Home on Cristo del Buen Fin - (belatedly posted from Tuesday)

I am sitting at a nice desk, in a big, nice room, on the INTERNET – yay!

I kiss-kiss-ed Loli and Marie Carmen goodbye just as they were galavanting out the door to Malaga, and I took my last load of bags across the Alameda, down Santa Ana, and over to Cristo del Buen Fin. That's where I live. When I first came to see the place, I said to Alicia on the other end of the line, “you mean Cristo as in Jesus Cristo?” to be sure I understood the street name. Indeed there is a typical Spanish picture of Jesus's head looking appropriately in pain, on a big tile, with the title of the street, “Christ of the Good End”, up high on the building at the corner of the street, where all the street signs are.

There are only two girls that I'll be living with, but them and the third one, who is the one vacating the room and leaving for Italy tomorrow, all got together in the kitchen for pre-dinner around 9:30 and had cheese, chips and stuff. Alicia just got back from somewhere in Andalucia, where her hometown is, and Marta was already here taking about six hours of classes today. She explained them just after I'd moved my stuff in and we pooled together our vegetables and weiners and whatnot to make lunch. She had classes playing in a symphony, a chamber orchestra, a baroque group, among other things. She was in Segovia, her hometown, where it was snowing, for the weekend.

I have been constantly meeting a revolving set of foreigners from the Taller Flamenco school, thanks to Susanne, my flat-mate at Loli's. Within that group are one or two that are staying for 4 or more months.

I forgot to mention Oscar. I think we might have gone on a date, but it was pretty low key. Oscar is a really cute Mexican boy with big black eyes who talks super fast. He's been living here for 9 years. He works at the most awesome bar on the bridge in Triana, and wears a formal white shirt and black pants while he works. He could speak awesome English, if he could remember it, as he took subjects like biology and history in English, for many years. He seems to be a language person, and has studied Russian as well.