely nonchalantly and without saying anything, he reached in his bag and pulled out this HUGE Indian headdress COVERED with feathers at least 20 times the size of the one he had been wearing earlier and kept walking. I have no idea how it fit in that tiny little bag of his or why he was carrying it around.

The rest of the night we were wandering the streets-- he, with his huge feathered headdress and new scarf and occasionally with me on piggy back... he was singing and I was laughing histerically. At one point he was twirling me around on a street corner and he roped some strangers into dancing with us... it was such a scene.....

Finally, at 7am, I said goodnight/goodmorning to the magician and walked home.

what a night.

2008-11-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

SOME PICTURES FROM OVIEDO

(and Arron and Cat)

These are some pictures from other day. Cano and Joe (a funny little Irish man) and I, went out to ´Castro do Beronas´.

Life can be so sweet. Really, my life here is everything I could have asked for.

I love my new house -- my roomates are really fun (I´ll post some picture of them and the house soon) . It just feels safe here. I already feel like I´m part of this community and that´s something I´ve been longing for for so long.

I did go to the police station today and found out that come January 15th I´ll be illegal here and if I stay longer I could risk being detained in Spanish jail or something... hmm, so we´ll have to see how that goes. I already bought my ticket Scotland for new years so hopefully I won´t have any problems getting back into Spain after that..... jeez, that sure would be a downer wouldn´t it?

MY NEW HOME

2008-11-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

SO -- here´s the story.

While I was still living with Cano I figured out that it would probably be a lot cheaper/more convenient/more fun if instead of living in the pre-arranged accommodation for my Spanish course, I found my own accommodation, i.e. a shared apartment with some interesting young people. One day before the course I went on a hunt - an unsuccessful hunt. No one called me back and I didn´t end up seeing any apartments. While I was walking home I walked through a sweet little neighborhood and thought to myself, ¨if only I could live here¨. Everyone told me I was going to have a hard time finding something in November seeing as how the majority of young people here are students and the semester ends in December. So, I gave up looking and decided to go with the sure thing and move in with Fatima. It was fine living there -- she's a kook and its really far away from EVERYTHING, but I was really enjoying all the walking. Two days ago I realized that it´s getting closer to the end of the month and I really had NO idea what I was going to do at the end of it. Sylvia sat with me and we starting plotting out some options. Just the thought of going through the whole process of running around town being interviewed by a million different strangers seemed daunting... to say the least, and I went home that night feeling depressed. --- In the middle of the night (5am) I got a text message from my friend Sinead asking if I was still looking for a place because she was with a friend of a friend who is looking for someone to move in right away. She gave me his phone number and told me the location, but it wasn't until I looked at the map the next day that I realized that is was EXACTLY where I was walking that day back when I was still staying with Cano. My dream neighborhood. Not only that, but it´s RIGHT next to my favorite park in Santiago and a 2 minute walk from all the pubs that we play in. I was beside myself with excitement but I didn´t want to get too worked up cause for all I knew, the people might have been total wacko´s and they may have already found someone. SO - I called the guy ¨Moises¨ (Moses in English) during my break from class. He was SO friendly I couldn´t believe it. I told him I´d come by at 6:30 to come check it out. I did and the whole walk up there I couldn't stop grinning at the prospect that this might be my new home. I´m talking cobblestone streets, beautiful views, the works. So I got there and when he came to meet me I was so pleasantly surprised to be greeted by an attractive and really friendly face. He showed me around the house, which is small, and compared to a place in the states might be considered ¨a little crusty¨ but I think there´s plenty that can be done. Moises and I were joking around immediately, he´s great. He´s studying to get his pilot license (a little ironic since I´m so afraid of flying). Also, interestingly, learned to speak English in Dubai... The other girl, whom I haven´t met yet -- is from Chile, she´s a psychologist for athletes and she´s here studying with one of the most famous psychologists of Santiago. Anyways, (long story even longer) I told them I was interested and Moises called me back last night and said, ¨congratulations! You´ve been selected out of hundreds of thousands to be our new flatmate!!¨I was grinning from ear to ear all night last night. Now I gotta go home and pack and figure out how I´m gonna get everything over there....

oh, and below are a couple videos of us playing in La Moha :)

2008-11-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

2008-11-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

This weekend (before I ate the bad egg) and yesterday :)

2008-11-12T05:18:00.000-08:00

On Friday and Saturday I went out and played in some ¨foliadas¨ (sessions). Super fun. Sunday I woke up, fried an egg, ate it, and vomitted for the rest of the day. Not so fun.

