Saturday, January 29, 2011

Recollections From Study Abroad: My Last Month In Spain (Part II)

My prior eight months in Santander and Madrid, plus my travels around Europe, allowed me to get a firm grasp of the Spanish language.  Just as I thought I knew what Spanish culture was when I arrived in Granada, I figured I could hold my own speaking Spanish to my new friends.  Well, it turns out that the latter followed suit with the former; I didn’t know as much as I thought I did, or as I said before, it was just the tip of the iceberg. 

In actuality, I did get a good grasp of Castilian Spanish.  But like in America, there are various types of dialects spoken depending on the geographic location; the same goes for Spain.  Pedro and his friends spoke Andaluz, obviously spoken in Andalusia.  This dialect is hands down the most difficult in Spain, even to other Spaniards, and gave me the most trouble.  (More on dialects in Spain later).  As my second weekend in Granada approached, Pedro invited me to Huesa. 

I really didn’t know what to expect.  The only things I knew were that many people in this village have never seen an American in person, only in movies.  I had a feeling many people were going to ask me questions, and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about the language barrier.  In Huesa, especially, it was like the people were speaking to me in fast-forward.  They also “ate” their words, meaning they didn’t pronounce the “j”, “s” and pretty much the last half of anything that came out of their mouth.  I would liken it to a New Yorker—fast speech where the words seem to blend together.  After arriving, we went straight to his mom’s house to eat.

With the DJ at Pedro's summer house
Man, did I feel welcomed.  I was ordered to sit down—after the customary two kisses on each cheek of course—and eat till I was stuffed.  Unfortunately for them, this was a big mistake.  I have to say I eat more than the average American person and way more than the average European; their small portions just don’t do it for me.  Three plates of food and half a loaf of bread later I finished.  Pedro had previously warned his family on my food-disposal capacity type of stomach, but I guess they didn’t believe him.  After finishing, I think I left them speechless because the only thing they could muster up to say was “how the hell….?”  It’s usually customary to ask guests how they liked the food, but I guess in my case it was different.  The second thing they said to me, after looking each other in the eyes, was that I was a pozo sin fondo.  No, I’m not a well that never ends, as the literal translation says, but rather a “bottomless pit.”  Thirdly and finally, came the much awaited question, “was it good?”  I successfully made the o-so-important and customary first question move down the list to the third. 

After eating, Pedro was anxious to take me for a ride around the town.  You heard right, a ride, and not a walk.  He told me that in Granada, a city 50 times the size of Huesa, he walks everywhere.  But in Huesa, it seems that him and everyone else would rather drive ten seconds down the street.  I had no problem with this, as he let me drive anytime I wanted.  We really didn’t make it far until he saw some friends—remember everybody knows each other in this village.  From what I remember, it was Basilio, Vicky, Victoria, Roberto, Laura and a few others.  They were planning some of the nocturnal activities that Pedro warned me about. 

We stepped out of the car and I was greeted by a flurry of people.  Pedro supposedly told them that an “Americano” was coming so everyone was eager to meet me.  Talking about the basics was easy—where you from, why you here, etc.—but Pedro usually came by my side to help me interpret the slang into more formal speech.  It only took a few minutes of them talking to figure out, and persuade Pedro, where the night’s festivity was going to be held: Pedro’s summer house. 


Awesome Guitar Work By Paco de Lucia

I'm about halfway done with Part II of my Recollections From Study Abroad.  I have to stop because its Saturday, and every Saturday I eat free paella at this flamenco bar.  While I'm enjoying my paella, you can enjoy Entre Dos Aguas performed live by Paco de Lucia in 1976.  They say he's the Eric Clapton of Spain; I agree:

Friday, January 28, 2011

Bad News For Spain...

...in regards to the economy that is. 

Spain announced Friday its jobless rate surged to a 13-year record above 20 percent at the end of 2010, the highest level in the industrialized world, as the economy struggled for air.

...

The resulting unemployment rate was 20.33 percent for the end of the year -- easily exceeding Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's target of 19.4 percent.

Spain's unemployment rate seems to be nearing almost one quarter of the population.  In addition, for those who don't know, the paro (unemployment payments) is extremely easy to get in Spain.  In many small towns, for example, people work in the field--all untaxed and under the table--and collect unemployment at the same time.  A friend of mine makes almost $26,000 a year doing this.  Add free healthcare and the numerous other publically funded social programs to the mix, and you'll see that this can deter a lot of people--especially those who live in more rural areas--from getting a job.  So come on prospective study abroad students, go help Spain's economy by going there to study!

UPDATE: The economic situation in Spain is getting pretty famous.  Before clicking on the following link, remember that paro means unemployment: http://www.parobook.com/

Quote Of The Day

A quote I saw posted at the school where I work:

Un pueblo libre de elegir, es un pueblo que siempre elegirá paz. 

-Ronald Reagan

City Profile: Huesa

Before jumping into part two of my Recollections From Study Abroad (part one here), I thought it would be appropriate to give some background on the city where the rest of the posts on this will take place: Huesa.

"Huesa city"
In my opinion, this pueblo is a diamond in the rough.  It is nestled right by the Cazorla Mountain Range in the province of Jaen, Andalusia.  Looking outside in, the most striking thing about the town is the landscape.  It is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of olive oil fields—Huesa and Jaen’s main source of money—jagged cliffs, waterfalls and a bluff that looks like a dinosaur.  The town sits lower than the roads leading in which really puts into perspective of how small this village really is. 

