I may be one of the few people here in Portland happy to see the rain..It is just so green and beautiful and even more so after having been gone for three months!  It truly is wonderful to be home, not that I don't miss Jerez.  I miss many things of course: Like getting to speak Spanish all of the time,

And hearing flamenco in so many places,

And drinking fresh squeezed zumo de naranja,

Ooooooooh, and taking advantage of the long siesta each day. - During which time it can be quite difficult to get much done by the way, and I don't just mean because almost all stores are closed.  There is this energy that seems to overtake the city.  It is odd, like it suddenly becomes Sunday for three to four hours.  Often I would come home intending to be "productive," but it was as if the collective rest of the city would allow me to do nothing more than relax...

What else do I miss?  Things being close and walking everywhere - well, not so much when it rained but most other times.  Driving does have its advantages.  Actually, the other night here in Portland driving home I realized I love the part about being in my car that allows me to listen to flamenco and practice rhythms on the dashboard...

Anyhow perhaps the thing I most miss about Spain...

Being in class with Mercedes.  She is beautiful and intense, dedicated and exigente.  She moves slowly and methodically and focuses on technique while never ceasing to inspire.  But let me tell you the strange thing about Mercedes, she starts ON TIME.  On my last day I wanted so much to arrive on time.  I promise I did, especially since the beginning of class was my favorite part, but not only had I been at fería late the night before, and not only was I now staying in an apartment further from her studio, but I was my usual running-late self.  All that being said, I arrived not five minutes late, and class had begun, por su puesto.  I tried to glide in without disturbing too much, "Su último día y llega tarde," commented Mercedes as I went into the changing room.  "Es que tú no eres una española normal," I called to her.   Ay yay yay, definitely more about class with Mercedes to come in the near future.

But back to Portland.

Since I've been home, I've tried doing her exercises while imagining myself there in Jerez on Calle Baro in that humid studio in class with everyone.  (Actually I don't really miss the humid studio part of the experience.)  I watch Mercedes in my mind, imagining her movements and her words, "Lauraaa, pompi dentro...Y tu falda Laura!"  Unfortunately I can't possibly anticipate all of the pointers or corrections she would be giving me.  That woman notices EVERYTHING, not to mention, it's not always easy to see this stuff for ourselves.  And then, it is hard to motivate in the same way without the actual class to go to, and I miss the community, the experience of dancing with others.  Which makes me quite excited for my classes here to start!

And so it is that:

Summer session begins June 1st; that's this Wednesday; that's Today!  I am extremely excited, and os advierto, we will WORK hard.  I am motivated, I am ready, and I promise, we will have fun too.  Perhaps I'll see you in class, or if not, back here where I'll soon report on more experiences from Spain...

P.S. And Thank you to the Regional Arts and Culture Council for having given me this opportunity to go to Spain in the first place!