Sevilla--><--Granada

This portion of my trip has been great. Staying in hostels as a lone traveller is quite amazing. You meet zillions of other lone travellers and thus new friends. It has only been 5 days and I already have emails and expectations of eventual visits to Australia and Germany. My week in Sevilla and Granada has allowed me to meditate. I´ve done a lot of walking and really just had good reflection time in the cold, rain and cold rain...I like that each day is full of possibilities and I only have to focus on basic needs. The new sights like the Alhambra or various churches etc stimulate my mind, while my body just performs the basic function of walking. When I get hungry, I eat. When I tire, I sit or nap. It really is luxury--this lifestyle of being able to satisfy my basic needs at my convenience.
Hostel living is inherently social. I love the alone time during the day to charge myself for evenings and mornings with new strangers. Last night I had an amazing time with people from all over the world. The Granada tapas bars are amazing because if you order a drink you get free tapas. This is how all bars should be. It is wonderful to hear about what brings people from everywhere to Granada to pass time together on a rainy Wednesday night. People in Andalusia are very friendly. My first night in Sevilla, I got lost getting to the hostel around midnight with all my stuff and some old woman grabbed me by the arm and in heavily accented something was saying "Oasis" and leading me there. Also, people just offer directions which is not the case in Barcelona...I have also seen more Americans than anywhere else, mainly because it´s spring break I think. The Alhambra in Granada is worth seeing. It shows the clear blend of Muslim and Christian worlds in the past. I guess blend is a nice way of wording it. The Islam influence is still very strongly felt in the city and I had GREAT food:) The whole town is just amazing. I could stay in Granada for a long time...
Otherwise my amusement from today came in my bus ride from Granada to Sevilla. It was relatively uneventful. I slept, watched the hills of olive trees and ruins roll by...then we got into the outskirts of Sevilla and the bus driver yelled to the bus for directions. Immediately everyone was answering at once and debating which way would be best with traffic and whatnot. I love stuff like that. He´d been driving the route for 9 years and just wasn´t sure. I love how this part of Spain reminds me so heavily of Latin America. It´s the only reason stuff like this gets to happen. Back to Barcelona tomorrow...not looking forward to the hustle and bustle again, but excited for potential sunshine! Hope this blog finds you well!!! Salud!