This is the single most important speech I´ve seen by a politician, let alone a freshman Senator, in the politically-aware section of my life. See also John Edwards´ announcement speech in New Orleans. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sBpBouaDXk)
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Eve-of-Exam Update
Tomorrow morning at 10 I´ll be taking the test to evaluate how well I´ve absorbed the classroom work of the past three weeks. That´s mildly nervewracking, but not extremely so. I feel fairly comfortable with the assortment of grammar and vocabulary lessons we´ve been doing. The only thing uncomfortable right now is the weather. It was genuinely cold for the first time this morning, and it´s not dissipating with the arrival of the sun this afternoon. The past few nights of news have been full of images from northern Spain, where about a half-meter of snow has fallen in the past two days. There was a funny special report last night in which a reporter snowshoed through a small mountain town with his cameraman to interview snowbound spaniards. I think that makes him the rough equivalent of the "journalists" on CNN & the Fox Noise Channel whose job it is to hold a microphone while being waterboarded, or tazed, or demonstrating a new crotch-kicking machine someone has invented.
Another uncomfortable, ongoing condition is my laptop envy. Not having my computer means I end up spending ages on various public machines, reading the news and blogs and posting here and checking email. I´ve been sitting on one of the four AIFS office machines for the better part of an hour, with people waiting for a free keyboard. More than that, I´m very reluctant to either upload pictures to the web or take music from other people on the trip for fear that I may lose files and not have any backup for them. Will the first person to visit me please bring me my Gateway? Some sort of lavish special prize for whoever can make it magically appear in my lap.
The upsides of not having it are easy to see as well-- the several free hours I have each day are rapidly becoming tiresome, and without free internet entrancement as an option I´m simply going to have to go out and meet real people. The prospect of intercambios with spaniards is enticing, but I still haven´t worked up the nerve to call anyone. That will be easier after the orientation classes have ended. Speaking of which....here´s a (very) rough itinerary (all of which subject to change) for my week-long break starting next Tuesday:
10am busride to Madrid, arriving ca. 3pm.
1 day/2 nights of straight awesome, Madrid style, including Prado, but otherwise devoid of sobriety.
Morning flight to Prague, where I´m staying in a hostel for 5 nights with Clare and a few other heads. Hopefully this includes Kafka museum, many a Cathedral, many a cheap liter of beer, and the purchase of a pair of warm gloves since I am drastically underprepared for the weather in the Czech Republic.
Flight back to Madrid on the sixth. Five hour busride back to G. Sleep. Classes.
I love europe.
Another uncomfortable, ongoing condition is my laptop envy. Not having my computer means I end up spending ages on various public machines, reading the news and blogs and posting here and checking email. I´ve been sitting on one of the four AIFS office machines for the better part of an hour, with people waiting for a free keyboard. More than that, I´m very reluctant to either upload pictures to the web or take music from other people on the trip for fear that I may lose files and not have any backup for them. Will the first person to visit me please bring me my Gateway? Some sort of lavish special prize for whoever can make it magically appear in my lap.
The upsides of not having it are easy to see as well-- the several free hours I have each day are rapidly becoming tiresome, and without free internet entrancement as an option I´m simply going to have to go out and meet real people. The prospect of intercambios with spaniards is enticing, but I still haven´t worked up the nerve to call anyone. That will be easier after the orientation classes have ended. Speaking of which....here´s a (very) rough itinerary (all of which subject to change) for my week-long break starting next Tuesday:
10am busride to Madrid, arriving ca. 3pm.
1 day/2 nights of straight awesome, Madrid style, including Prado, but otherwise devoid of sobriety.
Morning flight to Prague, where I´m staying in a hostel for 5 nights with Clare and a few other heads. Hopefully this includes Kafka museum, many a Cathedral, many a cheap liter of beer, and the purchase of a pair of warm gloves since I am drastically underprepared for the weather in the Czech Republic.
Flight back to Madrid on the sixth. Five hour busride back to G. Sleep. Classes.
