Blogs from Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 27

There was a time, not too long ago, when people did not have access to or use the communication technology that we today could not (seemingly) possibly live without. Before the breakthrough of the World Wide Web, mobile telephony, SMS, instant messaging, email, digital cameras, Ipods, DVD, or what have you…That was the case for the class of 1996/1997 in Malaga, Spain. Using the Internet basically meant calling the main campus - obviously in Spanish - to make a reservation to use a computer with a insanely slow dial-up connection. Useful for finding information, useless for communicating - nobody had an email address anyway… Few people owned mobile telephones. Making phone calls to the homeland was indeed possible, but the roaming charges were astronomical….Even fewer people owned landphones, and those who did were restricted to incoming ... read more

Amazingly I had to be talked into going to see Laura. Ms. Pausini was to perform at Plaza del Toros - the bullfight arena - in Malaga. Two blocks from my apartment. At completely affordable ticket prices. And the cute girl had to nag on me to come...Finally we're there, moving around, forward, towards decent seats. The arena is not packed, but yet far from empty. The concert turns out to be something else. I don't recognize many of the songs, but with a voice not at all inferior to that of Celine Dion, the little Italian girl rocks. Big time. On top of that, it's her daddy's birthday. She brings him up on stage, and to use a cliché - the crowd goes wild: "Torero, torero, torero". Not sure he's really a bull-fighter, but in ... read more

Had the time of my life in Malaga, Spain. Not so much because of the city, but because of the people. We didn’t have much contact with the outside world, so the news that spread concerned each other. True or false, news was spreading with the speed of light. Picked up by all. Contested by few. Towards the end of the first semester, a couple of rather shy Swedish girls come up to me at a party, ask me a strange question: “Have you ever been in a movie?”. “Eh, no, what makes you think that?”. “Well, somebody said so”. The closest I ever came to television was being in a frame for a split second in the crowd at a soccer game. The girls didn’t push it, so I let it go. Until a few ... read more

Driving a car in southern Europe is indeed an experience in itself, although not recommended the non-aggressive, nervous, or fainthearted driver. The law of the jungle prevails. Demolition derby is a more suitable description than anything related to civilized traffic. Parking the car follows roughly the same principles. Squeeze your car into any spot where it appears fairly out of the way for the surrounding traffic. A dent or two comes with the territory. On those terms the profession of “aparcacoches” was born. “Aparcacoches” (roughly translated “car parkers”) have nothing in common with valet parkers. “Aparcachoces” are not exactly unionized employees, bums rather homeless bums in desperate need of money. But their creativity must be admired. A profession created out of the modern traffic problems. Appears to be a territorial work, where every bum has his ... read more