Episode 10, 5/22/2009 – Retail Therapy…It’s a good thing.

You may notice I’m skipping over the intense Seville Cathedral trip on 5/21/2009, simply because I realized that without pictures to guide me, my description would be meaningless, and also that I could go on for ten or more pages just describing what I have seen. In that case, I’d much rather explain the Cathedral on a person-to-person basis instead of writing about it. Know that is was the single greatest thing I’ve seen in Sevilla and it was absolutely speech-stealing in its power to marvel. Thus, I’m going to have to keep you in suspense, again. Mwhahaha!

I’ll skip to the next day, which was Operation: Find Gifts for Family and Friends. Being me, I made a list of all the people I wanted to buy gifts for (10+ people…that’s a lot). I went on my own to some larger department stores like El Corte Ingles and Media Markt (funny story: I have yet to see a consistent pronunciation of this). El Corte Ingles is hailed as being the Harrods of Spain, but I found it more like the Macy’s of Spain with a grocery store attached. The prices had Harrod’s ridiculousness but not the selection or the quality. It was mostly whack, so I was a little disappointed. Media Markt was Best Buy, but ironically, with cheaper goods than even in America. I bought a couple of things and then met with the group to go shopping in central city.

We went to Avenida de la Constitucion (as you’ll remember from my last blog post). Shops are pretty kitchy and touristy and some of us were too tired to continue on to the more elite shops further on. I found one or two simple things and we kept walking. Being that it IS Spain and something strange is always going down, we saw some cool and funny things. Religious processions are quite common, and we saw two passing through the center. These processions are easily recognized by their floats of the Virgin Mary, REALLY LOUD and obnoxious tinny brass trumpets, and people dressed up like KKK members….No, really. I’ll show you a picture. This particular procession (again, to the Virgin Mary) held up traffic for 10 or so minutes, but at least we got some good pictures.

The other interesting thing that we found was a wedding at the Cathedral. What a place to get married in! It was so nice and the atmosphere was so happy, I had to get pictures of the bride and groom. With my telescoping lens, I got some shots so good, I should have gone up to the couple and charged for prints. I’ll share some with you.

Shopping-wise I did find the absolute COOLEST shop called FNAC. It was like a Borders meets a Harrods meets a Hot Topic meets a Spenser’s Gifts, but much more expensive and high brow. It had an EXCELLENT selection of music, movies, videogames, books, pop-culture merchandise, and all very nice and clean and well-decorated. Everyone else was moving at a slightly different pace than my desire to spend 4 hours there, haha, so I resolved to come back another day.

After my group pooped out, I annexed to another group going out for paella for dinner. Paella, for all you Spanish n00bs, is a traditional dish of rice and meat (usually seafood), served in a steaming hot platter with spices. We went to this really bizarre restaurant called “Boston Burger” which had nothing to do with Boston or Burgers. In fact, when Christine tried to order a burger, they replied, “we don’t have them”. Very odd. The paella was only okay too…It was kind of a hack restaurant, really. But as they say, you live and you learn. Next time will be better. After putting the paella behind us, the group went out for desert and I went home.

Episode 9, 5/20/2009 – Just a walk in the park.

I’m a little behind on my blogging, and as expected, some things are beginning to run together in my head. Forgive me if some of this is not exactly chronological, but I promise I’ll be more up to date with it soon.

The day was pretty uneventful, but the night was interesting. Nick, David, Sarah, Rachael, Holli and I decided to go out and take a walk to central city, and we saw some cool things along the way that I thought I should share with you guys. First, the central city is like a gigantic spiderweb. If you look at it on a map, there is no set infrastructure plan. The streets are no wider than a mini-cooper and the tall building obscure one’s ability to find one’s way be sight alone. They all diverge in complex, sharp turns here and there with at least 3 changes to the street name in 100 feet or so. The best method of finding one’s way is just knowing in what direction the destination lies, and then meander towards it as best as possible. Needless to say, in this labyrinth of streets, there are all sorts of bizarre and interesting shops just waiting for study-abroad students to explore.