Yesterday I played again with Cano, Javier and Manolo-- it´s become a regualar thing every tues/thurs, I LOVE it!

Here´s some more fotos :)

My classmates (the one next to me is the teacher)

The fam

Oh ya, p.s.

There was this really cute guy in the bar last night. I was eye-flirting with him a whole bunch. At one point I got up to goto the bathroom in a different bar (the toilet in la moha is literally just a hole in the ground). When I was walking back, I found that I had pulled my tights up just a little two high and was feeling a bit overly supported (I had a wedgie)-- so I reached in to adjust my panties (put them back where they belong) and I heard something behind me. Yes of course, my cutie from the bar had been walking behind me and had seen the whole thing go down/be pulled out.

On the upside, today in class I learned that they don´t have a word for ¨wedgie¨ here in Spain. Maybe its not a concept that they understand. Since language is a tool to that helps up define our experiences, and they don´t have this word in their vocabulary, maybe he didn´t even know how to process what he had seen... kinda like the ol´tree falling in the woods conundrum no?

HE WON!!!!!!!

2008-11-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

Last night when I got home from playing music with Cano, I read a chapter of Obama´s book, kissed the cover and fell asleep --

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

I woke up this morning (the first sunny morning in a week) turned on the news, and cried for 20 minutes. I´ve had chills all day - the kind of chills you get when you experience something really moving and beautiful.

I was let out of class to be interviewed on Spanish radio for 5 minutes! (in spanish!... dun dun dun.....) but I think/hope it went okay.

I´m living in a new apartment now. It´s not so close to the city center so it´s always kind of a trek to get around. The upside is that I´ve really been enjoying walking in the rain. My roomate it a kook. She´s funny though. She´s a professional runner in her mid-forties. The apartment is really cosy -- I feel super at home there already.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! (did I mention that already) HE WON!!!!

wow.

2008-11-01T05:29:00.001-07:00

For Halloween we went out dancing...

2008-10-30T08:06:00.001-07:00

So I have to complain about one thing. It´s not huge, but I feel I have to mention it --- It´s the bathrooms here. There are several things that I just can´t understand.

1st: They don´t have trash cans in the bathroom. I´m not talking about bathrooms out in town. I´m talking about right in people´s homes. Where do the put the old toilet paper roll? Where do they put the wrapping on a new bar of soap? It´s amazing how many things I find to throw away in a bathroom.... but not here.

2nd: There´s been several occasions when I´ve been out in a bar and the women´s bathroom has been occupied so I´ve had to use the men´s. Literally everytime I´ve been shocked (and just a little bit repulsed) to find that there is no soap to wash my hands with in the men´s bathroom. But there is soap in the Ladies room... What do they do when they´ve gone #2? This makes me weary to find boyfriend here.... Or at least to hold hands with him....

3rd: Now this isn´t really a complaint - it´s just an acknowledgment that I´ve never used a bidet before. I don´t really understand how they work. Every house here has a bidet. I´m just confused how they dry off after using them. Towels I guess, but then how come I never see towels lying around that look like they´ve been used to dry off someone´s private parts.... maybe they hide the towels by the garbage cans.

4th: Now this is perhaps the most perplexing. The light switches to the bathrooms are all on the outside of the bathroom. Not only that, but when you go out into town, many of the light switches are on timers.... short timers. This seems like some kind of an evil trick to me.

That´s all. I just had to get it out. <---- (heh heh, a little bathroom pun in case you didn´t catch that)

Love,
Molly

2008-10-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

SYLVIA AND SALETA

CANO (a bagpiper playing the fiddle)

THE GANG

This is where I live!! well no. Not right here -- but you know what I mean....

