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Published: August 12th 2008
Ian here,
Well, so far no bulls but plenty of spanish and aw so sweet to the ears it is! It is so nice hearing a language I can speak. I feel fluent now that I can understand pretty much everything that is said to me. I never realized how comforting it was to be able to understand what is going on around you.
Ok well, for me Barcelona was summed up by two events. 1. 3 guys walking past us while we sat at a cafe and 2 were dressed slightly normal why the other was walking happily around in cut off leather shorts where I swear I could see some sackage hangin and his shirt said, "my boyfriend went to London and all he bought me was this stupid shirt". Second event, later I saw sitting at the same cafe a boy of 13 walking with his mother aunt and grandmother
wearing a shirt that said, "smile if your horny" wow good times. so yes europe is a completely different culture because this sites werent all that rare, not rare enough at least. These are my culture shock experiences but all they elicit from me is a laugh and a look towards kate to see if she notices.
But, the beaches in Barcelona were nice and the city was beautiful, the architecture by Gaudi was simply fantastic. Unfortunately we couldn't explore inside the two we wanted to cause it would cost over 80 american dollars do go into a couple of freaking houses. Student discount my ass. Yes, I am slightly bitter over price differences here because they charge more for things here even when you equate the dollars!
We took a speed train to Sevilla and that was awesome. For this train here the price is 200 euros a person. haha and we got it for 10 because this pass so after spain our entire eurail passes are paid off in just savings off of this country. They were bad ass trains with comfy reclining seats with movies to watch and dining carts. we were going at 330 km per hour was the highest i noticed. ill do the conversion later on my own so you will have to do it for yourself too. i think its close to 200 mph. anyways sevilla is an amazing city, the spanish architecture here is beautiful and reminds you of all the movies you see. They really embellish here and dont leave much to be done I can tell, they do it to impress I think. Right now I am looking at a Cathedral that was built in 1401, just to give you a hint at how old stuff is here. I dont think America was discovered yet by the europeans. that kind of stuff throws me through a loop. we had breakfast today at a joint that has been open since 1391. wow. i wonder sometimes if they just throw those numbers out there for better business cause that is lot of stuff to make it through, in America its an accomplishment for 50 years! lets alone 600.
So we are going to see a traditional flamenco dancing show tomorrow night and that should be fun. Life in Spain by the way does not start til about 11pm. Places are pretty much dead until then. Even starbucks is open til midnight or later, its interesting to see even the big companies change their ways to fit into the culture. I also found out a tapas isnt just a particular kind of food. All it is is a small dish of food and came be made of fruit, meat, crap, whatever as long as its a small portion! Maybe you all know that but I never knew otherwise. Oh and by the by BURRITOS are not a spanish food, so mexico you keep them coming, I miss you! Oh and beans too! Really the only thing similar is the language which gave me a jolt to find out and Im not sure why, it should have been obvious to me. Ok enough rambling peace out!
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La Vegetariana
Rachel Leigh
Tshirts
Hola, im also living in Spain...and can totally see where you´re coming from with the culture shock from the form of dress and crazy things on tshirts...i dont know how many times i have seen an over 60 year old wearing a tshirt saying sexy lady or hot mami and just wanted to crack up...