Birthday presents and a new spanish princess, among other things!

What a beautiful birthday celebration. Some of the most important people in my life in Spain surrounded me today, and over chocolate cake and champagne they all became acquainted. Ignacio, Amelia, Juan Agustine, Rosa, Madelin, Piri, Amachu, and Janire. These are the people who have given me the most during my stay here –a place to climb, friendly advice, support and rejuvenation, an open ear, a roof over my head, and food! And today! Oh, today Ignacio and his parents gave me the most amazing material present! They gave me a climbing backpack!!! It includes the rope bag and everything and, let me tell you, I hugged them all ecstatically before storing it in my room, where I silently leapt and whooped for joy! Madelin gave me a Frisbee from her home state, Wisconsin, among other things. All the gifts I received from everyone were so thoughtful and meaningful. What luck I have to be surrounded by loving and giving people wherever I go. Even when find myself in an emotional state where I tear up most anytime anyone mentions the word “home” or “boyfriend,” there are people who give me something to smile at.
I would like to mention the freedom that words give; I share more through this blog than I usually do with my friends back home. Feel privileged as the audience of my usually cloaked mind.
So where shall I begin today?! Should I start with the adventures of the climbing gym? Or should hop on along to talk about how I feel like I have a good set of hang-out friends at school? Or maybe I should mention that I GOT A PASSING GRADE ON MY ART HISTORY TEST!!! (a 6 out of 10!) Yes, this grade is based on the same standards as my peers, and yes, this means that I have the ability to pass a class in Spanish and upon entering it half way through! *suavely brushes invisible dust off of chest* Thank you, thank you very much! But how about those friends? Well, I went browsing through hippy shops with one girl-friend on Friday and plan on going to the beach with her and another this next Wednesday (and we’ll be bringing a volleyball!). Granted, life isn’t all peaches and cream, but who needs too much cream when you’ve got fun people to hang out with!
And then there’s the climbing gym. Well, we could call Tuesday “The Americas Night” at the gym, cause Chili, Brazil, and the US were all in attendance! I, of course, was the outstanding representative from the US, with two other young men climbing from their respective countries. (Ironically, the man from Chili goes by the name of Argentina!) It was the best gym night in a while since I finally had people who climbed closer to my level and we were able to work stuff together.
Earlier that same day, I took an hour out of one of my art classes to go and talk with an eighth grade English class. In case you’re wondering, the girls think Brad Pitt is hot, and at least one of the guys has an affinity for Julia Roberts! We talk about the important things, of course! Nah, they prepared questions for me about my life (like what sports do I like, do I have siblings, where do I live, what is my favorite Spanish food, etc.) I shared photos, asked them about their general interests, and did all…of…this…speaking…veeery…slowwly. Have you ever tried to cut down your rate of speech to half speed? It is very taxing! But besides the jaw workout, the entire experience was very fun. And you wanna know what? I never would have known they were 8th graders by their behavior! I love how there are interesting people in every age category. I grieve for the person who is “above” talking to kids or younger teens, or the teen who looks at an 80-year-old man and only sees “some old person” instead of a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be tapped into with only a few kind words and open ears.
Well, a few Spanish nuances/facts for you to relish:
1. The Spanish greeting is a kiss on each cheek, starting with right cheeks together. (This takes the place of hand shakes. I really like this different way of greeting people because it immediately breaks the personal bubble and contributes to a more physically intimate society.)
2. Hardly anyone has a dryer. They go for the good-old-fashioned clothes lines. Unfortunately, this seems to call for a lot of ironing afterwards to counter the lovely creases that form.)
3. Due to Muslim architectural influences, most every house and apartment has an indoor “patio.” (Although, ours looks more like one more room rather than a patio. Originally, it was organized so that many families could live together with a common garden/washing area open to the air in the middle of everything.)
4. The Mediterranean diet it dying and being replaced by the convenient, fast diet that is quickly overtaking the modern world. I blame us. *shakes fist at that dead guy who invented the fast-food restaurant*
5. Princess Sophia was just born today and all the Spanish news stations are broadcasting the king´s comments while all of the comedy shows revolving their shows around baby jokes, etc.
6. Now is the time of the elections, but I´m not paying attention because there are too many political parties to keep track of, and it´s all a show anyways. Many of the soccer stars seem to have more influence than these politicians!

Lots of love!

Hugs,

Jocelyn




(Note: I wrote this on Sunday but our internet was down so I couldn´t post it until today. Just so you know!)