Impressions of Europe

Living in Spain 1

2010-10-10T00:56:00.000-07:00

I've been living in Zaragoza since March 2006, leaving a few times to either NY, Amsterdam or Santo Domingo. The city has been generous to me, I have a life here and if I choose to stay, it will feel like home. But the truth is that after spending 3 years in Huecco's band as guitar player and traveling all over Spain, I've come to realize that I'm not amazed anymore, nor intrigued by much that I see here. Perhaps it's sad that I stopped writing about my experiences and impressions of Europe, I could have seen the progression of my feelings, how I've become a bit jaded, perhaps even bored. Maybe it's because of the economic downturn, or maybe it's because I chose to live in Spain.

Spain. My impression of it, after being here for 4 years is that, in a lot of ways, this country is very much a divided country. It's people constantly find ways to trip themselves up. Little wonder that until this summer, when the Spanish National Soccer team won the world, failure was expected in international competition. Alberto Contandor's recent troubles aside, Spain is currently at the top of most sports. Spanish athletes are bringing glory and passion, taking minds a bit off of all the economic problems.
What the numbers don't usually reveal is that there's a double economy here. Living here has made me, incredibly, understand the arguments against so much gov't intervention in the US. People here feel entitled to everything, is the impression that I get. People may be on unemployment and have a second job that is off the books, meaning that they are receiving unemployment benefits illegally. Yes, some will argue, but unemployment is not free, it comes from the high taxes everyone pays. That's true to a point, but people here find a way to game the system.
And I won't get into the subsidies. I can't believe how much crap gets subsidized.
The one thing I always wondered when I first got here, was how people managed to make ends meet earning a measly 1000 euros a month. Well, little by little I found out. I'm 42 and can say that I left my home in NY when I was 17, 18 and went to live with relatives in Santo Domingo, but I was pretty much on my own. In fact, where I come from people look forward to leaving home at 18.
Well, I was surprised to find out how many of the people who were in my new circle of friends still lived with their parents, people in their mid to late 20's, some in their early 30's.
Then there were those who shared a flat with others. I later joined that group and currently belong to it. I tried to live on my own, but frankly couldn't make ends meet. My options were get a smaller aparment in shittier neighborhood or keep it and share it. I chose option 2. It hasn't been a bad thing, but it's made me understand how people manage.
The thing with Spaniards, at least the sense I get, is that conformity is rampant. People are content to have their jobs, be able to take a vacation, maybe pay off a mortgage ( not so easy anymore, but a couple of years ago, before the real estate bubble burst, everyone was buying with almost nothing down).
Kids today say they are more prepared but that they're parents had it easier to get a house or apartment, which is true. In Franco's Spain most everyone was afforded, what is now a luxury, the possibility of OWNING their home. Or so I'm told. The truth is that young Spaniards are finding it tough to get good jobs for which they've prepared themselves, few get married young or have kids, simply because they can't afford it.
Still I feel that too many people rely on the government to solve everything. They place blame for the lack of jobs, the lack of financial support for certain institutions, the subsidy for this or that. I think a lot of money gets wasted here. Even at local levels. One just has to look to see the things the government of Zaragoza spends money on.
And the amount of regulations for everything, cutting both ways.
Say the Tobacco law. Smoking is prohibited indoors in many European countries since at least 3 or 4 years ago. Not Spain! They gave businesses the choice: You can either be smoking or non-smoking if your bar meets this certain criteria for space. Now if you exceed that criteria, you have to divide the bar into a smoking and non smoking section. That meant dividers, independent air conditioning, filtration etc. Now that smoking will be banned next year, the people that invested in dividing up their business are up in arms. Those half-measures hurt them. So it's an indecisiveness that has hurt.
That indecisiveness permeates a lot of Spanish society. People get caught up in crap about who's sleeping with whom, where someone got their fortune, etc.

The one thing I can say about Spain is that they know how to party, how to enjoy life. Friends and family are important, people like to talk face to face, go out for a night on the town, socialize.
It's what keeps a city like Zaragoza alive, with so many bars, and rarely do you see one empty.

