Everybody´s working for the weekend...

Yesterday was my first day at my volunteer position. I am going to be working with autistic kids once a week for three hours. It is kind of difficult because I´ve barely worked with children in English, I like the viejos personally, but I don´t have the language skills here to work with senior citizens. Also, I have no special education experience. However, the words are simple enough, direct, concrete actions, and there is also a sign language component. I just worry about making a mistake and messing up someone´s shakra you know? Pablo is my favorite. He´s two years old and so cute, like a little monkey, and ironically the word for monkey and cute in Spanish is the same - mono.

I´m really loving the Conchster. She´s got all of the answers to life´s problems. We danced the baile sevillano last night and rocked out to some Kelly Clarkson while Danielle was packing for Milan. I have no one to harrass in the room now that she is gone until Monday morning. Eeks. Last night also involved one of the most bizarre adventures in Sevilla yet involving Janelle´s missing (but now found) cell phone, a man on a bike, an Internet café, and some questionable websites. When I see you in person next, remind me to tell you. I cannot convey the insantiy of the event here.

Today we had the day off, joy no classes - they are starting to become a real downer. This morning Juan, my intercambio and I went to the Catedral and the Giralda with the most awesome views of Sevilla (there is an unspoken agreement not to build anything in the center of the city higher than the Giralda - so everything was clear). Pictures soon to follow. Juan and I were also talking about the situation here with ETA, which is a nationalist group in the Basque Country that started out under Franco as an independence movement but has morphed into a terrorist operation. Tomorrow in Madird there is going to be a huge protest over the release of De Juana, an ETA leader who killed 25. He was released after a supposed four month hunger strike and allowed to go home, which has caused outrage all across the country. The right wing party here, Partido Popular, has organized a massive demonstration. Zapatero, the president and the leader of the Partido Socialista Obrera de España (PSOE) has had to defend his decision. Also Sunday is the three year anniversary of 11-March, the train bombings in Madrid, which PP (Partido Popular), the party that was in power at the time, blamed on ETA. This mistake cost them the election. Anyway, point is that he´s going tomorrow to the protests, as are a lot of people. Conchi almost went herself. ETA and De Juana have been dominating the headlines lately.

We were talking in my class about the parlimentary election system here in Spain and I can´t imagine having to accept the entire party ticket, meaning when you vote, you vote for a party, and not an individual. I just think it lacks a sense of personal responsibility, although if one were to look at the U.S. and the current jockeying for the presidential race over a year in advance, one could see the merits of the system here. And speaking of U.S. politics, I really resent sometimes having to represent my country all the time. Whatever I do, wherever I go, I´m an ambassador. And it´s tiring because sometimes I hate asking for things in a restaurant, even if I´m getting crappy service, because then I´ll just be that American.

Juan and I were also talking about what we do on the weekends in the U.S. This was a question that stumped me. Outside of going out at night, most weekends we do homework, someone has to film a project, Newswatch, radio committments, etc etc. Here, the university doesn´t even offer many classes on Friday so people can go home for the weekend and enjoy themselves. In this spirit, I´m yanking myself off the computer and taking leave of you until Monday. Hasta luego.

Un Viento Fuerte

I finally caved today and bought a new hairdryer. Our other one broke. Which just goes to show you that you should always buy the more expensive product first because the cheaper one is sure to break.

Ironically, today it has been very, very windy. This is the curse of Spain. I finally have a good hair day and it's windy.

Also, the Conchster (that's what Danielle and I have been calling her, obvi not to her face) has a cleaning lady. Now I don't feel so bad about the rearrangement of my toiletries into a perfectly organized row.

I bought a red trenchcoat, it's slamming. However, it' s been leaving red on my clothes. This is a problem.

The Run-down

Again, another post full of misc. information that is not enough for one post.

1. I'm really glad people in Europe drink Fanta. I always got worried during the movie previews about who actually bought Fanta, because I know of no one in the States who drinks it on a regular basis. And perosnally, Fanta de limon is one of the best things about Europe.

