A Night in with my Spanish Mama

Originally written February 12, 2010

I have to rave about Concha again, I’m sorry; I bet you guys are tired of hearing how in love with my host mama I am.

First of all, this morning I hung out at home writing and studying and just generally chilling, and Concha kept popping into my room with travel recommendations for the semester and exciting ideas of things for me to do. She offered to dress me up “de gitana”—in some of her traditional Flamenco or “gypsy” dresses—and take pictures of me one day while I’m here. I’m super excited! She’s also hopefully going to teach me Sevillanas, which is a simple type of Flamenco dance. She did a few steps, and I was like, wow, geez, I didn’t know you were a dancer! But apparently she was a really good Sevillanas dancer when she was younger, so of course she’s still got the moves. I also have started noticing that sometimes she sings in the kitchen or when she’s doing housework, and she has a really good voice! I had no idea I was living with such a talented little lady!!

Ok, and now get this. Tonight, I wasn’t feeling particularly well—I had what felt like the beginnings of a migraine—so I decided to stay in and maybe just cool it on the couch and watch TV for a few hours before going to bed early. I know, sounds like a RIVITING evening, but let me tell you, I had SO much fun with Concha. The Carnaval festivities in Cadiz are televised, or at least the stage performances, and so we settled in with a bottle of Spanish wine and chocolate and candied fruit and marzipan and watched some really spectacular performances. I was so grateful to have her there to explain everything to me, because although my level of Spanish comprehension is pretty good and definitely improving, it was very hard to understand some of the comedy and singing groups. Even Concha missed some of what they said, so that made me feel a little better.

So, for those of you who, like myself, know nothing about what Carnaval in Cadiz is like, I’ll explain what we watched: it seems to be a competition between three different types of comedy groups—those who mainly act, those who mainly sing (and I mean, beautiful, talented singers, operatic, some of them), and then the type in between that sings all their jokes but don’t have the same singing chops and the second group. It began as a competition of groups of only the third type, and then expanded to include groups that were more specialized in singing or in skits. There are winners for best performance, best costumes, and I’m sure other things as well. The costumes are usually over-the-top and very professional—I mean, these aren’t back-alley comedy groups; these guys are so prepared and polished that they freaking shine. Or glitter, as the case may be. The jokes are very pointed—critical of the government, education, the economic crisis, and often the groups themselves—and very, very funny. I got some of the jokes on my own, and the rest Concha helped me understand. Of course, there are a lot of sex jokes and stuff like that, too, because the groups have to satisfy both the judges and the audience, much of which is well on the way to sloshed. The audience participates a LOT, too—people will call out certain things and either the performers or the rest of the audience replies. It was an incredible production, really, and I was impressed by how much everyone seemed to know what was going on and what they’re role was in it. One of the skits was set in the American “West”—cowboy, Indians, sheriff, and even the token drunk Mexican wearing his poncho and sombrero. It was hilarious and biting and I was very impressed.

I feel like I just had a really awesome cultural experience with a really helpful guide. And accompanied by really fantastic Spanish wine—Rioja, I think? Never heard of it; tasted very different than the French reds I’m accustomed to; but I like it a lot. It’s got a lot of body and personality—this wine has an agenda and it’s not afraid to tell you! At first I was put off by the aggresiveness, but after a few sips, I got into conversation with it and started loving it. And a great wine paired with dark chocolate, madre mía, que bueno. Ok, I’m sorry, I’ll stop.

Alright, bedtime! I have a feeling I’ll sleep a lot better tonight than I have been lately; I feel good and warm and loved and like the world is alright, you know? Despite illness or sadness or whatever else may complicate my life, I am ok at a very deep level of my being.

Either that or I just drank a third of a bottle of strong Spanish wine in about an hour.

Pura Vida,

Kelsey