More on this in my next post.

Bike @ Rest

2007-01-14T15:25:00.001-08:00

Bike @ Rest, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Paris

2006-11-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Paris, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Amsterdam morn

2006-11-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

Amsterdam morn, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Juana - Amsterdam Journal 3

2006-11-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

Juana, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Oct. 20, 2006

Today's Lili's birthday. She's been on my mind all day, ... well she's always on my mind, but she's been spectacularly present this week.
I went to the ballet with Michele to pick up Juana. Spent a great part of the morning riding around Amsterdam on her. Visited Oosterpark.
Worked out for a little while there. Didn't have my camera with me, so I was just riding and making mental notes of the places I want to see again. There are some very nice sights to the east of the city. Finally made my way back to the area of the ballet, cause I was in a bit of pain between my legs, I hadn't ridden a bike since I left the DR, and the seat was in an unconfortable position and angle.
I went to the vendors who are at the front part of the entrance to the ballet, but they didn't have the specific tool for my seat. By chance, Laura and her mom were passing by and told me that they had bought the bikes (Michele's is named Juana and Laura's is named Chavela.) around the back of the theater.
I took Juana there and they fixed the seat up for me. I told the guy "I'm in pain, could you change the angle of the seat and raise it a little."
As he's doing it he tells me, "Now balls will not hurt." jajaja

Anyway they fixed it alright. I was riding really comfortable and came to the house to do some writing and eat a little something.
I went out again to meet Michele at 3pm but she told that she had to rehearse til 5:30. Went and did some more riding and took some more pictures.Passed by a spot where some chef guy was giving out Tomato soup. Guess he has a TV show or a book or something. The presentation was interesting. Plastic tomatoes with a star carved into them served as the bowls and there were many people there. Big letters on the ground, cameras, a couple of vans, all with the tomato and star motif.

Received a phone call from my mom in NY. She wanted to tell me to remember Lili's birthday. I was happy to hear from her and that her treatments had been going well. I happened to be in the Red light district at that moment taking some pictures for Pablo and an article he was going to have published in some magazine in the DR. Went to Soup En Zo and tried another of the soups.
On my way back to meet up with Miche at the ballet, I was rushing up a street, with some traffic when I heard something smash behind me. All of a sudden a car pulls up next to me with what appeared to be two young dutch arabs, and the driver says to me "you! Motherfucker. It cost me a mirror to not hit you!" He apparantly had scraped his right rearview mirror against a parked vehicle, while trying to avoid me, which seemed like bullshit to me. Anyway, I took off my headphones and said "Sorry". He said "motherfucker..." , I kinda laughed it off and kept riding to the ballet. Then walked the bike to theather cause all of a sudden it hit me that there are some nuts out there who don't give a shit that Amsterdam is a city full of bikes. The ones I've seen who disrepect this appear to be foreigners or of foreign descent. For a moment I thought they might be doing that because since tecnically I'm a tourist, they might get some money from me.
I decided I would try to be a little more careful out on the streets, just in case.
I picked Miche up, we went to the supermarket. Afterwards I walked her to her therapy session. She needed some acupunture cause her neck was a little messed and she would be dancing the next day.
Talked a little about Lili, and her birthday.
Strange day indeed.

(note: Some of this I'm writing memory. I jot down some things one day, and then another. Looking through the pictures I took on the 20th I realized that I did a lot and saw many things that day. I've never been good at keeping a journal. My journals are more hindsight than actual moment.)

Amsterdam Journal 2

2006-10-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

PA190198.JPG, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Oct. 19, 2006

Spent the day taking pictures. Amsterdam is a bounty of photo ops. I usually want to take a picture of everything. I look one way, point to the other; so many options.
Walked Michele to the ballet at around 9:45 am and took off from there. Visited Dam which I had done yesterday, but without my camera. This time around walked along Rokin. Had Miche's Ipod with me playing Sabina and then (gasp!), James Blunt. He's alright. It's a live show and it sounds just fine. Some of his songs are actually very good although he gets kind of repetitive and cliche.
Picked Michele up at the ballet at around 1pm and we went to eat something. Wound up going to the supermarket where a dominican girl from San Pedro was the cashier. We bought wine, steaks and a couple of other things.
Went to a pub right before, and I had a draft Heineken which was good.

