Spanish Love/Gypsy Love: One is cute and the other one involves Pickpocketing

In Spain, like most of the rest of Europe, St Valentine's Day (or Dia de San Valentin) isn't a big deal. Still, for someone like me who puts significant weight on particular days (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.), it is very easy to notice any Valentines-y things. Cute old couples walking in the park, guys carrying bouquets of roses home, Valentine's Day menus at various restaurants (please note I was in Granada at this time with some awesome chicas having a blast!)

But the weird thing was that it wasn't necessarily that all the couples got cuter on Valentine's Day, it's just that I noticed it more. Spanish couples are very into PDA (or PDLA, as it were, Public Displays of Lustful Affection), and while some Americans may label Spanish men as slightly effeminate (and it is, I must admit, often a correct stereotype), the beauty is that the relationships are very passionate, very strong.

For example: In my salsa class there is a 45-50 year old man who is secretly taking the class so he can eventually surprise his wife and take her dancing. He's one of my favorite partners because although he is probably one of the worst dancers in the class, he takes on somewhat of a fatherly role, and it's extremely easy to get along with him. (This is NOT true for half the men in my class, who either try to stare into my eyes while dancing or, more recently, attempt to awkwardly massage/molest my hands while dancing) And he's just one of the instances of insanely adorable men who seem like they would do anything for their wives/girlfriends, even if it comes at a personal sacrifice. (There are a lot of other examples of this I could write about in Spain, but I've already catalogued most of them in my journal ;))

So here are the three most prevalent photos from my Valentines Day weekend (ie not super Granada-sightseeing focused). Please note two of them are Valentine's-y and the third has a story of a thieving gypsy woman.

A poem outside a restaurant near the sketch hostel. It's from a relatively unheard of Argentinean poet (contemporary), and loosely translate (if I mess up please fix it!) it means:

To lost love
and found love
to that which is blind
and resisting
To that which is only of one
and that which is shared
To the love that
makes you (fall) in love
"Regalole ecologia" (= "give it ecologically?")

It's always nice to have a Valentine ;)

Kara bought me a rose before I left to go back (and before the group of American girls celebrated with coffee and ice cream!). I received many envious looks riding back on the bus.

And while we may not have had Valentine's of the male variety, I think we did ok, considering how many regalos we received (and bebidas!) between 10pm and 7am the night before...

NOW ITS TIME FOR MY GYPSY THIEF STORY!!!

So, just so everyone knows, traveling and staying in a hostel by yourself is probably not the best idea if you are a girl. And I knew that and decided to be adventurous anyway.

But I didn't think I would have problems walking around Granada, especially when not a lot of people were out (it SNOWED on Saturday). After buying some postcards from a shop in the center of town I headed to the Cathedral but on the way a woman (a Gypsy but dressed like me, which is I guess is now standard?) shoved an evergreen sprig (seen below) in my hand and said quickly (this is all in Spanish but I'll translate!) "A gift! It's tradition to give you a gift near the Cathedral! Do you understand me?" (I confusedly nod yes.) "Give me your hand!" (At which point she GRABS my hand and starts reading it) "Oh, this is good, you will live long and have lots of money! And two sons, you will have two handsome sons, smart and strong. Also lots of love, there is some handsome man somewhere who loves you very much. OTHER HAND!" (Grabs my other hand) "Ahh, yes, your personality... it's very... erotic... you are a very physical being, who loves very deeply...." (there was other stuff too but like I said, she was talking really fast and using lots of words I didn't understand)

ANYWAY So after reading my palm she looks up and says "Ok, now pay me!" So I reach into my pocket and give her the 1.25 Euros I have in my pocket. At first she refuses (apparently coins are bad luck, she wanted paper money, but I wasn't about to fish out a fiver for 60 seconds of work), argues that I have more money in my purse (I did but lied to her) but then accepts the money. Wasn't till later (like 10 seconds later) I noticed that my purse had 3 zippers undone. I think a kid or another gypsy woman had snuck behind me during the palm reading and tried to steal from me. Too bad my traveler's purse, while VERY tourist-y, is almost impossible to steal from (you have to open three specific zippers to get anything of value), the only thing the pickpocket would've had access to was my keys...

SOMEONE TRIED TO PICKPOCKET FROM ME AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS STUPID SPRIG.

(in all fairness at least she didn't gypsy curse me for paying her in coins)