Arab Andalucia

As you’ve already realized I’m really bad at this bloging thing. I guess I prefer other forms of communication where I get responses to what I’ve written. *hint you can leave me comments on my blog. Not that I’m promising anything even then. I wanted to write another blog entry for you, but I wasn’t sure what to write about. I guess almost every weekend that I’ve been here in Algeciras I’ve at least gone on a day trip to another city close by. I’ve been able to compare Algeciras with some of the rest of Andalucia. Orquidea thinks that Algeciras is not Spanish. Of course when she was here visiting me I did keep on dragging her through what is for me the most interesting part of Andalucia, the Moroccan part. Just past the outdoors Market you enter an area with an entirely different rhythm. Here you can find Moroccan butchers, also selling tea, couscous, other stuff unknown to me, and most importantly spices! Some Spanish food is excellent, but most of what I’ve had lacks any sort of spices. I bought some at one of the stores; and Orquidea had a good laugh because neither I, nor the Moroccan man, could understand each other’s Spanish.

Anyways as you wander through the winding streets which I assume make up the oldest part of Algeciras you can encounter men dressed in traditional long robes and these slipper-like shoes. In one shop that I poked my head into I saw an old man dressed so with a long, wispy white beard. Of course in this part of town Orquid and I were “chased” by a crazy old man. He was behind us shouting about demons and being possessed, although Orquidea decided not to translate this until we had lost him. I don’t think he was really chasing us, but we kept walking faster and faster away from him and he kept going in the same direction as us. I might have to agree with Brian, that Algeciras has a bit of a rough side. The stares that I get in that part feel quite a bit different than the stares in the rest of Spain.

Morocco isn’t isolated to just one part of Algeciras. Close to my apartment there is a, well it’s not exactly a resturant nor street food, I guess it’s closest to fast food, Moroccan style. They sell this wonderfully spiced chicken wrapped up in tortilla-like things and filled with all sorts of vegetables, from onions to carrots to beets. They are really delicious. The place is only open at night and seems to draw lots of Spanish teenagers looking for their cheap, late-night dinner, but during the day the garage-like door is often cracked and Moroccan music and the most delicious smells leak out in the Spanish world.

When I went to visit Orquidea last weekend we went to a teteria, a tea shop. When she first moved in there we both noticed the place, decorated with the unique pointed Arab arches and deep, rich colors. It is so obviously Arab, that I thought it might be purely a place catering to tourists. We sat down inside and it might have only been 10pm (which is early for Spanish people) so there was only one group of people sitting down. One man was playing a violin, but instead of resting it on his shoulder, as I was taught, he played it almost like a cello, resting it on his knee. The rest of the men accompanied him clamping their hands and singing. Orquidea normally hears this music every weekend evening inside her apartment. Other people, almost all men, started to fill up the place, some ordered tea, others smoked Hookah. At one point Orquidea looked around and realized that besides the other women who were Spanish, we were the only others who were not Arab. She said that she felt really uncomfortable there; not that I didn’t, but I have this feeling in most of Spain. I really stand out down here.

In many of the other cities that we have visited there have been remains of Arab architecture from the time when Andalucia was under Muslim rule during the Middle Ages. On the way home from visiting Orquidea last weekend we stopped off in Malaga just planning to wander the city a bit and see if we liked it any better than the one night that we spent there before. Luckily this time we actually had a map to follow. I decided that I wanted to try to find the Alcazaba; I wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked kind of like a castle on the map and as Orquidea well knows, I rather like to go to the castles (unfortunately for her this often entails climbing a lot of hills, because unfortunately castles are normally built on the highest ground). Since we had no idea what the Alcazaba was, we weren’t really expecting much. When we found it, we weren’t sure we would even enter, because I only have enough money to buy my ticket back to Algeciras (we hadn’t be paid at that time, but thankfully that problem is remedied now). Luckily for us on Sunday afternoons it is free. We soon found out that Alcazaba is the Arabic word for fortress, and this particular fortress in Malaga was built near the site of an ancient Roman site. The builders took elements of the Roman ruins and integrated them into their own architecture. For example some of the traditional Arab arches incorporate the roman columns. It is really a bit weird to see. Besides this unique aspect, the fortress is the biggest Arab building Orquid and I have yet been to. Much of the outer walls are still intact, as well as the inner rooms, and beautiful courtyard gardens. I’m sure it can’t compare to the Alhambra in Granada, but in the meantime I’m enjoying the other Arab influences scattered about Spain.