Hasta la Próxima Vez

Well, I have one more full day in Catalunya left.  I just finished up my last two interviews today, for a grand total of 35 interviews…which is 15 more than I needed!  This trip has turned out to be a very successful one, both personally and professionally.  Personally, I was able to travel throughout a country that I love very much and explore new places that I didn’t get a chance to see the first time around.  Last year, I was over here and I needed to get out and see the rest of Europe, but I didn’t really see much of Catalonia.  Over the last 3 weeks, I was able to visit the capital of each of the 4 providences of Catalonia and some other really cool sights like Montseny (a large mountain range) and La Costa Brava (the beaches of Northern Catalonia).  Professionally, this trip has confirmed for me that I am pursuing the right career.  My research gives me the opportunity to travel, see new places and talk with locals about the things that matter most to them.  Travel + Meet new People + Being Paid to do it = my dream job.

However, before this trip I would it would be a perfect balance between work and play, but it actually turned out to be more work than I thought, though I’m not complaining at all.  It took a lot of time to coordinate all the interviews, seeing if all the people from the town could meet on the same day but at different times, getting to the places, and then finally doing the actual interview.  I would come back to my hostel at night pretty tired and if I had a day off of interviews I would only visit one or two things because I was just so beat.  And then while I was over here, I had to finish up editing my Fulbright application, so that (hopefully) I can come back to Spain next year and teach English for an academic year.  It doesn’t help too that I scheduled my return flight for the day before classes start; Wednesday I have class from 9:30-3:18…luckily my last professor is my thesis advisor, so hopefully he’ll understand if I pass out in the middle of his class, jajajaja.

And this is why I didn’t get a chance to write in my blog in as much detail as I did the last time around, and for that I’m sorry.  But of course, I will be more than willing to tell everyone about my trip if you just ask me about it ;)

So the plan for tomorrow is to wake up at around 10-11, do a goodbye tour of Barcelona (Parc Güell, Passeig de Gràcia, La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter), head back to the hostel to eat and then head off to the beach town of Sitges, about a 30 min train ride from Barcelona.  I went to this town last year and really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get a chance to visit the beach.  So, I’m going to relax and work on a nice tan (to show off to everybody that I went to a place where there’s lots of sun, haha) until the sun sets, at which time I will drink a mini-bottle of cava (Catalonia’s champagne), toasting to a fantastic trip.  Finally, I will find a decent restaurant to spend the rest of my money at, because God knows I need a decent meal (I’ve been living off of sandwiches, salads and pasta the entire trip).  Tomorrow will be a good day, hopefully a very relaxing last day of summer.  I could use one.

As with the last time I left Catalunya:

• I'll keep my blog open for students and those curious about Spanish and Catalan culture
• If I receive a grant to teach English in Spain next year, I will start writing again
• My photo albums of my trip, Catalunya '11, and Catalonian Nationalism (a carry-over from last time) are complete and ready to be viewed in their entirety :)
• Drinking from Canalets again so that I am  guaranteed to return to Barcelona

Until we see each other again, fins després Catalunya

The End (for now)

Well this is it.  It’s hard to say goodbye.

I’m leaving Barcelona tomorrow to head back the States.  This trip has been a blast and a real eye-opener; I’ve meet a lot of great people and seen a lot of cool places.  I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything in the world and I am thankful to all the people who have helped make this possible (mainly my parents, Michelle and all my Spanish teachers who inspired me/gave me the travel bug).

The best adjective to describe my current state is bittersweet.

As I'm trying not to be sad I will instead chose to reminisce.  Here are some of my top favorite things from my 4-month adventure (in no particular order):

