sevilla

i first met clara in cadiz. i was there at the time of the carneval some years ago, busking as usual in the centre. it was evening and a group of three teenage girls stood nearby, watching. suddenly, one of the girls began to dance. she rolled up her top baring her midriff and started belly dancing! i was a little shocked but i kept drumming, and she was certainly attracting a lot of attention now as people stopped to watch. if only i had a hatter now to go round with a hat. but that wasn't important. just watching the show happening in front of me had made my day. she would've danced all night if i hadn't decided to stop drumming after a bit. the girl was maria, she was already in the mood to go home and get changed into her costume and dance some more. she was with her sister clara, and their friend laura, who was up for dancing too.

the last time i saw clara was about 3 years ago. now she had moved from cadiz to study in sevilla. when i saw her at the bus station, she had cut her long hair and dyed it red. in her e-mails, she had written that her guitar playing was improving all the time and i was keen to play with her. when we got back to her place, maria and her boyfriend raul were there too. surprise surprise! maria still had her long long hair. they had been visiting from granda for over a week now and after lunch, out came the drum and guitars. raul could also play guitar very well and that jam session we had was just amazing. with pablo on harmonica too, we made some great music. enough for maria and raul to decide to change their train tickets for the following morning! we went down to tetuan to busk and had a good time... unfortunately the well-dressed so-called sophisticated sevillanos didn't show their appreciation for the music as we made only about 7 euros. no matter. we surprised raul, who birthday it was that day, at the bar by secetly buying some cheesecake (his favourite) with the money we had made.

so hot in seville. over 30 degrees every day. pablo said in july and august the heat was just so oppressive. the next days, the routine was busking after the heat had subsided around 5p.m. fortunately no hassles from the police who patrol the tetuan pedestrian drag every now and then. but the mexican and other latinos who are hawking their wares illegally play their cat and mouse game with the pigs. and times must be hard... the busking income was low every day. "es la crisis economica", clara explained. but i was more tempted to agree with eduardo, a mexican guitarist i befriended on the street who said that the people had money... just they didn't want to give. and definitely not to me. rhythm is out, classical is in.

clara and i met up at the centro sociale okupa (squatted places for workshops, meetings, bar/cafe, hanging out etc etc) la fabrica de los sombreros last night. before, i watched a great theatre performance about anti-militarism. and then we saw a flamenco music and dance show which was amazing too. such talent here. clara and friend went onto alameda but i was too tired from the busking and crashed for the night.

today the rain has come to make life a little bit more bearable from the heat of the last days. i got the last of the money needed for the train last night and with ticket to granada bought, i can chill a bit. in old times, i would have managed this in a night, now it took 4 days! but i have no deadlines and so it does not matter. "really free wind" wrote uma in a mail. time is on my side and you cannot put a value on it. in germany, i once got a lift from a red porsche driver going to munich. " i envy you", he told me. "you don't have much money but you have lots of time. with me, i have lots of money, but never any time."