missing you

I miss Spain. I miss everything about it. Mostly because I had such a great time roaming the streets of Barcelona, and seeing all of the differnet people on Las Rambalas. I will post some great pictures soon and include commentary when my life slows down a little bit here at university. Graduation here I come!

In the meantime, enjoy this little picture to start off my advanture when i recount it later on this week:This is a picture of Christphor Columbus pointing to the "new world" which opened up many opportunites for Spain. Too bad he was trying to find India. But they are very proud of thier cultural hertiate in Spain. Columbus is included in this...There is a roundabout surrounding his towering statue leads the way to the heart of the city: Las Rambalas
(please note that this picture was auctally taken 3 years ago and not on my recent trip)

Instructions for an airport traveler

At the airport, after you check-in, promplty report to the security check gate. While there, take off everything that could possibally set off the metal detector, and promply go thru the detector. Usually these people forget to take thier belt or have some keys in thier pocket. don't make that mistake!

When you get to your gate, harrass the woman at the counter by asking what time boarding will began. When you see lots of staff arriving, prompty grab your stuff, and run towards the counter. oh darn. old people and small childern first? wait..my 9 year old can pass for 5 yeah? wait, why does first class get to board first? i got class i should be able to board!

When your approportate boarding time has arrivied, quickly shuffle into line, kindly passivly pushing your way into the line without ending up in the back of the line. do this like heared sheep in the countryside all going into the barn. give a loud sigh or a mild scof to the jackass who is trying to board but can't find thier ticket and is holding up the line. If there is a long line of people, wait with them. don't be like the slow-pokes that wait on the side until majorirty has boarded because the plane is just going to leave without them anyways.

when you finally got thru the gate, hurry up. walk fast, try and push thru those that are walking towards the plane as well..they will take up your overhead compartnet space! hurry hurry hurry!

When you get onto the plane, you should be greated by the attendents, and prompty find your seat. when you do, stop abrubtly, and reach for the overhead compartmnet. carefully lay your bag, jacket, shoppoing bags, and small bag into there and arrange it all nice and neatly, oh yeah and in a row so that your stuff won't have to share space with other bags. don't even constider letting other people thru on the plane. they will be just be taking away valuable time you can use to stow away your things.

If your flight opperates on the Southwest model, and there are no assigned seats. and that poor mother comes in with her little child and is late boarding because she was changing thier diper while the other little one was running around causing hovoc, don't offer to give up your nice window/asile seat next to your significant other because let's face it, the childern are clearly old enough to tough it out without mommy..i mena they are breathing by themsevles, right? or else the childern are just adults in disguise wanting to sit together and will morph into their full adult selves once they secure those seats next to each other.

When the food/snack cart comes, poke your head up like a little gopher or marcat. contuine doing so until they auctally come to you. you have to look like a eager little kid otherwise they will not serve you. Not in your seat? hurry and rush back. In you miss this opportunity to return to your seat, you will forever be stuck at the end of the isle and even worse (gasp) you may not get your drink/snack/meal that you paid for in your airline ticket.
They get to your row and oh no! they are serving the other row across from you first! how dare they! greedily stare at them as they may take the last (insert food/drink name here)! and then you'll starve to death!

Once you get your food, greedly stare at it and think "that's it?" and give it a look of disgust. Then eat it, savor it, quickly now! This is because you are starving eventhou you got some food in the airport terminal and this food, like the terminal food are both equally inediable and made from mysterious products. and don't forget to eat every last crumb. this is the last meal you will get--FOREVER, so savor it you greedy smuck. When you're finished, put everything away, and wait and wait forever for the attadents to come colllect your trash. Oh wait, you see---they have yet to finish distributing the food.

the end.

immigration waves

I have been to Europe 4 times now in the past 4 years (I am very lucky). I have noticed the waves of immigrants comming in. Last time I came to Barcelona, people told me to watch out for Gypies and Africans selling illegal things. This time, I noticed that there are many pakistanis illegally selling cheap beer (cerversas) on the street. While there has always been the normal immgation waves and beggers are still single Muslim women, it has become very very apparent. The Muslims are comming, and they are invading Europe by force and in large numbers.

Let's take another example. This summer, I travled to Rome and Paris. In Rome, in all of the major tourist destinations, there were, as always, blacks selling knock-offs. The very first time I went to Rome in 2004 there were also blacks selling knockoffs, but they also sold various trinkets. (trinkets in Rome varied anywhere from stupid toys with bells of whisltes to light-up toys to roses for women.) This time, it seems as if the Pakis have taken over the trinket business, while the blacks still sustain the knock-off business.
This goes for Paris as well. Years back, when I went in the winter of 2003 and the summer of 2004, under the Effiel Tower, there were blacks selling various trinkets. Now, it is all Paskistanies.

This leads me to ask: What is going on? What is cauisng such a large "immigrant" wave from this Musilm Country. And where are all of thier women? I have seen all of hte Pakistani men, but where are thier women?

In Rome, we attempted to ask one of the street vendors how he got to Rome. We attempted to ask if he came thru a company, but he didn't understand us. We also learned that he was from Calculatta, India, and not Pakistan like majority of the other street vendors. In addition, his reason for leaving India was because "it is very dangerous. they kill me if I go back. Street gangs" Now, all me nieve, but I have never heard of such dangerous situations in India. In fact, I thoguht that India and Pakistan were realtivity safe, nice nations, but with a large economic gap. Thefore, teh rich have very good opporutnites to be very well educated.

in the meantime, cna someone else give me a good reason why this is happening?

