To Iberia And Beyond

How Do I Talk?

According to Maria and Chuchi, I speak in really proper terms, like a politician, a newspaper or a professor. That makes a lot of sense as I’ve been learning Spanish in classes and by reading newspapers. This came up when they were talking to me about picking up Spanish girls (Chuchi has a lot of brothers and Maria’s a catch so he knows a thing or two). Maria asked if I talk as formally in English as I do in Spanish and if girls in the states like the way I talk. I told them I’m not really sure how I speak in English, more casually, possibly more theatrically since I have a lot of theater and choir experience, but however I talk seems to be working well enough for me.

But I’ve been asked this question by a few other people so it’s on my mind. When I was chatting with my friend Galo about how it’s frustrating not having the same skill with Spanish as I do with English he told me that he could tell that I am probably a good talker in English by fact that I speak Spanish smoothly…full of errors, but evidently smoothly. My language exchange asked me how I talk in English and if it was normal since she wants to know if speak like a typical American or if I have my own sort of weird sort of English. Throw in the fact that one of my friends here is studying Linguistics so I’m learning random language facts (supposedly drunk English has it’s own patterns, it could possibly be its own dialect) and I’m just not sure what to think about how I talk.

You guys have heard me talk (probably way too much for your likings, but you’ve heard me talk), how do I talk? Besides the mumbling thing (Grandma I’m working on it, I promise), how do I talk? What should be my response to these questions?

Maria and Chuchi

Maria is Pepi’s daughter and is the younger of Pepi’s two children. She is in her late 20s and works in HR in some office (she seems to have what I’ve read is a typical Spanish attitude about work and that it is a necessary evil, when I ask her about her work she doesn’t seem too animated). Chuchi (somehow that’s short for Jesus) is her husband. He sells various forms of high quality pork to restaurants (supposedly, that’s kind of a big deal). He is fine with me being a vegetarian, and I often ask him about the industry. I explained him my family’s meat packing history (although I don’t know the words for that so I said that we have a long history of pig and animal killing…he got what I meant).

 

They are adorable together. They live in a suburb of Salamanca but work nearby our house so they come home for Comida (late lunch) everyday. They sit across from each other and they look good together. She is always here before he is and he always greets her with a smooch. We generally have on some gossip channel/news show during Comida which has been pretty useful since it gives us a lot of conversation starters (generally me asking who is that which sparks lengthy conversations about Spanish culture). They have a really good interplay and Pepi loves Chuchi so we’re all just one big happy family. Maria wears the pants in the relationship, but not in a mean domineering way. Evidently, Chuchi had a thing for Maria way back when, before she even knew he existed and years later he got up the courage to ask her out (I think she turned him down at first, hence her always having the upper hand).

 

We’ve all gotten to the point were we are pretty comfortable with each other so they now tease me and I can sort of tease them back. After Comida (and after everyone helps clear the table, I make the table btw) they hang out for a bit in the living room. The other day I was walking by and I saw that Maria was sitting on Chuchi’s lap I said “Ooooooo” but they didn’t hear me. I bumped into Pepi in the kitchen and told her to watch out since the lover birds were in the living room being cute (I don’t know the word for lap which made it tough), and she responded laughing saying that Maria is always on top of Chuchi….it’s a good thing I was on my way out since I couldn’t stop laughing.

 

I’m guessing Pepi told Maria since after Comida today when Chuchi and I were chatting about Españolas, Maria came and practically jumped on his lap and made a really big deal about it. They proceeded to give me advice about picking up Españolas.

 

Maria and I even had our first faux-sibling verbal tussle (it is all in good humor, don’t worry). Yesterday Maria jokingly complained about the fact the Pepi made her get me an orange during lunch (she was heading to the kitchen to look for a banana anyway), she said that I don’t do any work for Comida and I told her that I set the table everyday (which made Pepi and Chuchi laugh a lot: score one for Me!), she came back pointing out that we were short a fork AND a spoon the other day (specifically her fork and spoon) but I passed off the blame on our 15 year-old Italiana, Johanna, who is just here for the week and wasn’t at the table at the time. She responded sarcastically by saying that I’m such a gentleman to foist the blame on the younger girl. I said (translating my favorite lines from the cartoon the Aristocats) that Johanna wasn’t a girl and that she’s nothing but a faux-sister. I think it was a tie, I’m just proud I was able to do that in Spanish.

 

By far my favorite Maria and Chuchi moment happened last week when they were talking about the new phone Chuchi got for Maria. It was a big to-do and the subject of the conversation for a while that day. Chuchi made some off hand comment about how he should have waited to buy the phone since it would have been cheaper if he waited a few more months. Maria shot back saying that he always says that. She said (translated of course) “you always say that, you want to wait to buy the phone will be cheaper later, you want to wait to buy a car saying it’ll be cheaper later, you want to wait to buy an apartment saying it’ll be cheaper later, (then, looking at me and Pepi), we should probably wait to have a kid since it’ll be cheaper later.” Score one Maria. 