2. I managed to secure one of the five bottles of conditioner in Spain. Just like no one here in Spain trips, no one gets knots in their hair.

3. I have been able to witness some household phenomenons that normally I am at school when they occur. First, the arrival of the groceries. I like how they just deliver it right into your kitchen. Secondly, the arrival and subsequent issues with Conchi's new mueble, a new entertainment set. Very spiffy. Third, the other night I was looking for tin foil and came across the stockpile of food. Relating back to the first point in this bullet, I guess Conchi's grocery order is the same thing every week. There was like three cows' worth of milk and I'm not even kidding - six to seven bottles of ketchup. When in your life you would need this much ketchup, I don't know, but I can rest assured that Conchi has it. Just in case there is a shortage or something.

4. I went to the beach this weekend and got some color on my face. Meanwhile, people on the boardwalk were still walking around in winter clothes.

5. Saturday night had to have been one of the worst nights here in Sevilla, but I think I finally realized that no matter hard I try I will not be accepted here. First, I was called ugly. Then, my Spanish abilities were insulted (two separate people here, both boys around my age). And yes, I know that I'll always have an American accent and my pronunciation isn't where it should be. But I try very hard everyday and that just kind of blows you know. Meanwhile, the guy who told us our Spanish sucked only learned certain phrases in English so he could pick up girls. And his English was horrible, and should he ever go to an English speaking country they'll clearly know he is not a native. After these events, I feel like I'm at the point where I just don't care anymore if my Spanish blows or not. And I think that's where I need to be to get the most out of this experience.

6. The tuna pizza made a reappearence last night. I did not die of a toxic tuna overdose. I think there was less tuna in there this time.

7. I have not missed my friends yet as much as I have missed them this weekend.

8. Blogger takes forever to load here, impeding the updating process, because I have no patience.

9. I'm going to buy a bike for this summer/next semester. Everyone should think about this, take their time, and think of some really good joke about me on the bike. I know this is perfect material for you all. Get back to me.

10. I wish I had brought over some DVDs. Danielle and I were talking about Good Will Hunting last night and I could have really gone for watching the movie. Speaking of TV, the other day I finally found the remotes (Conchi hides them, I'm not even kidding, we can never find them) and she came home and it looked like I was going to get my head cut off for watching the Disney channel. Mighty Joe Young had never looked so appealing, my friends.

Fuentes

The picture at the left is one of the many to be added to our¨fuente¨album. Janelle and I are collecting images of the best fountains Spain and western Europe have to offer. In the background is the front of the Universidad de Sevilla.

Triunfo

As an addendum to the earlier post, yesterday I was at the ATM and out of the corner of my eye I saw a Spanish woman trip, but not fall.

One smal victory for the good ol´U.S. of A.

Barcelona

Any time one can spend two unadulterated days with a one Janelle Mackereth it´s bound to be a good time. If you can do it once in your life, I highly recommend it. Thus said, Janelle and I, quite the little world travellers that we are, managed a weekend by ourselves in Barcelona.

Barcelona is quite the capital of fashion and all things cosmopolitan and I think I would have enjoyed it more if was not for the crappy hostel accomodations. I am not going to get into the details because I know there are those who read this that are just itching to give me a good lecture on the values of personal safety blah blah. Let´s pause for a moment and give them their five minutes....

Moving along, Barcelona was great. We packed so much into two days, so much so that by the time we got to Park Guell on Saturday afternoon it was all we could do to stumble into the closet approximation to a deli for what turned out to be one of the best tuna sandwiches of my life. Friday was the Picasso Museum, the Christopher Columbus monument, basilica (where they were excavating a skull when we were there!! And true to form I tripped down the stairs)waterfront, Las Ramblas, Drew (my friend from Ithaca), Olympic Park, Oveja Negra (for some kicking sangria). Saturday was a little bit less organized as we walked right past the Pedrera and somehow wound up instead at the Sagrada Familia. But we went to the top, which all I could think of was my dad and all of those times I bailed on rides at amusement parks. Dad, if you´re reading this, all I could hear was your voice in my head, even on the precarious descent on the spiraly staircase of death (one of the Italian ladies in front of us was practically in tears). It was worth it, quite the view of Barcelona.