I love europe.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
New World Water
you can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna/but it don´t rain a full week some summers/and its about to get real wild in the half/you´ll be buyin´ evian just to take a fuckin´ bath
--Mos Def, New World Water
Whenever I ask Sebi and Rafa about the drought, Sebi expresses concern and takes the opportunity to remind me to be extra conservative with my water usage, while Rafa just says "No se nota," nobody notices it. At the same time, there´ll be at least one or two stories on the news in any given day about the rivers and reservoirs around the country being at dangerously low levels. It hasn´t rained in any sustained amount in about a year, as I understand it. Our resident director tells us there´s currently enough water in reserve for about 6-8 months, and that when that time runs out without any significant rainfall the government will begin shutting off water lines at night, and possibly even rationing water to households. Nonetheless the streetsweepers are out every single morning making the city sparkle (or at least giving it a dull, streaky sheen). Pilar and Inma, two sweet, helpful spanish women who work at the AIFS office, blame this on the politicians. Given that the economy is almost entirely driven by tourism, though, it seems a legitimate policy concern. Inma also told us that the spanish are notorious litterers, a statement bourne out by the appearance of the streets at night, and the floor of any given bar by about 1 AM. The ski slopes outside of town are still making fake snow so they can stay in business. Another tourist concern, doubtless. It also seems to indicate something deeper in the culture, as though the Spanish would rather cut down on showers and tooth-brushing than let anything impede their enjoyment of life.
It´s easy to romanticize that attitude, especially in comparison with a work-first, work-second prevailing mindset in the US (born of life in a voracious capitalist economy). The tensions paint themselves: sorry I´m late vs. nobody does anything on time; 50 or 51 forty-hour weeks vs. a month of vacation for almost every employee; consumption of things vs. consumption of experiences. It´s not hard to paint a beautiful picture out of that, but the fact is the air in this city is as gross as in any american city I´ve seen, the news warns of increasingly fat and docile children growing up under an increasingly consumerist society revolving around yearly fashion trends and class identification based primarily on appearance. Maybe that´s just the nature of city life (which is just as new to me as Spain itself, and in many ways harder to get used to). Maybe that´s the nature of modernization and an increasingly global economy.
I´m sorry I can´t figure out how to post the whole song I quoted from at the top-- it´s terrific, and even though Spain is far from the third-world Mos is describing it seems strangely appropriate to the current water situation here. So basic a necessity becomes increasingly politicized and marketed as the world develops, under the assumption it will never be scarce. Spain will find out how that works over the next 8 months I guess.
--Mos Def, New World Water
Whenever I ask Sebi and Rafa about the drought, Sebi expresses concern and takes the opportunity to remind me to be extra conservative with my water usage, while Rafa just says "No se nota," nobody notices it. At the same time, there´ll be at least one or two stories on the news in any given day about the rivers and reservoirs around the country being at dangerously low levels. It hasn´t rained in any sustained amount in about a year, as I understand it. Our resident director tells us there´s currently enough water in reserve for about 6-8 months, and that when that time runs out without any significant rainfall the government will begin shutting off water lines at night, and possibly even rationing water to households. Nonetheless the streetsweepers are out every single morning making the city sparkle (or at least giving it a dull, streaky sheen). Pilar and Inma, two sweet, helpful spanish women who work at the AIFS office, blame this on the politicians. Given that the economy is almost entirely driven by tourism, though, it seems a legitimate policy concern. Inma also told us that the spanish are notorious litterers, a statement bourne out by the appearance of the streets at night, and the floor of any given bar by about 1 AM. The ski slopes outside of town are still making fake snow so they can stay in business. Another tourist concern, doubtless. It also seems to indicate something deeper in the culture, as though the Spanish would rather cut down on showers and tooth-brushing than let anything impede their enjoyment of life.
It´s easy to romanticize that attitude, especially in comparison with a work-first, work-second prevailing mindset in the US (born of life in a voracious capitalist economy). The tensions paint themselves: sorry I´m late vs. nobody does anything on time; 50 or 51 forty-hour weeks vs. a month of vacation for almost every employee; consumption of things vs. consumption of experiences. It´s not hard to paint a beautiful picture out of that, but the fact is the air in this city is as gross as in any american city I´ve seen, the news warns of increasingly fat and docile children growing up under an increasingly consumerist society revolving around yearly fashion trends and class identification based primarily on appearance. Maybe that´s just the nature of city life (which is just as new to me as Spain itself, and in many ways harder to get used to). Maybe that´s the nature of modernization and an increasingly global economy.