1. Euskadi: What can I say, without the first two and a half weeks in the Basque Country I would have been very overwhealmed when I got to Barcelona.  Arantza and Maren are probably two of the coolest people I have ever meet in my entire life and I don’t know if they will ever realize how much they mean to me.
2. La Mercè: After this festival in Barcelona I really started to feel like I was at home.  It was the best weekend of my life as I got to see what it truly means to be Catalan. 
3. El Clásico: Seriously, this night was so much fun.  Got to watch a great game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid (by great I mean we sent los madrileños home in disgrace) and then I got to celebrate the victory with the rest of Barcelona at Canalets.  Oh yeah, and getting to see three Barça games in Camp Nou was pretty swell too ;)
4. Living in a host family: Whether it was fighting to get out of the apartment without that neurotic dog Terri knowing or talking with my host mom I absolutely loved living with a host family.  Rafeala cooked good food, helped us practice Spanish and she always got a kick out of it when I would sit down and watch her Catalan soap opera with her (don’t judge, I really wanted to learn Catalan!)  I also had the pleasure of meeting her mom as she stayed with us 2 out of the three months.  I couldn’t understand her half the time (Andalucian accents are really hard to understand) but she would always smile everytime I came in the room.  Her “he-he-he” laugh was absolutely adorable and she always affectionately referred to me as “chiquito.”
5. Metro: I absolutely loved taking the metro everyday, there was never a dull moment.  I got to play my favorite mental game everyday (guess where that tourist is from!), people watch and one day I was treated to the spectacle of watching kids fall over like human dominos.  However, my favorite part of the metro is the tone that would announce what station we were approaching (hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm, pròxima estació: Badal).  I’m not going to lie, my roommate and I love the metro tone so much that for the last month we would record it on his iPhone.  I have quite a good collection of metro stops now, and I’m thinking about turning them into ringtones.  Don’t judge me, I know I’m a nerd :)
6. Weekend trips: Seriously, I got to see so much while I was over here.  I was fortunate to visit Bilbao, Valencia, Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, Venice and Dublin in addition to going back to Madrid and Toledo.  I wish I could just drop everything and travel for the rest of my life but apparently I have “responsibilities” :(
7. Kiss Hello: In Spain it's common for men-women and women-women to great each other with two light kisses on the cheeks.  I wish we would do that in the States, it's so much more friendlier than a handshake.  Everyone does it too, even if there's a big group of 8 you go around and kiss everyone on the cheek (I saw this standing outside of Camp Nou and it was quite comical).  If anyone back home wants to do this when we greet each other just let me know :p
8. Barcelona: I got to live in the most beautiful city in the world and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me on that.  
9. Catalan language and culture: Seriously if you haven’t noticed I've really come to identify with the Catalan culture.  I got to experience some of their traditions, I learned about their history and, most importantly, I got to learn their language.  Although I can only string a simple sentence together in the present tense I’m going to continue studying Catalan on my own so that when I come back I speak it.  This entire time I never really thought I was in Spain; I was in Catalunya and I’m completely fine with that (in fact I wouldn't have had it any other way).

I’m not really sad though because I know that I will return to Catalunya, it’s just a matter of when.  As soon as I get home I’m going to be plotting my return to the country I love and I have a couple of things in the works that will allow my swift return.  But until that time comes it’s going to be painful for me to be away from my adopted country.  I can already see it now: me sitting in my room, listening to either Obrint Pas or Lluís Llach while starting at a map of Barcelona repeating the phrase “la meva terra és Catalunya” over and over.

Some last minute housekeeping things:

• By Thursday all of my photo albums will be completed and can be viewed in their entirety off on the sidebar 
• My youtube page is also fully updated with videos of La Mercè, FC Barcelona and some other random stuff.  Here’s the link or you can watch some of the videos off to the side 
• If you're looking to read about a specific topic (like advice for Spanish students, culture, Catalunya ect) you can take a look at the side bar to see the topics of this blog.
• I am going to leave this page up for two reasons.  1) A resource for students who are thinking about studying abroad.  2) When I come back to Spain/Catalunya I will start to blog again using this very same channel.

I hope you guys liked my blog.  I started it with one objective in mind: to give you a window into a different culture and hopefully in the process you learned something interesting.  It was a pleasure writing for you guys and I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did retelling my adventures.

Finally, if any of you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at seanmckinnon.80@gmail.com; I’ll be happy to answer any question about what it’s like to live abroad, what the Spanish/Catalan culture is like ect.  Fan mail is also appreciated ;)

I believe I covered everything so I will end with this: until we meet again Catalunya…adéu.

Advice for Studying Abroad in Spain

So, my time in Spain is up.  Many students came before me in Spain and plenty more will come after me.  Those of you who are choosing to study abroad are very wise, so allow me to impart a few words upon the wise...

