Día Siete
How does time move so quickly here even though life is slower? The day began slowly with me waking up at 9:33am! I awoke with the din of my Aunt, my mom, and cousin in the kitchen per usual. I drank my coffee and ate my toast and eggs on the terrace. Eggs here taste 50thousand% better. Everything tastes better here. If I could take all the food of Spain and bring it back to the US I’d be a lot happier, healthier, and thinner.
I spent most the day lounging about, editing photos, writing and messaging folks. We had to conserve our energy for when we would go to watch a Flash Mob at the port. So, my cousin and his girlfriend, Irena met three years ago on the dance floor. Apparently Swing dancing is huge here, and there are classes filled with groups of people. César and Irena are part of the Swing Out Studio where they do flashmob events throughout the city. Tonight, they would be dancing at the Port and since it didn’t start til 7pm, the fam decided to eat a big lunch of lentils and rice and then rest.
We took the bus to Centro and then walked to the Port, the weather was very agreeable. There were lots of people getting off party boats, coming from their day at the beach, and tourists wandering throughout the Port area. To gaze upon these boats people own, Jesus, what kind of money you must have! I’m talking luxe in every way, but you never see anyone getting on or off of them. They are docked here for some time while people explore the city and such. Must be nice. We got to the spot and within minutes a HUGE group of people centered themselves in the promenade and started dancing, Swing music creeping its way across the crowd as they watching the choreography come to life. My cousin says he likes to do this because you never see anyone without a smile on their face dancing to this music and as I watched the dancers spin, twist, and turn with such happiness, I couldn’t help but want to join in. I did not. I am completely without confidence these days. Even walking down a flight of stairs, I’m finding myself reverting back to a self I once knew as shy and evasive. I like being on the other side of the camera these days.
There is something to say about how people dance with each other, how they move in unison, how eye contact is constant. I watched as my cousin and his lady made their way around the square. She looks at him with such trust, such adoration. It was sweet to see him so happy.
We stayed at the Port for quite some time with the dancers, but knew we had to get our rest in, for tomorrow was a day trip to Madrid and a very early start it would be.