I´m sorry I can´t figure out how to post the whole song I quoted from at the top-- it´s terrific, and even though Spain is far from the third-world Mos is describing it seems strangely appropriate to the current water situation here. So basic a necessity becomes increasingly politicized and marketed as the world develops, under the assumption it will never be scarce. Spain will find out how that works over the next 8 months I guess.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
1 week over, 19 more to go...
It´s kind of hard to believe that it´s already been a week since we arrive in Granada. Time crawls like molasses over sandpaper. At the same time, it´ll probably all be over before sooner than I think.
Yesterday we went to the Alhambra and the Generalife, and spent about four hours strolling around the grounds, eating our lunches, taking pictures, etc. I simply cannot do the place justice with words; its an astonishing work of architecture and masonery. There´s a profound sense of history in the atmosphere that would be crushing if it weren´t cut by the trilling laughter of children, the squeak of stroller wheels, the whispers of lovers, the inaudible padding of feline feet throughout the extensive gardens. We walked up one of the steeper hills I´ve ever climbed for probably a few hundred meters to get to the entry gate to the garrison, where we met our tourguides. The group split into three tour, including one in Spanish, led by a woman named Estér. As she explains that the Alhambra was, in its day, an all-inclusive city, we roam around the main garrison area (which is free to all). There´s a huge bell in the main tower in this area, and in a once-yearly celebration women who wish to meet and marry a man touch the bell three times. There are also several of the most spectacular vistas I´ve ever enjoyed. From many points along the battlements there are astonishing views of particular sections of the city or mountains, and from the top of the belltower there is a breathtaking panorama of the city, the vega and the Sierra Nevada. If we hadn´t had another 3 hours of tourism ahead of us I think we all might have stayed here all day taking pictures.
Almost every room and hallway of the inner palaces of the Alhambra is decorated in ornate, handchiseled masonry. Arabic calligraphy winds around windows and fountains-- Estér tells us that the walls of the Alhambra speak, and if they did the name of Allah would constantly careen off stone and marble in a warm hum, propelling the crowds of tourists from room to room. She also takes time to observe a basic stylistic contrast between this and other palaces of old Europe. Where many castles built by Christian rulers display the skill of their craftsmen externally and are simplistic in their interiors, this Moorish world wonder is very simple from outside and shrouds its inhabitants in beauty. Alhambra means the Red Palace. What appears huge and plain in the daytime acquires a vague scarlet glow at night, as though the sheer splendor of the interior has too much energy in it, is the product of too much sweat and death to be contained by the thick tapia brick of the castle walls. Or maybe its just that they throw a few thousand watts of light on it from the outside that reflects the faintly red pigments of the iron that laces the local stone. Either way, its stunning.
More on this when I can post pictures. For now I´m going to try to get into a soccer game. The local team is in the Segundo Division B, which is essentially the third-tier of spanish soccer. Basically I´m going to go see Granada´s equivalent of the New Haven Ravens, except this will probably be way more fun than a minor league ballgame because people actually give a shit in the stands. Then I have to find a place to watch the Pats-Chargers game. And then I have to haul myself out of bed and go to class tomorrow. Great....
Yesterday we went to the Alhambra and the Generalife, and spent about four hours strolling around the grounds, eating our lunches, taking pictures, etc. I simply cannot do the place justice with words; its an astonishing work of architecture and masonery. There´s a profound sense of history in the atmosphere that would be crushing if it weren´t cut by the trilling laughter of children, the squeak of stroller wheels, the whispers of lovers, the inaudible padding of feline feet throughout the extensive gardens. We walked up one of the steeper hills I´ve ever climbed for probably a few hundred meters to get to the entry gate to the garrison, where we met our tourguides. The group split into three tour, including one in Spanish, led by a woman named Estér. As she explains that the Alhambra was, in its day, an all-inclusive city, we roam around the main garrison area (which is free to all). There´s a huge bell in the main tower in this area, and in a once-yearly celebration women who wish to meet and marry a man touch the bell three times. There are also several of the most spectacular vistas I´ve ever enjoyed. From many points along the battlements there are astonishing views of particular sections of the city or mountains, and from the top of the belltower there is a breathtaking panorama of the city, the vega and the Sierra Nevada. If we hadn´t had another 3 hours of tourism ahead of us I think we all might have stayed here all day taking pictures.
