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Published: July 19th 2006
Looking up
This is the ceiling of La Capilla Real. We visited it during a field trip in art history. Oh my, this is a long one …
Happy birthday, mom!
I don’t have classes in the afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays so those are usually good times for me to go off exploring the city on my own. Last Tuesday (sept. 6th) I decided to go for a haircut. I asked my very hip Phonetics & Pronunciation teacher, Nerea, where she just got her haircut—“Pelo Alternetivo”. When I arrived I tried to explain as best I could what I wanted in Spanish. Sure it was hard to explain what I wanted but they were patient with me. Still, I was given a mullet. My hair ended up being shorter than I wanted it because I had her shorten the back. Then, she had to bleach some parts of my hair because I wanted purple and red scattered in my hair. What you see depends on the light and what I’m wearing—I very much like it.
It is 4 pm in states, 23:00 here. The bars are open ‘til 4 AM and the clubs don’t open ‘til 2 AM. There is a ridiculous amount of American music that plays in the stores, bars, and clubs here. The other
day Mercedes and I were watching there Spanish version of American Idol and half the songs that the people were singing were in English. She said that in the previous years the winners always the people who sang American produced songs in English. Then, someone was singing that Nancy Sinatra song “These Boots were Made for Walkin’” and she started to sing along. I asked her if she understood what she was singing and after she told me she did not I explained. Mercedes was very entertained.
I have a cold. Mercedes says it is because the change of weather. I woke up on Tuesday and Granada was rainy. Apparently it had been raining all night and I just hadn’t heard (maybe it’s because I have to sleep with earplugs …). They’ve been having issues here with drought, which is the exact opposite of what has been going on in northern Spain- flooding. Anyway, since that rainy day it has been a little cooler—it is quite nice. Before that we had not one cloudy/rainy day.
Speaking of weather- I still can’t believe what happened in New Orleans. Can you all keep my Great Aunt Mary and her family
Jesus and gold
Some "Barroco" art in the Cathedral. in your hearts? They live in New Orleans and my mom can’t get in contact with them. She’s posted info on the
RedCross website. During dinner, there is more footage of New Orleans than all the other news of Spain combined. The images are definitely very different. I doubt newscasters are showing such gory images of dead people in the states ...
On a lighter note- Bridget and I are leaving for Barcelona Thursday morning and we aren't returning until Sunday night. We didn't have much fun figuring out transportation and setting up 2 hostels all in Spanish but now I get to put together our agenda since I’ve been there, with suggestions of course. We decided to fly because it is only about 30 more Euros and 21 hours less time (total) than taking trains. We managed to get rooms in two seemingly nice hostels- one in Barcelona and the other in Sitges (for a night).
I’ve been “lusting” for a pair of hot boots but I’ve decided to wait to shop in Barcelona. Don’t get me wrong
the front
More arte de Barroco above the altar … Granada has tons of great shoes … I pass most of them twice a day as I head to and from school. It is torturous.
Mercedes made me Spanish grilled cheese for dinner. : ) I tried to get her to play chess with me but after much confusion I finally understood that her chess set (crystal- I guess) is meant only to look pretty- not to be touched. So, I bought a chess set. We have an appointment to play, really I THINK I have to teach her, later this week. I’ve been teaching the Bridge how to play- she’s going to start kicking my butt soon!
OH MY—I’m sitting at my desk right now and the people in the balcony across from me have an owl! It has a cord around its legs- que triste! The owner is just standing there smoking and his owl is looking around. Mercedes isn’t surprised. I guess owls are common pets here?
