Week Four
We went over the 20th century in Spain to finish our quick overview of Spanish history on Friday. I never realized how much violence and political and social change has occurred in the last 80 years in Spain. There was a liberal government in the 1930s, a civil war started in 1936, the country was fascist until 1975, then it quickly became a modern and normal country and was ruled by a socialist party for 16 years. We’ve learned that several streets in Sevilla are named after policy makers or military leaders under Franco. That’s all that is left of that era around here. The streets around my neighborhood are all Virgen del ____. The sevillanos joke that it’s a confusing area to find anything because dozens of streets are Virgen something or other. My street is Virgen del Monte and it is intersected by Virgen del África, Virgen de Aguas Santas and Virgen de la Consolación.
Friday’s headline of the sevillano nespaper Que! was “Necisito ir al baño. Estado de emergencia!” (I need to go to the bathroom. State of emergency!) in huge font, referring to George Bush being caught passing along a note asking to use the bathroom during a meeting. We all thought it was hilarious and couldn’t believe that this was the biggest news story of the day in Spain.
On Friday night we went to Plaza de Cuba to drink some wine and then to the bar, El Desván. The cool bartender we’ve gotten to know there, Jose Luis, had some new tricks this time. He would hold three tall glasses in one hand and flip ice cubes into the air with his other hand. The ice cube would land wedged in between the three glasses, then he would pinch the glasses together, the ice cube would bob up and down in between the glasses and then shoot up into the air and he would catch it in one of the glasses. Then he pours wine and soda from several feet above the glasses, rotating just the glasses.
On Saturday I went grocery shopping with some friends. Someone who lives nearby had the apartment all to herself this weekend, the mother and daughter she lives with went to the beach. We ate grilled cheese, bruschetta, pancakes, cookies, yogurt and watched movies.
My family changed my room around on Saturday while I was gone. They moved the closet and bookshelf and replaced the bunk bed with a nice big bed. The bunk bed was too short for me and was really squeaky. The new bed is wide but still too short. I do like the room a lot more now.
Later that night i met up with a friend and then went to a discoteca to meet Jesús and Amancio. We had to walk around a lot to find the place. It was the first time that I've gone out with them, we ran into some americans that we know there and left at 4 am when the place was starting to get really busy. The line to get in when we left was huge, we still can't believe how late people stay out.
On Sunday I went for a really long run, I got a little lost and went further than I intended. Betis played in town, 0-0 was the score. Real Madrid lost to Espanyol, a really bad team, they have been a big disappointment this season. I watched Gladiator on tv. All of my classmates see the same shows and movies on tv so its always a topic of conversation the next day in class. The Spanish love Gladiator because Russell Crowe's character came from a small Roman town, Murcia I think, that is in western Spain. It's everyone's favorite movie here, they see him as a Spanish hero standing up against an evil empire.
On Monday we started to work on our final project in class, a group written script. I went to a meeting for some student org. Martha called me from her house, it was nice to talk to her. The parents insist that I visit and stay at their house.
I really want it to rain at least a little bit. We learned the spanish saying, "está lloviendo a cánteros." Its the equivalent of "its raining cats and dogs," it literally means "its raining buckets." It probably won't ever rain buckets though. Another common expression that people use here for something useless is: "es como un paraguas en Sevilla," which means "its like an umbrella in Sevilla," in other words, its completely useless. I guess you could say that the saying, "está lloviendo a cánteros" is as useless as a paraguas en Sevilla.
I played basketball for over an hour on Tuesday night, then played some volleyball, both with a mix of americans and spaniards. It was really fun, this time everyone was really good. I got a blister on the bottom of my foot, the same thing happened two weeks ago while playing basketball but I was able to run ok. We’ve learned a lot about Semana Santa and the Feria de Abril the last two days in class, saw slides and listened to music. Most of the students in my class will not be here for either, unfortunately.
I got my passport back today. It was sent somewhere along with my application for a student residency card. All I got back was a letter with a stamp on it. I have to wait several months for everything to go through and the card mailed to me.
Friday’s headline of the sevillano nespaper Que! was “Necisito ir al baño. Estado de emergencia!” (I need to go to the bathroom. State of emergency!) in huge font, referring to George Bush being caught passing along a note asking to use the bathroom during a meeting. We all thought it was hilarious and couldn’t believe that this was the biggest news story of the day in Spain.
On Friday night we went to Plaza de Cuba to drink some wine and then to the bar, El Desván. The cool bartender we’ve gotten to know there, Jose Luis, had some new tricks this time. He would hold three tall glasses in one hand and flip ice cubes into the air with his other hand. The ice cube would land wedged in between the three glasses, then he would pinch the glasses together, the ice cube would bob up and down in between the glasses and then shoot up into the air and he would catch it in one of the glasses. Then he pours wine and soda from several feet above the glasses, rotating just the glasses.
On Saturday I went grocery shopping with some friends. Someone who lives nearby had the apartment all to herself this weekend, the mother and daughter she lives with went to the beach. We ate grilled cheese, bruschetta, pancakes, cookies, yogurt and watched movies.
My family changed my room around on Saturday while I was gone. They moved the closet and bookshelf and replaced the bunk bed with a nice big bed. The bunk bed was too short for me and was really squeaky. The new bed is wide but still too short. I do like the room a lot more now.
Later that night i met up with a friend and then went to a discoteca to meet Jesús and Amancio. We had to walk around a lot to find the place. It was the first time that I've gone out with them, we ran into some americans that we know there and left at 4 am when the place was starting to get really busy. The line to get in when we left was huge, we still can't believe how late people stay out.
On Sunday I went for a really long run, I got a little lost and went further than I intended. Betis played in town, 0-0 was the score. Real Madrid lost to Espanyol, a really bad team, they have been a big disappointment this season. I watched Gladiator on tv. All of my classmates see the same shows and movies on tv so its always a topic of conversation the next day in class. The Spanish love Gladiator because Russell Crowe's character came from a small Roman town, Murcia I think, that is in western Spain. It's everyone's favorite movie here, they see him as a Spanish hero standing up against an evil empire.
On Monday we started to work on our final project in class, a group written script. I went to a meeting for some student org. Martha called me from her house, it was nice to talk to her. The parents insist that I visit and stay at their house.
I really want it to rain at least a little bit. We learned the spanish saying, "está lloviendo a cánteros." Its the equivalent of "its raining cats and dogs," it literally means "its raining buckets." It probably won't ever rain buckets though. Another common expression that people use here for something useless is: "es como un paraguas en Sevilla," which means "its like an umbrella in Sevilla," in other words, its completely useless. I guess you could say that the saying, "está lloviendo a cánteros" is as useless as a paraguas en Sevilla.
I played basketball for over an hour on Tuesday night, then played some volleyball, both with a mix of americans and spaniards. It was really fun, this time everyone was really good. I got a blister on the bottom of my foot, the same thing happened two weeks ago while playing basketball but I was able to run ok. We’ve learned a lot about Semana Santa and the Feria de Abril the last two days in class, saw slides and listened to music. Most of the students in my class will not be here for either, unfortunately.
I got my passport back today. It was sent somewhere along with my application for a student residency card. All I got back was a letter with a stamp on it. I have to wait several months for everything to go through and the card mailed to me.
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8:52 AM
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