Almost every room and hallway of the inner palaces of the Alhambra is decorated in ornate, handchiseled masonry. Arabic calligraphy winds around windows and fountains-- Estér tells us that the walls of the Alhambra speak, and if they did the name of Allah would constantly careen off stone and marble in a warm hum, propelling the crowds of tourists from room to room. She also takes time to observe a basic stylistic contrast between this and other palaces of old Europe. Where many castles built by Christian rulers display the skill of their craftsmen externally and are simplistic in their interiors, this Moorish world wonder is very simple from outside and shrouds its inhabitants in beauty. Alhambra means the Red Palace. What appears huge and plain in the daytime acquires a vague scarlet glow at night, as though the sheer splendor of the interior has too much energy in it, is the product of too much sweat and death to be contained by the thick tapia brick of the castle walls. Or maybe its just that they throw a few thousand watts of light on it from the outside that reflects the faintly red pigments of the iron that laces the local stone. Either way, its stunning.
More on this when I can post pictures. For now I´m going to try to get into a soccer game. The local team is in the Segundo Division B, which is essentially the third-tier of spanish soccer. Basically I´m going to go see Granada´s equivalent of the New Haven Ravens, except this will probably be way more fun than a minor league ballgame because people actually give a shit in the stands. Then I have to find a place to watch the Pats-Chargers game. And then I have to haul myself out of bed and go to class tomorrow. Great....
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Fried
Believe it or not the hardest adjustment thusfar is sleep. Yesterday, despite not taking a siesta of any kind, getting up at 8am, walking around for MUCH of the day, and drinking myself to a happy hum before midnight, I still got a shitty night´s sleep. I was out almost as soon as I hit the pillow, which was a first (and a product of alcohol most likely), but I awoke suddenly at about 4am. Thinking it was just that I had to hit the head, I did that (marble floors are freezing at four in the morning, even while wearing socks). Jumped back in bed, closed my eyes, and waited for...for....for hours. It was as though my brain had misfired and decided it was time to get up. All sorts of things whizzing through my head: phrases, faces, street names, things to do tomorrow, things to do this weekend, things to do before I leave.... Frankly that doesn´t make any sense, even considering jetlag (my body should have thought it was about 10pm on the previous day, a perfectly rational time for sleep). Maybe that´s a weird product of culture shock? Whatever it is, it´s got to stop-- insomnia is not what I need right now.
But anyway I eventually got another hour or so of sleep before getting up to shower. The shower is perfectly decent-- tub fills up with water gradually, and the entire bathroom becomes a sauna, but none of that bothers me. I have to get Sebi to show me the proper usage of the showerhead, if it exists. Still and all, it´s a perfectly functional house plumbing-wise, which I gather from friends is not necessarily to be expected in a homestay.
Shower. Dry myself. Quick-change act as I realize I´m behind schedule. Munch down the tostada and hot chocolate Sebi´s put on the table for me. Throw on shoes. Throw things in backpack. Forget to brush teeth. Gross. March out the door with Bart (who´s also got class a las ocho y media) and we start speed-walking up to the CLM for class. Ended up being about 7 minutes late, so not horrible considering that I had made us late.
Did I not yet mention my placement? They´ve put me in Avanzado B, which is the higher portion of the advanced section-- think of it as 6 on a 1-8 scale, with 8 being bilingual and 7 being essentially fluent. I´m worried, as I predicted in my last post, that that´s an overestimation of my abilities, but what the hell, right? I´m not about to duck it...if they think I can do it, then goddamnit I can. Plus there´s some chance that I can totally wail on this course and get moved up to SuperiorA, which would allow me to take classes in the Universidad itself. Probably that would be a bad thing on net, because it would be far too demanding, but it´d be the most interesting too.
