Studying plastic solar cells at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, learning languages at Agora, and exploring our surroundings. Stay tuned for details.
These are the decorations around our apartment building.
Imagine blinking lights in the tree on the right.
And that is it!!
Maybe everyone waits until Christmas eve? Maybe everyone decorates their apartment and not public spaces? Maybe only people in houses decorate? Maybe people don't have room to store decorations?
In the grocery store and on the outdoor public address system I mostly hear snippets of traditional American Christmas carols, although it is possible some songs are Spanish carols that are unfamiliar to me. Last week our Castilian learned a popular carol, although it didn't make much sense to me.
Los Peces en el Rio
Like many songs the literal translation does not work very well, but this poetic translation seems to capture the spirit.
I take back everything I said about the mail system. Maybe not everything since I still don't understand the system, but I take back a lot of my unhappiness.
In the last couple weeks three large envelopes from my mom arrived here. By here I mean at the apartment building, not with a note saying I had to go to the post office to get it. Inside were treasures - crossword puzzles cut from the NY Times, newspaper clippings from my dad, magazines, articles about the World Series.
All fifty postcards arrived from my sister (#25 was the last one, more than a month after it was postmarked in the U.S.) and two thick letters arrived this week.
The most amazing thing was when the door buzzer rang, which it never does unless A. has not taken his keys or my language partner is visiting. Who could it be? Someone who was lost? No, it was the mail carrier! I let him in and was unsure about what to do next, but he came up the elevator with a large box. He brought it right to our apartment and did not ask for my passport, did not ask for money, did not ask for anything related to customs, and just asked if I were American. Wow!
Inside were the most amazing treasures. A dear friend had gathered cards and goodies from other friends and had sent them along with the biggest gift, which is now hanging in the front hall. Seeing our home made me a bit homesick, but I love seeing it everyday. Thank you, friends!
As an early present to ourselves we went to Palau de la Música for a concert.
Part of the pleasure is not only the music, but the building.
part of the ceiling
just one of the mosaics
a little part of the ceiling
the grand staircase
It was hard not to go around and gawk and take pictures of everything! There are great photos here.
I don't usually complain but I will a little. I think if you have an old building with old plumbing and you have a concert you should bring in a port-a-potty if your toilets are not working. The other complaint may not be valid, but it certainly was visually striking. There were nine first violin players and one was a male. Can you guess the sex of the concertmaster/mistress? There were six cello players and one was male. Can you guess the sex of the first cello? There were twenty-three non-string players. One was a woman. Can you guess the instrument she plays? Did you know the Vienna Orchestra had no female musicians as permanent members until 1997? Maybe conductors are next.
It was only a light drizzle so we headed to the citywide yardsale a couple weeks ago and figured out it was cancelled when we couldn't find anybody else. It wasn't there last week, either.
This Saturday was a beautiful day and there were about forty tables set up with people selling things, mostly women's clothing and children's toys.
Our only purchases were a paddle (we bought the balls separately later) and a scarf. A. has been playing paddle tennis at school and now plays at the bottom of the driveway.
The highlight was playing with the creative machines made with parts rescued from broken things.
A. headed off for his first haircut of our stay and we were all happy when he declared that it was perfect. D. may try the barber school on campus. Stay tuned.
I headed home but was distracted by the sound of loud country music. I was amazed to see a large number of people in cowboy boots doing line dances! When I asked the name of this type of music I was told it is la música country!
