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We arrived weary travelers and were taken in by our friend who so generously shared his apartment with us. He lives near Lavapies, an area known for immigrants but one that recently has seen a rise in Senegalese moving to the neighborhood. The Senegal men who gather in the square have taken a shine to Tin and he to them. Yesterday, one gave him way too much candy and later he moaned with a stomach ache.

When we first arrived at our friend’s apartment he wasn’t home and typical of these Spanish buildings you enter a dark foyer and walk down a corridor that has a temporary light. When it finally came on there was blood on the wall, blood on the stairs, and up the stairs and on the wall and I imagined all sorts of ways it had gotten there. Later, our friend said he hadn’t noticed. Only this morning when the neighbor knocked on the door (our friend is the president of the building) did he learn that a woman was stabbed in her apartment by her lover on the first floor and ran up the stairs in hopes of finding help – only this apartment building like many in Madrid is relatively unoccupied due to absentee landlords who are now on the coast. The victim remains in the hospital, prognosis unknown, and someone has been called to clean up the blood.

Well, you can travel far from home and still find a little bit of home wherever you are. It seems that the heat coupled with the ailing economy is enough to make lovers murderous no matter where you find yourself.

The same elements also lends itself to the Spanish culture of going out into the streets to talk, eat, drink and get some air. This phenomenon is rarely seen throughout the U.S. except perhaps New Orleans and major metropolitan cities, but it is what makes Spaniards Spaniards – to be out in the street till all hours.

We were not here 12 hours when Tin caught up with the Roma band that he had played with in the plaza last summer, only this time his moves had become more sophisticated and his ability to attract tips were amplified by his having grown even cuter. He drew a crowd and promised them all he would return tonight.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2012 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.