So basically the way the classes work is there are two separate two-hour blocks separated by a 20 minute break. Each block is taught by a different teacher, and it seems like there won´t be a great deal of stylistic difference between them. Real work starts tomorrow-- today was a lot of rompiendo el hielo, and simple conversation, Q&A about the city &c. Apparently in Granada, unlike most of Spain, tapas are free with drinks...something of which I will avail myself today. The class time seemed to go by very quickly, and after some initial hesitancy from everyone (there are about 11 of us creo), people were talking pretty freely for the last couple hours. There´s only one girl in my section that I find myself disliking deep in my gut (way below average). Her name is Meghan, and in trying to pin down why I dislike her I´m having a hardtime finding a good string of adjectives; instead, a quick anecdote. One of the icebreakers we did involved pairing people off and going through a list of questions, and then presenting the person we spoke with to the class. In the course of that, several people were identified as being completely mad about ´Love Actually,´ at which this girl scoffed heartily. Come to find out, her perfect man is her boyfriend, and she loves Gray´s Anatomy and Sex in the City-- I know, that doesn´t help, I still sound like a judgmental prick, but you could almost smell the hipocrisy in the air. The nose upturned to too-cute romance with a slight edge and a huge heart, and open arms for TV that is utter bullshit at the cerebral level. Wait why am I trying to justify this? Love your inner dickhead, Alan...
In conclusion, this has been my first post with a generally bitchy tone. Probably won´t be the last. Hopefully those to come will be funnier. I´m very, very tired.
But anyway I eventually got another hour or so of sleep before getting up to shower. The shower is perfectly decent-- tub fills up with water gradually, and the entire bathroom becomes a sauna, but none of that bothers me. I have to get Sebi to show me the proper usage of the showerhead, if it exists. Still and all, it´s a perfectly functional house plumbing-wise, which I gather from friends is not necessarily to be expected in a homestay.
Shower. Dry myself. Quick-change act as I realize I´m behind schedule. Munch down the tostada and hot chocolate Sebi´s put on the table for me. Throw on shoes. Throw things in backpack. Forget to brush teeth. Gross. March out the door with Bart (who´s also got class a las ocho y media) and we start speed-walking up to the CLM for class. Ended up being about 7 minutes late, so not horrible considering that I had made us late.
Did I not yet mention my placement? They´ve put me in Avanzado B, which is the higher portion of the advanced section-- think of it as 6 on a 1-8 scale, with 8 being bilingual and 7 being essentially fluent. I´m worried, as I predicted in my last post, that that´s an overestimation of my abilities, but what the hell, right? I´m not about to duck it...if they think I can do it, then goddamnit I can. Plus there´s some chance that I can totally wail on this course and get moved up to SuperiorA, which would allow me to take classes in the Universidad itself. Probably that would be a bad thing on net, because it would be far too demanding, but it´d be the most interesting too.
So basically the way the classes work is there are two separate two-hour blocks separated by a 20 minute break. Each block is taught by a different teacher, and it seems like there won´t be a great deal of stylistic difference between them. Real work starts tomorrow-- today was a lot of rompiendo el hielo, and simple conversation, Q&A about the city &c. Apparently in Granada, unlike most of Spain, tapas are free with drinks...something of which I will avail myself today. The class time seemed to go by very quickly, and after some initial hesitancy from everyone (there are about 11 of us creo), people were talking pretty freely for the last couple hours. There´s only one girl in my section that I find myself disliking deep in my gut (way below average). Her name is Meghan, and in trying to pin down why I dislike her I´m having a hardtime finding a good string of adjectives; instead, a quick anecdote. One of the icebreakers we did involved pairing people off and going through a list of questions, and then presenting the person we spoke with to the class. In the course of that, several people were identified as being completely mad about ´Love Actually,´ at which this girl scoffed heartily. Come to find out, her perfect man is her boyfriend, and she loves Gray´s Anatomy and Sex in the City-- I know, that doesn´t help, I still sound like a judgmental prick, but you could almost smell the hipocrisy in the air. The nose upturned to too-cute romance with a slight edge and a huge heart, and open arms for TV that is utter bullshit at the cerebral level. Wait why am I trying to justify this? Love your inner dickhead, Alan...