1. Live with a host family and spend time with them: I know it may be tempting to spend every night out with your American friends getting your party on but remember, you can do this back in the States.  You’re in Spain, go emerge yourself in the local culture!  This includes, hanging out at home and talking with your host family.  Now I'm not saying that you should spend every living second with them but spend some time with them.  If you show them even just a little bit interest in them and their way of life they will open up a lot.  Seriously, I probably learned more talking to locals than I did in any of my classes.
2. Try to meet some locals: I know that you all probably want to do this but I’ll put it in here as a friendly reminder.  I answered a flyer to help two Catalans improve their English and it was an incredibly rewarding experience.  Not only did I get to talk and hang out with them but I also figured out what I would like to do after graduation: come back and teach English in Spain.  Now, this may not happen, but I’m going to try my hardest to make it come true.  Again as with the host families, your new local friends will help you improve your Spanish, teach you about their culture/ideas and show you the cool spots in the city. 
3. Learn some words in the local language (Català, Euskara or Gallego):  If you’re in Catalunya you don’t say “adiós” you say “adéu.” and in Euskadi (the Basque Country) it’s “agur.”  Little things like knowing how to say good morning/afternoon/night, thank you, please in the local language will go a long way.  Plus I enjoyed learning another language in addition to improving my Spanish and I’m sure you will too, after all that’s why you are continuing to study Spanish, right?
4. Try to be politically correct: This goes a long with #3.  What I mean by this is recognize that people in your autonomous region (namely Catalunya and Euskadi) might not consider themselves to be Spaniards but rather Catalonian or Basque.  They have a different customs and languages from the rest of Spain and you need to respect that.  So when you’re talking make sure you differentiate whether you’re talking about Spain as a whole (that is away from where you are) or your autonomous region.  Furthermore, it’s CASTELLANO not español.  I can’t stress this enough; you’re teachers will be understand if you call it español but to other people it has a very negative connotation.  Note of caution though, this may not apply if you’re in Andalucía, the two Castillas or Madrid.  As I didn’t spend much time there I really don’t know their attitudes about a pluralistic Spain so it would be best to just observe before you open your mouth.  
5. Don’t think about what you’re saying, just say it!:  Don’t worry about making errors with your verb tenses and don’t let it hold back your sentence fluidity.  9/10 they will know what you’re trying to say and it will make the conversation much more natural.  I found that if I tried to plan out what I was going to say it would always come out f-ed up but if I just spoke without giving it much thought it came out nearly perfect.  Furthermore it wasn’t until I stopped worrying about “oh am I becoming fluent?” that I actually started to improve.
6. Study food vocabulary: Half the time when my host mom asked me if I liked something I would turn to my roommate so that he would type the word into his iPhone Spanish dictionary app.  It probably helps too if you know a little bit about the local cuisine before you come over.
7. Travel Travel Travel!: For God’s sake, you’re in Europe!  You may only be here once (though I certainty hope not) so enjoy yourself and travel around the continent.  However I would recommend that you also travel within Spain.  Remember, Spain is composed of very diverse regions; it would be worth your time exploring them.  Your program probably has some excursions within Spain planned for you guys (we went to some places in Catalunya, Valencia, Madrid and Toledo), but if you got a free weekend go somewhere else in Spain.  I am so happy I got to spend 2 and a half weeks in Euskadi and they are some of my favorite moments from my trip.  
8. Save up a lot of money: Again, let’s be realistic.  Europe has a very high VAT everywhere (15-25%), you’re going to want to go to bars/clubs and you’re going to want to travel.  So put down that pair of designer jeans and instead put that money in the bank.  But even then the exchange rate will screw you, so just be prepared for how much this trip will cost.
9. Expect to get homesick at some point: Let’s be realistic, even though you’re going to fall in love with Spain you will eventually miss the people that made up your life back home, namely friends, family and pets.  This is natural, don’t let it get to you too bad.  Even though I’m really sad to be leaving Catalunya I really am anxious to see my family and friends again (and my dog!)
10. STUDY IN BARCELONA!: Hahaha, I can’t do anything if you’ve already chosen and paid for your program but if you haven’t decided what city you want to go to may I suggest Barcelona?  The city has everything your heart desires: stunning architecture, great food, beach, good weather, fabulous nightlife and above all, the Catalan culture. 
    
    
    Lost in Translation....

Sometimes, things don’t translate perfectly and problems ensue.  Here’s a short list of some things to avoid if you don’t want to have problems (these are probably the top three errors). If you do want to have problems, do the opposite :p

• Me gusta a ______: Since we were taught in high school that the construction “me gusta fill in the blank” means “I like _____” you would think that we can use this construction to describe how we like someone, you know as a friend/person/colleague/teacher/coach/ect.  No.  Do not use this.  It means that you like the person sexually.  The correct expression is “Me + forma de caer + bien/mal ____” (as in me caes bien (I like you) or Pablo me cae bien (I like Pablo)).  You can also use it to say how you don’t like someone, just swap out bien for mal.
• ¡Estoy caliente!: An English speaker will say this and think it means, “I’m hot.”  No, it means you’re horny.  If you’re in a club do not say this even if it is very hot or you will have a mob of young teenagers coming after you.  Instead, say “Tengo calor”
• ¡Estoy excitado!: Again, an English speaker thinks that this means, “I’m excited” like “I’m excited to see you!”  It’s true, it does mean you’re excited…sexually excited.  Please use “estoy emociado/a” to avoid potentially awkward situations with your host family.
• It’s not really going to cause problems but as a word of advice use “estoy cansado,” when talking about how you are physically tired (like after running 5 miles, ect.) and “tengo sueños” to say that you’re tired (as in you’re sleepy)

Whew, overwhelmed yet?  Don’t worry if you are, everything will be better once you get there and you’ll come to realize that you never want to go back home, that Spain has become your new home and where your heart will always stay.

