one night out

Thia picture isn´t great but I don´t think its too bad. My flatmate Matthew and I went out a couple of weeks ago to hear some music. It was kindof Brazilian/reggae fusion. Not my favorite of what I have heard here so far but it was pretty good. The drink I was holding was half beer and half lemonade. Very popular here. Very good most of the time. I was falling asleep by the time the group started (midnight!). Everything starts really late here. I don´t know if I´ll ever get used to it. I have dinner at 10 or 10:30 most nights.

La Mercé

La Mercé is a festival that took place the 3rd week of September. It used to be a religious holiday but is now just a bunch of concerts, parades, and traditional events. The picture on the left is of ´castelles´which means human castles. I wasn´t able to capture the bottom but there are 30 or 50 people on the bottom who support the people you see. At the top is a little girl, probably 6 years old. Its scary to see the people shake sometimes but I didn´t see any of the castles fall. Most businesses were closed for a few days this week (including the supermarket!). We live just a 2 minute walk from this plaza (Plaza Jaume). On the right is a giant that I saw close to my apartment in the parade of giants. They are about 12 feet tall. It is basically a giant puppet and a person carrys it on their shoulders. They seem to be very heavy. There were probably hundreds of giants in the parade but I was not able to capture the spectacle very well on film. The parade was fairly interesting since the giants ´danced´to music played on drums and traditional catalan double reed instruments. (It sounded terrible most of the time but it was still fun.)

October 17, 2006

So this is a woman dressed up like a cat. Sort of. She unfortunately turned around and I didn´t get a shot from the front. But for you single boys out there...if she reppears I will let you know.
Also on ´La Rambla´you can buy a rooster, take your picture with Casear, the tree lady...the list goes on and on. Its sort of like Times Square. Its where all the tourists go. There are smaller buildings and less people but you get the idea.
Oh, and the sign in the pic says ´Feed the Nice Kitty´(if you can´t read it).

contraseña (computer account)

Today I got my internet account to work at the school. It only took 5 weeks! Anyhow, its sunny here. Much warmer than October in New York. Sorry I have no pictures up yet. I will do that very soon. (I know I have been telling some of you that for a couple of weeks but I thought my account at school would have been working sooner.)
For internet access we have internet cafes (very few) and many locoturios. At a locoturio you can make international calls and use the internet. The one I go to is very cheap but is overrun with Indian and Pakistani 8 year olds playing Grand Theft Auto. Very strange. Now I won´t have to deal with that much any more.
If any of you are thinking of visiting Spain let me know. I can give you lots of helpful information.

October 11, 2006

Hello to everyone! This is the (much overdue) start of my blog. I have been in Spain for a month today. I hope you are all well. The first couple of weeks were tough but I am settling in. Pictures are soon to come! I now have a computer account with the school (hooray!) and I should be in better touch with everyone.
A lot of this will be in past tense for awhile so I can catch you up on what has been going on with me. Let me know if you want to visit. I have a futon in the living room although I don´t think it very comfortable. Sorry! The apartment was furnished by IKEA but I can´t complain since I did not have to buy any furniture