That wasn’t our goal for the night, however. We ended up wandering around, as we always do, and conversing. Nick, Rachael and myself were walking on a particularly weird and confusing street when a Spanish woman on roller blades made eye contact with us and started screaming and gesturing “Cuidado! Cuidado!” and gesturing us to the other side of the street. Quite confused, we hurried out of the way. A half-second later a train of roller-bladers come streaming down the street, all linking by hands-on-shoulders and shouting something that sounded like “ole!” It was quite funny, looking back. And that, is Spain in a nutshell.

As I recall in my mind, we ended up walking to el centro and getting ice cream and walking back. Again, the details are a little fuzzy, but that’ll be fixed once I get more regular with the blog posting.

Episode 8, 5/19/09 – Routines are both a blessing and a curse.

Hola chicos! It’s been a while since I’ve been writing this, but I suppose that’s because I have a life now. “But DJ Dustbunny, you’ve never had a life before!” Well, you’re right kiddies. Unfortunately this life is called “homewurk” and it is comprised of the delicate balance of doing homework during the day and having fun at night. It’s sort of like being a superhero....or a prostitute.

In terms of my classes, they are going well. First I have El Arte Español con Fernando, who is a great professor and I think I’m going to learn a lot during the class. I’ve also got a lot of friends in the class, so that makes everything a whole lot easier and a whole lot more fun.

The second class is the harder one: Spanish literature from 1700 to present. The professor takes the class very seriously and there’s quite a bit of homework. I’m not too stressed, since the class IS pass/fail, but it’s still something I must keep up with and distracts me from doing cool things in Sevilla.

After our first “conferencia” about the fiestas of Spain (ironically enough, stuff I already learned in Spanish IV H. in high school), we decided to go out. This time to an Irish pub in Sevilla called “O’Neil’s”, and as an advertisement for it declared, “the most popular bar in Spain”.

Well, I’m not sure about that. But we did have a lot of fun. We got the regular group together and walked there (not too far from where I’m living). The place was remarkably American. And indeed the waiter insisted (in his rapid Andalucian Spanish) that he loved America and was in fact visiting next week. Muy interesante. It was a cute, quaint kind of joint. I had my first experience with “tinto de verano”, translated directly (“summer wine”). What it is is Fanta mixed with wine. Fanta? Y’know, “wanna Fanta, don’tchawanna wanna Fanta…” That kind of Fanta. It’s VERY good. I particularly loved the bar for its hilariously eclectic music, mixing classic techno (popular in Spain) with ye olde classic rock songs from the 70’s. I heard LMC vs. U2’s “Take Me To The Clouds Above”, Mylo’s “Dr. Pressure”, and a few other random ditties, put next to U2 (the rock band lol) and Queen. Speaking of Queen, the highlight of the night was Nick and Holli’s dramatic rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which consisted of 7+ American students yelling the lyrics at full volume in an Irish bar in Seville. Haha, and the Spanish couple who was sitting next to us left soon afterwards.

Episode 7, 5/17/09 – La Festival Medieval, Religión y Sangría para todos!

I woke up very….VERY late. As in around 15:30. I had promised to meet Zhenya and help her with the 18^th century. Zhenya was time-traveling that day to the 18^th century and wanted my advice on whether petticoats or frocks were “in” during that time……..No, not really. Rather, I helped her study for a test about colonial relations between Spain and Latin America in the 18^th century, a subject that, believe it or not, I am somewhat well-versed on.

I went back to La Plaza de España, which I was exuberant about being able to spend more time in, and bought a traditional Spain-ish lemonade (can't remember the name). The weather was just hot enough that it was uncomfortable, but comically enough, just hot enough too that a good drink and a cool breeze would make it all better. I walked further into el parque Maria Luisa and sat with Zhenya and some of her folks and helped them study. Which when I mean study, I mean intersperse conversations about how indigenous people got pwned by the Spaniards with discussions about the Office and whether LOST’s Des+Penny are cuter than Jim+Pam. Very thought-provoking, no?

