Malentendidos, Mimes & Mexican food.

Alright, haven’t written in a while, but maybe that’s a good sign that I’m busy? More like I’ve just been soaking in the nice, sunny weather! Ok, funny things to share…

The last weekend in Feb, my program went to Madrid for the day. Slightly anticlimactic because we went to the Palacio Real (been there) and a speed tour of the Prado art museum (done that). But Jen, Emily, Andrea and I had a nice lunch in the Parque del Retiro (where the kings used to relax) and we rented one of the rowboats! You can see the pictures on Facebook, which by the way, I still haven’t put up my pictures from Valladolid + Ciudad Rodrigo, so I’ll try to do that soon. I’ve also been oddly sick for the past 10 days. I’m thinking I had a small sinus infection, but it’s going away.

So Mexican food. We (like 20 of us!) went out for Mexican food for Adriana’s b-day because she’s Mexicana/Americana and wanted to go. It was subpar, but it was nice to get out. I had a beer with my meal and complained about the lack of spicy/hot sauce. Spanish people are weak!

On Tuesday, I went to Trivia night at Holy Cross, a bar with church looking windows and confessional looking booths, ahaha. Emily, Andrea and I met with my intercambio friend Ana to go play! There were 3 rounds: 1) questions about Spain’s history, movies, sports, famous people, etc., 2) songs - Spanish pop, American songs, national anthems, movie scores and 3) pictures of famous people that have been photoshopped (in this case, all were bald!). We didn’t win, but we met Beatrice, Ana’s nice Italian friend. Afterwards they invited us to go out, but it was a school night! Psh, so Ana said she’d call me that weekend to go out to a party.

Malententido = Misunderstanding. This story is hilarious, but also upsetting. So a few of us went to “Variaciones sobre Rosa Parks”, a monologue-ish play about Rosa Parks written by a Spaniard. We were hands-down the youngest ones there by like 30 years. I felt proud because I could understand almost all of the play, and it included Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech which almost makes me cry, among other historical mentions, like the murder of Eliot, the boy from Mississippi (?) and segregation laws. Afterwards there was a chat, and some people asked stupid questions. I raised my hand and asked the director/actresses what they thought the purpose was of showing this type of play to a Spanish audience just because it included so many references to American culture and historical events. The audience all turned around to look at me, asking me to expand upon my ideas, etc. Then a bunch were all talking at the same time explaining to me about how it was about civil rights (well duh) and how that’s a universal theme. Ok, yes, I knew that, thank you Spanish women. But then! Afterwards some women crowded around us telling us about it being national women’s day soon and how racism doesn’t just exist in the US (well super DUH). I just nod my head, realizing my question has been misunderstood. Before the director had asked the audience how many of them knew the history of Rosa Parks before seeing the play - like 20 out of 40, and that included 10 American girls. So then! We get out of the theater and another group of old Spanish women are waiting for us to talk about how the play has a message about civil rights and women overcoming difficulties (DUH). I was just so mad and amused to be so misunderstood. My main concern was that the Spanish audience wouldn’t feel as connected to the play because: 1) They can’t hear the powerful way MLK delivers his speech, but read an ok translation of it, and 2) did they know the surrounding events such as Eliot’s murder or the bombings in a Birmingham church? It’s like if the US watched a play about Franco whom few really know about, and they would understand the basics (dictatorship, repression, etc.), but would they truly appreciate the jokes about Franco’s appearance, or the irony of how he employed Muslim Africans to fight for a Catholic Spain or his religious, sad upbringing? NO is the answer. I rest my case. Hope that made some sense.

Piso (apartment) party and Mimes! So Ana invited Emily and I to go to a party of her friend from England. It was great because imagine a room full of students from: Italy, Spain, France, Slovakia, Holland, Argentina, China, Ireland, England and the US. Yay! The room was full of Spanish and English, and the birthday girl and some of her friends dressing up like mimes with face paint, striped shirts, gloves and hats. We had a couple of drinks (I brought some beer, I felt so adult!) and went out to a couple of bars. But greatest thing ever! This girl from China loved me because I actually knew something of her culture and was telling her about Lexi! She was so excited when I spoke in Chinese (yeah I did). I said the words for: bus, dumpling, friend, dance, I love you and I’ll beat you to death/kill you. She was thrilled, as were the people around me. I am setting out a great name for the US - you’re welcome USA (Jenny: 2 points, US: 0). As for the 2 bars we went to, it was so funny because we danced to songs from…Grease! So weird. And we danced a crazy long time and weren’t bothered AT ALL by gross boys because there were boys with us, and I had so much fun. They were such nice people, and I’ll hopefully see a few of them at trivia tomorrow. By the end, I was wearing white mime gloves and a cowboy hat with black and white spots like a cow. I kept telling them it was incorrect since I am from the north. Anyway, great times.
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Observations:
1) There is no Spanish word for blueberries. Cranberries, blackberries, etc. yeah. But my host-mom had no idea of what I was walking about.
2) I love Spanish milk. Yes, I admit it. Before I left, I told mom I thought Spanish milk was weird. And it kind of is because you don’t have to refrigerate it. But it doesn’t taste weird and hormone-y like US milk. And it’s strange because Spanish kids tend to be malnourished of calcium and don’t’ get enough. There are even commercials for chocolate for kids to get calcium!
3) So there was an article a while ago saying that the US is #1 in Internet availability and consistency. Agreed. School buildings are closed on the weekends, so I can’t use it there and have to pay for a drink in some café to use some maybe dependable wifi.
4) Politics. I never considered myself a particularly political person, but here I say I am definitely. Spanish people don’t like to talk about politics and say all politicians are corrupt/liars, which could maybe be true. When I was at the party this weekend I was saying how my mom did door-knocking for Obama’s campaign, and this Italian guy was like, “That’s SO American!”. Really? Guess so. Proud to be politically interested.
5) I went to an Intercambio with Emily. I just have one comment. He said he couldn’t tell I was American when I spoke in Spanish (awesome!), but he said I had a Mexican accent in terms of intonation! Ahaha.