Category Archives: sevilla

internations

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in sevilla, spain

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Last night I went to my second Internations monthly meet up. They started having them here in October. And I think it’s going to be a nice evening out once a month (as long as I don’t have a tapas tour, which will be another sort of nice evening out).

Basically it’s a way for expats (really dislike that term) to meet and share their experiences of living in a foreign land, though there are also a few Spaniards in the group.

Last night’s meet up started off early (7pm) at the Horno San Buenaventura, the idea being that people could have a coffee and snack before heading out later for a tapa. Around 9 o’clock we headed over to the Plaza Alfalfa for tapitas and more chatting at La Bodega. I actually preferred the second location because it was easier to mingle. And even Peter was being all chatty – quite possibly due to the beer. He sure wasn’t too chipper this morning and by a total stroke of luck his two morning classes rescheduled so he could stay in bed a bit longer.


I’m not usually much of a group person, though I was a member of the AWC for awhile. This group seems a bit more lively than the AWC. First of all, it’s not just women. And the Internations meets are in the evening, which I like better. So we shall see.  Seems like a great way to meet new people. It’s kind of like twitter, but with everyone in the same room.  🙂

unexpected…

29 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, christmas, sevilla, spain

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Spotted yesterday under the Setas.

About a week before Christmas I went out to the market early in the morning, turned the corner towards the Mushrooms and went … whoah! Camels! A whole whack of them were being groomed. So of course I had to stop and take some photos, and also find out what they were doing there. Turns out they are part of the Christmas market that was set up in the plaza, and the camels are for kiddie rides. Well, it’s been almost two weeks and every time I see the camels they make me smile. But the shetland ponies are cuter.

What was the last unexpected thing you saw?

justo

23 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in culture, friends, sevilla, shoes

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The other day after I picked up my loaner iPad, Peter and I stayed at the Vineria San Telmo to enjoy a drink outside in the sunshine. I mean, sitting out in the sun in mid-December is pretty special. And then I saw my old buddy Justo. I’ve known him as long as I’ve lived in Sevilla. He used to do the shoe-shine thing outside my old home until the “powers that be” decided it was bad for tourism to have gypsy shoe-shine guys pestering the tourists. And to be honest, the majority of them were pretty obnoxious. But not Justo. He was always charming and chatty. I remember once, maybe 15 years ago, splashing out to have my shoes polished on my birthday.

And so when I saw Justo again we had a chat and, as usual, he pointed out the bad state of our shoes. Well, mine are suede so he couldn’t do anything about that, but Peter never takes care of his shoes and Justo said he would add two years of life to them for just 4 euros. How could I resist? So I bought Peter a shoe shine, and also about ten minutes of Justo’s time. We chatted and caught up a bit – Justo told Peter about how he’s known me forever – and I found out that he has been made the official shoe-shine guy for Restaurante Modesto! He even has a little badge saying so. All of which made me think about how much all our lives have changed over the years. And also about how “connected” I feel here, to all kinds of people and to all sorts of memories.

I told Justo I would put his photo on Twitter and make him famous, and he made me promise I would say he was the best shoe-shine guy in the Puerta de la Carne. Which I did. Because he really is. Peter’s two-year-old shoes look brand new.