24-26 January 2007
Hola,
I originally wrote this email a few days ago but then I didn’t save it on my jump drive so I’m sending it out way later.
Wednesday was not very exciting. I mean, besides that fact that I’m living in Barcelona. On Tuesday, I went out with some people from the program. We had a good time bonding and relaxing at a bar. It’s gotten really cold in Barcelona …. 50 degrees! Hace mucho frío! When I first arrived, it was a little cold but then it became 70 degrees and sunny for a few days. Now it is cold… ☹ I can’t wait for the sunny weather to roll on in for the rest of the semester.
Wednesday morning, Erica and I slept in until 10:30 am and when we awoke, the cleaning lady was here. Either she is a grumpy person or she thinks poorly of me because when I first walked through the living room after waking up, she glared at me. Lo siento! We don’t have class til 3! [Lest you also think poorly of me, I got up early the next day to be at the Sagrada Familia at noon. La Sagrada Familia is the most famous piece of Gaudi’s architecture. It is a giant cathedral that is still unfinished. A little like St. John the Divine’s near Columbia but definitely cooler.]
My ATM card is working now too. Tuesday was “un day hectic” (as Paula says when she is speaking English and running around the house). My ATM card wouldn’t work, I was running out of cash and the only way to buy a special 3 month metro card for students is with cash. (What a stupid idea, no? That card costs 104 euro and it is unlimited for 3 months… but you have to pay in cash. I tried to pay with a credit card and they told me “no.” Tontos!)
A side note about Spanish perceptions of beauty and fashion: Mullets are fashionable here. I am not lying. You think I am. You’re smirking to yourself. You are thinking, “mullets? No.” Believe me. It’s true. Mullets are fashionable. I cannot think of a more unattractive haircut. Also, rat tails. And lots of facial piercings. People here combine all the ugliest, cast-off styles from America and make themselves into super ugly people. Viola! From normal to grotesque in three steps! … Okay I’m being mean. I don’t fit in with most of the jovenes (young people) here because my hair is clean and my nose/chin/eyebrow/space-between-my-nose-and-lips is not pierced.
Along these lines, Paula asked us if we thought her sons or their friends were handsome. We told her that her son Juan is incredibly guapo (handsome) because he is! He’s also really nice and tranquilo (calm). When we told her that we thought Alex’s friend, Diego, was cute, she couldn’t believe it! She said that everyone here thinks Diego is ugly. All of Paula’s friends say, “Que pena! Diego es muy feo!” (How sad! Diego is really ugly.) Okay… these people need a reality check. Diego is not ugly! I mean, he’s not Brad Pitt but he’s not the Phantom of the Opera, either. So anyway, we told Paula we thought Diego was cute and she immediately called him up and told him that we wanted to hang out. Ohhh man, how I love Paula. So I guess we’ll be seeing Diego soon.
Yesterday was Thursday and it was a long day! Erica and I got up early and showered and ate breakfast. Then we set off on the metro to go into town. Before la Sagrada Familia, we stopped at a phone store because I had to change my phone plan and recharge my minutes. Dealing with mobiles here is a whole different ball game. I am probably being screwed right now by the phone company but it’s really hard to understand all the different options and plans. It’s pay as you go but there are tons of different options.
Erica and I met another girl from the program at la Sagrada Familia and had a ball touring the humongous structure. I’m going to try to upload pictures soon. I’m sorry about that but it takes time and patience and I don’t even have internet at my house.
Okay, I was telling my teacher this story yesterday and she was cracking up. Two nights ago, Paula made an amazing dinner like always. She cooked this special pie from Argentina made with corn and she fried hamburgers on the stove. In Spain they don’t eat hamburgers with buns. They eat them with forks and knives… (how to make an American miss her dad’s grilling 101) But that’s not the worst part of hamburgers in Spain. The worst part is that first Paula gave me a huge piece of corn pie and then she put TWO hamburger patties on my plate. Two! My teacher was like “Dos hamburguesas?!” (two hamburgers?!) I was like, “Paula! I can’t eat two hamburgers! I only eat one hamburger normally and right now I have a piece of corn pie and two hamburgers!” Needless to say, Paula wouldn’t listen to me. I ended up leaving one hamburger on my plate. I’m not looking to become a humongous beast while I’m here.
About the whole “American” thing: it’s really hard to be American here right now. We read an editorial in class yesterday about Bush’s state of the union. It said, “Jamás EE.UU. ha sido tan odiado y ha gozado de menos aliados como ahora.” (“Never has the United States been as hated or had so few allies as now”) The image of the United States has created prejudice against Americans in the rest of the world. Everyone knows that it’s the individual that counts but when most people don’t know Americans personally and instead only hear about the political actions of an unloved leader, they are unable to separate the political decisions of the US from individual Americans. I love my country but it’s hard to feel pride when everyone thinks you are awful and associates your country with stupidity, McDonald’s, and a shoot-‘em-up president. Some people have started to lie about where they are from and will say they are from Canada. It’s easiest to just speak Spanish in public all the time and not attract attention to yourself.
Anyway, in more mundane Columbia news, I finally got my last grade from last semester. I got a B+ in creative writing from crazy ol’ Josh. It’s the best I’m going to get from him. I worked my butt off editing my poems this semester. I definitely feel like my writing improved from last year so I’m happy.
I also found out about the RA selection. For those of you who don’t know, I had applied to be an RA for next year. My interview went really well (I thought) but I also told them that I didn’t think I would be a good Freshman or Sophomore RA because I am away lot on the weekends for the sailing team. Instead, I told them I would prefer to be an upperclassman RA. I wanted to be honest. Anyway, I was wait listed. But it’s cool. I guess no one can be as cool as Moses (my RA last semester).