In conclusion, this has been my first post with a generally bitchy tone. Probably won´t be the last. Hopefully those to come will be funnier. I´m very, very tired.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Prueba
So I just took the placement exam, and it really wasn´t that bad. Of course, that is in itself maybe a bad thing-- they could pretty easily overestimate my capabilities. The last part of the exam is a brief conversation with one of the administrators, and I was peeking at the evaluation sheet while talking to him. I think they have me slotted into one of the advanced levels (probably the lower of the two). That makes me a bit nervous, because I don´t know if I´m really at that point with my speaking, even if I appear that way in a multiple choice evaluation. At the same time, I´m inclined to trust their methods of evaluation and placement, and I´d rather have classes that are a bit too demanding than ones that I can coast through.
Now I´m waiting for the handful of Americanos with whom I´ve struck up a friendship to finish the oral part of the evaluation and come downstairs. We´re going to go get cell phones together, so that we´ve all got the same company and it´s cheaper to get in touch with one another. That seems like a good idea to me, but I want to make sure I avoid hanging out with them too much. Having a Spaniard living in our house should make it easier to meet Granadiños, but who knows? He´s not from Granada, and I don´t know yet if he´s been studying here for a while. If he has, he can presumably introduce me to some people. I think it´d be great to have a regular group of Spanish friends, mostly just ´cause it´ll make it easier to learn street Spanish as well as classroom speaking.
I´ve got to say, having this ipod is terrific (bigups Pop). The battery life is impressive, and it has its own alarm settings and clock so I probably won´t bother to buy a wristwatch (the cell phone will have its own clock too, so the watch would be a waste of money). Anyway, right now I´m listening to a band called Los Delinquentes that my friend Jeanne introduced me to last year at school. She discovered them working in a bar in Granada her junior year, and they´re awesome. If I can figure out an easy way to post mp3s from my ipod through an internet cafe machine, I´ll start putting some of their stuff up. You won´t understand the lyrics, but neither do I half the time-- I´m hoping I will by the end. The problem with song lyrics in general is that I´m still thinking in English, so when I hear a line that makes sense I miss the next in processing the first. The key is to start thinking in Español; after that it´ll be a breeze.
We´ve got a walking tour starting pretty soon, and then some tiempo libre. Probably that will all be taken up with buying a movil, but if I´ve got a couple hours I´m going to check out the Garcia Lorca museum, which is the Parque de Garcia Lorca, which is very close to my apartamiento. There are pictures of the man everywhere, mostly the same, famous picture--he´s leaning back in a chair, pensive, pen in hand, wearing a suit, looking every bit as wistful as you´d expect from reading his poesia. I haven´t asked Sebi about him yet, but I´m guessing she´s a fan, as there´s a poster with that same picture above my bed. According to Paula (our resident director), Sebi is something of a cinephile as well, so I think we´ll get along just fine. I´m going to go track down mis Americanos. Hasta...
Now I´m waiting for the handful of Americanos with whom I´ve struck up a friendship to finish the oral part of the evaluation and come downstairs. We´re going to go get cell phones together, so that we´ve all got the same company and it´s cheaper to get in touch with one another. That seems like a good idea to me, but I want to make sure I avoid hanging out with them too much. Having a Spaniard living in our house should make it easier to meet Granadiños, but who knows? He´s not from Granada, and I don´t know yet if he´s been studying here for a while. If he has, he can presumably introduce me to some people. I think it´d be great to have a regular group of Spanish friends, mostly just ´cause it´ll make it easier to learn street Spanish as well as classroom speaking.
I´ve got to say, having this ipod is terrific (bigups Pop). The battery life is impressive, and it has its own alarm settings and clock so I probably won´t bother to buy a wristwatch (the cell phone will have its own clock too, so the watch would be a waste of money). Anyway, right now I´m listening to a band called Los Delinquentes that my friend Jeanne introduced me to last year at school. She discovered them working in a bar in Granada her junior year, and they´re awesome. If I can figure out an easy way to post mp3s from my ipod through an internet cafe machine, I´ll start putting some of their stuff up. You won´t understand the lyrics, but neither do I half the time-- I´m hoping I will by the end. The problem with song lyrics in general is that I´m still thinking in English, so when I hear a line that makes sense I miss the next in processing the first. The key is to start thinking in Español; after that it´ll be a breeze.