Then in the house saw a couple of episodes of Grey's Anatomy ( Miche and Laura have 2 seasons on DVD) while Miche napped. Can't believe how little gravitas some of the actor's voices carry. I mention this because I've only seen the show recently in Spain, dubbed in spanish, and found the actress that plays Meredith Gray absolutely stunning, but I didn't know how much that had to do with the voice of the actress who dubs her. When I finally heard the "mimi" voice that she has... uffff. It was a bit of a letdown. I guess it would take getting used to. So definetely, voice and timbre have a lot to do with how we relate to characters on a screen.

Michele cooked a steak for me, and put chili on it. Jejeje, The entire house all of a sudden got a bit acrid, and we all started to cough or sneeze. Had to open all the windows. It was good. Ate it with a nice Bordeaux. ( There are only two types of wines, Red and bad. El tinto y el malo.)
Afterwards, walked Miche to the ballet where she was gonna catch the show,to see some of her friends performing. So I went to take night pictures.
There was a copter hovering over the city. Apparently there had been an incident near Dam involving a police officer. Don't know exactly what happened, but it made me think that Amsterdam is, after all, a city, like any other.
Had a good time taking night pics and made some mental notes for places I have to visit at night, cause my battery was running really low.
Met up with Miche again at 10:45 and we went home.
I fell asleep at around 12, I was so tired. Slept almost straight through until 8am. Construction noises in the back of the house awakened me.

Amsterdam Journal

2006-10-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam Flight, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

On wednesday, oct 18 I took the 9:30 AVE (high speed train) from ZGZ to Madrid, where I took the 1:20 KLM flight to AMS. It was very cloudy throughout the flight and when I was awake, caught glimpses of some very beautiful cloud formations. As we descended into SCHIPHOL and broke through the clouds, flew over the IJ River where the plane made a U-turn to make the landing. The sights were amazing,and it's incredible how much water there is around AMS. The airport is actually around 8m below sea level, and lower at some points.
Made my way to the Muziktheater via Conexxion, a service that connects hotels to the airport. Met up with Michele at the entrance. It was great to see her after so many months. We went around the corner to do some catching up while we ate this great lentil soup ( with prunes, beef and some other stuff). Afterwards she went back inside to prepare for her debut as Carmen in the ballet of the same name. I walked around a little, revisiting some of the places I had been to in late february, early march. Outside the theater there is a great ecological Photo Exhibition. The photographs are taken from a helipcopter, all over the world ( there are 3 from the DR), and show things related to the environment and global warming. Some of the pictures are breathtaking, others are shocking.

Went in to the ballet. There I met Michele's flatmate and her mom.
There were 3 ballets performed that night. Two 20 mins pieces and then Carmen.
I knew I was in trouble when I began to doze off the minute the first ballet started. Well, I don't actually remember much of the first one. People in grey tights jumping around to this sequenced, syncopated, very percussive music. When it ended, during the intermission, I hurried to the men's room to wash my face, had some water and hoped I wouldn't doze off during the next dance.
This one was a little interisting. Titled Crossing Paths, the music was a blend of Bach and arabic music. I kinda of got the story, and enjoyed the dancing, though for a few moments I felt it was dragging. The contrast between west and middle east was stark musically, but the wailing in arabic put me in a kind of trance, and alas, I briefly dozed off a few times.

