Lightning Crashes

For the first time since 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies have made the playoffs. I can only imagine the celebrations in the Philadelphia region. Phillies fans should enjoy this day, one that will remembered in Philadelphia sports history for a long time.

As for me, it's late and I have a long week ahead of me. I have photos from the cathedral, palaces, squares and all sorts of adventures with the family. This one is from La Plaza de España. More photos and stories are on the way.

Are you a Communist?

That's a rhetorical question, but it wasn't when my professor asked it in class. He cocked his head to one side, looked at a student up front and briskly asked, "Are you a Communist?"

This professor is quite a character. If he were a dwarf, he'd be Grumpy. If I were to compare him to a real person, I would compare him to Michael Serino, advisor of The Ithacan, the student newspaper at Ithaca College.

My professor refers to George W. Bush as "Georgie," talks about eating rabbits, calls a small group of people "four cats" and thinks everything is lousy. Otherwise, he's great. I have him for a class called "The Franco Era" (Spain around the 1930s to 1950s) and a Spanish society course.

Speaking of classes, the girl to guy ratio is interesting. Out of 14 students in my society class, I'm the only one with a Y chromosome. Out of nine students in my literature class, the same is true. My Spanish classes at Ithaca College were about the same, but it is nice. The girls here are much cooler than the guys for whatever reason.

Another plus is that I've found somebody crazy enough to go to Italy with me. That's right, yours truly is planning a trip to Italy around the end of October. If I can pull this off, I'd be very impressed. Stay tuned.

Many positives in this post. My housemother gave me an adapter that fights mosquitoes. I know it sounds crazy, but after being eaten alive for a month (mosquitoes love me), it's refreshing to wake up and see the mosquito bites going away instead of multiplying. Finally, we don't have actual books, just photocopies. We go to a Kinko's kind of place and watch as our "books" are photocopied and bound. The biggest upside is the price. It cost me a mere 25 euros for the majority of my books. Accountants, add 20, multiply by 10 and you'll get the price I usually pay for books.

Tomorrow I'm off to explore Seville, as there are no classes on Fridays from here on out. Saturday the parents are coming, the parents are coming! Watch out, Spain!

Meanwhile, the newest poll is up. I don't think the question will surprise you. And the photo above was taken in Cordoba. More on that adventure to come.

Night at the Museum(s)

I saw that movie with my brother Jason when it came out. Hey, it’s Ben Stiller, so I didn’t think it would be all that bad. Boy was I wrong. Now I have to admit that I’m all about guilty pleasures. However, this film had about as much substance as those fluff sandwiches you secretly hoped your mom would pack you for lunch.

On Friday night, six major museums in Seville opened their doors for a “The Long Night of the Museums.” Not the snappiest name, but oh well. As for the event itself, it was great in theory but not so much in reality. Most museums had lines snaking around streets, where you could wait for more than an hour just to walk through.

We went to an art museum first and saw beautiful paintings and sculptures. After I was yelled at for using flash (not the last time I would be reprimanded for photography this weekend), we wandered around and left a short while after. Everything was beautiful, but we had no idea what any of it meant. People working there thought it would be more useful to yell at us than tell us a little something about the artwork. It happens. My photos are here.

After a nice half hour walk around the city, we stopped at what appeared to be a Spanish fast food place. I say Spanish because there is quite a bit of American fast food (McDonald's and Burger King especially) all over Spain. It appeared to be fast because most of the food was made right in front of us, and many of the main dishes came with French fries. I went for the more traditional Spanish cuisine in a vegetable paella (a rice dish), for which I waited nearly a half hour. Still, it was definitely worth it.

Later that night, I found my drink. It’s red wine with Fanta, and it’s fruity and delicious. Unfortunately I won’t get it nearly as good in the states, but for now it will do.

I'll be there for you

Friday night, somebody else pointed out that I look like the character Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) from the TV series "Friends." This is probably the 50th person that has mentioned this to me.