If you have any questions about Spain, Catalunya, studying abroad feel free to e-mail me at seanmckinnon.80@gmail.com as I will be happy to help you out :)

General Update

Just a general update for all you dedicated readers out there.

Classes are still going ok.  My Spanish language class has really been helping me with the finer points of Spanish that prevent me from advancing to a high level (mostly picky little grammar stuff and some vocab).  I did really well on my Spanish politics take home exam, especially considering I wrote the whole thing the night before I left for London.  I’ve learned a lot in that class and I probably know as much about the Spanish political system as I do about our system (I’ll hold off my judgment as to which one I think is better).  As for my Barcelona history class I’m learning a lot about the history of Catalunya.  In my Spanish 3 class in high school we did talk a lot about the history of Spain, but it mainly focused on the history of Castilian Spain and not the history of the crown of Argon-Catalunya.  So basically I’m getting a different perspective of Spain as a whole, from the eyes of Catalunya, which I find really interesting.  Again, it definitely reiterates that Catalunya is not Spain…

Speaking of which, Catalan has actually turned out to be my least favorite class.  I love the language and I hope to be fluent in it some day but this class has been somewhat of a disappointment.  The teacher isn’t the greatest and she really doesn’t conduct the best learning environment.  However, I think between learning it on my own and getting help from my host mom I’ll have a solid foundation to continue on with my studies when I get back to the States (there’s a good website for teach yourself Catalan, sponsored by the Generalitat, the Catalonian gov’t).

Now, although I absolutely love Barcelona I’ve been battling a spell of homesickness this past week.  This is of course normal and to be expected but I think there are two reasons for this sudden spell:

1. 3 months: Thursday (the 18^th) was my three-month anniversary of being in Spain.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Barcelona and I would love to live here for the rest of my life but you eventually come to miss the people that made up your life back in the States; this is the longest I’ve ever been away from them.  Although I talk to my family over skype and my friends over facebook it still isn’t the same as talking to them face to face.  I miss my dog, I miss my pow-wows with Kristen, I miss lunches with Aunt Jean, I miss all my friends from Maumee 18/Fallen Timbers 14/Band, I miss joking around with Erica in A-band and above all I miss bantering with my sister.  I knew I would eventually come to miss all these things but I didn’t know that it would hit me that hard.
2. Holidays: This week starts the holiday season.  While you all have Thanksgiving this week it's just an ordinary week for me.  Although I despise turkey (cold turkey being the worst offender) I wouldn’t mind having a big Thanksgiving feast with my family right now.

Whew, I’m glad that I got that out of the way.  So what do I have planned for my last month in Barcelona so that I can go out with a bang? Well…

•  El Clásico: The football game between FC Barcelona and their bitter rivals, Real Madrid.  The game is next Monday and let's just say that it's WAY more intense than the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry (and this is coming from an OSU student).
•  Barça game: I tickets for the FCB v. Real Sociedad game on December 12^th.  It’ll be my third and last Barça game so it should be a lot of fun.
• Ireland: I’m taking my last weekend trip to the Emerald Isle during the first weekend of December.  I’m really excited because I’ve heard nothing but great things about Ireland although I am going when it’s probably going to be very cold.  I’m going to spend 2 days in Dublin and one day in Cork, which is near the Blarney Castle.
• Cataloging the city: This week, I’m going to be going around the city and take a million pictures, like I was a tourist.  This is so that when I feel nostalgic I can open iPhoto and go through all my pictures and so that I can show you guys how beautiful Barcelona is.  This is why I’m holding off on posting my “Neighborhoods of Barcelona” post b/c I think it would be much better with pictures, right?

As far as blog posts here's what you have to look forward to for the next month

• Another Spanish slang post
• El Clásico
• Ireland trip
• Advice for students coming over to Spain (pay attention Brooke!)
• Thoughts about what I'm going to miss about Catalunya/Spain/Europe
• My favorite memories, stories from my trip
• Probably one about Reverse Culture shock when I get back to the States (I already know I'm going to have it, there's no doubt in my mind)

Pretty ambitious eh?  