Upon returning to Sevilla, I was a little disconcerted to find Conchi not at home, and when I woke up she still wasn´t home, which caused some serious consternation on my part. Turns out she was just at her daughter´s house. Conchi and Danielle got quite the laugh out of my hostel experience. I´m glad I could finally get across some humor in Spanish, even if it was a really horrible experience. Janelle and I were talking about how it´s hard for anyone here, especially the Spanish speakers, to truly know us. Sometimes humor and personality quirks don´t really translate well, you know? I think the only case where this could be a problem is the intercambios. Everyone wants to make a good impression, but it´s hard enough in English.

In other news, tomorrow night I´m going to see some flamenco. Also, as a side note, if anyone is interested, the Center has a webcam and every Monday and Wednesday at 4:30 Spain time (10:30am NY time) you can watch via the link of the right. It must be pretty comical to watch.

My headphones are slowly dying, I have to make my way to the Corte Ingles for a new pair. Currently I´m only getting sound out of one ear but who knows how much longer that will last.

And I think we finally finalized all of our travel plans...Granada in two weeks, Italy for part of Semana Santa, Lagos (Portugal) somewhere in there, Morrocco, London, Paris, Geneva. Seven countries in total. Phew.

I´m hoping to start incorporating some pictures into the blog, plain text is so 2006.

Ups and Downs

So it's been a while since I've updated. Life here has kind of taken over, as it should. I always feel badly when people ask me what kind of time I'm having in Spain, because depending on the day and the uncontrollable factors that affect my life, like rain, it could change. I had a rough day this week, especially with managing the composition part of my classes. It's very frustrating to go from having absolute command of a language to writing on basically a fourth grade level (I always look up harder words and use them, but you should have seen the look on my professor's face when he was reading it. I guess I didn't pick the right word...). Other days it's great here, and I can't believe I'm here. Like yesterday. Even though I think my beloved headphones for my trusty iPod finally gave (I'm only getting sound out of one ear) and I burnt my toast at breakfast (I'm seriously addicted to bread it's all we eat here - at every meal, more bread, and at breakfast, we get to have chocolate milk and strawberry marmelade, which is the sweetest part of the day, literally and figuratively) it still wound up positive - I went out with my intercambio and he took me for a tour of the city and I might have possibly landed a dream internship for the summer in DC, working at a news radio station.

Ok, recognized that I need a paragraph break to break up the text. I have been having some trouble sleeping, and I've also had some crazy dreams. Who knows what this means. Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention that I'm in a dance class here! We're learning the four types of baile sevillano. It's really hard to coordinate the arms and the legs, it's much more expressive than ballroom dancing. But seriously, where's creepy Joe when you need him?

Sociologically, there are a lot of differences here. For example, most kids live with their parents until they get married, which is now later than it was 30 years ago. So it's not uncommon, actually it's perfectly normal, for a 30+ year old to still live at home. There are less divorces, than the US, although the people who want a divorce are the men, so they can remarry. Most people just separate if they no longer wish to be married. Abortion here is legal, and the state pays for it if you meet certain criteria. And my professor said that it is commonly accepted, more or less, not like the current debate in the US.

Also, Spain has the second longest life span in the world, behind Japan. People here eat better, walk more, and there is so much less stress! Janelle and I wonder how things ever get done. Quite frankly, I don't think they care. Rush hour is at 10am, everyone goes home for lunch and a nap, and stores and businesses reopen at 5pm until about 9pm.

I could go on and on with some boring statistics, I'm taking a sociology class and most days it's ok (although I have three solid hours of class with the same professor and it's torture). In other news, Janelle and I are going to Barcelona this weekend where we are hoping to run into my friend Drew from Ithaca. We also might possibly be getting a visit from a one Kevin Kirner next week, so will be fun. Otherwise, I will continue eating bread and taking siestas.