On “Friends,” Ross is a hopeless romantic who gets divorced multiple times. He gets high in college and blames it on his best friend. He dresses up as the holiday armadillo to get his son excited about Hanukah. He gets stuck in jeans that are too tight, and he has a bad experience at a tanning salon.

More importantly, he’s intelligent and a trustworthy friend. He always tries to do the right thing and would do anything for his friends and his sister Monica.

That’s where our connection is made. On that note, I would like to say a tremendous thank you for keeping up with Tirando Cobre, especially to parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents for all of your comments, love and support.

I don't think anybody is suggesting I look like the holiday armadillo, but you never know.

Thunderstruck

Here are a few extra tidbits swirling around my mind today. Meanwhile, check out the view from my bedroom window.

• A wild thunderstorm raged through Seville last night. Though it rarely rains here, when it rains, it pours. Around midnight, a storm unleashed a fury of thunder and lightning right outside my window. I'm fascinated by thunderstorms (especially after the film "Twister"). In Seville, however, people don't exactly know how to react. My housemother started screaming at her son (who could barely walk). Traffic lights were still out at 8 a.m. today. Imagine the chaos. People say New Jersey drivers are insane, but there aren't even words to describe certain people here. People here also like to park their cars on the sidewalk.

• When businesses shut down in the afternoon, the streets are absolutely dead. There's no such thing as returning to work early to get a head start on the afternoon's work. Yesterday I learned that getting to work 25 minutes early means standing in the hot sun for almost 40 minutes. At least I learned my lesson.
  

• I met my exchange student, Fabian, today, at a nearby mall for coffee. Now, I don't drink coffee, but he suggested a cappuccino that seemed to be mostly chocolate. It turns out that it was (and I'm guessing) 60 percent whipped cream, 35 percent chocolate and 5 percent coffee. Naturally, I liked it, but I felt sick almost immediately afterward. I'm better now. As for Fabian, he's in his late '20s, and he's a down to earth and friendly guy. It'll be fun to practice Spanish with him and help him with his English.
  

• The Philadelphia Phillies are in the thick of a division and wild card race. With nine games to play, the team needs to be perfect in order to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Regardless of whether or not the team makes it, this has been one of the most exciting summers for baseball in Philadelphia in my memory. For even the casual fan, now is the time to watch. Earlier I watched the Phillies' big comeback from last night at MLB.com.

All good things come to those who wait

I haven't been slacking off or avoiding this blog. Honestly, this is the first time all week that I actually have some time to myself. With four hours of classes, three hours at my internship, three hours of transportation, an exam to study for or a paper to write every day, it can be difficult to find spare time.

That said, we just finished the intensive period of one class for four hours a day five days a week. Still, I learned more in three weeks than I did in any semester class at Ithaca College. The whole "immersion" helped a bit, but it was a usage class. We learned phrases and sayings that we could use immediately after class at home, on the bus, or anywhere really. For example, we learned how to say someone is "down to earth" and "I have to sleep on it."

Tomorrow I am off to Cordoba to see a synagogue, a church and a mosque. Monday we begin the class schedule that we'll follow for the rest of the semester. For now, here are some photos from Granada. I hope to post more from Cordoba some time on Sunday, but no guarantees.

Finally, this Saturday night, Dougystyle and special guest Pretty Penny bring you a countdown of the top 55 alternative rock songs from the '80s. Tune into Alternagold from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern time every Saturday night only on VIC Radio!

The wait continues

This photo was taken outside the Alhambra with a few friends.

Patience is a virtue.

Granada

Saturday was one of the best days I've had in recent memory, and I had an incredible time in Granada.

This is me at the entrance to the Alhambra overlooking the city. I only have 10 photos because of technical difficulties, but I will post them and a full recap some time this week. Ta.

Almost forgot

Don't believe everything you read in this blog.

Anything I type is true, but the dates and times of these posts are pretty much random. For instance, the last post I wrote on the bull fight was actually posted on Wednesday I believe, but the blog says it was Monday. Times are also completely off. I'm going to try to figure out how to fix it, but don't hold your breath.

