Friday, June 4, 2010

Am I a Country Mouse or a City Mouse?

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Granada, among many, was to explore living in a city again after having spent so much time in the countryside.  I knew that I had fallen deeply in love with the farming life, that I tended to wax poetic on things that other people found either bemusing or outright silly. (Look at this head of lettuce, I mean, what could possibly be better than this??) But I also knew that my heart at home lay in New Orleans, and that there were times in La Ribera that I yearned for certain things only a city can bring.  So, knowing that San Jose wasn´t for me, I came back to Granada, whose crumbling decadence and worked metal gates reminded me of the Big Easy.

It´s been quite an adjustment living in a city again, I have to say.  I´ve traded muddy paths for trashy sidewalks, whatever was placed on the table for a whole city of dinner options, a steady homebody life for the ever-changing scene of the hostel.  Family for peers.  Safety and ennui for leers and a million new dance steps to learn. Knowing everyone for knowing almost no one.  I´m glad I came.  I can´t tell you that I´ve had some sort of revelation about where I want to spend my time in the future, but I have begun to rediscover city life in a way that I was unsure about a few months ago.

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