Bridge-making!

So I've decided at the last minute to be very Spanish and "hacer puente" (make a bridge) since we have Tuesday off. So, I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off yesterday trying to book a bus ticket and a place to stay in Madrid on such short notice and miraculously I made things happen. I am leaving tomorrow morning at 6:30am on a Supra bus (or Comfy Bus as Jay calls it, haha) which is basically like a plane on wheels with attendence, recliners, and even wifi available. It looks really, really sweet. There was a special deal going on for people under 26 years old and leaving from Asturias so I got 20% off everything. I booked a hostel right in the middle of everything on the Gran Via and is also right next door to the metro, so I'm pretty much set.

I SHOULD have internet access, but if I don't for some reason, I will be back Tuesday night so don't worry :-) If anyone would like my cell phone number who doesn't have it already let me know and I'll drop you a message.

Well I need to return to film class, un saludo!

Some cultural ranting... and bathroom mayhem. (Warning: LONG entry!)

Well I am less than 5 weeks away from home, and honestly it couldn't come soon enough. I have a wonderful home here in Spain with nice people to help me along (and who spoil me with home cooked meals every day), but I find myself entirely ready to come back to the good ol' U.S of A. The area really is quite beautiful as well, but the culture is honestly starting to get old. Naturally people are a lot more calm and stress-free here, which certainly has its advantages, but I miss the now-now-now American mentality where things get done right away because that's what is expected. We have 4 more weeks of classes left here, and they still haven't finished making my University ID card, for example.

I've told a few people about this already, but I thought I would post it on here as well. A couple of weeks ago there was a story on the news about a fire in Seville I think it was, where several generations of a family was living in this same building including a young pregnant girls and the building caught on fire due to an electrical fault or something. This isn't all that strange in any part of the world honestly, but the unacceptable part was that everyone in the family died because the firemen took over 30 minutes to arrive to the scene. There were riots for a few days afterwards, and it is a terribly tragic story, but the whole time while I was watching this story on the news I kept thinking "...but this culture BREEDS this behavior." Everything is done at a snail's pace, and it's all fine and dandy as people seem to also have endless patience to accommodate this lifestyle, that is, until people die because of it. The thing is, this building was not in the middle of nowhere, we are talking about Seville, a huge city which probably had a fire station fairly nearby.

Another basic cultural quirk that has been "grinding my gears" a bit as Peter Griffin would say... Everyone knows that Europeans are generally, on the whole, more fashionable than us Americans. Okay, I expected this. However, the emphasis on appearance in clothing is just the beginning. I have seen at least 10 different occasions, without exaggeration, where I have seen people painting railings or something on campus, which honestly didn't look half bad to begin with, with some fashionably mis-matched color or just going over the tiny little flecks of paint that have chipped off with wear and tear that honestly, I had not even noticed before. Everything is always freshly painted, very colorful, and on the lawns there is not a single weed to be seen. I must admit, most everything looks very beautiful on the campus and around the city in general.

However, and I'll take the campus as an example since it is after all, a public institution and a major presence in the city with over 40k students... Without exaggeration, about 90% of bathroom stalls don't have functioning locks because the wood on the doors has warped or the hardware has become unscrewed or bent. Seriously, I usually just take my backpack in with me and lean it up against the stall door to keep it closed. About 60% of the toilets don't have seats on them, or the seat is broken and slides all over the place.

Furthermore, I have only found ONE bathroom on campus that has had paper towels to dry after washing your hands. There is often a hand dryer thingy, but it is also usually broken or has so little force that I would seriously be better off blowing on my own hands. Usually there is no soap either, so I suppose it doesn't even matter.

One day on campus Milan I went to use the restroom and there was a janitor coming out with her cleaning cart in tow as I was going in. I asked her if it was open, and she said "Oh yes go on in, I just finished up in there." I go in, and there is STILL no soap, no papertowels, and in fact, there isn't even toilet paper (except the bits that was on the floor). I was half tempted to ask her on my way out "...so what exactly did you DO in there?!"