We´ve got a walking tour starting pretty soon, and then some tiempo libre. Probably that will all be taken up with buying a movil, but if I´ve got a couple hours I´m going to check out the Garcia Lorca museum, which is the Parque de Garcia Lorca, which is very close to my apartamiento. There are pictures of the man everywhere, mostly the same, famous picture--he´s leaning back in a chair, pensive, pen in hand, wearing a suit, looking every bit as wistful as you´d expect from reading his poesia. I haven´t asked Sebi about him yet, but I´m guessing she´s a fan, as there´s a poster with that same picture above my bed. According to Paula (our resident director), Sebi is something of a cinephile as well, so I think we´ll get along just fine. I´m going to go track down mis Americanos. Hasta...
Bienvenidos a Granada
We arrived in Granada yesterday, after a five-hour bus ride from Madrid. The first night in Madrid was a great deal of fun-- typical big group of Americans drinking heavily & barhopping. Met some people I like among the AIFS group (which is itself huge, about 80 kids). It is somewhat odd spending your first night in a new country in one of its largest cities, though. The group I was with covered a wide range of linguistic capability-- several people other than Clare had almost no Spanish.
I slept much of the busride, and when I was awake the countryside was beautiful. We passed through some smallish mountains that were gorgeous, and mostly the country looks like a greener version of Southern California. Apparently it hasn´t rained in southern Spain for about a year, at least not in any significant volume. As a result water is precious, and if the winter passes without any real rain they´ll have to start restricting the water supply at night. Should be interesting.
My señora is a fun, energetic little woman named Sebastiana (Sebi). She can´t be more than 4´10¨ and she scurries around constantly. She´s a perfect match to her perrita, who I think is named Jara. It´s a little terrier that wanders around the house and seems friendly enough, but she and I have yet to strike up a friendship. I´m living with three other students-- two from the AIFS program, and one Español. Eddie, my roommate, is a really nice guy from Boston who doesn´t have much Spanish. Bart is from Texas, and is basically between Eddie and I in terms of language. My Spanish feels pretty decent-- I understand much, much more than I can express, but I think that´s going to change quickly. Rafa, the Spanish guy, is from a town south of Cordoba, and that´s all I know so far. Seems nice enough, and understands that when you look at him blankly it means he should speak slower, not louder. Last night we ate dinner and then the four of us sat and watched a soccer recap show-- seven Spaniards sitting at a table talking all at once about highlights and scores and trades. Bewildering, and I can´t pretend to have understood most of it.
There are about a dozen people waiting to use a handful of computers, so I´m going to bring this to a close. More later-- After sleeping most of the day and evening yesterday, I´m excited to walk around and get a bit more familiar with the city today before dinner.
I slept much of the busride, and when I was awake the countryside was beautiful. We passed through some smallish mountains that were gorgeous, and mostly the country looks like a greener version of Southern California. Apparently it hasn´t rained in southern Spain for about a year, at least not in any significant volume. As a result water is precious, and if the winter passes without any real rain they´ll have to start restricting the water supply at night. Should be interesting.
My señora is a fun, energetic little woman named Sebastiana (Sebi). She can´t be more than 4´10¨ and she scurries around constantly. She´s a perfect match to her perrita, who I think is named Jara. It´s a little terrier that wanders around the house and seems friendly enough, but she and I have yet to strike up a friendship. I´m living with three other students-- two from the AIFS program, and one Español. Eddie, my roommate, is a really nice guy from Boston who doesn´t have much Spanish. Bart is from Texas, and is basically between Eddie and I in terms of language. My Spanish feels pretty decent-- I understand much, much more than I can express, but I think that´s going to change quickly. Rafa, the Spanish guy, is from a town south of Cordoba, and that´s all I know so far. Seems nice enough, and understands that when you look at him blankly it means he should speak slower, not louder. Last night we ate dinner and then the four of us sat and watched a soccer recap show-- seven Spaniards sitting at a table talking all at once about highlights and scores and trades. Bewildering, and I can´t pretend to have understood most of it.
There are about a dozen people waiting to use a handful of computers, so I´m going to bring this to a close. More later-- After sleeping most of the day and evening yesterday, I´m excited to walk around and get a bit more familiar with the city today before dinner.
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