he repeatedly encounters a woman (paz de la huerta) who is always either completely nude or wearing only a transparent raincoat. she invites him to have sex with her but he declines, stating that he never has sex while he is working. one phrase that creole, the man in the airport tells him is repeated throughout the movie: "he who thinks he is bigger than the rest must go to the cemetery. there he will see what life really is: a handful of dirt." this phrase is sung in a flamenco song in a club in seville at one point in his journey.