so, jamie and i decided it was time to visit shar...after a second (less disastrous) attempt at curry (not gonna lie it was AWESOME...went to the spice market for garam masala, coriander, etc...unfortunately couldn't find fresh ginger--only available in the morning--but other than that excellent effort) we decided that we should check in with shar...especially since last time, jamie (after a few glasses of wine) decided to ask him all about being punjab, literally. which he gracefully took as a compliment and spent about half an hour telling us about pakistani's in spain (he speaks english as a second language...nice to finally know why his spanish is so awkward and shy). although he did refuse to share the secrets of curry vindaloo with us, claiming we would never return if we knew how to make it ourselves (clever). so we returned, triumphantly i might add as he hooked us up with appetizers and after dinner tea and anise liqueur, so cute. although this is not my main purpose here, merely a background story to the evening...
after stuffing myself with DELICIOUS curry vindaloo, raita and vegetable curry, i opted to the take the bus up the mountain. i have been really good about walking everywhere but tonight it just seemed like a bus kinda night. in the city center they have life-sized buses that run to the outskirts of town, but to go to the albaicin, sacramonte or the alhambra there exist only minibuses. and for whatever reason, these mini buses stop in plaza nueva and wait....until they are full (sometimes 2 minutes sometimes 20, i'm unclear but have decided it is at the driver's discretion)--full being anywhere between 10-25 people...you wouldn't think 25 people would fit on a minibus but i have seen it done and it is not pretty.
whilst I am waiting, the usual motley crew of tourists, gypsies, old people, and just-off-work folk pile onboard. for whatever reason, the chatter on this particular bus #31 was quite lively this evening, with the usual spanish small talk.
**i've come to find the spanish to be a very stoic group of people--i guess after 40 years of economic insecurity and Franco they kind of have to be. they won't reassure you in any way, but are quick to tell you exactly what you are doing wrong. at first this comes off as very offensive but i've realized that this "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attidude is actually incredibly practical. suffice it to say, the economic crisis came up and the usual complaints were mounted. this in and of itself is fascinating because in the states we complain constantly about the crisis (always with the underlying fear that we actually might be totally screwed) but here they adopt a rye sense of humor and biting sarcasm that totally deflects any serious sentiments...i mean, they endured 40 odd years of a fascist dictator, pretty sure they will survive a dip in the market...
this itself was incredibly amusing, especially when followed by a complaint from a middle aged passenger: "are we sitting here to save energy because of the crisis or are you just lazy?" directed at the bus driver. at this point the bus was full and ready to go, and i'm pretty sure he was just being lazy and enjoying his cigarette break. but i mean, if i were to make such a comment to a muni driver in sf i would most likely get kicked off the bus if not ticketed and reprimanded by the muni police. and what, you may ask, happened to this poor misguided woman? well she was the hero of the busride, and sparked an entirely new critical discussion of energy waste in spain...after the entire bus laughed, including the bus driver (who promptly finished his cig and started driving)...
but the cherry on top of this experience was when a teenaged boy's cell phone rang with amy winehouse's "rehab" and before he could answer it, a construction worker (in full blue jumpsuit and dusty boots), a business man (in a suit), myself, and a late 30ish gypsy woman all bust out, "i won't gooo goo goo" in unison...then of course burst out laughing because really, does that ever actually happen on public transportation? aaaah, espana, you mad country....i don't understand you and yet i still love you in your own special way...
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