Every time I see someone painting a railing, I just want to yell at them "...shouldn't you fix the locks on the bathroom stalls instead?! Or put some paper towels in the dispenser?! Or heaven forbid install a new toiletseat?!"

There have been countless instances where the outward appearance was quite obviously priority #1, and functionality was much further down on the list. There is such a huge emphasis on appearance that it just takes up all the time and money it seems. Yes, everything is pretty on the outside, but I just don't think having a shady gas-station-esque bathroom is very pretty, or professional either.... and not very clean without having soap available and such to boot.

Okay, so I have to mention something about the library bathrooms too: Seriously, I was confused about this one. So I walk into the bathroom, which looks very pretty of course, and I REALLY needed to use the restroom. Naturally I run into the first stall I see and close the door, leaning my backpack up against it to keep it closed, and before sitting down I realize there is no toilet paper. In fact, there's not even a dispenser for toiletpaper. Strange, I thought, but whatever I just switched to another stall. Again, no TP, nor is there a place to store TP.

Before trying the last stall I realized that there is a toilet paper dispenser on the outside of the 3 stalls, but no dispenser in any of the stalls. I felt like John Spartan with the 3 seashells in Demolition Man. In this instance I decided not to contemplate it too much and just grabbed a hand full of TP and went into the stall, which was still no easy feat with one of those huge dispensers and 1 ply TP.. not conducive to quick and easy dispensing since it rips so easily.

Afterwards however, I had to wonder exactly what IS the etiquette on this? There have been certain hygienic / cultural differences that I encountered before but it was usually a matter of "Oh, well I guess that does make sense in a weird way.." for example, the existence of bides, the fact that most homes have baby-wipes for adults on hand at the toilet, etc... again, things that do sort of make sense but are just a little different.

So okay, the library bathroom: I asked Jay what his thoughts were on the subject, and he concluded that perhaps people only use public restrooms to take a leak and thus, only need a hand full of toilet paper. I could see this being possible, since honestly, I have really only seen 4-5 women actually enter a bathroom stall on campus the whole time I've been here.... bathrooms are really just for touching up make up, apparently. However, there are certainly instances where a person might want more than a little handful and perhaps don't realize until they get in there you know? Okay, seriously folks, especially for the ladies, think about it... this really doesn't make sense.

One more bathroom quirk: The main door to the bathroom is almost ALWAYS left open. Okay, even if I am just washing my hands, I don't really want the whole world watching me in the bathroom, or peering at the stall where I've got my backpack propped up against the door to hold it shut. I realize that there isn't really any reason for this, I mean, people don't see into the stalls (unless you're unlucky enough to not have a way to hold the door shut..), but it still puts me a bit on edge. Plus, there is always that awkward moment where you have to peer behind the door to make sure you're going into the correct bathroom. Furthermore, the same goes for the men's bathrooms, where the urinals are often in full view. Luckily I haven't encountered a situation as of yet where someone was actually using said urinals, but it still seems weird to me.

Well okay I'll end it here since I have ranted long enough. Less than 5 weeks until I come back to The States.

McDonald's Commercial

Okay, so speaking of McDonalds, there is this new commercial on TV here that I found to be a bit hilarious just because I've always wondered what an impression of an American accent would sound like according to a Spaniard..... and well, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EyGo_ehnJU

The parts that isn't actually in "English" says: "The Beef Supreme Hamburger: a hamburger with authentic American character."

I thought it was funny at least...

Back to Muros, then to Oviedo again.

When we returned to the house in Muros, we had a couple of surprises waiting for us in the back yard... Paloma and her son!





Back in Oviedo to pick up some food at the fair, there was a little parade going on with people in traditional dress and, you guessed it, bagpipes!

...last of Gijon

A familiar face: Pelayo


Some local fare... they like to put their food out on display in shop-windows for some reason.


The little walkway next to the beach of Gijon... lots of dogs and people walking around enjoying the fresh air.


...another view...

More of Gijon

Another view of the beach of Gijon


This is the Plaza Mayor of Gijon... almost every Spanish town has some sort of Plaza Mayor like this with little shops and things around for people to gather and to have little fairs and whatnot.


This is El Palacio, an old Palace that has since been converted into a restaurant.