About the bull fight: Something like that would never fly in the United States. It's accepted here because everything is more extreme. For example, television news is much more graphic in Spain than it is in the United States. A few days ago, one story showed video of a man setting himself on fire. I think about families eating lunch and watching the 3 p.m. news. I can imagine little kids glued to the television and seeing this. It just feels a little bit too much to me. Maybe Spaniards have thicker stomachs than Americans, but it's just a different culture, it's a different world.

Apples and honey

First and foremost, I would like to wish all Jewish people reading this a belated happy and healthy new year. I didn't make it to a synagogue, and honestly I was too busy with classes and work (more on that later).

A few days ago, I was talking to my housemother, Myriam, and happened to mention that the Jewish New Year was coming up. She asked me if there were any special foods prepared for the holiday, and I eventually managed to say apples and honey in Spanish.

The next day, we had lunch with my roommate, Ben; Myriam's son Carlos (who lives with us); and Myriam's daughter. Myriam (whose name is in fact Jewish) brought out a plate of apples and a container of honey with lunch. My eyes lit up.

After soaking in Spanish culture for two weeks, it was nice to share a piece of my own culture with my house family. I had some trouble explaining the significance of dipping apples in honey, but I think they got the idea.

As for Carlos, he's been home the entire week. Last weekend, he went out with his girlfriend, had a few drinks and then tried to dance. He hurt his ankle and wound up in a cast. Thankfully, there was no major damage, and he's going to try to get out on the street this evening for the first time in about a week.

He talks to us like it's nothing, but Myriam was, well, not exactly thrilled when she found out. Still, the relationship between them is really great. I came home last night, and they were sitting in Myriam's room hanging out and watching television. I do think once kids get through the rocky teenage years and make it through college they learn to appreciate their parents more.

As for me, it's been a long week. I started an internship at a magazine company on Wednesday doing regular intern work. I've been typing up letters, writing introductions to stories, trying to transcribe interviews (that didn't work so well). So far so good, it's tough to gauge how the people there feel about my work, because they talk super fast in Spanish.

I'll be up bright and early tomorrow morning for a two-day trip to Granada. Details and photos to come. For now, the photo above is of my street.

Raging Bulls

The first bull comes out of the gate, and my friends and I immediately think it's a bit small. Though these bulls aren't as buff as the ones at the bigger bull fights, they can still take someone out with ease. The bull runs around the ring, as it thinks it might be free. But the games begin. Men with colorful banners lead the bull in a wild cat-and-mouse chase around the ring. As they try to tire him out, they use techniques to control the bull's path.

Horns sound and more people come out to induce the first contact with the bull. Men on horses wait for the bull to come close enough to striking distance. The bull approaches as the man tries to stab the bull in the back (literally and figuratively). In this stage, the horses are blindfolded so they'll hold their ground against the raging bulls. While they´re given a fair amount of physical protection, the bulls will often try to knock the horses over. It´s interesting to compare the power of the bulls with the raw strength of the horses. For the horses to withstand so much pressure from the bull and not move is incredible.

Once the bull is stabbed, the horses exit and the next stage begins. Three valiant men attempt to thrust a pair of rods where the bull was stabbed. It's almost like a dance. After a step forward and a quick fake, the man makes his move. He lunges at the bull and hurls the rods into the bull´s back before running for cover. Once the six rods are in place, the bull fighter comes out.

The fighter walks out to the center of the field and raises his (or her) cap to acknowledge the crowd. This lone fighter faces the bull and goes to work. Once the action begins again, it can range from invigorating moments to repetitious and seemingly redundant periods. However, this is the art of the bull fight. Now that the bull is weaker, the fighter must seize control and maintain it the entire time to be successful. Fighters have their own styles. Some use elegant dance-like moves, while others choose simplicity. An agile fighter may spark the crowd´s interest, but the end result matters most.