I ran into David and Nick walking in the park and via text from Holli, we decided to go again to la Festiva Medieval again, since this was closing night. I suppose we should have realized that it would be a little sub-par this time, since we got there at 20:00ish (and I later due to a delayed dinner). Everything was shutting down, so Rachael and Katie bought some stuff while David, Nick, Bobby and I “chilled”, watching the goofy Spaniards, dressed in medieval garb and still using their mobiles. Muy irónico. Everybody realized, oh well, the festival had pretty much shut down; the night was yet young, so we decided to continue with our excellent fun.

It’s always more fun to be together. Even if one isn’t doing anything special. Case in point: in la jardín Catalina de Ribera we found a really neat playground, but nothing like what is common in America. The “swings” were spiral, moving around and backandforth. Justin, Holli, and I tried it and we spun ‘till we dizzied ourselves sick. There was also a zipline, which I HAD to try, of course. It was so much fun! We amused ourselves like zany 4 year-olds for 20 minutes or so. Then we regrouped and initiated a quest to find a bar open at 00:00ish on a Sunday evening (which let me tell ya, is a quest indeed).

A brief interlude that I’m reminded of: one of the reasons why NOTHING is open on Sundays is thanks to the immense Catholic influence on Spain. The Catholic presence isn’t just something that exists, next to a diverse collection of other religions. It’s essentially the national religion, which has IMMENSE socio-political implications. First, it is absolutely engrained in Sevillan society. It is engrained in the streets; every street is the name of a saint or an incarnation of a holy figure. It is engrained in the daily activities; streets close dozens of times per month for holy festivals and holy days the streets are absolutely empty and the churches full. It is engrained in the semantics of the language (“gracias a los santos que…,” “ojala que… [etc.]”). It is engrained in the news; as every major event in the Catholic Church receives absolute top billing, almost to the sense that there is a “Pope Watch” trailing the activities of his Holiness. It’s not to say that the commentary about the church is positive. The church has taken quite a lot of heat in the news (perhaps unsurprisingly) about their (as I heard one person say) “antiquated” views of premarital sex, contraception, same-sex relationships, and fiscal policy (yes, I did say fiscal policy). This is especially interesting to me for several reasons. First, there is barely a separation of church and state. Second, nobody really cares. Religion is inextricably tied to Spanish politics. Criticism of Catholic influence of political events isn’t directed against the fact that the Church shouldn’t be involved in politics - it’s directed against the fact that the Church hasn’t updated its politics for the modern age. Third, the Spanish media culture is absolutely 100% opposite that of American media as it relates to religion. The American media consider religion quite taboo and purposely treat religion as “something that those people do” that we can’t talk about on the show. Political correctness has evolved in our immensely heterogeneously religious country and has, quite frankly in my opinion, silenced a lot of extremely important religious-political dialogue that is necessary not only for “believers” but also for the general functioning of the morality upon which we build American society. At the same time (and fourth on my list), since Roman Catholicism is so incredibly written into the underlying code of Spanish society, other religions and practices tend to be either marginalized, or ignored completely. I’m unsure as to whether this “laissez-faire to non-Catholics” approach means that non-Catholic religion is stronger in Spain than in America. I would intuitively guess so, since “alternative” religion is under less “attack”…But I have by this point, created a tangent that is longer than my actual report of what I’m doing in Sevilla. Back to the story, yah?

I left you in suspense in our epic quest to find a bar open on Sunday nights. Well, we wandered on Menendez y Pelayo to the touristier places and found a bar, right next to a GREAT gelato place where we sat outdoors. Haha so funny story (dramatized for your pleasure).

Justin: Quiero sangría.

Colin, Stephanie, Rachael, et. all: Me too!

Stephanie (to waiter): 3 jarras de sangría!!

(Pause).

Rachael: You know, we really can’t drink that much.

Stephanie (to waiter): 2 jarras de sangría….

