I've been putting off writing this blog post. It's not because I don't want to write it, nor is it because I don't have anything to say. Rather, I can find no central theme without being trite and cliche. I could regale you with a chronology of everything I have done so far, but few beyond my mother and grandmother would be interested in that. And yet, I would prefer to avoid being sucked into making some trivial comparison about differences in the style of life between Americans and Spaniards. It seems then, that the best option is to create a post of semi-interesting anecdotes of my time so far in Spain.
Television: First of all, it's on ALL the time... okay, I'm not used to that, but maybe that's because my family's weird in that we have only one television and it's in the basement. It's a lot easier for me to understand the commercials (anuncios here in Spain) than it is the actual television. And the first one that made an impression on me was a Chevrolet commercial featuring members of La Selección (The Spanish national football team). How a bankrupt American company is managing to hire Fernando Torres and Xavi Hernández to make anuncios in Spain, I'll never know.
I saw this anuncio en El Cinco (Channel 5), which is more or less a station of entirely American television shows and movies dubbed over in Spanish. The first thing I saw was "Hombres en Negro" (Men in Black). Other things have more interesting translations. For example, a show that I got fascinated in just before leaving was NCIS. Here it's just called NAVY. One of my colleagues here said she watched CSI with her host mom.
La Playa: That's the beach for those of you lacking Spanish vocabulary. Talk about nice. It takes me longer to walk down the five flights of stairs than it takes me to walk from the apartment building to the Mediterranean. Both are close to a minute, although I'm pretty sure that if I were in a hurry I could make it to the water in under a minute. Useful in case I eat something extra spicy or am on fire.
The beach right across from my apartment is a little rocky. It's really quite a hassle to walk another minute away from the center of the city to get to a sandy beach... When I first went to the rocky beach, I thought that it must have been high tide, because the water was coming all the way to the rocks. As it turns out however, the entrance to the Mediterranean via the straight of Gibraltar is too small to allow for much tidal fluctuation in the Mediterranean. Who knew? The only tidal fluctuations, more or less are from east to west within the Mediterranean, making them barely noticeable.
Food: My host mother confessed to being something of a health nut. She's very keen on the Mediterranean diet, and told me she doesn't cook with any butter or vegetable oil. It's all olive oil. Additionally, dessert is almost always fruit. Last night, I had what would be called junk food for the first time. A tiny prepackaged portion of chocolate mousse. For the most part, however, the food has been filling enough that I haven't felt the need for dessert.
Much of the time my host mom makes one thing for me and something else for her. Today at lunch, for instance she made me a pasta with ham and cheese. She, however, had the traditional dish calamares en su tinta. That's squid in its ink. Needless to say, I wasn't distraught over not being served that business. I'll have plenty of time to try it. And of course, the television and is always on at mealtimes. Last night, my mother served me dinner in the living room and was watching the tele in a different room. When she didn't hear the television in the living room, she came in, turned it on, told me I could watch whatever I wanted to, and left. I thought this a little odd at first, but the same occurrence happened when her son came in a bit later, so I didn't take it personally.
Weather: Today is the first day it hasn't cracked 30 - that's 86 for those of you using Fahrenheit. It's typically quite hot on the fifth floor here, and my room doesn't face the sea, so I have to hope that the wind blows all the way through the apartment. Today the breeze is a bit stronger as well, so despite the fact that it's still 28, it's ten times more comfortable. Of course, I still haven't seen a cloud. How's the weather in Pennsylvania these days - haha!
Today is the day of the Virgin Victoria - the patron saint of Málaga or some business like that. I know that it's a holiday only in Málaga today. We're headed out to some procession in a bit where they carry the Virgin Victoria through the streets. Should be interesting. Tomorrow and Thursday we have classes in the afternoon. And after two days of classes I'm sure I'll be absolutely exhausted, so it's a good thing those of us not taking the Spain and the EU elective have Fridays off (until classes start at the Universidad de Málaga).
I'd love to hear any particular questions you have; please direct them to blooma@dickinson.edu or my facebook account. Hasta luego...
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