Moroccan Nikita's

"ay que si el mar es tan azul es de mirar tanto al cielo ay que si el mar es tan azul es de tanto mirar pal cielo" It was definitely the best house in town. In fact it is located in a district named like one of ex-Yugoslavia’s republics. After a surprisingly good meal made of cuttlefish, leaves of the garden’s over present basil, apple and more secret ingredients, all served in green melon, we moved to the terrace to enjoy coffee and cigarettes. The sun was high in a pristine blue sky, a light but refreshing breeze was blowing and we were gazing at this beautiful orange grove surrounding us. After the blue (or white, or bright purple - depending on the pair of eyes) painted orange trees, there was the marsh, silver blue naps among deep green isles. On one side this scenery continued toward the sea, on the other side, we could see, in the distance, the buildings of the city center.  It looked as if these were part of another world. From the Laranjal,  where we felt...

It started the day when the weather was so hot some would see kangaroos flying in the crowns of the courtyard trees. Coming from Sevilla, I was finally feeling at ease, or better said, I was not feeling cold. As I was sitting in that kitchen where everybody was complaining about the heat I suddenly noticed this glass filled with all the sky and the moon of that summer night. Prague becomes so beautiful when the sun shines and illuminates both buildings and faces. Since I arrived I could not miss a traditional walk crisscrossing the river, one bridge after the other, carefully avoiding the sightseeing rush on the Charles Bridge for, in the end, for an ex-homie, that one is much better to look at from a hill above or from another bridge. I had forgotten this little path just across my bridge that I had taken last time some 25 years ago since the restaurant Expo 58 had closed down in 1991. Good surprise to see that the building that impressed Brussels so much together with the Latern...

As with any magic place, we can forget about locating it on a map. So if I tell you of this place as the Bermuda's triangle, please do not come to me with any kind of geographical considerations. This is not about the North Atlantic ocean, this is not about the Sargasso sea, this is about getting lost and maybe considered missing  (by people not living there, or even by yourself) in Sevilla. How does this happen? One day you land in Sevilla, no matter for which reason, no matter where you came from, and the city welcomes you with its uncanny tranquility. In fact, you feel it straight away after arrival but you only adapt to slow motion after two or three days for you to get  used to a diffuse feeling of serenity and ease. The first time you leave the magic, you just think of coming back and staying longer. The second time you leave, it has already started getting into you, and you feel your heart aching. The third time you leave, your decision is made to come back for go...

Essalamu alaykum I was born with this greeting in my ears and it's only now, more than three decades later, that I understood one fundamental thing. God bless my grandfather for making me get that. Most people know that this expression, used as good day or hello, literally means "peace on you". What most people do not know, unless they speak Arabic,  is that the "you" is a plural form.  Obviously, the answer comes similar, Wa Alaykum essalam , plural form again. As if "you" when greeted were not only one person but  many . And this indeed is the answer! You, me , whoever, are never alone. For as my grandfather says, everyone of us has an angel on each shoulder. They're writing your good or bad deeds and  thoughts for after, when the final countdown comes. They also catch you if you fall, if they're not too busy writing. So when you greet someone you mean to greet the person and  their two angels. It would be rude not to greet these two, t...

"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams"   Werner Herzog We had slept only two hours, woke up still tipsy judging from our nonsensical blabbering in the bus which no one could understand for making up new words and verb forms such as "si je chwaziland" at the crossovers of our multiple language conversation. Nevertheless, we were tired, but happy, for what was awaiting us on the other side of our journey was worth it.  Beach house was the reward : surrounded by water, Atlantic ocean in front, Ria Formosa behind, blue sky all above, what more to ask for?  Time for suspending the clock, lying immobile like a lizard, suntanning till burning and shedding an old skin  to finally come out as a new person. Time for diving in the fresh Atlantic embrace, feeling humble in front of its swell and releasing all kind of sorrow in its depths. Time for childish joy while getting rolled over by the waves, crashing ...

Things are not always what they seem to be.  Ok we all know that. But are we really aware of the huge gap between what we think they are, what we see, and what they are (supposedly) in "reality"?  When I had made an appointment with the surgeon for my cornea transplantation, I was so scared that I strongly believed I was going to die. I know it may sound funny, and exaggerated. But I knew it. It was not that I was afraid of having some complications during the surgery, and loose an eye, or that the intervention was especially dangerous and could cost my life. It was not the result of any reasonable thinking. It was just a diffuse feeling telling me that, inevitably, there would be no tomorrow after I'd have stepped into hospital. I was afraid of the hospital building itself, of the nurses, of the blood tests, of the needle they would stick into my hand for anesthesia. That fear could have killed me easier than anything else, I guess. However, once i...

"Lleva azahar, lleva olivas, Andalucía, a tus mares. " F.G. Lorca (Baladilla de los tres rios) Spring unfolded in orange blossoms. Walking in Seville at this time of the year means walking with your nostrils wide open toward the sky, catching at every step the utterly pleasant scent of these tiny white flowers flying and falling around like snowflakes. With the azahar, came the Semana Santa, kicking off April's festivities. Did I say festivities? I did my first Holy Week "madrugada" this year and if the weather was rather moody, well at least I could see quite a few Virgins and Christs dancing their ways through the city.  Last year I was waiting 4 hours for la Virgen de la Esperanza in the rain and she never came out. This time, it seems she wanted to make it up and she pursued us all night long on Holy Thursday.  We saw her come out of her church in Triana, "en la gloria", under a rain of rose petals and a thunder of shouts "Trianeeeeeeera...