With a bit less than 2,800 people, it makes sense that everyone knows each other.  Furthermore, everyone is always some cousin or uncle or grandpa of someone.  I successfully made a joke in Spanish one day by asking how people date each other if everyone seems to be related.  After laughing, they responded, “carefully.”  My point is that this town is very intimate, welcoming and unique. 

View from a cave in Huesa
According to all of Pedro’s family and friends, I’m the first American to ever step foot in Huesa.  There have been many Europeans who have passed through but never an American, a title which I’m happy to hold (if its true of course).  That being said, I’m quite the attraction when I go.  You can walk from one side of the village to the other in a bit more than 5 minutes and see 27 bars, 4 clubs, the streets filled with people and the market that comes every Tuesday.  The latter, however, is predicated upon you not getting lost by looking at the spectacular countryside that surrounds the village. 

I have been to Huesa four times already—two during 2008 and two during the fall of 2010—and am in the process of planning my trip back.  Part II of my Last Month In Spain will be a story of my first two experiences in Huesa.  After, I plan to blog about the last two, which I have to say were completely different experiences (went to a wedding, hung out with a gypsy singing flamenco and worked in the olive oil fields to just name a few).  


Stay Tuned

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ten Tips On Travelling Europe Efficiently

Something I wrote last March based on my travel experiences from the 2007-2008 school year.  Check it out at Niner International.

My Last Month In Spain: Recollections From Study Abroad

Note: I began writing this and realized there were way to many details for just one blog post.  I've broken it up into multiple parts.  Heres part one:


Pedro, Dani and I in the Sierra of Granada
 As my study abroad experience was coming to an end—one semester in Santander and the other in Madrid— I made the decision to stay an extra month.  I chose Granada after finding a place to live through loquo.com (the Spanish version of craigslist) and when my semester in Madrid ended, I was off.  Before going, of course, I made a trip down there to check out the apartment to make sure I wasn’t getting ripped off.

 I had already made contact with Maria, a sweet Spanish girl from the Canary Islands, who was one of three roommates; the other two were Basti and Pedro.  Basti was from the north of Germany and chose Granada for his study abroad destination.  He was about 6’3’’ from what I remember, sported dreadlocks a little lower than his shoulders, was a vegetarian, loved nature and was extremely sociable.  Basti and I shared many interests and we got a long great.  The other roommate, Pedro, was also quite a character.  I met him through the intercom at the entranceway to the apartment building.  He told me not to do anything and that he’ll be right down to help me with my luggage.  At least that’s what I think he said at the time, his Spanish (or Andaluz) was very hard to understand.  As I was getting my room in order for my month stay in Granada, Pedro barged in and said “finish that up later you have to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.”  “Ok, I responded,” not knowing what in the world we were going to do.


When Spain won the Eurocup
Pedro took me on a tapas tour of his personal favorites while telling me all about the nooks and crannies of the city: the best kepabs, bars, hang out spots, and more.  The tour unexpectedly turned into a 5 or 6 hour adventure with Pedro and I having told each other practically everything about our lives in Spain and America.  I’m not sure why, but every conversation we had kept leading us into a childhood story where we got in trouble.  We had a lot in common and new that our friendship would keep growing, even after I left Spain.  Before coming to Granada, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what Spanish life was like.  However, meeting Pedro changed everything: what I knew before turned out to be the tip of the iceberg.  My friend, from Andalucía, showed me how big it really was. 

Cooling off on a hot summer day with Tinto de Verano (wine).
Thats Martin in the background.
   I went with him pretty much everywhere and he introduced me to all his friends.  I was invited to poker games, the beach, the countryside and when we were bored, we decided to burn some gas and drive around the town.  Even though this was my last month in Spain, it was the first month I went without speaking any English.  It was like Pedro had opened the door to a mine shaft and told me to go all the way to the bottom.  Before descending, he reminded me of the Spanish culture I had experienced till that point.   After taking up his offer and walking through the door, he promised to take me to the depths of what Spanish culture really was.  Our journey didn’t start in Granada, however, but in a little town called Huesa…

Stay tuned


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Morning Quote

In light of all the immigration talk in America and Europe, I give you Theodore Roosevelt.  In 1919, in a letter to the American Defense Society, TDR wrote this on immigrants and being an American:

"In the first place we should insist that the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equity with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming an American and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1919

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Robert Deniro or Roe-bait Day-knee-row

An international star like Robert Deniro is widely known throughout the world.  He is most famous for his amazing performances in gangster classics such as Goodfellas and Casino.  Rest assured, when his name comes up in a conversation there would be no need to clarify who he is, right? Well, sort of. 

Phonetically speaking, Robert Deniro can be more than Robert Deniro in regards to languages.  As the title of this post tries to convey, the actor’s name (second time) is wrote as if a native Spanish speaker were to say it (just roll your “r” and you’ll see what I mean).  Naturally, when speakers of a language come across a foreign name, they tend to pronounce it using their own language’s vowel sounds.  Can you rightly assume, then, that a native Spanish speaker will comprehend your very American pronunciation of Robert Deniro when speaking Spanish? Maybe.  Imagine this scenario: You are with your Spanish friend and the topic is movies.  You roll your r’s, put accents where they need to be and try your best to sound as Spanish as you can.  But all of a sudden, you get to the name Robert Deniro and find yourself wondering how to pronounce it.  Do you follow suit with the Spanish you’re speaking and say Roe-bait Day-knee-row or do you throw a curveball in the conversation and say his name as we do in America? 

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Welcome

This is sin salsa blanca; it is your portal for international things.  That is, things which I find interesting and worth noting.  I will rely heavily upon my experiences abroad, many of which will be published on this blog, to provide you with an opinion...on those things.