Stars Falling From the Sky

last night was the annual Geminid meteor shower. this is the first meteor shower that i have ever seen and i must say that if you ever have a chance to see a meteor shower, drop absolutely everything to do it. it was perhaps the most breathtaking thing i have ever seen. i saw more shooting stars in the first 20 minutes than i had seen in my entire life. i went to a hill above granada, that also happens to have a breathtaking view (although not of the same magnitude) of the alhambra and the city of granada. last night i felt as though i was in the most priviledged position in the world. i was laying on a blanket staring up at the starts watching a galactic 4th of july, and if i looked down a little i had the best view ever of the alhambra by night with those spectacular night lights giving it the impression of a floating castle, a little to the left and there was the entire city of granada layed out. that view is really strait out of some painting or something, its just too good to be true. it was like what van gogh was trying to capture in starry night, the interplay between the natural lights and the artificial ones, that seem to merge together into a coherant dream. so i lay there from like 11 till like 2 in the morning with my jaw dropped and my tongue hanging out (except for the ocasional shivers, it was pretty damn cold) directly under orions belt with my body perfectly lined up with polaris just watching the sky roll past me. the stars were just falling left and right, it was at least one per minute, and sometimes they would come in bursts, left and right, up and down. it was one of those moments when youre so amazed that you forget to think and you can really just relish the moment, and it doesnt even require years of meditation or practice, you can just sit there like a baby, completely absorbed in the world around you. and it was in this state of mind that the most amazing thing i have ever seen happened: a huge shooting star, but i mean huge. i was laying there and when i saw it i jumped up and yelled in utter amazement. it was so big and burned for so long, i honestly thought it was going to land dead smack in the center of granada, it was like the scene out of some alien movie where the kid sees the space ship land or something. if the sky we see is 180 degrees, and most of the meteorites travel like 5 or 10, this star traveled at least like 30 or 40 across my line of sight. it was so big to, it was much bigger than any star in the sky, or any other celestial object other thant he sun and the moon. truly a special experience. i can only wonder if anyone else saw it. i was surprised to see that no one else had come to the spot where i was at, i guess not many people knew about it, i only found out earlier that night because my dad told me. they should really make this sort of information more available, i mean soemthing like that has to be one of the most amazing experiences a person can have in their lives, and i saw nothing about in the news, granted im not exactly a CNN fiend. i wonder how many people around the world were looking up at the stars at the same time i was, i wonder how many people saw that beautiful star fly through the sky. its almost as if i feel somehow connected to them through that shared experience. these are the sort of things that make you feel so very small, but at the same time like you are part of something so very big, its not a daunting feeling, but rather one of grand artistry. being a man with a relatively sophisticated knowledge of the starts galaxies and the universe (compared to my distant ancestors), and perfectly aware of the physical nature of the phenomenon i was experiencing i must say that i still felt extremely humbled and awed by the power of the divine and cosmic forces that operate outside of our sphere of understanding. i can only imagine the impression something like that would have on someone who had never seen the stars with anything other than their own eyes. i think that it would make you feel as though there were something up there, something really really big up there. i think that there is a certain comfort in feeling small compared to something like that, it makes you feel as though all your worldly concerns just arnt as important as you thought they were. a truly humbling and awe inspiring experience.



so this is a picture taken from the alhambra. if you look at the hills above the houses there is one to the left with the old wall on it, and another one to the right of it, not the one with the green on it and the radio tower, below that. on that hill is where i was laying watching the stars.




peace and love,
em

ps. did anyone else see this meteor shower last night?

Querer Querer

ahoy
so ive been thinking and i want to see what you think. i read that languages are often much wiser not only than the most vulgar that use them, but also than the wisest. it is with this in mind that i started thinking about the spanish verb 'querer'. this word has two meanings: the first is to want, and the second is to love. it has been my intention to explore the relationship between wanting and loving. in spanish their are two words commonly used for love. the first, 'amar', is a passionate, romantic love. this word is used, or i should say i would use it, to describe the intense and mind numbing emotions associated with women that drive me crazy and FC Barcelona (thats right, the soccer team). like i said this love is extremely powerful, and it is often irrational, and always highly addictive, although i would argue that it is never quite satisfying. this is the kind of love that sent the greeks to troy, that makes men fight over women, that incites violence is sports fans, that makes people kill eachother over the fictiotious lines they call countries. i should also say that this love is not negative in itself, and that it is also responsible for love songs aplenty, some of the greatest, and most touching poetry (i say this in a rather detached way, as i have never been one for poetry), and other such romeo and juliet type things. this love can make a person forget themselves (which is a good thing [sometimes]) and do things that they never thought they were capable of. the point is, this kind of love is highly emotional, and when not satisfied can turn to equally potent, much more negative emotions, ie hate, jealousy and misery.
the second word for love in spanish is, as i have already noted, querer. now as i percieve it this word denotes a very different kind of love. it is a much more unconditional love, not dependant upon favorable circumstances. if amar comes from the heart, then querer comes from the soul. this is the equivalent of the greek agape that martin luther king wrote so much about. it is the love of a mother for her child, of a good man for his brother. if amar is a human love, than querer is a godly love. this love, if it is true, will withstand any trial, it cannot be broken and it does not have a negative counter part. in its infinite wisdom the spanish language has irrevocably tied the essense of the divine spirit with the the seemingly transient desires of the human will. could it be that while we struggle our whole lives trying to figure out what we want, that it has we have been saying it all along (for those of us who speak spanish that is. for the rest of you, the lesson is one and the same, and maybe you will want to learn spanish now, and if you live in the US you really should, i mean we are surrounded by spanish speaking peoples, of which there are already 50 million within out boarders). what we really want, although we may not know it, is to love, but not in a emotional up and down kind of way, but rather in the serene peaceful kind of way. in the way that reassures you that the world is in fact good, that god does if fact exist, and that you were in fact meant to be here. could it be that all of our selfish wants and desires, our constant search to find that 'thing' which makes us happy are meant to give way to the no-thing that actually can. if we are possesed by the godlove perhaps we will see that all of those selfish wants and desires are really what is keeping us from being happy, by making us think that there is something outside ourselves that can create true happiness, when if fact true happiness lies in forgetting about ourselves and doing this for the good of others. if you want to love then you will find yourself happy without having to look for it. you will see that god made you happy to begin with and that you have fallen from this by falling passionatly in love with your self. so i tell you as i tell my self, let us love as we want to love, from the bottom of the infinite well that is our soul. if we stop trying to make ourselves happy, and simply do what we know is right at every moment (as my anonymous teacher so wisely put it: rise to the moment at every moment), then we will be happier than we ever thought possible, and we wont poison it by trying not to lose it. and not only that but we will also be blessed with the greatest gift of all, the knowledge that you are an asset to humanity and that you are fulfilling your divine purpose.