We were glad we took the lighter amount of sangria. I got gelato (Spanish gelato is very different from Italian gelato, but I’ve already spent too much time on random tangents) and sat down with the group, enjoying, as always, good conversation and good friends. We drank the sangria, which wasn’t as good as the stuff that we had on Calle Betis but still served to satisfy Steph, Justin, and my cravings. The hour we spent there passed all-too-quickly. Sarah G. and I walked back to “Pull & Bear” (the most awesomely named clothing store of all time) and I went to bed.

Episode 6, 5/16/2009 – “Vamos a ponernos crunk.”

Today was possibly the most epic day ever. One of those days when you lay in bed at 4:00am and restlessly stir because you’ve experienced an eternity in a single day. At 9:30 we left for Itálica, which is an ancient Roman city that was the inspiration for Gladiator. We got a guided tour of the site and its spectacular amphitheater by one of our professors. It was impressive, though disappointing that not more of the ruins exist (being that the town of Itálica is built on top of the ruins). I took LOTS of pictures and absorbed as much of the spirit and feel of the place in my mind as I possibly could. Itálica was my first experience with anything “ancient” being within my touch, so it was a little overwhelming to tread where years-dead Romans once tread.

Afterwards, we went to the beach. Literally. To a place called “Matalascanas”. It was about an hour’s drive, so I took brief naps, which turned out to be an excellent idea. The beach itself was fantastic (also lots of pictures were taken). Our group generally stuck together and we swapped witty conversation (my favorites being reminiscences about classic Disney films and discussions about Julia’s intense whiteness).

I feel obliged to inform you of particular European custom that was quite…interesting. Yep, there were boobies. Lots of topless sunbathing going on here in plain sight. Skinny people, fat people, even 50+ year old mothers. It was a bit shocking and not as much sexy as it was incredibly awkward. Yep…That story really had no point, but I felt like I should share.

Post said nudity, Christine, Andrea, Greg and myself decided to splinter off for a walk where we collected shells and “frolicked” in the FRIGGIN COLD water. Good quote: “esta agua es FRIGGIN COLD”. The water WAS freezing, but we got in anyway and (ala “Finding Nemo”) touched the “Piedra Grande” near the water. Afterwards, we spent some euros on ice cream and took photos. Excellent memories.

We rode back and prepared for a night out on the town. And now, as Monty Python says, for something completely different. Well, I was walking down the street near where I live and on the street corner there was this girl standing in the alcove of a storefront closed for the night. Note that this is a very busy street in a rather crowded area, even at night. The area closes down around 20:00 and she was huddled in the nook, bracing herself against the metal bars that they put down when the stores closes. She was around 16, I’d say, and dressed to…well…she was WAYYY too young to be dressing like that in the first place. I was walking by and we made eye contact. All of a sudden, she steps closer to me and woops there goes her blouse, exposing one of her boobs. She didn’t say anything (I guess I was expecting her to) and I was too shocked to even turn my head back. Even now I can’t decide whether or not she was a ho (as traveling ho’s are apparently quite rampant in Europe), a Janet Jackson impersonation gone wrong (aka Wardrobe Malfunction part 2), or simply a very confused girl attracted to this dashing foreign man walking by (…lol one might say I have a gift?). In any case, it was a truly bizarre experience. I joined up with the group and put Ms. Looseboobs behind me.

As always characteristic with our group, we have grand plans of “doing stuff” that through divine providence always ends up that we sit “doing nothing” and having a damn good time doing it. We had grandiose plans of finally going to Buddha (the 3-story discoteque extravaganza across the river). Our group got a little fragmented and we lost a few people to splintergroups but we rallied the troops and pressed onwards over the river. Our night comprised the following homies: Stephanie, Justin, Holli, Bobby, Greg, Katie, Nick, Sarah G., Rachael, etc. and myself. Enticed by the thought of 4 euro mohitos, we trekked across the river to the always-poppin’ Calle Betis, which is the absolute epicenter of the Sevillan nightlife. The 4 euro mohitos were a bit too crowded, so we plopped down on a sidewalk near the river and a waiter came up to us and took our order for drinks. It was a memorable night, spurred by that fascinating Spanish concoction sangría. SHOUT OUT: Christina, you were totally right, that stuff IS funny juice! Stephanie, Katie and I ordered tapas for the group to share and we ended up staying there for the entire night, “poniendo crunk” (as the Spanish call it) taking pictures, swapping stories, and having an excellent time. We decided that we were too tired to go to Buddha, so we saved that for another day. Nosotros ya pusimos bastante crunk para esta noche.