I live over in there somewhere.

eeee!

2008-10-23T17:23:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful night! I can´t describe how happy I was tonight. Jeez Louise. I went out with Sylvia and we ate sunflower seeds in the park for about an hour. Then we walked around as usual and stopped in a little cafe infamous for its hot chocolate. All the bars and restaurants here are ANCIENT, Im talking made of stone... They are so incredible! Sylvia just started a new job working with Ryan air so she has to wake up really early. She walked me over to a bar called la Moha (short for Mohammed) and we said goodbye. This bar is the size of a small hallway. But sure enough, squished at the end of the hallway was Cano and Javier and some other man named manolo playing their bagpipe and accordions.
Yesterday cano recorded a couple songs for me and I spent all this morning learning them. He also made a list of stuff I already know, so when I got there we played for about an hour an a half, and it was all stuff I knew!! Every time we play Sandy boys (an old time tune) everyone goes wild... So we ended up playing it more than once. But everything we played was wonderful and I couldn't have felt more satisfied and content. Then, we left and went to a bar called Gramola. The Scottish guys I had met the other night were there and Gon and a couple other people I knew. As soon as we got there Cano pulled out his accordion and said, ¨Vale Molly, toca Sandy Boys otro vez!¨ So we played sandy boys and the Scottish guys had no idea where it came from. It was wonderful, we all played there for another hour or so, everyone was laughing and having a great time. It´s so normal for them so I couldn´t explain how delighted I was. Anyways, We left at about 1:30 in the morning and I literally couldn´t/can´t stop smiling. I´ve never played in sessions before, let alone been supported and appreciated like this! Thank you Dad for knowing and introducing me to these people! (and impressing them enough to make them want to keep me under their wing!) What a great evening in such a wonderful place :)

Cold and beautiful--

2008-10-22T13:41:00.001-07:00

Well, the rain has begun. But it´s wonderful. Just like everyone said, it makes this place just that much more romantic. Santiago (for anyone reading this who doesn´t already know) was founded at the end of the 4th/beginning of the 5th century. Everyday this week Slyvia and I just go for long walks - stopping occasionally to have tea or coffee or just to rest. She´s lived here her whole life, but for me, walking on narrow cobblestone streets and looking up at cathedrals and even homes that were built long before my country was even founded is simply amazing. The air here is so fresh and the people are so nice! Everywhere I go I feel so welcomed - to be honest, I frequently feel guilty that I haven´t shown this kind of generosity and hospitality to foreigners in my own country.

2008-10-19T18:13:00.001-07:00

Today was BEAUTIFUL. It´s Sunday so Cano and Maribel invited Alfonzo and Cibran to have lunch (the most important meal of the day) with us. Let me tell you it was a FEAST if I´ve ever had one. We sat outside (it was a sunny day) and ate every kind of meat you can imagine; potatoes, pimientos, salad, empanadas, bread, fruit cake (to celebrate Cano´s birthday a month late) and afterwards we sat for hours drinking wine and chupitos, coffee and tea and talking about politics and family and culture and music--- it was wonderful.

After lunch I helped with the dishes and went upstairs for a little siesta. Slyvia came and got me at 7pm and we went to her Aunts house so I could meet her family. Everywhere you go around here people try to feed you and give you something to drink-- they are the epitome of hospitable. Then we stopped by her house so I could give her lesson on the spoons. She´s wonderful, I couldn´t have asked to meet someone more generous and good hearted. When we got to Santiago we met up with a bunch of people and walked to a nearby pub. A couple of Scottish fiddlers are in town. I asked one man what the occasion was. He told me it was his 60th birthday and there was nowhere else in the world he´d rather be to celebrate it then here in Galicia. He said Santiago is like nowhere else in the world and he knows because the moment he got here wonderful things started to happen to him, he called it serendipity. So the gang (xacobe, Gon, sinead, Slyvia, Xavier etc., and I) Sat and listened to the music. Sinead said she wants to start a band with me and couple of other women, how fun would that be!!! And Gon and Xacobe were talking about taking me fishing :) We must have sat there for 5 hours. I´m in heaven. I just can´t believe that everything I had hoped it would be like here it exactly how it is. Its a fantasy world I swear.