Josefa

Josefa (Pepi) - Pepi is my host mom and a pretty amazing person. She has been a host mom for several years, since she doesn’t like having the apartment all to herself. She is of a grandmotherly age but as people don’t get married here till their late 20s early 30s she isn’t a grandmother. She’s a widow (I’m almost sure, we have not talked about that nor do I plan on bringing it up), the 8^th of 10 children (and I thought I had a big family), and has two grown children. She is one of the most active people I know. She is learning to play the piano (so I often here Christmas carols and similarly simple songs being played slowly when I’m in the house, it’s pretty cute), she takes singing lessons (she often sings old Spanish ballads around the house, she has a good contralto voice), goes for daily walks, is a Senderista*, and is an AMAZING cook. Oh and she’s going to Turkey for a couple of days soon….she’s pretty awesome.

 

She is pretty good about me being a vegetarian (although I still have to be flexible) and she does lament the fact that I’m a vegetarian since she says she can’t cook a wider variety of foods for me. Frankly, I’m really happy with the whole food situation here. The only downside is that the stuff she makes is so good and she insists on giving me sizeable portions so it’s kind of hard to resist. But it’s all pretty healthy stuff so I think I’ll be ok. When I asked if she could give me less food (saying that I want to be able to wear my new jeans, which I’ve become big fans of btw) she said that I’m a big guy and big guys need a lot of food (I think that’s reinforcing logic, right?). She makes lots of soups (beans, lentils and one amazing and slightly mysterious green one), patatas fritas (slightly fried sliced potatoes that are soft with onions and peppers, a little oily and amazing as a bocadillo/sub/hoagie/grinder), and croquettes (I’m pretty sure it’s a ball of fried mashed potatoes with some mushrooms in them, she tried to get me to eat a fish one today, I politely declined). She’s only made me one type of salad (a pasta salad) but has made it many times (including tonight) and it’s great so I’m happy as a clam. Tonight she asked if I am ok with having a salad every night for dinner, I said of course explaining that she does and I want to be like her (that sounds a whole lot weirder now than it was at the time, she’s just really cool). We’ve had that conversation before and she forgot so I’m not sure what’ll happen.

 

She is apolitical saying that all politicians are the same bunch of liars who don’t actually do anything. She likes Obama but is waiting for him to start doing things before she really likes him (she does think he’s handsome though, but then again who doesn’t?). She identifies as Catholic as it’s part of her heritage and culture but is non-practicing and has told me that she doesn’t believe in God. She is an informed atheist, although I think due to the Franco era seriously tainting that word she didn’t use it to describe herself…or she could have thought I didn’t know the word. Occasionally we chat about Judaism, laws of Kashrut, holidays and such and she seems to know a thing or two about Judaism as well as other religions (she has the book of Mormon on one of her bookshelves).

 

She is also hilarious. One of my favorite stories of hers happened a few years ago. One of her host sons was telling her about how a friend of his was going to introduce him to an English girl and that he’s really excited to meet her. Pepi warned him that English girls^ are some of the ugliest girls in the world so he shouldn’t get his hopes up which ended up in a little dispute. Ends up the girl was hideous and (from what I gather from her hand motions when she tells the story) deformed. The host son told Pepi that he will never again doubt her.

 

We are pretty tight, we’ve danced a little bit (I told her about the dance classes I sorta go to and she told me that she is an Amazing dancer), she has yet to receive a back rub (that’d be just too awkward), we talk all the time, I call her guapa, she calls me guapo and her adopted son. She also helps me practice my accent with R rolling sessions. She also says I mumble a lot and talk too fast (mmm, sounds familiar).

 

Let’s recap: good story teller, good cook, and likes me….yeah she’s awesome.

 

*It took me a while to figure out what that was, it’s a hiker. The first time she used the word she used it to explain why she was going to the mountains with a group of people over the weekend. I thought she said Santerista, so I asked her if they do animal sacrifices on the mountains as part of a ritual. She was very confused.

 

^She occasionally makes statements like that (when it’s relevant to conversation). Although it’s pretty much just nationalities she judges and not religious groups. But as she has been a host mom for several years, she has met a lot of people of various nationalities and gotten to know them pretty well. She says she feels a special connection with Italians, that I should be wary of Latin Americans, that she doesn’t like Japanese girls since they are picky eaters (it’s a big no-no in the house, good thing I generally clear my plate), she thinks English guys are cute, and that Mediterranean women are the most beautiful in the world (but she did say Brazilian women are very pretty). She hasn’t made any comments about Americans…which doesn’t mean she doesn’t have opinions about them. I’m not sure if she has met any other Jews before so it’ll be interesting to see what stereotypes she has of them after I leave (“the Jews are so tall and handsome, such great dancers too, weird eaters though”).