So in the next intermission I did what any brave soul who's going to see a relative perform would do: Had me a good old cup of java.
I hadn't seen Michele dance since she performed in Santo Domingo, Oct. 2005 with the Washington Ballet. So it had been a while since I had gone through the worrying, and the stress and the heart attacks I get any time she is going to perfom. It has been that way since she was little, and I would get nervous and anxious, rooting for her to land some difficult turn, or a particular lift, or fouetees, or whatever. It was difficult in DR when she was a teen, and I would videotape he shows, so I basically knew the choreography by heart.
The show went well. The crowd warmed up to her, and the production as a whole was very impressive. I liked this take on Carmen, and any time a full orchestra accompanies a ballet, it's something beautiful to witness.
There were a few moments that I got teary eyed because of the passion she and her partner put into some of the parts. I've always enjoyed how expressive Michele is on stage. She dances with feeling, she bears her emotions. Her mom would have been really proud.

After the show, we went to this place called Wok and Walk. Great, quick chinese food cooked right in front of you. Then we took the Tram home. She told me, "Get ready for the stairs". Jejeje. Steep as hell and very small steps, but worth it. A beautiful flat with wooden floors and ceiling, warm lightning, comfortable furniture, big rooms and huge windows ( standard AMS windows). I find it cozy.
There we all talked for a while about the show. Then I logged on to the web to let the people back in ZGZ know I'd made it ok.
It's incredible how much can get done in one day. After a coupl of glasses of Argentinean red wine, and some conversation, finally went to sleep with some music in my headphones. The pace I had been living in ZGZ had kept me up til almost 2am.

Bull ring

2006-10-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

bullring5.JPG, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

On visiting La Misericordia

2006-10-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

This morning, at 8am I entered La Misericordia, the Plaza de Toros of Zaragoza. They had vaquillas. What an atmosphere. During the Fiestas del Pilar, they have vaquillas every morning at 8am and then a "corrida" ( bull fights) at 6pm.
I saw the vaquillas from all angles. We even went down to the Ruedo ( the skirt around the ring) and as luck would have it, the vaquilla ( which is not small like the name suggests) jumped into it around 5 times. One time it came charging through where we were standing and I wound up jumping into the arena. Jajaja! I was scared shitless. Stampeding steer, drunken crowds... and me so heavy footed.
One thing I can say, the adrenaline rush I got made me forget I had only slept 3 hours, and that my back has been hurting like crazy for the past 2 days. What a rush. Pablo and me wanted out of there fast!
After Pablo left, I went up to the highest point in the Plaza for a different view. The vaquillas caught this one guy and smashed him into the ground where he lay motionless. He had to be carried out. I later asked at the infirmary, and they said he was concious when they took him away to the hospital.
I've seen bullfights on tv, the running of the bulls, vaquillas, and I've seen steers in DR behind pens. BUT! It was so different in here. First, the vaquilla, which is very young and crazy, is small compared to the bull, but it's still a very big animal. The ruedo is lower than I thought from watching on TV, and the ring is also smaller ( at least here in ZGZ. Don't know yet if there's a standard ring size).
The view from everywhere in the Plaza is basically great. The noise level in this event is incredible with all the Peñas music bands playing. Basically the crowd is a mix of people who have been up all night drinking, families, tourists and aficionados. There are some actual idiots in the arena, who are so drunk that they attempt foolish stunts, but there are also those who seem to be waiting all year for this, and who run each vaquilla at least 5 or 6 times. I saw at least 3 guys who were very adept at what they were doing, and these were usually the ones who got the most applause.
It was funny to see a kid taunt the vaquilla with his jacket and when the animal started to paw at the ground in preparation for a charge, the kid blinked and got out of the way before it started it's charge. When I went down to the ruedo, even before the vaquilla was released, I was asking myself "what the heck am I doing in here?" I told Pablo jokingly "Imagine I get killed today." Tourists or "guiris" as they are known here( I qualify) are usually the ones who get hurt in these types of things. When the Vaquila jumped into the ruedo, Pablo and I almost ran into the corral through where they leave. I actually told the porter that let us into the Ruedo, "Let me out, please" and he said "sorry, can't open until the vaquilla is out of the Plaza".
I was "acojonado", as they say here. My instincts to run work!
I can understand why most of these kids, the vast majority late- teens, early 20's and curiosly, no girls, jump in there. If my brief minute of running around and feeling the fear of having the vaquilla jump straight into the ruedo, gave me such an adrenaline rush that lasted almost 10 minutes, then they must get a crazy rush from jumping in there so much or just being around the boards of the ruedo.