This is the "puerto deportivo" (sporting-boats port I suppose would be the best way to translate that) at dusk

Next stop: Gijon!

Gijon is a beautiful beach-side city a bit larger than Oviedo but with some gorgeous architecture too.


The official building of fishing. I'm not kidding, the government actually controls all the fishing-sales in the region.


The church of San Pedro


Our Roman buddy Octavio Agustus!

..around the lighthouse...

Some BEAUTIFUL landscapes...


Pedro, Merce, myself, and Merche


More landscape...


Merce and Me

Next, a trip to Muros with some stops on the way...

On Saturday morning Merche and I caught a bus to Aviles expecting to catch another bus to Muros, but long story short, the lady on the phone that talked to Merche about the bus schedule was wrong and there was no bus to Muros for another 2 hours or so. In any case, Pedro came and picked us up in Aviles (he and Merce were already in Muros at their other house there) and we went on the Muros. After getting a bite to eat we headed out to Gozon to do a little sight seeing:




This building with the lighthouse behind it is a mini ocean-science museum of sorts that we walked through.


Even if you don't read Spanish, you can probably guess what this sign means.


Inside the museum...

...mas fotos....

Some traditional Asturian clothing and textiles... the bead-work is "azabache" which is a very fragile and valuable stone around here which makes these particular items VERY expensive.


A little taste of home! After touring the fair a bit Merche had a craving for some Mickey D's so we decided to stop by before going home. I say a little taste of home, but it was definitely NOT like the McDonald's we have at home!


...does your local McDonald's have works of art hanging on the walls and flat screen TVs?
...or plush leather seats?


Oh yeah and there were actually 3 different floors in this McDonalds. Oh, and since McDonalds is the only fast-food place in Spain with the concept of a "drive thru," a drive-thru here is actually called a "McAuto." This particular McDonalds didn't have a McAuto, so I'll have to take a picture of that the next time I see one.

...continued...

Hungry yet? There were lots of local vendors around selling traditional Asturian fare, like a huge farmer's market essentially.


This is an Asturian properly pouring the Sidra (cider). One must "escansar" the cider by pouring it from high up in the air, essentially to let it breathe I suppose. They seriously do this in all the cider houses around town, which makes for a good time but a very sticky floor. That Nitendo-Tetris-looking building in the background is one of several apartment buildings that I think look really cool too.


This is me sporting one of my new Spanish-tops in front of a gigantic cow. Yeah, they sort of have a thing for cows around here, which I think is awesome. As you can tell this is a roundabout/traffic circle (and there are TONS here... seriously, intersections are almost non-existant) and every one of them has some sort of statue, work of art, fountain, flowers, or some combination of those int he center.


Some bagpipe players in traditional outfits... you can really see the Celtic influence in this area.

More Ascension festivities

A little out of place, but I wanted to include this anyway: This is an "abonico", or a hand fan for us Americans... They are VERY popular among the Spanish ladies who usually keep one in their purse at all times, and usually have several to color-coordinate with their outfits. The nicer ones are made of wood with hand painted designs like this one, and often have really ornate cut-out designs. This one I bought for myself, and I also bought a few as gifts but I don't want to ruin any surprises :-)



Okay back to the festivities... this was a little exhibit they had on display of a traditional Asturian home. That sausage you see hanging up smelled SO good.


It wouldn't be an Asturian festival without bagpipes....


.... and CHEESE! Asturias is home to over 300 native cheeses. There is also some honey there for sale. For you Spanish-speakers out there reading, don't worry, this isn't actually written in Spanish... it is Asturian, which has a lot of similarities but still throws me off from time to time.

A funny sign, and "La Ascension"

First of all, I've walked by this dentist office several times and never had my camera on me... finally I did, and I had to take a picture. Yes, this dentist office is called Dental Poo, and no, I did not go there for my dental needs! Apparently "Poo", with two syllables by the way, is a nearby town and also a common last name around this area. I couldn't help but laugh.


Okay, on to the Ascension fair! These are some kids playing some traditional Asturian games and such...




Official poster design for this year's festivities...


More pictures to come!