As fighters gain more and more confidence in their control over the bull, some may turn their backs on the animal. It comes off as a llittle arrogant, but it shows the comfort of the fighter, who will eventually sheathe his sword. It could take 10 minutes or more before fighters feel ready to kill. The final stage is most important, because if the fighter isn´t perfect in every way, the bull will suffer. The fighter must thrust the sword completely into the bull´s back to minimize suffering. Sometimes the thrust will not be clean and the sword will pop out. The fighter must then sheathe another sword to finish the job. Other times, the thrust is perfect, but the bull is too strong to go down, and the fighter must try again. However, when the fighter cannot provide a clean, swift death, it shows the ineptitude of the fighter and the crowd will boo or whistle in disapproval.

Once the bull dies, horses drag it around the field and out of the stadium.

At this particular fight, we saw a little bit of everything. We saw a female fighter, which is about as rare as rain in Seville. The three fighters were all young and inexperienced and made mistakes that added to the bulls´suffering. Some of the bulls were too weak to make it halfway through the stages, and had to be forced off the ground at certain points.

My thoughts? It was on my to-do list, and I´m glad I went. Some of it was very difficult to watch, especially in the bull´s final moments and the "parade" of it around the stadium after its death. In general, I´m against killing animals, especially for sport. But there was something entertaining, and I can easily see why it´s such an important part of Spanish culture. I´d like to see a bigger one, maybe in Madrid or Barcelona, with more experienced fighters who have mastered their craft. Watching the bulls suffer was difficult, especially in light of the ineptitude of the fighters. I enjoyed the experience, but I am still at ends about how I feel.

I leave it in your hands now. I´d love to hear what you think, so post comments if you´d like.

Calm before the storm

I hope you've seen the photos from the bull fight I went to Sunday night. If not, check them out in the preceding post. And in case you were wondering about the poll, the answer is "100 seagulls, where will they go?" The paper I wrote is along the lines of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 thriller, "The Birds." This comes from the times seagulls have attacked yours truly just for eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For those not familiar with the film, swarms of birds attack people in California. Now, without further ado ...

Sunday afternoon, we bought tickets, which ranged from about 10 to 50 euros (approximately $13 to $60). Ours were 11 euros, so we thought we'd be up in the rafters.

The fight was scheduled for 7 p.m., so we took the bus into town about an hour before. Outside the stadium, vendors were selling Coke cans for 2 euros, as well as other drinks and snacks that are sold at American sporting events.

The first challenge was figuring out where to go. In the states, you have a section, a row and a seat, so it's relatively straightforward. In Spain, the ticket shows a door (gate), section, row and number. In American stadiums, everything is logical and marked clearly.

Anyway, we entered the stadium and immediately noticed how close we were to the field. The place is set up with a lower section and an upper section. We were in the lower section, which is only a few feet away from the actual field. So we asked an usher where our seats were, and he motioned toward the section right in front of us. The section number wasn't marked anywhere we could see it, but the usher said we were in the right place. There were no seats, only spaces marked with numbers along brick rows. We noticed other numbers, but they didn't seem to correspond to sections or rows.

In the lower section, there are three rows, then a walkway, then the rest of the section, so it took us a moment to figure out that we were essentially in the sixth row. But the rows weren't even marked. Confusing? Believe me, I know.

Now I'm pretty thin and was sitting next to a friend who isn't much bigger than I am. Even we were cramped. In our section, everybody was packed in, while other sections were nearly empty. It has something to do with the way tickets are sold.

Once we settled in (with reasonable comfort), we flipped through the program. A friend noticed that a female would be one of three people fighting the bulls, which is really rare. We wondered how the crowd would react to her, and how she would do with two male fighters. Also, all three fighters were barely older than 20. This was a small-scale bull fight, with smaller bulls and younger fighters, but we knew it would still be intense.

Camera crews, foreigners and Seville natives alike gathered for the event. At 7 p.m., music from a live band in the upper level signaled the beginning of the procession.