Can't wait to actually see a bullfight. I know it will be a strange moment to witness the killing of the animals.
When the guy got smashed into the ground today, I put away my camara and felt akward for a few minutes. The craziness did not stop, though people reacted really fast. A lot of people get bruised, but it's part of it. The risk, the excitement. The crowd would applaud the most daring, the one's that got the vaquilla to actually charge and got away from them with the most grace.
Didn't see any of the abuse I had been told I would see. Yes, some kids smack the rear end of the vaquilla in an attempt to get it's attention, or try to grab it's horns, but this can hardly hurt an animal who jumps into el Ruedo full speed and then runs all around it, and comes out charging.
Amazing when the Ox (Buey) comes out, strolling with it's herder behind, and the young vaquilla stops the craziness and leaves with it.

A lot of thoughts ran through my head this morning about traditions, about animal rights, about all these things that people say, about drunkeness, about chaos.
I literally felt the release of tension in this hectic outpouring of semi-controlled rowdiness. The smiles on people's faces as they left the arena, the worry when someone apparentely got trampled too severely, the cheers... It's a spectacle, yes.
It's also, in my opinion, a necessary release. I understand why all over Spain, these festivies ( in general, not just animal related things ) are necessary for the religious, for the fans of bulls, for the youth that organizes the Peñas and strolls the streets with their music bands, singing and drinking.

A slice a day

2006-09-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

A slice a day, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Citta Alta in Bergamo, Italy

Dominican Party in Zaragoza

2006-09-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

Lithium Sunset

2006-08-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Lithium Sunset, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Sting has a song named Lithium Sunset. He got the title from the belief of Native Americans that sunsets cure depression. That staring at the sunset or being in it's light ( and sunrise also ) created a similar effect in the brain as that created by lithium. I love the song, it's on his Mercury Falling album.
I don't know about the story, but it sure feels good to be bathed by the sun.
Sunset in Zaragoza on the Stone Bridge over the Ebro River.

Acoustic show Sept. 8

2006-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

daLuxe Sept. 8 Flyer, originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

The flyer for an upcoming acoustic show I have in the daLuxe in Zaragoza. I'll be playing songs and instrumental from an album I'm working on titled "Dialogo de Madrugada" and acoustic cover of some of my favorite tunes.
myspace.com/leosusana

Promo para el show acustico en la Sala daLuxe de Zaragoza.Tocare canciones e instrumentales de Dialogo de Madrugada mas versiones de algunas de mis canciones favoritas.

visita el myspace.com/leosusana para mis temas originales.

Sun bridge

2006-08-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

Sun bridge
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Zaragoza has beautiful sunsets and sunrises. The Ebro river with Pilar Cathedral on the left. I'm standing on a stone bridge that dates from the Roman Empire when the city was named after Cesar Augustus.

2006-08-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Diet Coke+Mentos=Human experiment

So, someone posted a video on youtube eating mentos and drinking diet coke. And lo and behold, there are many other videos. I post this as an aside to my prior post and pictures the Coca Cola light that blew up in my freezer. What's the science behind this?

Olive Paté

2006-08-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

Olivada
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Bonito con huevo a la cazuela

2006-08-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Bonito a la cazuela
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

This was a menu that my friend Toño prepared last week so that I can get to know some of the local cuisine of the Aragon region. Mind you, some of these foods are typical of all of Spain but with a local twist of some kind. The "Bonito a la Cazuela" was cooked by his mom. It is absolutely one of the most wonderful dishes I've eaten in all of the time I've been in Europe, including restaurant fare. This is Tuna with a fried egg in a casserole. Wonderful... ( getting hungry )