It will be legal to drink alcoholic beverages outside here only until January when the new law comes into affect. Last night (Friday) a small group of us hung out in Einstein Square and then headed
B and saint
Bridget posing along side a saint out to a chupiteria (shot bar). It was a really cool experience- nice and cheep. It was 3 euros for 10 shots and 5 for 20. I think we figured out that 5 of us split 49 shots and a HUGE mixed drink. No worries, some of them had flavors and the banana ones had whipped cream in them. Afterwards we headed to a club called Zoo at 3 AM. It was 8 euros and included a drink. We were like “dang!” about the price but we ended up going in anyway … and of course it was EMPTY. So we got stamped and went to the bar next door and waited until 4 AM to go back to Zoo. Once we went back there were actually a lot of people … and it was bumping … with techno. Eek! We forgot that Europeans like techno.
Ramzie has been showing me how to dance “like you’re on E.” Really, he dances way to hot for me to be near him. At least when I return to Urbana I will be old enough to ENTER bars and clubs. Occasionally an American song would come on mixed with techno and of
course we sang. It was very comforting to even have cheesy songs like “Pump pump that jam” playing … like a part of our 90’s childhoods (sorry if I’m making you feel old …) in the states had decided to visit us for the night. We also got free shots from one of the bartenders because we let her use the bathroom before us. She was very nice and asked us where we were all from. She also said that Ramzie and I have faces like gypsies, which we do. I actually have been getting that a lot since I‘ve been here. Mercedes said the same thing just after saying that there is racism here against gypsies. Great!
Side note on the gypsy thing: Ramzie was telling me how he has noticed people looking at him differently. Honestly, I have felt the exact same way but I've been dismissing it as I thought maybe it was just me being oversensitive (me? oversensitive- no!). We began talking and it was interesting that we both thought that people were looking at us as if they were expecting us to be selling something, loitering, or as he said “…to not be wearing
st. john?
I think this is John with his head cut off? name brand clothes.” In a way though I think it works to my advantage. After all, then I don’t look like an USAmerican student, because of course all USAmericans are white (in class story), and then people assume that I actually speak fluent Spanish.
I didn’t end up getting home until almost 6 (early for Spaniards), and yes safely. We walk home using the buddy system here. And yes, being out ‘til 6 did help my cold.
B brought me oranges : )
I have a 10-15 minute presentation to give on Wednesday. I think I’m going to compare and contrast the governments of USA and España. I’m planning on going on a long run afterwards. Maybe I’ll play my new castañuelas (the hand instruments that bailaores- Flamenco dancers- click) while I run. The 5 of us in Flamenco went with Ana, our dance teacher, to buy castañuelas on Wednesday. They are good instruments to reflect to because you sink into a rhythm.
That owl is looking at me.
On my way to and from school everyday I pass many naked women and gay men. Not only are there stacks of porn magazines that say
Monument
The actual monument part of the Cathedral. Look-- Catholic Kings! “Barely Legal” and “Hot Gay Men” at the revista stands I pass on the way to school, but there are also breasts on commercials for lotion and what corner doesn’t have a pair of teenagers necking? A group of us were discussing the pda deal here and we figured that a part of it is not only could they care less about being seen but also the teenagers and 20-25 year olds that live here have no other place to be frisky. In culture class, we learned that most Spaniards live with their parents until after they get their first “real” jobs after college and in their mid to late 20’s. So, it makes sense that a 24 year-old womyn doesn’t want to bring her skinny boyfriend wearing man-pries back home when she still lives with religious mom and pop. I haven’t done enough of my own reading and reflecting to know what my stance on porn is but as long as they are going to have it I feel that just putting it out there, not hidden nor bound by thick plastic, next to the newspapers and magazines makes more sense. It being out in the open and readily
Monument 2
Where they actually are ... underground available, I feel, makes people want it less.
Enough of my babble and time for a midnight (00:00) orange snack!
Te Amo, Besos y Abrazos,
Alex (pronounced ‘ah-lae’)
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emily
non-member comment
hot
hey, your hair looks really cute, I like it a lot. The colors work really well =) Wow you definately have been keeping busy and doing some partying, I cant wait til you get back and you can get into bars....cstreet...i dont really go to any other bar =) Miss ya lots emily