A diverse group came out onto the field. Men on horses joined others wearing jewels and holding red banners. They took the customary stroll around the field and prepared for the first bull to come out.

To be continued ...

Bull Fight

This evening I went to my first bull fight. I will post comments about it tomorrow, but for now here are photos. These pictures are not for everybody. For some people, they will be too graphic and violent to view. But this is Spanish culture.
Photos from the bull fight

When Nature Calls

I am through week one of classes, and so far so good. If you're still wondering which topic I chose for my paper, look at the title of this post.

At the moment, I'm listening to Porcupine Tree and thinking about nature in general, but more specifically, the water. Last weekend the program took a trip to the beach. A few friends and I started throwing around a frisbee, and a 10-year-old Spanish boy named Juan joined us. We didn't talk much to him, but we tried to teach him different frisbee throws. After playing for an hour or so, he actually got pretty good. His biggest asset was that he had no fear. He wasn't intimidated by five or six Americans who were twice his age. He just wanted to have a good time.

Meanwhile, my roommate, Ben, and I have been taking advantage of the pool right outside our apartment. With all the little kids jumping in and running around, it can get a bit crazy. Just like Juan, the kiddies have no fear. They're not afraid to run around the pool, or push a complete stranger into the water.

Ben and I are trying to enjoy the pool as much as possible now because it closes in the middle of September for the school year. In Spain (or at least Seville), students have to take a test on everything they learned the year before. This happens right before classes start, so basically they're "supposed" to study for it all summer. I think this defeats the purpose of summer.

Anyway, it's Friday and I'm excited about the weekend. Tomorrow may be the beach in Cadiz (one of the nicest beaches in Spain), and next weekend could be the Alahambra in Granada or a soccer game. FC Sevilla is the big team around here, and people go nuts when there's a game. It's a little crazier than Philadelphia for an Eagles game, if you can believe it. Trying to get tickets is even harder, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm trying to stay away from American sports, TV, the English language, and even American music! They get "The Simpsons" in Spanish here, and I imagine I could find a sports bar to watch a football game on Sunday. My rooommate is a Cowboys fan, so it would be great to get to a bar for an Eagles vs. Cowboys game. We shall see.

I took some more photos, and I should have another album up early next week. It will probably include some shots 0f my apartment and the neighborhood, but for now, this is a shot of the fountains on a main street called Avenida de la Constitución in the middle of town.

One final thought. If you're into '90s rock and will be around/awake around the hours of 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. EST Saturday night, check out Alternagold on VIC Radio.

Have a great weekend!

Alfred Hitchcock

For the first time, I feel like I'm at school. I have a paper to write and an oral presentation to prepare for tomorrow. Until the week of September 24, I only have two classes, but one is 3.5 hours a day, five days a week. This is called the "intensive" period.

Tomorrow, I have a meeting with the director of The Center for Cross-Cultural Study (the study abroad program) to find out how my internship is going to work. I hope to post some information on that and a handful of other things by the end of the week.

Thank you for all of the comments. I am responding to e-mails, so feel free to contact me there as well.

For now, I leave you with a poll for you to guess the topic I chose for my essay. The professor gave us four abstract topics to take in any direction we wanted. Use the title of this post to help you figure out which one I picked.

You have until Monday morning. Good luck.

Photos are up

My first photo album is online. The shots were taken Saturday at a group trip outside of Seville.
http://ithaca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054876&l=7475f&id=13807611

Breaking it down

The apartment
I live in an apartment complex with a pool. I went for a swim today with Ben, my American roommate. Kids were playing with beach balls while. The little ones had these life jackets that were just precious. I can only describe them as cylindrical inflatables on their backs. Inside the apartment, there is enough space for the four of us: the housemother, her 28-year-old son Carlos, Ben and I. The mother, Myriam, I think is about 60 years old. She’s fantastic. There aren’t many rules beyond using as little electricity and water as possible (not overusing the fan, turning off lights when leaving the room, taking short showers). We can stay out as late as we want. In fact, she went out for a while last night. We have to speak to her in Spanish, but of course, we want to, and she’s pretty easy to understand. We see Carlos for lunch, but not much more than that. He has a girlfriend and leaves for work early during the week. He works with computers and, more specifically, the Internet. He tried to configure Internet for us at home, but no luck.