MY camino to Santiago - by train

2008-10-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

I had to get out of Jorge´s house. Every memory of why we broke up came flooding back to me this morning. My train wasn´t until 2 but I was at the station at 11. I love him, he´s a wonderful guy-- but enough´s enough and more than 4 hours with him was enough.

While at the train station I walked up to the board that displayed which platform the trains took off from. There were two very distinctly American guys standing there too-- I guessed immediately that they were from the south, from the looks of them I also presumed that they might also be members of the kkk. When I got on the train and found my seat, just guess who I was sitting across from.... yeah, that´s right. Well it turns out they were from Florida and not Nazis. Never judge a book by it´s southen drawl and skinhead I guess huh? We started talking and I danced around the subject of American politics for about an hour until one of them started talking about what an honorable man John McCain was. Well, I had already finished a small bottle of red wine by this point... just to make the ride a little more tolerable (I know you´re cringing mom... but my stomach is fine, I really think that Hypnotist is a miracle worker) But before I could begin my Obama rant-- The one who was talking said, ¨I´d take a bullet for McCain and all he´s done for this Country.... but I´m still voting for Obama.¨ I was dumbstruck -- if you woulda seen these guys you never would have guessed it. So after that and little more wine for me and 7 small bottles of wiskey for the hicks, we started playing stupid games and telling the type of personal stories you only tell to people you don´t respect terribly much and know you´ll never see again...

The moral of my 7 hour train ride with these guys was this: if at all possible avoid people who look like they might be carrying rifles were it legal -- but, if you have assigned seating and there´s nothing you can do, it might not be that bad.

Silvia picked me up in Santiago and it felt like we´ve been friends forever. We gabbed the whole ride to Cano´s house and we are going to hangout tomorrow. Cano´s family all came out to welcome me and I couldn´t have felt more welcome or more at home. After sitting around the table, snacking and chatting, Lucia and Sabella (two of the most charming little girls on the planet-- besides Sadie and Caliope of course) and I, ran upstairs to play with Sabella´s stuffed animals and read Juevos verdes con jamon (green eggs and ham in Spanish) which I brought as a gift for them, and which they made me read to them three times in a row.

I´m SOOOOOOO happy to be here. Santiago is so beautiful and feels so safe.

eeeee!

love,
Molly

I made it :)

2008-10-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

MIKEL
JORGE MIGUEL

GISSY JORGE AND ME

If you´d seen me vomit before my flight - you would have expected that I´d have a miserable time on the plane. But you would be underestimating the power of hypnotism. Hypnotism and Valiuum. I had a wonderful and easy flight. I sat next to some hoodlum from the Ukraine and we shared the middle aisle. He and I stretched out and laid head to foot for most of the flight. It was quite comfortable. The flight from Amsterdam to Madrid was even more painless, I fell asleep before takeoff and woke up just as we landed. Customs took two seconds, they asked me nothing, and then a taxi driver walked up to me immediately and offered me a ride. The driver turned out to be a scum bag though--- he kept trying to convince me to have a drink with him. He also over charged me. But I made it successfully to Jorge´s house. He came down and met me and helped my lug my luggage (I now understand the true meaning of the word ¨luggage¨) up to the top floor of his apartment.
We´ve been having a great time although its becoming a little tiresome explaining why I won´t let him cheat on his girlfriend. So tiresome in fact that I´m going to have to cut the time I had planned on staying here a little short (aparently the only accommodations for me are in his SINGLE bed) so I´m going to leave for Santiago tomorrow. But just cause Jorge´s acting a little overly friendly doesn't mean I´m not thrilled to be around him. His brother and his cousin Gissy who I LOVE are both here too and we´ve all been having a great night. We went out to Chinese food which they all thought was delicious -- I didn´t have the heart to tell them that it tasted like fast food. But the atmosphere was nice!

well that´s all for post number one. I love you all, and I mean that. If you´re taking the time to read this -- you must really be a friend.

Love love love
until next time,
Molly