British Invasion

Yesterday was the big Espana v. England Football game. So what happened??? Thousands of Brits crowded the streets of Barcelona. The night before at the club and also in the streets walking home I noticed there were many as well.

The night before, 2 drunk Englishmen from Manchester asked us for directions. However, they were unable to pronouce "Plaza Catalonyula" and instead handed us a card taht belonged to thier hostel.
"It is right there..that is where we are headed as well." we said.
"really? it's close. everyone told us to go the wrong way!"
"yeah..well it's right there. see, that is las rambalas. Plaza catyoulana is right at the top of it"
we were walking on las rambalas while they drunkly were walking in the same direction as well. One of them then saw a prostitutie and i heard him say "ay mate, i'm going to go get some action. "
The other guy laughed, while his friend ran off. he caught up with us and said "crazy bastard."
my friend told him "er, i wouln't let him go with that prostiute."
"why?" he replied
"well, unless if your friend wants to pay for a suprise dick, then let him go" i said
"OY!"---the brit then bolted off and chased after his friend.

Back to yesterday. I notied a consiterable amount of English speaking folk on Las Rambalas and many of them were wearing jersys. When I got to Plaza Real, it became very very clear. I guess as a point of fan inmiditation, they hung up english flags with thier team names on them. Many british sat there singing and chanting and drinking beer. later on, after the the games ended, they stood there chanting in the plaza celebrating. to celebrate, they proceeded on taking fruit and bottles of anything, and smashing them in the plaza.

the streets of barcelona are still filled with english folk. i have a feeling they will be here for awhile because it is easter vacation.

crazy in Barcelona...Take 2

So I have to admit that I have not been seeing so much of the sights as for the culture. Sunday, Becuase we got back from the club so late, and I had jet lag. I slept until 5pm. My frined and I went to the olympic park by the beach to walk around. There they had posh hotels of very very modern articture.

Afterwords we ate at an Italian restruant. I was good.

As always, the center of life in Barcelona centers on the main street "Las Ramblas"
my friend and I proceeded to go to Plaza Real, where some argentians approahed us and invited us to a bar for a drink, we somehow ended up in a bar called "sugar"---the Argentenians made a joke on how most of the "non-english" speeking nations take "cute" english words and name things after this...for instance.the bar that we went to. The bar was really relaly small, It reminde me of the avalon in costa mesa. it spun a variety of music, from 80's to 90's rock and pop to spanish songs towards the end of the night. We then met a german guy and my friend showed us another bar, called Manchester Bar..where there were a good amount of "english speeking" folk.

It is intresting to note that in most pubs/ bar that are british/irish, there will be a lot of irish/british there. perhaps it is thier "comfort zone" It is just like how the Agentians that we met eneded up meeting other Argentinians. They all hit it off really really well and started conversing with each other in Spanish. I got to practice my Spanish for a bit. Becuase like Spain, the Argentenians did not know that much English. One of them that I conversed with did not konw many words at all. I realized that I understand Spanish and am less hestitant to use it when i'm under then influcence rather than when i'm not..perhaps I am less self-conscuious this way.

I then feel ill the next day but mandaged to go across the street to buy some pasteries and some groceries. Like most other nations, you have to pay for your plastic bags here. I noticed that most European nations have the theory "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as well as they are pretty savey when it comes to waste....well except for water when every night they wash the streets of Barcelona with water, and the next morning it seems as if a rainstrom has come though with all of the puddles of water taht they made from the daily street washing. If I were a tax payer, I would suggest that they do it on the weekeneds, and that's it. But this is how they keep thier city clean, and this reflects on thier culture, for if you go to Spain, no one ever complined now dity it was.

I felt good enough eventually to go out at night. We went to this club called "Fellini's" it spun rock and indie pop..or "pop rock" the spanards like to call it (i personally think this is a more accuate description of this music, for "indie rock" is not so "independent" anymore). There were a multituides of characters there. I noticed that there were a lot of Irish people there, who were on "holidy" (vacation) and most of the didn't even know any spainsh..some irish girls in the bathroom were all asking me how to say simple spanish phrases. Because of it's convient location on Las Rambalas, and the club promoters, it was a easy location to attract tourists. my friend infomred me that durning the peak travel times, there are lots of foreignores, and other times there are mainly spanish people.

Espana

so i'm am finally here.

too bad i feel so gross. my body is basically like "WHAT? NO SLEEP? WHAT DRINKS? WHAT TOBACCO?"

the last two nights have been very very intresting. I have yet to bring a camera (stupid me!) to document what happened.

bascially, I landed in Zurich and took off again to Barcelona. There I took the REFE (train) to the city center then to line 5 where my friend lived. We met at the metro stop. she lives really close to it. it wasn't soo bad.

I came, then I quickly changed as for we were meeting people for tapas at 10:00pm. we were a bit late.

the tapas we had were excellent. I some some of a fien'ds friends. they were catalan, and they ordered catalan food. mainly seafood. it was great, and intresting..it was also very very fishy tasting...and intrestingly enough, i eat seafood all of the time..and i thought that it was more on the fishy side..

at dinner i proceeded to drink wine and sangria. we cracked a joke taht sangria is like the jungle juice of spain. i think it is.

we then headed off to a bar, then a club, Razzamtaz. it was awesome. we danced the night away until 7am..literally.

more to come..but first..sleep.

[countdown to ] Espana

T minus 4 hours to go. I fly out at 8pm on Swiss Internatinoal airways to Zurich, then to Barcelona. i'm soo excited. my bags were packed in a short amount of time. I have the necessities I need. that's all.