2

Huegla General

Yesterday in Spain there was a huelga general, a general strike.  The strike was organized as a protest against the Socialist Prime Minister’s, Zapatero, Labor Reform which cut the cost of firing a worker (only 33 days of severance for every year worked as opposed to 45 days), decreased public investment plans and reduced civil servant wages (by 5%).  Zapatero claims that these measure will help bring down the budget deficit and unemployment (which is currently at around 20%), however many people over here believe that Zapatero is punishing the workers for the mistakes that the banks made, while the banks got millions of Euros in bailouts.

The strike came to my front door as I was woken up at about 9:30 by all the noise.  I live 2 blocks away from Carrer de Sants, a main street in Barcelona and it was one of the routes they chose to march.  I can only imagine how many people were marching down that street on the way to Plaça d’Espanya.  Even though my culture classes were cancelled I was still suppose to have my language class at 11 (but I wasn’t planning to go), but then I checked the e-mail my teacher and ISA sent me saying that picketers were blocking the entrance to school.  Oh joy.

As I didn’t want to be in the thicket of things, I stayed home and watched the coverage from the news.  What I saw really astounded me.  There were protests all over the country in all the major cities and a lot of them turned violent, especially the ones in Barcelona (however, the violence wasn't caused by the strikers, it was caused by an anti-establishment fraction).  As far as what I saw on the news, there was news footage of them setting the street garbage bins and cop cars on fire.  Protestors also threw rocks at SWAT like police cars.  Some people harassed storeowners who decided to stay open for the day.  Other protestors stopped cars on their way to Barcelona to “inform” them of their right to strike and to get them to do so.  In Madrid, there were literally guards with riot gear posted at the entrance of a Corte Inglés (the national department store).

I also noticed that a lot of people were carrying Catalonian independence flags during the protests.  I think some people here were using the strike as an excuse to get rowdy with the police and try to “advance” the cause of Catalonian independence.  I asked my Spanish teacher about this and she said that basically anytime there is a national protest some Catalonians take to the street to demand independence for Catalunya. 

Here are some pictures of the strike, courtesy of El País (the national newspaper)  The first three are from Barcelona, the last one is from Madrd:

The labor unions over here are claiming that it was a successful strike.  About 70% of the country didn’t go to work and electricity usage was down about 17% for the day.  However, a lot of people stayed home for two big reasons:

a)     Public transportation:  The services were extremely limited.  In Barcelona, the metro was only open between 6-9 and then again from 5-8 and even then service was very limited.  I walked around a little bit too (at around lunch time, hey even the protesters gotta eat right?) and I didn’t see a single bus in operation.

b)     Safety:  Why would you go to work if you knew that you would encounter angry protesters?  Hell, even if I did have class yesterday I wouldn’t have walked to school, I didn’t want to get caught up in the drama.  My host mom decided to stay home too for the exact same reason.

So the big take home message here is that not everyone in Spain was on strike.  A lot of them wanted to go to work but they were unable to. Another big take home message: not all protesters were violent.  Of course, the violent actions are the most extreme and therefore they make the news. 

Do not think for a second that the entire country wanted to or participated in this strike. 

P.S.  Rhetorical question: Did the people who organized the strike go on strike and if so, from what?  Organizing the strike?

Mom, I've Fallen in Love....

It’s official; I’ve fallen in love with Catalunya.

Saturday was another day of sightseeing.  We went to La Boquería, which is basically a giant market off of Las Ramblas with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, candy, spices, nuts and pretty much any other thing you could possibly think about eating.  I didn’t take pictures this time because it was really crowded with locals and tourists taking pictures, lol.  I’m going to go back later this week and hopefully it’s not as packed.

After a little descanso, we headed out again to tour some of Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces.  We first went to Sagrada Familia, the massive and elaborate church designed by Gaudí.  It is truly incredible.  One of the façades is of the Nativity and the other one is of the Passion.  The Passion wasn’t actually designed by Gaudí because he didn’t leave any plans of how to complete the church, so other architects are designing the rest of it, channeling Gaudí spirit as they go along.  Of course, it decided to rain when I was there so I didn’t take any pictures, grrr.  One interesting note:  construction on the church began in 1882 and will not be completed until at least 2026.