Paté de Oliva - This is a Paté made of olives and anchovies. Incredible.
Olivas escachadas - Olives
Vino tinto Montesierra (Denominación Somontano) - Red wine, local
Crema de calabaza con queso -
Bonito con huevo a la cazuela - I guess this would be Tuna Casserole
Melocotón con vino - Peaches in red wine

The Perils of Coca Cola light

2006-08-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Coke on ice
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

Last week, unbeknownst to me, a friend left this can of coca cola light al limon ( we've gotten so lazy we can't even squeeze lemon anymore ) in my freezer. I actually heard it blow in the night, but didn't bother to check what it was, cause I was kinda busy. The next day another friend was gonna put some wine and beer to chill in the fridge and found this mess.
( To view all the pictures of this crime scene go to this address: Coke pics )
I got to thinking because of all the hoopla in England with the terror threats at Heathrow, that I understand why certain things are no-nos on planes. I mean, if this can of coke created this mess before it froze (I assume, because of how it spread ) then can we conclude that at the low temperatures of high altitudes, many cans of soda would be dangerous in the cargo hold of plane? The thought definetely freaks me out. I remember that the value jet flight that crashed in the Everglades a few years back had something to do with Oxygen canisters or something of that nature.
Anyway, i don't know the science behind "the coke in the freezer", but it must have something to do with the gas that's in it.

Bike and Canal

2006-08-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Bike and Canal
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

During my visit to Amsterdam, march 2006.
It's amazing how beautiful and cozy some parts of Amsterdam are.
Even though it was very cold at times, I absolutely loved walking all round and clicking away at whatever caught my eye.
The bikes chained to the railings of the many bridges over the canals create a strange visual rhythm and opportunities for the eye of the camera.

"scuse me while I kiss the... spanish sky"

2006-08-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

"scuse me while I kiss the... spanish sky"
Originally uploaded by Leo el Feo.

This was on the road to Bilbao in the north of Spain.
Incredibly, while Madrid and Zaragoza were burning, Bilbao was cool and breezy.

A Trip

2006-07-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

What is it about "going for a ride"? What is it about "taking a trip"? It's sometimes not the destination but the journey itself. The road. The view. The conversations. The contemplation.
To contemplate life as is, to see the world, to smell the sky, emmbrace mountains, feel the rhythm of the humming engines and the cars as they zip by.

World Cup 2006

2006-07-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

World Cup

I'm not much of a soccer fan. Ok, I'll call it football.
I've seen the world cup on TV since the 1994 tournament was played in the US. In 1998 I watched on tv from DR and I rooted for France. I was pretty much alone on that one as most of the people I knew and my relatives were rooting for Brazil. In 2002 I caught the game on tv while in Madrid. Needless to say, I wasn't going for Brazil. Germany lost.
I really got caught up in the emotions of this world cup, because this time around I was rooting for Spain. I really wanted them to do well. People are pretty hard on themselves here, and before the first game Spain played, most were writing them off. Yes, they didn't make it into the quarterfinals as many said they wouldn't but this time around people were really excited. That team might be great in the future.
Now, I saw many matches and some things always disappointed me. The prevalence of diving, faking out the referee, excessive cheap shots and yes, cheating, but I also appreciated the beauty of the sport. This sport is definetely a microcosm for life as Zidane proved with his last act on the field. No matter who you are, or how much people admire you, you have a threshold and the capacity to be pushed over it Materazzi, the Italian defender, received a vicious head butt in the chest from Zidane, France's star player. He apparently provoked the frenchman by hurling racial slurs and insults at him. It was Zidane's last game, and he was red carded and sent off. France was left with 10 men on the field and lost the final to Italy in penalties. ( Italy lost the final in 1994 to Brazil in penalties)
One of the most exciting games I watched was the Argentina-Mexico game. I caught that one on a big screen in a club in the center of Zaragoza (La Casa del Loco ) where argentinian band Bersuit Vergarabat was going to play. Of course they said not a single note would be played until the end of the match. It was really exciting to see and hear the argentines in the crowd backing their team with songs and chants. I felt a little uneasy at times cause I really wanted Mexico to get through to the next round. Man, that was a kick ass game, full of emotions. When Argentina scored the tie breaker, the crowd in the club went wild. I can only imagine in the stadium.
One channel in Spain, La Sexta had wall to wall coverage of all the matches and excellent commentary with ex-players from many countries, trainers, referees. They really did a great job. CUATRO the channel that also carried some of the main games had Diego Maradona. I finally appreciated the greatness of this man. Right before the World Cup CUATRO also ran some episodes of Maradona's very popular late night TV show from Argentina. He speaks with great candor, is very charismatic, and even though he's not really a good TV host, he is Maradona, and at that he is more than proficient. Highlights of his show include him explaining some of his most popular goals from his career. And yes, he admitted, he did put the ball in with his hand ( La Mano de Dios) in the Argentina-England quartefinal match from the 1986 World Cup and explained how and why he did it.

