Excerpt from a letter to my friend

... continued 18 nov.

to answer your questions.

> what are some of the most amazing things to befall you so far?
the perplexity of people and vulnerability of the human heart, different kissing styles, the sweets at espacio dulce (my favorite cafe here), the beach at cabo de gata (you can see my photos on flickr.com/singlikealion), the train rides brought tears to my eyes, especially between granada and almeria. the architecture has not made my heart skip beats the way i thought it would, and perhaps this is because it makes me, more than anything, nostalgic for my time in india, for those crumbling forts and ancient mosques.

> are you homesick?
i was homesick the first month. now i've adjusted. i was terribly homesick and felt ashamed that i couldn't transition more easily.

>do you feel increasingly more at home?
"at home" is something i've never felt... the closest that came to it was in my first year at college (at simon's rock college of bard in mass.) and in portland, oregon... but i think i learned a long time ago to carry home on my back and a sense of home in myself.

>are you taking many pictures?
yes! look here! http://flickr.com/photos/singlikealion/show/

>meeting fantastic people?
strange and wonderful people. my best friend is a young man with an honest heart who picked the petals off a rose that another man gave to me. also, an irish girl who had never eaten avocado or thai curry or fresh crushed black pepper, but feeds me warm foods from her homeland that i've never before tried - like potato bread and soda bread (she's lovely). also, a 7 year old girl who was adopted from china when she was a baby and detests spicy food, the "poor etiquette" licking one's fingers after eating, people talking while she's trying to watch american and japanese children's cartoons and tv shows that have been dubbed in spanish. her mother is 56 years old and has a curious collection of items that range from creepy porcelain dolls that don't blink to other people's framed wedding photos covering one wall (she never, herself, got married).

>counting the stars and planning for the future?
there are too many to count here on clear nights! taking photos of the moon. no solid future plans, but wishes to travel.

>hearing live music?
in barcelona i did.
here, i hear the moans of ghosts, the sonorous weight of a frustrated town (at what frequency?). what does nostalgia sound like?

>seeing dead art?
not much... but, i must say, my eyes welled up in the picasso museum in barcelona.

>making some of your own?
only in these sketches that i send you.


now your turn!

love, xo
jeevan