well i didnt think that would come out like that when i started, but i like it. sorry for any typos
peace through love
emi

The Cannabis Cup, Andalucia Style

Its been a while hasnt it. the reason i havnt written in a while is because i didnt have anything to write about during the last couple weeks. i guess thats not wholly true, but i there was nothing that i felt compelled to write about, until now. during those two weeks i was working almost everyday during the morning at my moms friends house, i think i mentioned it. i came home and played soccer during the afternoons. needless to say i was pretty worn out and not doing many 'noteworthy things'. but the good news is that i made a few hundred bucks to keep me from depleting my travel fund, i got some good exercise and i shook up my routine a little. in that time i only read two book and i didnt feel as though i could really write about them, they didnt stimulate my oratory. but i think there is going to be a burst soon because some exiting things have happened, some more are projected, and im reading a book that has got by mind banging on all cylinders. man i feel a little rusty writing right now, i guess my fingers are a little atrofied.
sorry for the pointless introduction

so anyway, the chase that im cutting to: as you all know i have been 'interning' at my mothers friends house, helping her out with this years cannabis crop. as i told you, she is or was the president of the local cannabis cultivation and consumption association known as ARSECA (arseca.org). this past weekend december 1,2,3, was their annual harvest festival and competition (i didnt write until know because it has taken me a while to clear my mind). so i was asked to help out with the collection of samples, and being relatively computer proficient i was responsible for cataloguing all the samples and then tabulating the scores. i should note that my recollection is a bit hazy from all the sampling, but in general i remember everything. i arrived friday night and got right to work designing the score cards and such, and as the first samples started rolling in, i couldnt help but get exited, i mean it was REDICULOUS. i think that many of you readers may not necessarily be cannabis enthusists, but for those of you that are, this was the stoners paridise. i mean im from NY of whatever and there is supposed to be good weed there, but of the 35 total samples, at least 30 were way better than any weed i have seen in nyack, NY, or ithaca, including all the hazes, shmaizes, diesels, weasels, and everything in between. the real festivities started on saturday, although until like 6 we were just sorting out all the samples and dividing them up into anonymous samples. honestly i was way out of my league, i mean, i started smoking 3 days before in order to build up some tolerance, but i didnt stand a chance, i was knocked the fuck out in no time. that night a famous singer called Amparanoia came to perform. it was pretty sick from what i remember, i spent the second half of the concert passed out upstairs. the problem was that this dude made these brownies that were frieking delicious, but didnt hold a match the the cannacarrot cake he made. i mean i tried to restrain myself because with the munchies i had i knew that if i didnt i was going to OD. in fact im still fiending for some carrot cake to this day to satisfy the craving i had to subdue. despite my restraint i think i still ate a little to much, and long story short, i woke up sunday morning in the front seat of my car in quite a daze. it was awesome. haha. since i passed out relatively early i woke up at 8 am, and the club was closed, having nothing to do i spent the morning sitting in any sunny spot i could find, its pretty cold around here these days, but it is divine if ur in the sun. i was able to find some breakfast and i just chilled till about 1 when people started showing up. sudnay was more of the same, the winners were awarded, and the remaining samples were handed out, of which i took home at least a dozen, in case anyone wants to come try them out. i am happy to say that i made it home safe and sound sunday night, despite being more than legally high.

the place where all of this took place is really kool. it is basically a private bar, mostly for memebers, where you can go and drink not overpriced beer, and smoke a joint in a social atmosphere. i think that we need places like this all over. yea right, who doesnt. but seriously, people shouldnt have to hide in fear because they smoke weed, and there should be a place in any major city where they can gather.
thats all for now,
good to be back, and theres more coming
peace
salaam
shalom
salem
love
eM