I walked back with the gang and got to bed at around 4:00 (am, mind ye). Epic day.

Episode 5, 5/15/09 – New friends, old friends, one gigantic city.

Today was rather surreal. Like a Dalí painting, a Sevilla native himself. Imagine (if you will), un calle Sevillano. It’s lined with cafés, tapas bars, “farmacias,” and of course, creative graffiti. Picture Sevilla orange trees, clustered with oranges, more plentiful than Christmas tree ornaments, adorn the sidewalks and one’s visage. Sitting on a café bench (cleverly avoiding paying for a drink, mind you, by saying “I’m waiting for my friends”) is me.

The morning was uneventful enough, save making plans with Holli, David, Katie and co. for Angeles y Demonios later in the evening. So I’ll skip to the afternoon. On this aforementioned street, I met up with Paige and Zhenya, old homies of mine who have been studying in Seville since January, along with their friend Molly. This is when the surreal part comes in, folks. I walked Eduardo Dato (a very prominent street for all you Americanos. Get used to me referencing this) for quite some time earlier. During this time, I heard only Spanish, saw only Spanish people, spoke only in Spanish, and tried to think in Spanish. Being in a Spanish country and not knowing the language well, one is constantly trying to turn on “Spanish mode”. Preconstructing sentences in Spanish, learning the Spanish street names, etc. Imagine the delightful shock to my brain when I see walking towards me my American friends, the very same people who I said goodbye to last year.

We began the catching-up process and walked to las jardines (gardens) de Catalina de Ribera for a medieval festival. I’d never been to a medieval festival, save once when I was very young, but this one was interesting enough. No jousting, but plenty of falcons, medieval-looking food, candy shaped like a pork bone, commercial/kitchy crafts and gifts, horse rides and Spaniards in medieval dress. Lots of pictures were taken, and Zhenya, Paige and I did some excellent catching-up with our lives. Afterwards, Zhenya and I continued on to el Parque Maria Luisa. It’s an extremely large park with some of the prettiest natural scenery I’ve witnessed thus far in Sevilla. Not incredibly touristy, and filled with Spaniards walking their dogs, wives, and children. The trees were fully in bloom and the heat was countered by a pleasant breeze and the shade of the trees and la Plaza de España. It was excellent and easily one of the best memories I’d had thus far. Zhenya and I bid adieu at some point, and I rested a little for the main event of the evening: Angeles y Demonios with Katie, Holli, David, Nick, Sarah etc.

The walk from our place to the Plaza Nueva was a little intense, but very much worth it. Expect a forthcoming blog post on the nightlife in Sevilla. But let me tell you, 00:30 is a hoppin’ time en el Centro de Sevilla. I got my first glimpse of the famous Catedral de Sevilla, which further piqued my quest to visit it. Also expect a blog post entirely devoted to it. And a blog post devoted entirely to what I thought of the movie (sorry, but I gotta keep you in suspense).

The walk back was epic-in-scope, as we made ties between the movie and “real life” (eg. that Angel is pointing to this building! It’s a sign!”). Afterwards, met up with Michael again, walked home and goodnight moon.

Episode 4, 5/14/09 – This city is a lot bigger than I thought.

The morning was rather skip-over-able. Michael and I woke up and waited in our room to be moved to our house.