Parc Güell was the next stop.  We took the metro and had to climb up a huge hill to get to the park and it felt like I was in San Francisco.  We went back to all the really cool parts and ventured around the park a little bit more.  Off the beaten path there is a hill with 3 big stone crosses and apparently this is the hangout spot of the young pot smokers of Barcelona.  There was this guy in leopard pants/shirt playing his guitar and shaking his hips like he was Elvis and then there was a group of teens just rolling up a joint.  Um, maybe this is why it’s off the beaten path…

Today, we went to Montserrat (Catalan for “jagged mountain”).  It’s a giant mountain about an hour away from Barcelona by train.  To get up to the mountain you can either ride on a cable car at a 45° angle or you can take the train.  Naturally, we opted for the cable car and we made the right decision, being suspended over the side of the mountain is a pretty cool experience. 

Once we got off the cable car station we ventured into town.  There’s a famous monastery there along with a museum, but we chose to take a hike and climb the mountain to its summit, Sant Jeroni.  The hike up there was extremely tiring (about a 2 hour hike uphill), but we were rewarded at the very top with a spectacular view.  At the summit there was a viewing platform that had crystal clear 360° view of the mountain and the rest of Catalunya.  Seriously, it was perhaps the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life and I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it was.  So, I suggest you look at my pictures, here, and let me know if you see faces in the rocks too.

This is why I love Catalunya, it truly has everything you could possibly want.  Want to go to the beach?   Go to Costa Brava and Sitges.  Want to explore nature?  Well then go to Montserrat.  Want to uncover what it was like to live in Roman times?  Hop on a train and go to Tarragona.  Modern art lover?  Head on over to Figueres to see Dalí’s museum.  Gaudí admirer?  Walk through Barcelona.  Seriously, there is so much to do in Catalunya that you will never be bored.  There is truly something here for everyone and I would highly highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Europe.  If you’re planning a trip to Paris, make sure you cross the border and spend a week down here.  Trust me, it’ll be worth your wild.

Don’t believe me?  Then check out my pictures from Montserrat, Gaudí’s Barcelona and pictures of Catalonian Nationalism off in the side bar or by clicking the links.  I will be updating Gaudí’s Barcelona later this week after I take pictures of Sagrada Familia and I will be updating the Catalonian Nationalism over the next three months.

On a side note, my comprehension of Catalan is actually improving.  My host mom was speaking Catalan to her granddaughter on Saturday and I was able to catch a lot of what she was saying.  It’s actually a really cool sounding language and I can’t wait to start my Catalan class next Monday!

Madrid, Toledo and BARCELONA

Well, I made it to Barcelona all in one piece!  On Saturday, I left Arantza’s apartment at 7:45 (it was sad to say bye to them) and rolled my luggage though the noisy Getxo sidewalks to go to the metro station.  Even though it was a Saturday morning, I thought that all the drunks wouldn’t be on my train, because I was heading towards the city (all the drunks should be heading away from the city towards the suburbs).  But alas, as the metro pulled up I saw that it was packed full of drunk people; I forgot that there was a festival in Plentzia and now everyone is heading back home.  Luckily I managed to spot out the car that was the least packed and found a spot to put all my luggage.  The bus ride wasn’t too bad and I also found out that the movie “Twlight” sucks as much in Spanish as in English.  I arrived at the bus station in Madrid and took a taxi to the hotel.

The tours of Madrid and Toledo were great.  I got placed into the Spanish-speaking group, so all our tours of la Reina Sofía, El Prado, and Toledo were all conducted in Spanish.  On the first night there I did something that I regretted not doing the last time I was in Madrid: tapas.  My roommate, John, and I went to a little bar in La Plaza Mayor, sat on the terrace and ate delicious tapas (hot fried chorizo and croquetas) with some sangría. 

The second day was the day of museum trips.  We went to the modern art museum, Reina Sofía, at 9:30 and then to the classic art museum, El Prado, at 12:30.  Both tours were really good and I liked seeing all the art works that I got to see last time I was in Madrid.  After that, we relaxed a little bit before heading out to do a lot of sight seeing.  We went to la Plaza de España, el Templo de Debod, el Palacio Real, la Plaza Mayor, la Puerta del Sol, the two main fountains, and el Parque Retiro.  Whew…

The next morning we went off to Toledo, the religious capital of Spain.  It’s a great old city and it’s what I think of when I think of Spain: cobblestone streets, gothic cathedrals and narrow alleyways.  We went to a monestary that Queen Isabel built to thank God for being on her side (Monasterio De San Juan De Los Reyes), a Muslim-style church, and the place where they keep El Greco’s masterpiece “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.”  We then ate at the same café I ate at last time I was in Toledo, and that damned McDonald’s was still there…

And now the moment you all have been waiting for…my first thoughts from BARCELONA (it is the title of the blog after all :p )

Quick thoughts:

1. Spanish is actually spoken on the streets.  This surprised me because I came to Barcelona thinking that people would only be speaking Catalan.  However, all signs, advertisements and metro stops are in Catalan and I do hear a lot of people speaking Catalan on the streets and metro.  We also got a basic English-Catalan or Spanish-Catalan book at orientation today, complete with a quick grammar lesson and pronunciation guide.
2. The fusion of the old and the new is absolutely amazing.  I love gothic architeture but I also love modernism.  Barcelona is a perfect balance of both; it has its own Gothic quarter with the narrow streets, impressive cathedrals and cobblestone roads but you can definitely spot Dalí’s and modernist influences.  It’s truly the best of both worlds
3. The people here are definitely proud of their Catalonian heritage.  In my time here I have only seen one Spanish flag being flown that wasn’t on a government building.  There are many Catalonian flags on the balconies of apartments.

This Saturday is a holiday, the National Day of Catalonia (also called Diada in Catalan), so I plan on checking out the festivities; if it’s anything like Aste Nasugia in Bilbao then I’m in for a real treat. 

Sorry about the youtube videos too.  The internet here in the apartment fades in and out sometimes (I’m pirating internet again, arrrrrrrgh) so I’m going to have to go to the ISA office to upload them and I will let you know when they are there.

One last thing before I go to bed (I got class tomorrow!): My pictures from Madrid/Toledo can be view here

Bona nit!

Making Modern Art

Yesterday, Michelle and I were at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and we stopped by the Anish Kapoor exhibition. One of his works was a wall and part of the floor covered in red wax. While we were looking at it, he comes out and adds more wax to his work...with a canon. And then he walked away without saying a word. Apparently it's art?

Don't get me wrong, I like modern art. The psychologist in me loves to stare at the paintings and try to understand the artist and what his/her message is. I've studied a little bit of Picasso, Dalí and Miró during my junior year in high school and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra offers a class in modern Spanish art that I want to take. But seriously, I don't get why this is art?


Iberia by Robert Motherwell. (No, the webpage has already loaded, that's the painting. It's a totally black canvas with a little bit of white in the corner.)

Oh well. You win some, lose some.

Anyway, here's the video of the red wax cannon:

Is Spain a Unified Nation?

I feel like I need to dedicate a post to a brief introduction on a very important topic: Regional Nationalism/Politics in Spain.

Spain is made up 17 autonomous regions, which are somewhat to similar to states in the US. Some of these autonomous regions, principally the Basque Country and Catalonia, are historically different from Spain. For example, between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries Catalonia was an economically and politically powerful region that rivaled the Moorish and Castilian kingdoms. The Basque Country has traditionally ruled parts of Northern Spain and Southeastern France and their language is not a Romance language, unlike everything else on the Iberian Peninsula. So, both regions have their own language, their own cuisine, and their own culture, which is completely different from Spain; therefore, they are considered nationalities (just like Spanish/French/American ect.)

In my post about the festival in Bilbao, I told you about the tent with the flags of all the “oppressed nations.” I also observed some other nationalistic feelings during the festival. During the Marijaia parade, there was this guy walking in front of her with a Basque flag, with the word “independence” written on it. We were also walking in el Casco Viejo and this group of middle age guys were talking very loudly. One suddenly yells “español” (Spanish) to which another one replied “vasco” (Basque). I didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation to know that they were talking about whether they considered themselves to be Spanish or Basque.

Now, this reminds me of something that came up a few days earlier in the apartment. I was watching the news with Arantza and something about Basque politics came up. After explaining the situation to me, Arantza stated that she doesn't consider herself to be Spanish; she’s Basque and Basque only. Think about that for a minute. She has stronger ties to her autonomous region than she does to the national state. She considers herself to be a citizen of her region but not a citizen of the country she lives in. That would be like me saying: “I live in the United States, but I am not an American. I'm Ohioan.”

Today, there are strong movements in both Catalonia and the Basque Country for the independence of their region from Spain. The Basque Country has it’s own nationalist terrorist group (The ETA) that uses violence to advance this cause while Catalonia keeps on trying to push for more autonomy and for more rights. A lot of people in both regions feel as if they are “a nation without a state."


