Tempe Town Lake 10.19.08

Florence

FLORENCE, Italy

I just figured out how possible it is to fall in love with a place. Its just as easy as falling in love with a person. 

Florence (and Pisa) was my first view of Italy. I can't believe I didn't know about them before. Italy has to be the greatest country on earth. 

I wish I was studying Italian. 

But still, no worries. Because I will be back. and soon. 

Madrid

Top Ten Socially Unacceptable Things in Spain that I do Every Day

10. Wear Sunglasses (I guess nobody like to protect their eyes here, or their skin, or their lungs....)

9. Wear Sneakers (it is only socially acceptable here to be seen outside your house in boots, flats, or heels. Sneakers? not unless they are really cute...)

8. Wear hats (not only are they unacceptable in class, but I have yet to see one person put one on to shade their face or as a fashion statement)

7. Not Smoking (yeah, I guess I'm weird like that. side note: according to my textbook, the Spaniards invented the cigarette! Explains a few things then...)

6. Wear headbands (Spaniards just like to wear a lot of scarves, I guess)

5. I like Peanut Butter (probably 3/4 of the Spaniards don't even know what peanut butter is. And they make a disgusting face when you tell them. Makes me sad for them.)

4. I like to Run (every time a Spanish man sees a girl runner he will shout or say something to you as you run by. Women give you looks that make you want to buy the nearest pair of boots with heels, and people generally just stare. And now I find myself doing the same to other runners, even though I am one. It's just that those people who like to exercise -outside mind you!- are crazy!)

3. I like to be warm (central heating? Spaniards never heard of it....at least in the south...)

2. I like to eat three meals a day (not a piece of toast for breakfast, then wait until 4 p.m. to gorge myself on huge slabs of meat, rice, vegetables, and salad, then do it again but cut in half five hours later for dinner)

1. I smile (a lot. Spaniards, well, not so much. When I first got here I wondered why people stared at me. I looked Spanish right? And its not like I was trying to speak Spanish to them, which makes them laugh. It’s because I would walk down the street smiling. Oh well, maybe it will catch on ☺

Barcelona

I was expecting something different. A few cool statues, a few open plazas, some crazy people, some good nightlife. Instead, I got something completely different. I got an architect. I wasn't looking for one, just like I wasn't looking for an artist when I found Goya, or looking for a major when I found journalism. But, in Barcelona, I found an architect and his name is Antoni Gaudi. 

The first day in Barcelona we went to the Sagrada Familia, one of Gaudi's last and greatest works, which is still under construction. The entire church is meant to resemble nature. The beams in the inside remind one of trees and the ceiling is reminiscent of a canopy in a forest. I've always had this thing for nature (consider the fact that I want to be a river guide when I grow up. No not grow up- graduate I guess. Well, actually I guess just as soon as possible...) and seeing that people can actually use nature to inspire themselves like this....Well, it was just absolutely breathtaking. We have all seen the painting of nature, and the drawings. We've seen the movies, the television shows. But have you ever seen a building that was intended to replicate nature? It should be done in 50 years. That means I will be 70 when the Sagrada Familia is done. Can't wait to come back and see it. 

Semana Santa

The little boy next to me says "gracias" every time one of the people in the procession hand him a candy. When I get one too, a few minutes later, I smile real big and follow his example. I have been sitting in this same seat for an hour and a half, reading. I was headed to the beach around 7, but there were chairs all along the streets, so why not sit here I thought? An hour and a half later I am watching a mighty religious procession that coincides with the end of lent and easter, I think. This week is Semana Santa and everyday there is a grand procession just like this ( or two or three just like this) in every city in Spain. This is not a parade, like the many I have seen on the streets of Alicante. It is a somber, religious procession, complete with large, statutes being carried through the streets by the spaniards. Its a nice night for being out too. Spaniards know how to do it all- party it up and settle down to business. You can bet there will be some parties going on tonight after the procession is over. It is Spain, after all.

Slideshow

Nena Espanoles

Nena Espanoles: Spanish Darlings

 

I find that the most interesting people to watch in a foreign country are the children. Here in Spain they can sometimes be hard to find, due to the low birth rate of Spanish women, which is in turn due to the fact that Spanish women like to wait until at least 30 to marry, cherishing their independence and careers much more than American women. The children of Spain are, to put it nicely, undisciplined. To put it more harshly, if a child is screaming at the top of their lungs or getting into trouble, you will rarely find the Spanish parent that will try to get their child to stop. Most of this is due to the fact that many Spaniards have only one child, and those children are precious to these natives in a country that is quickly being filled with fresh faced immigrants. Children are coveted, and therefore allowed to do entirely whatever they want, while their mother looks on and sometimes asks if they are hungry.

 

Don't get me wrong- the kids I've met here aren't all bad. In fact, most are quite charming, invoking me to ask for their pictures or watch them as they play in their playground plazas. The little boys here love soccer and while the little girls enjoy the occasional kick of a ball, more often they are found huddled together in little groups playing games. Watching the doors of a school fly open when the bell rings and seeing the kids stream out, sometimes all in matching jumpsuits, with parents screaming "ven aqui nina!" makes me laugh and cringe as I try not to push too hard through the crowd on my way home.

