getafe

on saturday i finally met the editor of la sombra del membrillo and ofcourse they presented me with a copy of their magazine. you see, since i am from india and speak spanish, i am exquisite for them. it doesn´t bother me at all since it comes with many advantages. i even got the opportunity to present the programme.

the musical poetry recital went off well. i was surprised to see such a young poet...he´s only 19 years old.

but his poems are all sad and negative. there isn´t a glimpse of hope in them. infact after the recital instead of thinking, "wow! what poetry!" i was thinking, "the poor boy. he´s going through hell." he seems to me a romantic poet. the whole thing was dramatic with him standing up all of a sudden, cringing in pain and to top it all jumping off the stage. the singer has a marvellous voice. i guess she represents the hope. on the whole an enriching experience.

this weekend is a long weekend because monday and tuesday are holidays. yippee!

tomorrow we are going to madrid to do some shopping. and if it doesn´t rain on sunday we are going to segovia. i can´t wait to see the roman aqueducts.

i also have other plans for monday and tuesday. i´ll let you know soon.

an update

now that i´m more or less comfortable with my life here in spain... my classes, my friends, my room, my roommates and me... i was wondering if i should delete that very negative entry. but i have decided not to. mainly to remind me that things are not always rosy and to be honest to my readers ( isn´t it presumptious of me, to address you all as readers and thereby call myself a writer!).

the latest news from here is that i was studying this entire weekend. sounds boring but that´s what you end up doing if you go out the previous weekend `de copas´, that is, party the entire night till 6 in the morning. we were so tired and groggy that even the photos are all blurred ( salieron todas movidas, tan borrachas como nosotros).

this weekend i may visit a bookfair in Getafe, a town near madrid. la sombra del membrillo, a magazine dedicated mainly to poetry, is organizing a musical poetry recital there.

will keep you updated, with photos ofcourse.

the medieval market

wow!

on saturday i went to a medieval market in the plaza de cervantes here in Alcalá de Henares. it was simply amazing.

there were shops selling swords, bread, birds, sun dials, spices, instruments,

quills to write, handwritten books...there was even a shop for witches!

for children they hand a special corner with a merry-go-round where a girl was sitting pedalling so that it goes round, rides on donkeys,

trapeze artists, a snake charmer ...

ofcourse there was also an arab quarter. the arabs ruled spain for more than 7 centuries.

also since we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Don Quijote, there were many don quijotes and sancho panzas made of wood, metal, leather, glass. curiously enough there was also one don quijote a la india! instead of a spear don quijote holds an agarbati!

what i liked most was that characters of the don quijote were walking around the market. it´s so good to know that don quijote is still alive.

amazing experience. will remember it for the rest of my life.

escritora de El Quijote

since it´s the 400th anniversary of the Don Quijote and Alcalá de Henares is the birthplace of Cervantes loads of activities have been organized for the entire year. the plaza de cervantes (the city square) is buzzing with activity. on saturday we are all going to see a medieval market. will take and post photos whenever possible.

yesterday i went to the plaza de cervantes and i´m proud to say that i have written the last part of the Quijote. yes, one person dictates from the book and you can write a part of the book. the book will be kept in the Cervantes museum of the city. i got to write the saddest part of the book, the part where Don Quijote ( because i believe he was less Alonso Quijano el Bueno and more Don Quijote) dies. Dice el cura: Verdaderamente, se muere...

those of you who would like to see the book, it will be accessible at the website www.losjardineros.com within a months time. my page number is 823.

from spain

hmmm...am in spain. sad to say that it hasn´t lived up to my expectations as yet. i know most of you will be surprised and even wonder if this is really me writing this... but it´s true.

i don´t know how much of it has to do with landing in spain and being terribly ill for three days...infact i decided not to write earlier just because i didn´t want to say that i´m dying to get back to India!

my course keeps me busy and leaves me tired at the end of the day. i´m thankful for that.

ofcourse please keep in mind that i´ve been here only about 5 days and most of you know that once i judge something that´s it, it´s final(not really a good thing but that´s me). anyway i guess i´ve had too much of a perfect life and need to go through my share of troubles and depressions too... i´ll live through it all...as usual.