(A sign in Plentzia, a fishing village in the Basque Country. It says "This is not Spain")

Now you may ask, “why is there so much animosity between Catalonia/Basque Country and Spain?” Long story short: Franco. General Franco’s side won the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and with that he installed himself as the fascist dictator of Spain. While in power, Franco ruled with an iron fist and tried to shove the idea of “national Spanish unity” down the throats of everyone in Spain. His view of an “ideal” Spain was absolute obedience to the Catholic Church and to the national State, women were to remain at home, and Spanish was to be the only language of the country. As a result, he outlawed the use of the Catalan and Basque languages. So, during Franco’s dictatorship the Catalonian and Basque people could not speak their native languages in public for fear of Franco’s henchmen; essentially, they were forced to speak Spanish. This is why, here in Spain, if you want to ask someone “do you speak Spanish?” you say “¿Hablas castellano?” and not “¿Hablas español?” Español implies that there is one, unified language here in Spain, while castellano (Castilian) makes it sound like it’s on more equal footing with the other languages of Spain.

So why do I feel like this is an important topic that you all should be aware of? Well, besides staying in the Basque Country for the two and a half weeks before my program starts, I’m going to be studying in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia. Most likely, I’m going to have stories about the tension between Spain and Catalonia when I finally get to Barcelona, whether it be a million man march for Catalonian independence in the streets of Barcelona or my host mom describing to me what it was like to live under Franco.

Also, I just find it fascinating.

P.S. If this topic is interesting to you, here’s a good article that talks about Catalonia: Barcelona: Leading a stateless nation

Twas the Night Before....

So. This is it.

I leave for Spain tomorrow for an entire semester. I'm nervous, excited, anxious, ecstatic, scared and optimistic; I never knew it was possible for me to feel so many emotions all at once.

I'm all packed and I will double/triple check tonight to make sure everything is there, although as long as I have my laptop, camera, passport and wallet I should be OK.

I still can't believe that this is happening, but over the past week it's slowly sunken in: 4 months in a foreign country.

Things I'm really excited about:
1. My host family: I'm living with a single woman, Rafaela, in a medium sized apartment. She's 65 years old and she owns a clothing store in a local market. According to my program "she loves to talk and loves animals," which is a winning combination in my book.
2. Catalan: Barcelona is located in Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain. In this region, they have their own language, Catalan, which is the official language along with Spanish. I will never have an opportunity to study this language in the United States, so while I'm in Barcelona I'm going to try to learn as much of it as I can!
3. Bilbao Vacation: I am actually leaving the US before my program starts so I can go over with my friend Michelle to visit her old host family in Bilbao, Spain (northern Spain in the Basque country); I'm staying there for 2 and a half weeks, while she's only staying there a week and a half. I've never been to the Basque country before, so it's going to be really cool to see another part of Spain.
3. Barcelona: From the pictures I've seen, the city is gorgeous. Enough said.
4. Traveling: So far I plan on going to London, Paris, Rome and Berlin. ISA also has excursions planned for us in Spain.
5. Soccer (henceforward referred to as fútbol) games: My apartment is a half mile from Camp Nou, the home of Barcelona FC. Barcelona has arguably one of the best fútbol teams in the world. Oh and they have David Villa.
6. Improving my Spanish: Although I have been studying Spanish for about 7 years now, I'm still not fluent. I can read, write, and understand it, but I still struggle speaking it. This is the big thing I hope to get out of this trip, to be able to come home and say "Yes, I speak Spanish fluently" (and with an accent too :p )

Things I am nervous about:
1. Epic fails while speaking Spanish: Yes, I know that I'm bound to make mistakes while trying to speak Spanish, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to get my point across. I just have this bad image of me trying to say something every which way and the native speaker still isn't able to understand me. Hopefully this will only be a problem for the first month or so...
2. Homesickness: Although I love everyone back home to death, I really hope I don't miss you guys. Don't take it personally, I just need to get out and see the world for myself. If I don't have the time to think about "oh I miss my family and friends" then it's a sure sign that I'm having a blast.
3. Not getting along with people in my program or my Host mom: Though at this point I just think I'm being paranoid.

Well, this is it then. I've been afforded a once in a lifetime opportunity and I plan of making the most of it. I can't wait to share with all of you my experiences, and I hope you guys can't wait.

Until we meet again, farewell.

First!

So I guess this is my first blog entry, let's start it out with a bang!

Today Michelle and I bought our plane tickets for Spain! We're leaving August 17th for Bilbao to stay with her old host family. I'm so excited to be going with her! I've never been to the Basque country, the last time I was in Spain we only went to Andalucía and the Madrid area. After buying the tickets we called her host mom, Arantza, who was enjoying a glorious day on the beach (jealous!). She was so precious, she told Michelle to give me and everyone else un beso. Best part: I actually understood everything she said! That makes me excited cause I was a little worried about my listening comprehension; I mean it's one thing to be able to understand your Spanish professor but it's another thing trying to understand a native speaker. God I'm soooo excited! This summer is going to go by so slow.....

80 days to go.