 

Older boys like to roam the streets in packs, some with skateboards, most walking or on bikes. They ride down to the beach to practice back flips and front flips off any structure they can find, while passerby stop and stare. I wonder what would happen if one of those boys happened to land the wrong way on the ground. I don't think many Spaniards around me were thinking the same thing. Probably more along the lines of "ah, Dios Mio, what children! Ah bah! They should be inside eating!"

 

Once, on a day trip to Valencia, my group came upon the largest plaza I have seen so far in Spain. Probably less than a quarter square mile, the plaza was filled with cafes, a fountain of a giant man on his side glancing lazily towards the center of the square, and churro carts. The middle of the plaza was filled with literally hundred of pigeons. Fifty people were be gathered there also, grandmas with little girls, boys with skateboards, and us, the American tourist group. The Spaniards held out food to the pigeons and gladly let them sit on their hands, shoulders, and head, goading the pigeons closer and closer so their kids could touch them or so one might land on a child's sleeve. One little girl gave me the best picture I have taken so far in Spain. While her grandma held out a white pigeon to her, she lifted her hands in shock to her face, her mouth open in delight, her perfectly matching outfit only enhancing her cuteness.

 

The rest of the square was filled with more kids, dressed impeccably for a Saturday out, playing with the pigeons, chasing pigeons, trying to grab them, hold them, take them home. Spanish kids really live the good life. Their moms are just as concerned with their child's clothes as they are with their own, they feed them as much food as is possible to stuff inside them, and they insist on the kids living with them until they are at least 30. As one of my professors told me the day she was moving out "My mom asked me if maybe I should wait a few more years to move out. You are still just a child, she told me. I was 28."

 

Another time, as my friend and I were walking randomly through the tiny side streets near the Castillo Santa Barbara, we happened upon two little girls jumping from stairs and daring the other to see how many stairs they could take at once. The girls, dressed in matching outfits and looking exactly alike, looked at us in surprise and when we asked to take their picture, stood next to each other and vaguely smiled, then ran off after a voice that compelled them to come in to eat their lunch.

 

I have even seen a 3-year-old child out past midnight, one night in the barrio in Alicante. Children here don't eat their dinner until 10, so they do not sleep until long after. Spanish parents find it very acceptable to take your child to tapas or to the local bar. And these kids take it all in stride, finding good times under tables or running around outside the bar.

 

Listening to the Spanish children talk has also helped me with my own Spanish. And although they might just be saying (as one small boy did for about five minutes), "pedo, pedo, pedo (fart, fart, fart)", at least I have learned some useful things from these Spanish kids, who eat blood sausage for lunch, play on the beach all afternoon, and get to take siestas their whole lives, not just until they turn five.

 

 

Nena Espanoles

Lisboa, Portugal

I will admit that I don't know any of the names of the places I saw in Portugal. There were some castles, some statues, some palaces, some people. The names are not important. The pictures are.

 What I learned- the ins and outs of travel, getting around in a foreign country, public transportation and planning- are also important. The people who were not there who I wished were. I wish my brother would have been on top of that Moorish castle with me. I would have liked to see how he would take that all in. I wish my mom could have been at the multi-colored palace, seen those tiles and those vibrants. I wish my dad was there every minute, because, for me, it is most important that he see these places, and experience these feelings, look back on his pictures and actually remember how it didn't look like the picture at all. That he know he saw it, and no picture could come close to capturing the intensity of the place. 

Una Martes muy Ocupado

Today is Tuesday, March 3, 2008

Can you believe it is already March? Hostia, the time here is going so fast! Today was a crazy day. I went to school for the obligatory four hours, had a few laughs, a few naps, learned a few new things. Immediately after, Kat and I went to the Train station to buy tickets for Semana Santa (spring break) to Madrid, Toledo, and Barcelona. (Remember my spring break is three weeks long). After waiting about 40 minutes we finally were able to use our broken spanish (Kat and I together make a pretty good spanish speak- I talk to the spaniard, she listens to the response, tells me what they said, then I talk again. It works out nicely). Tickets purchased about 15 minutes later. By this time it was around 2:30. We whipped ourselves home for lunch, and I was out the door again by 3:45 and we caught the 34 bus to the university for the second time today. I had to visit our program director to ask a few questions, and then at five we had another intercambio (language exchange), with David. We talked to him for about two hours, then caught the 34 bus again to Plaza de Toros and home. But wait, the day wasn't over yet. By the time we got home, 7:50, we had ten minutes to get to our second intercambio of the day (!!) with Maybel. We talked with Maybel for two hours in a "teteria"- a tea house that was really cool, and right around the corner from my piso. I got home at 10 pm, right in time for dinner, and now here I am, ready to sleep finally. I think today was the busiest day I have yet had in Alicante. Yeah, life is pretty good over here.

On Thursday I am going to Lisboa, Portugal. Expect pics and posts!

Wish you were here!

Hasta luego
Kara

London Video

Granada Video