The room
I live in a room smaller than my double at Ithaca freshman year. Still, it’s enough for myself and Ben and our stuff, which is more or less anything I could fit into two oversized suitcases and two carry-on bags. There’s no air conditioning, and so we sleep ontop of the beds. The fan helps, and we’ve adapted.

The food
I’m eating more than usual. Myriam offered us breakfast at 12:30 p.m., but with a big lunch in a couple of hours, we waited. There are three solid meals. Breakfast is usually toast and croissants with a chocolate spread or fruit jam. Lunch is around 2:30 p.m., when all of the shops are closed for a few hours for “siesta,” which is basically a rest period. More on that another time. Lunch is two plates. Today it was salad and then chicken with rice. I don’t know what everything is, but I’m giving everything a shot and I’ve liked almost everything we’ve had to eat here. This is easily one of the perks of living in a home, not having to go out or pay for meals every day. We had sandwiches and kiwi for dinner tonight. Basically, an American dinner is a Spanish lunch and vice versa.

Spanish
The language barrier is not that bad. Ben and I talk Spanish almost all the time, which helps us both practice understanding and expressing ourselves. I understand Myriam and Carlos pretty well, but the average person on the street is much more difficult. People in the south of Spain (Seville included) speak a broken Spanish. They drop the consonants at the end of words, use a “th” sound for “d,” “c” and some other sounds. They cut off the beginning of some words, but it really doesn’t make it much more difficult to understand. It’s the speed and the vocabulary that are the most challenging. Speaking is another story. I’ve learned that my Spanish can get me pretty far. I’m thinking in Spanish when I’m not doing something in English, so that’s a definite positive.

It’s getting late and I need to be up early for the first day of classes tomorrow. I will post when I can, so check back later this week. Bedtime.

Internet at home!

After futile efforts, I bought a wireless card at a shop on my street for 20 euros ( about $27). Now, I have Internet at home. I compare the feeling to riding a bike for the first time. So cliche, I know.

Anyway, here's the post that I wrote last night. I'm going to split it up so it's not as daunting. Enjoy.

After talking to my parents for a while and trying unsuccessfully to get Internet in my apartment here, I figured I’d just do it all the American way. This involves typing and thinking in English and listening to American music (Porcupine Tree for now). At 10:30 p.m. Sunday, this is the first time I’ve listened to my iPod and switched to a true American lifestyle. I’m proud I made it this far.

But you don’t want to hear about my American lifestyle, so I’ll just get right to the point. I am happy and healthy in Seville, Spain, eating, exercising, and getting lost as usual. Fortunately, my roommate Ben knows how to get around, so he has really helped. Last night I was out on the town, hopping across bars, which isn’t exactly my brand of vodka. So here are my more travel-oriented goals while I’m here: go to a soccer game; attend a bullfight; visit Barcelona, Italy, Morocco and a whole slew of other places; and get into some salsa or really any kind of Spanish dancing. I’m sure this list will change and grow, but for now it is what it is. Let me break down my life here.

Heere at the Wall

Finally, I am here in Seville, Spain. After five days or so without Internet, I'm actually on the Web. I typed a giant blog post on my laptop last night, hoping to connect to the wireless network where I take my classes. Alas, no luck, but tomorrow I'll break out the USB port and get rolling.

Thanks for all of your encouragement, I'm having a great time here. I'm eating well, exercising daily and finding plenty of time to sleep, which is all good.

I would post more but I don't have much time. Check back over the next couple of days for an epic blog post.

And just in case you were wondering, the misspelled title is a film reference.