Madrid Return



The Magic Bus.	Yuval and Oscar acknowledge the camera.	Maya premieres the song "Shilita". [see below]	Oscar fills in the blanks and provides a quick quip.	Cradling his oud as a teddy bear, Yuval performs 40 winks.	In Valdepeñas on the way to Madrid a surprise (again).

Tell your friends!	The long table of very fine wine and excellent food.	Hey, there's Reuben our driver!	At the other end of the table, beyond the window, a lovely garden with running water.	The musicians celebrate the feast; note Yuval's glasses.	Maya sings, too.

	The music and laughter brought the owner, the chef, and the waiters into the dining room, and after a musical piece, they applauded. They were so impressed that one asked Yuval for his autograph, and the owner presented each of us his restaurant's poster. Thus, from a simple roadside detour for a good lunch arose a special event for us and for the restaurant. Restaurant Sucot was a harvest of great memories.
Eduardo and the restaurant owner share a laugh					The poster.


Yuval and Norik begin the party.	Kaye plays the daf.	Bonnie begins her ballet.	Dinah reads a poem of Lorca.	Sheila starts her dance.	Behold, a belly dance!

Careful with centrifugal spins!	Is this legal?	The reward.	Honors for Eduardo.	Yuval presents copies of his albums.	Tokens of our gratitude.

Shirley reads a statement in Yiddish about this language and its Diaspora culture.	Dalia translates.	Oscar and Sheila: our video crew.	Back to music.	Music suitable for ballroom dancing.	Foxtrot?

"Let us play some Israeli tunes."	"Shall we dance?"	Maya and Dalia on the dance floor.	Hava Nagila!	Hora!	The ha-ha yoga team on Norik Airlines.
				Shilita Lyrics by Oscar Abeliuk. Music and performance by Maya Zebley [Haddi].
Enjoy your trip. Ha-ha.	Mike and Maya listen as . . .	. . . Lorca gets the last word.

Acknowledgments

Bonnie, who dances through life with a smile and lets us surf her wake of joy. [Her spirit is decades younger than her body: I'm jealous!]	Kaye—Oh My God!— whose enthusiasm (meaning god within) propelled us forward to the next surprise and amazement. [She has everything she needs; she's an artist [North Coast], she don't look back.]	Dinah, whose initiative in our lighting sabbath candles took me back to my childhood and memories of my mother. [A deeply rooted poet.]	Dalia, our Jewish mother, with whom I shared hotel rooms and learned more about Yuval and his family than on his website. [heh, heh, heh....kidding....all honorable stuff, like he works too hard and his children are raised trilingually: Hebrew, French, and eventually English.]	Oscar, our resident wit, our Latin Zorba, who ensured through jokes and tales that we remember to laugh and enjoy our foibles and reach for deeper truths. [He never talked medicine or science, but The Shadow knows!]	Michael, a composer, who was aptly composed, calm, and direct, as a schooner running before the wind. [Any musical ideas based on our tour ? A flamenco foxtrot for bodega horses?]

Lara, our alumni organizer and planner. Praise be her youth, praise be she. [She is a Girl Scout leader; she has practice. And cameras love her.]	Mark, who enjoyed wine and beer and with whom I had instant rapport. The second half of an interesting, loving couple. [Later I learned that he had invested some serious time in his own Zen training. Aha!]	Karen, with whom, I much regret, I did not interact purely by accident of bus and dining location and the mutual attraction of other personalities. Her steadfastness and attention to detail are appreciated. [Forgive me.]	Sheila, the traveling partner of Oscar. I had little conversation with her, for the same reasons, but she regarded herself as fortunate and happy with their unique relationship. [Her flamboyant belly dancing was a surprise: it is always the quiet ones!]	Shirley, who seemed already steeped in European Jewish culture, showed the greatest interest in history on our tour and asked key questions. [Her dance with Eduardo was a pleasant surprise and I was happy for her.]
Now, to thank our organizers and musicians.
Yuval, the leader, the musician of peace and spiritually.	Maya, of the sweet voice; Norik who rides the wind and plays it, too; Jaime, who perceives the rhythm in all things but still can't grasp all the complexity of flamenco.	Eduardo, who knows the tour business as no other. He quietly gets the job done.	. . . . . .
Return to Index	Appendix: Food			Was she on the tour? [Yes, 'tis I. Debra Jan Bibel] Photo: Thank you, Bonnie!