V.O.S.E.

2006-07-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how difficult it is for spaniards to speak english. There's a reason for this. Most spaniards are not exposed to the language. Some can read it but are unable to pronounce it. Movies in Spain are dubbed into spanish, as are TV shows. If you want to see an american film in english you have to find a theater that offers V.O.S.E. What is this you ask? It's Version Original Subtilos Español. Of course, foreign movies aren't popular in the US because americans are also unwilling to read subtitles

Dominican Time vs. Real Time

2006-05-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

In a comment on my previous post, Yamaya asked about punctuality in Zaragoza. Yes, in general Spaniards are very punctual, and more as it relates to Dominican Time. What is Dominican Time? Well, if you were going to meet up with your friends at 10pm and you jump into the shower 5 minutes before 10pm and the bar is at least a 15 min drive away, then you are on Dominican time. It's like Allan said in another comment and I'm paraphasing, but he'll say he's 5 mins away even if he's 20 mins away. For Europeans and Americans who value their time, punctuality is very important.So, it comes as no surprise that the first time they visit DR, the time thing throws them off. But after a while they pick it up on it.

Comments and questions are more than welcome

(In the image, the very busy corner of El Coso and Plaza de España in Zaragoza, Spain)

TIME = DISTANCE

2006-05-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

When you're waiting for someone, at first it would seem that the simple question "where are you?" would have a somewhat simple response: "I'm at ....."
but it seems that in Zaragoza, something which jarred me a little the first couple of times I heard it, time equals distance.
So, the very frequent answer of friends who ring me up while we're trying to meet up somewhere in the street, or we're late for a rendevouz with other friends, and whoever is with me calls up from his mobile (cell phones in Spain are called mobiles), to that question of "where are you?" is " I'm at x minutes". " Si, estoy a tres minutos del cafe."
When we're bar hopping, the usual thing to say in NY would be "Ok, let's go to the other bar, it's only 5 blocks away."
But, my friends will usually say, "let's go to the other bar, it's only 5 minutes away". "Queda a 5 minutos de aqui".
Distance = Time

ZARAGOZA 28.5

European Impressions

2006-05-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

On this blog, I will talk about my personal experiences in Europe, and how I view and compare the things that make us the same and the things that make us different. I am a native New Yorker of dominican descent, who lived in that caribbean nation for the last 15 years or so. I've spent the past 3 months in Europe, starting in Amsterdam, then onto Madrid and am currently in a lesser known spanish city named Zaragoza. It's in the Aragon Region, and one it's assets is basically being about the same distantce from Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and other spanish cities.
I'll reflect on my times in this city, the people I've met, the food, the wine, the music, bars, beers and of course the city itself.
Spanish Politics is not of particular importance to me but I will focus on some key issues that keep coming up, specially now that Spain finds itself at a delicate crossroad, where many regions are gaining greater autonomy and the threat of ETA has a real chance of coming to an end.

Soon I'll post some of my first impressions. I've already written them on paper but want to reflect on them, before I post them, edit and expand on them because they have to do with a very delicate issue, racism and immigration.

welcome.