1st Week of Classes

I have just finished my first week of classes in la Universidad de Salamanca and I am still standing (although I'm currently sitting...but you know what I mean). I have 16 hours of class each week, 5 on Mon and Tues, 2 on Wed, and 4 on Thurs. We had one day off of school this week, but it was Wednesday so that didn't really put a big dent in my class time.

An odd thing about classes in Spanish is that it adds entirely new variables to the "is this a good/enjoyable class" equation (scientists are still working on the exact equation, all we know for sure is that it involves multivariable calculus and the Turno constant). Usually you just need to know if the subject is interesting, if the professor is a good lecturer etc, but now I need to figure out if I can understand the words coming out of their mouths and the friendliness of my fellow students is key (borrowing notes and such).

I have a theory though. The teachers I understand the least are the friendliest while the teachers I understand the most seem to be harder to approach. I posit that this is because it is hard to understand friendly, exuberant people as they talk fast, make jokes, go off on tangents etc. But this means that while they are harder to understand in class they are very approachable and willing to help me make sure I get what's going on in the class after the lecture. My prime example is my Sociology of Ecology professor. I barely have a clue what she's saying most of the time, but judging by the way she talks and gesticulates and such I bet that if I understood her I would think she's amazing. 

As a whole I like my classes although I am starting to get a little tired of this whole not knowing what is going on thing*. I'm getting good at picking out key words and phrases and putting them in context but sometimes I just have no idea what's going on^. But I just smile, nod, take notes and try to keep a positive attitude and it seems to work out.



*I had a tour of the city the other day with one of my classes (thus all in really fast Spanish), the tour guide mentioned something about Jews that I wish I understood what she said. All I got from it is there is a star of David somewhere in the city and that the Jews constructed the paths of Salamanca (maybe?). There might also have been something about Jews intentionally making the paths hard to walk on (they make Gtown cobbled stones feel like pavement) as part of something about the bazillion churches here and penitence...but I'm not really sure.

^ My Politics and Violence prof mentioned something about castration the other day...no idea why, but I'm almost positive I heard the word "testiculos".....I'm just in a perpetual state of confusion. 

Bad Poetry Time!

Now what kind of a travel blog would this be if I didn't make an attempt at some bad cliche poetry?

Mi dia varies de supreme confidence a abject terror,
y es interestante como rapido one becomes the other
viviendo en una lengua diferente than my mother's
sharing complex thoughts llena with grammatic error

Spanish Friends and Classes

I may have them. There is no school today (it's the Day of Saint Thomas Aquinas and since he was all about education we commemorate him by not having school...it's like having Labor Day off) so I went to a discoteque (that word will never stop being funny to me) with about six Spanish classmates. Earlier that night one of them gave me a ride home which was nice since I live about 25 minutes away from school (I survived the ride). It was a good night, lots of joking around mostly in Spanish but some of them wanted to practice their English so we tried. One of my favorite things about going out is hearing Spaniards singing along to American songs and them having no idea what they're saying. The music is an interesting mix. I think each night I go out I hear YMCA, I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It and Soldier Boy at least once. Explaining what each of those songs mean to Spaniards is always funny. Another highlight of the night was after we left the discoteque and one of the Spanish girls was talking about how much she hates Bush in broken English. She has the phrase "I hate him so much" down really well...the other parts not so much. But she's getting there.

I have now had all except one of my classes at least once and I think my favorite will be my Sustainable Agriculture class. It's pretty much the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" but in Spanish and a class. I asked the professor if he had heard of the book, I don't think he had...I may have not said it right and I blanked on the author's name (Michael Pollan). The material in my classes doesn't seem so tough, it's just a matter of understanding the language. My Forest prof speaks like a machine gun but he is really nice so after each class I come up to him and make sure that I got the main points. Also, my friends are in that class so I'll be asking them for clarification/help soon. My Forest Ecology class at Gtown has been very helpful in understanding my forest class here so far, but soon we'll move into new territory and then I might be in need of a tutor.

I have come to a realization that makes me a little nervous. One day I will nod off in class. It's inevitable. It happens in the US, it'll happen here. I drink tea and coffee now and get plenty of sleep, but it'll still happen. The big issue is that classes are surprisingly small (20 people or so) and I generally sit toward the front so I can better here the professor (my ability to understand Spanish drastically decreases when there is background noise) so if I fall asleep I'll be the obviously asleep foreign kid....The solution is more coffee I think. The only issue with that is that the other day I found out that I had a coffee spot on my nose for over 2 hours (including a class) and no one mentioned it (maybe they thought it was a birthmark or something) but still, I have egg on my face (that is a saying, right?).

