Jerez, Sunday

I am happy about one thing, and that is that I just spent a great time with three awesome people. Unfortunately my throat is now very sore, and I am running out of Gan Mao medicine... I also have an eye infection, most likely due to the germ infested and sickly, revolting cats at Alicia's house. It is kind of an automatic reaction to pet a cat. Better think twice before doing that here. Nobody would let these cats sit on their lap. Mika said the grossest one had been sick for quite a while and not able to shake it yet. Ew.

Anyways, aside from suffering with cold and gross cats and eye infections... and likely missing class tomorrow, I was extremely happy to be in Jerez, to see Keiko and Dani, and Juan Carlos and Mika. Keiko met me immediately after I arrived, in Plaza Arenal, where we went to tomar algo (drink something – coffee in this case). A while later Dani joined us and we went for a massive plate of varied deep fried fish, and a bottle of wine, as well as a revuelto, which is scrambled eggs and ham with algo (whatever else) in them. This one had beans and onion.

The air in Jerez was fresh indeed, as Bijoyini had predicted. It was raining and reminded me of home. The sky even looked like home. Was really nothing like when I was last here...

Juan Carlos was working until 5:00, so I waited at Dani and Keiko's and Keiko came with me to meet Juan Carlos at Alicia's place, where Mika still is living. Mika is one of the few other people I had to see, and didn't realise Juan Carlos and her would be living in the same house. He is due to leave this coming week so this was my only chance to see him. We had an excellent time chatting and Mika and Juan Carlos made us dinner of wine, Jamon, salad, pizza and french fries made from scratch. 

It is great, I think that four of us can manage to communicate all in Spanish for hours, with only Juan Carlos being a native speaker. I did, however, manage to mix up platanos and plata, and so described that there are artisans on Granville Island who work with bananas. I was trying to explain to Keiko that there is a sake maker there, and described the overall place and the types of things people do.

Juan Carlos is a very open-minded, aware kind of person, who said he did not feel much culture shock being in Boston. Keiko has seen this place from the perspective of an outsider making her life here. The two of them had some things to say about people here being closed. Of course, that depends about what. I am starting to understand that everywhere people are open in certain ways and closed in others.