As I got ready to meet up with Jose on Saturday, I kept asking myself "why are you doing this?" I was exhausted, and the last time I hung out with his guy he practically ate my arm. BUT, he had also cured my asthma, and he is alot of fun when he is not trying to have my body parts for dinner.
So, I put on the one "date dress" I brought from the States and head to the lobby.
This was one of those encounters where I should have just waited in my room, for two reasons:
1) He was late. WHICH I CANNOT STAND, but seems to be in accordance with other Spanish timetables.
2) Jose has no filter. Which for the statement above, resulted in this....
I am awaiting patiently, wondering if I should grab an espresso to get me out of my Saturday funk, and suddenly a piercing whistle splits the air, followed by “My dear, you are totally smashing! Stand up, let me have a look at you. Turn... keep turning...” Oh. My. God. I wanted to die. Given that a reception was going on in the adjacent room, and many of the guests were in the lobby, I was beyond embarrassed. I had yet to sping for an espresso so my mental speed is still lost somewhere under the trees in Retiro. Dear lord. The things I sign myself up for.
Out on the streets, Jose is all over the place. Acting like a torrero when I mention Sunday's bullfight, being a flamenco dancer when I mention seeing a show... This guy is no joke. He was born Spanish, and he knows all the steps to any role I could ask him to play. At this point, the only thing is dinner and him deciding where to go.
Low and behold we end up at a place FOUNDED in 1642. The restaurant has literally been open for over 350 years. That's older than Pete's Tavern... or the United States!
The location was on Cava Braja, the oldest street in Spain. I let Jose do the ordering, as I was in experiential mode and would try anything once. There had yet to be anything I was not loving in Spain, so I am sure this would be more of the same.
As I mentioned in earlier postings, Jose is a Reiki Master. He has mastered all four types – Traditional, Japanese, Tibetan, and Karuna. For those of you, unfamiliar with Reiki (I happen to be quite familiar as my mother used to do reiki treatments), its basically a form of therapy that deals with moving energy around – removing ‘bad energy’ to unblock chakras, channeling good, and overall making ensuring that an individual “flows”. Reiki practitioners “feel” these energy sources and get things going in the right direction.
As I said my mother is a practitioner, and has given me treatments before. She has never tried to do so over dinner. This was not the case with Jose. Throughout our meal of traditional Spanish dishes and Rioja, he kept saying “let me see something…” It was very annoying – although somewhat informative in an odd way. Lots of wine later, and we made our way out onto the crowded street, I couldn’t quite figure out if I had had dinner, or been to the doctor’s office.
When we left Cava Braja in search of a fun after dinner bar, everyone had something on their mind. And when we set down it became clear. I ordered a bottle of champagne (its Spain, so we had Cava) and Jose went looking for "ciggies". When he came back with a box, I could clearly see how this night is going to go. I will drink almost the entire of bottle of Cava (its my fave), and he will have almost the entire box of smokes. With me drinking the bottle, it was going to be a long night.
The conversation that pursued was a bit whacky, as Spanish men seem to want to tell you EVERYTHING about their lives. I learn that not only is Jose a Reiki master, but a sex therapist -- and what a tough job that is. Why men think they need to share the intimate details of EVERYTHING is way beyond me. But it was entertaining... in a strange way. Fortunately he kept it PG-13, or better. I prefer to not make scenes -- or over the top conversations -- in public places -- regardless of the hour, or common language shared.
As he walked me back to my hotel, Jose reminded me of the offer to visit the Canary's. I wasn't too keen and going and staying with him for a week, although he is a fun guy. When he told me I would have my own apt on the coast and he was traveling after his bday for work... well, why not? You only live once and I can always use a vacay... even if in the middle of a vacay!
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