I think I'm entering the stage where I can't function in English or Spanish, it's supposed to be quickly followed by the fluent in Spanish stage...hopefully that actually happens. I must admit I'm getting really good at smiling and nodding.

Death on Gran Via

Salamanca is a lovely city with a lot of great people, but as is the case in any city there is danger. The other day a guy was killed on Gran Via (the main street) after he was hit by a car. The story seems to be that he had been talking to the girlfriend of another guy earlier that day and when guy #2 saw guy #1 cross the street he accelerated, hit and killed him. Friends and family of the victim have set up a small memorial with candles, flowers and pictures near the spot where he died. It was late at night on Saturday. I saw the ambulance, police and large crowds gathering so I went to see what was up and I saw officials holding up white sheets for privacy while the EMT tried to help him. The sheets had blood on them.

"Life's a promise that doesn't last/Resurrections of the past/Children come and are gone so fast"- Ani F

First Class, Peanut Butter and Exchange Rates

I have survived my first class in Spain! It is politics and violence in the 30s and we are having 3 debates over the course of the semester....that might be a problem, but as a whole the class seems interesting AND the prof speaks clearly. There are also other foreigners in the class too (3 Americans, 2 Brits, a German and a Frenchwoman). I have 3 more hours of class today on the other side of town which a nice 20 minute walk away. I'm done at 8pm, and tonight I'm going to a language exchange thing. So yay Spanish and meeting people.

Oh and maybe it's a good thing there isn't much peanut butter here? Nah, it's worth the risk. Every non-American I've talked to about peanut butter says its way too rich and are shocked at the idea of mixing it with chocolate. They are living in Plato's cave and have yet to see the brilliance that is peanut butter.

Also, exchange rate changes in my favor rock. I have more money in the bank this week after making a withdraw than I had last week. Let's hear it for a strong dollar! I think I'll splurge and buy some athletic socks. The two I brought are mud soaked after "playing soccer" (kicking a ball against a wall and chasing after it) in the rain this weekend. I watched a Real Madrid game last night and that was a lot more entertaining than the other games I've seen, maybe it's a team thing.

Continents

The other day I had an interesting discussion with my host mom (native of Salamanca) and the other exchange student who is staying with us (a 15 or 16 year old Brazilian girl) about how many continents there are. I say there are 7: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, South America and North America. Basically the playable Risk board plus Antarctica.

They both said that there were 6 (although had different six), the mom said Oceania instead of Australia which I agree is correct, but they both said the the Americas are just one continent. I said it would make more sense for Eurasia to be one continent since its border is much larger than the North American/South American border. The host mom did not like that idea. The Brazilian said that the American (I've realized that it's odd that we don't have a more specific word for a person from the US such as they have in Spanish) idea of a separate NA and SA makes it seem like we don't want to be associated with them. I decided to bite my tongue at that moment. We talked about NAFTA a bit and how it is sort of bring North America together but no where near as much as the EU. Eventually the situation diffused when I made the joke that American's ego are so big that we need our own continent.

Humor is an excellent tool to bring people together. The explanation of it not so much. I tried to explain the difference between British humor and American humor to my language exchange today which didn't go so well. I cited Family Guy as American humor (which she had seen so that worked) and Monty Python as British humor, which she never heard of. So I then explain to her the first scene of The Holy Grail, the whole coconut thing. At the end of my little story she just said, "I don't get it, why is that funny?" She didn't seem satisfied with my answer of "because it's silly".

But yeah, there are 7 continents but we really should have a more specific word for American. In Spanish it's Estadounidense...a mouthful. I have a feeling that won't catch on.

Futball and Political Geography

I don't really get it. I like kicking a ball around, but watching it isn't exactly thrilling, sometimes it's just downright confusing. I think that is partially because I don't know the rules. I watched a game yesterday and it was ok. Barcelona destroyed the other team, but then again Barcelona is one of the best teams in the league and neither the bartender or the guy next to me knew what city the other team was from. The other popular team is Real Madrid. You either like one or the other, it's like an Yankee/Red Sox things but with a lot more political undercurrents. After all Barcelona is the capital of Catalunia, which speaks Catalan and wants to be an independent nation. Not as violently as Pais Vasco with ETA, but it's still a sizable movement. My host mom doesn't like the team for Barcelona, her reason was that they weren't Spanish and if they want to break off from Spain good riddance.....besides that pretty strong opinion she is a really nice woman who refers to me as her adopted son.

Speaking of separation, I have a language exchange with an Italian girl who is a grad student and is fluent in Spanish and is pretty good in English, and she was telling me today about how there is a political party in northern Italy that want's to separate from the South since they say the South is just full of poor, ignorant, rural people (and the Casa Nostra). Supposedly there is a similar stereotype about Southern Spain. Mmmmmm.