While waiting, I perused a free magazine I found in the lobby called “MAGASOUND.” It was a magazine devoted to techno music. I almost had an eargasm. Techno music is king in all of Europe, especially in Spain. I pretty much picked the best place in the world for a technohead to study abroad! It was so fascinating to me to see a magazine devoted to what they call “musica moderna”. Techno in Spain similar to circa-2000 American rap music in the sense that it has broken into the mainstream by virtue of many talented artists and now is at a critical shaping point. One of the articles in MAGNASOUND interviewed DJs about the direction of techno music and whether it was becoming “too commercial”. “Too commercial”? The words still ring in my head as an example of what a different music culture the techno-loving Spaniards have from us American fans. In other news, when I DID acquire a cellphone, it happened to have FM radio. I tuned into a couple of “pop(ular)” music stations, namely 92.5 and the famous 96.5 “Máxima” (legendary even outside of Spain for being a premier techno station. Like XMBPM in America, before they turned shitty). I heard Robyn’s “With Every Heartbeat” remixed, couple of Armin Van Buuren tracks, “Don’t Cha” (Ralphi Rosario Mix) by the Pussycat Dolls, “Memory” by Fragma and some new song by Bob Sinclar called “What a Wonderful World.” It was like heaven.

We took a cab to el apartamento, which ended up being a really nice house, structured very similarly to a hostel. Our señora, Charo, is a very nice middle-aged lady, a very modern, even eccentric, photographer who rents her rooms out to students when there is no work. Also staying with us (but not through our program) was Julia, from Cuba and looking for work in Sevilla. Charo is very sweet and her eclectic collection of Catholic, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu statues, wall scrolls, posters, etc. was unendingly interesting. Sadly, our house does not have internet, so I just might be broken of my annoying facebook addiction. Speaking of pictures, a few have popped up here and there (like swine flu…or en español, la enfermedad de origen porcino). But I’ll concentrate on taking more pictures hopefully sometime soon. Everything is so scenic; it’s hard not to take pictures of everything.

A brief interlude on the concept of the “siesta,” since I promised you folks in Episode 3 a full explanation. The Spanish day is structured as follows: wake up at 8ish, breakfast, which is light, consisting of coffee/tea and toast (maybe), lunch at around 14:00 (oh I didn’t explain this, have I? It’s military time. Wait and see!) which is the big meal of the day, then dinner REALLY late at around 21:00-22:00 which is moderate-sized. After lunch, at around the hours of 15:00-17:00, stuff SHUTS DOWN COMPLETELY. It’s called a siesta. It originated from ye olde days in la España medieval when it was too hot to go outside, but has little practical use today except to frustrate the beejeezus out of study abroad students. In all seriousness, everything closes save El Corte Ingles and a few cafes. The streets are empty. Devoid of cars, bicycles, and people. It’s an urban wasteland. All of this is fascinating for an American writer. And for a B-school kid, especially interesting is the culture of Spanish banking during siesta. In Spain, there’s a bank on every street corner, of 10+ different franchises, but they have hours from 9-13. Saaaayyy whaaa??? How does any reasonable working fellow go to the bank, then? It blows mi mente, especially from a Business perspective. Think on how much revenue is lost every day from not staying open during siesta! As Michael and I both agree, Spanish banks need to update their business model.

Michael and I hung out for the entire day. First, we went to Yoigo (a funny portmanteau of “yo” and “oigo”) for a cellphone. Anyone interested in Business should pay attention to Yoigo’s marketing strategies. Quite frankly, they’re brilliant; and they’ve worked well to capture a major part of the market share in only a couple years. We got the phones (only 29 euros with 5 euros of prepaid minutes) and left for lunch. After lunch (consisting of pasta with red sauce…very… Spanish…?) , we decided to trek to our school to see how long the walk was. 30 minutes. Do-able…but not great. After a lot of walking, we got back to the house. We walked with our señora to an internet café (much better than walking 30 damn minutes for the internet). It’s called SanSora, and is most likely where I will post these little memoirs when I’m not at school. After that, dinner and bed. No real excitement, due likely to the fact that everybody is just now acquiring phones. It’s a shame Spaniards don’t have more free internet, but college kids will find a way, dammit.