Until next time,
Caroline
I originally wrote this email a few days ago but then I didn’t save it on my jump drive so I’m sending it out way later.
Wednesday was not very exciting. I mean, besides that fact that I’m living in Barcelona. On Tuesday, I went out with some people from the program. We had a good time bonding and relaxing at a bar. It’s gotten really cold in Barcelona …. 50 degrees! Hace mucho frío! When I first arrived, it was a little cold but then it became 70 degrees and sunny for a few days. Now it is cold… ☹ I can’t wait for the sunny weather to roll on in for the rest of the semester.
Wednesday morning, Erica and I slept in until 10:30 am and when we awoke, the cleaning lady was here. Either she is a grumpy person or she thinks poorly of me because when I first walked through the living room after waking up, she glared at me. Lo siento! We don’t have class til 3! [Lest you also think poorly of me, I got up early the next day to be at the Sagrada Familia at noon. La Sagrada Familia is the most famous piece of Gaudi’s architecture. It is a giant cathedral that is still unfinished. A little like St. John the Divine’s near Columbia but definitely cooler.]
My ATM card is working now too. Tuesday was “un day hectic” (as Paula says when she is speaking English and running around the house). My ATM card wouldn’t work, I was running out of cash and the only way to buy a special 3 month metro card for students is with cash. (What a stupid idea, no? That card costs 104 euro and it is unlimited for 3 months… but you have to pay in cash. I tried to pay with a credit card and they told me “no.” Tontos!)
A side note about Spanish perceptions of beauty and fashion: Mullets are fashionable here. I am not lying. You think I am. You’re smirking to yourself. You are thinking, “mullets? No.” Believe me. It’s true. Mullets are fashionable. I cannot think of a more unattractive haircut. Also, rat tails. And lots of facial piercings. People here combine all the ugliest, cast-off styles from America and make themselves into super ugly people. Viola! From normal to grotesque in three steps! … Okay I’m being mean. I don’t fit in with most of the jovenes (young people) here because my hair is clean and my nose/chin/eyebrow/space-between-my-nose-and-lips is not pierced.
Along these lines, Paula asked us if we thought her sons or their friends were handsome. We told her that her son Juan is incredibly guapo (handsome) because he is! He’s also really nice and tranquilo (calm). When we told her that we thought Alex’s friend, Diego, was cute, she couldn’t believe it! She said that everyone here thinks Diego is ugly. All of Paula’s friends say, “Que pena! Diego es muy feo!” (How sad! Diego is really ugly.) Okay… these people need a reality check. Diego is not ugly! I mean, he’s not Brad Pitt but he’s not the Phantom of the Opera, either. So anyway, we told Paula we thought Diego was cute and she immediately called him up and told him that we wanted to hang out. Ohhh man, how I love Paula. So I guess we’ll be seeing Diego soon.
Yesterday was Thursday and it was a long day! Erica and I got up early and showered and ate breakfast. Then we set off on the metro to go into town. Before la Sagrada Familia, we stopped at a phone store because I had to change my phone plan and recharge my minutes. Dealing with mobiles here is a whole different ball game. I am probably being screwed right now by the phone company but it’s really hard to understand all the different options and plans. It’s pay as you go but there are tons of different options.
Erica and I met another girl from the program at la Sagrada Familia and had a ball touring the humongous structure. I’m going to try to upload pictures soon. I’m sorry about that but it takes time and patience and I don’t even have internet at my house.
Okay, I was telling my teacher this story yesterday and she was cracking up. Two nights ago, Paula made an amazing dinner like always. She cooked this special pie from Argentina made with corn and she fried hamburgers on the stove. In Spain they don’t eat hamburgers with buns. They eat them with forks and knives… (how to make an American miss her dad’s grilling 101) But that’s not the worst part of hamburgers in Spain. The worst part is that first Paula gave me a huge piece of corn pie and then she put TWO hamburger patties on my plate. Two! My teacher was like “Dos hamburguesas?!” (two hamburgers?!) I was like, “Paula! I can’t eat two hamburgers! I only eat one hamburger normally and right now I have a piece of corn pie and two hamburgers!” Needless to say, Paula wouldn’t listen to me. I ended up leaving one hamburger on my plate. I’m not looking to become a humongous beast while I’m here.
About the whole “American” thing: it’s really hard to be American here right now. We read an editorial in class yesterday about Bush’s state of the union. It said, “Jamás EE.UU. ha sido tan odiado y ha gozado de menos aliados como ahora.” (“Never has the United States been as hated or had so few allies as now”) The image of the United States has created prejudice against Americans in the rest of the world. Everyone knows that it’s the individual that counts but when most people don’t know Americans personally and instead only hear about the political actions of an unloved leader, they are unable to separate the political decisions of the US from individual Americans. I love my country but it’s hard to feel pride when everyone thinks you are awful and associates your country with stupidity, McDonald’s, and a shoot-‘em-up president. Some people have started to lie about where they are from and will say they are from Canada. It’s easiest to just speak Spanish in public all the time and not attract attention to yourself.
Anyway, in more mundane Columbia news, I finally got my last grade from last semester. I got a B+ in creative writing from crazy ol’ Josh. It’s the best I’m going to get from him. I worked my butt off editing my poems this semester. I definitely feel like my writing improved from last year so I’m happy.
I also found out about the RA selection. For those of you who don’t know, I had applied to be an RA for next year. My interview went really well (I thought) but I also told them that I didn’t think I would be a good Freshman or Sophomore RA because I am away lot on the weekends for the sailing team. Instead, I told them I would prefer to be an upperclassman RA. I wanted to be honest. Anyway, I was wait listed. But it’s cool. I guess no one can be as cool as Moses (my RA last semester).
Until next time,
Caroline