It is to Madame Justice that I dedicate this concerto!

I succeeded in blowing up Retiro Park tonight!

justttt kidding

I’m trying to decide whether words can even convey the V for Vendettaish crescendo of symphonies and lights tonight in Parque Buen Retiro for La feria de San Isidro going on this week. However, I have come to conclude that, like V says, ‘Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.’ So Besides the astonishing video I have put below that captures a bit of the remarkable moments of the evening, I’d like to mention how completely in shock I still am….I’m probably now going to go into a poetic rambling of some sort…yeaaa

Thousands flocked to the park tonight, making our 10 minutes before the performance arrival a bit impractical for a good view….. So in the spontaneity of our youth, we used all of our strength to climb the walls of an outside cafe up to its roof, where our view may have just been the best seat in the park..As the show began, I planted my elbow on the back of the cement sculpture of a lion overlooking the lake…where the water began to spit out some greens, oranges, reds, and blues of colors that evoked a series of endless sensations….And I almost thought the entire monumental structure centered on the side of lake was going to explode from the energy..

There was a phenomenal motion of sound that vibrated though my insides. With every large blast of light that illuminated the sky, so enlightened was my entire being…i closed my eyes and imagined a world where all could come together to see these thunders of greens, reds, and blues….being blissfully swept away by the capabilities of mankind…. I felt that for once, I was united with a people that could share a same universal appreciation for the collaborations of the human mind and the natural element…In this shared appreciation we feel comforted, in comfort we feel unified, in unification we are identifiable, in identity we stand together… tonight we stood on the same ground, in the same city, in the same park, around the same lake, in the same awe. I felt very Madrileño tonight, perhaps just because I was sharing the same vision…which indeed, was only a fraction of the overwhelming sensations I experienced. The other pieces of the pie were derived from the classical music, light, and water images flooding out into the night sky– entering into my eyes, heart, mind– circulating within from the air that I welcomed with every gasp keeping me alive and craving more. I pleaded for time to stop as each firework reached it’s climatic outburst. This must have been another moment marking my supreme well-being. One of those truly happy times!

A little deep? I know I know, sorry….It’s 4:40 am and im waking up in 3 hours to go to Valencia…….umm Woooo !!!!!

Enjoy this video! Sorry about my filming. I was turning it sideways so I could get the fireworks in, etc… You know, don’t give me attitude because you have to cock your head.

holy crap! did you see the fireballs?

again.


i was laying out in the sun today at retiro and a boy came up and asked me for money so he could eat. i told him sorry, i didn’t have any money but i gave him some snacks i had with me. five minutes later i look for my phone, it’s gone. i searched for an hour through the park for that kid so i could beat him up and didn’t find him.

my luck in this country in unbelievable… and, i have sunburn.

Rosas por las calles y buena gente

Another week has flown by here. Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve been here for more than two months. Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve only been here for two months. Either way, I’m more than halfway through classes, and gracias a dios for that.

This past weekend I had a pretty enjoyable time. I went to Retiro Park on Friday during the day by myself, laid in the sun, did some reading, did some reflecting, listened to a little bob, haha. It was 630 when I left and the sun was still pretty strong. I went again the next day with some friends, and we found a good patch of sun. The park was full of things to do. Boating in the lake, clowns blowing up balloons for the kids, ice cream, puppet shows, artists, Flamenco dancers, magicians, etc. Everyone finds a spot in the grass to lay out in, and there was a group of spaniards close to ours that were playing guitar, singing. Haha, there was also this little blonde boy, probably about three years old, that reminded me of the little boy in Stewart Little. He had round glasses and was tying himself up with a jumprope. He was just off in his own little world, knotting his legs together and trying to hop around. Figuratively, he’s sort of like me in this country. Hahaha, but it was so cute.

That night I went out with a group of spaniards which was really incredible. The cousin of the family that I live with invited me to come out with him and his friends. I do have a group American friends here that go to ICADE, the business school here, and, yeah, I like hanging out with them. But it’s so worth it when I spend a whole night with just spaniards, talking the language, getting into the culture–it really makes me feel good about myself when I know they enjoy my company. There were about 8 of us or so that met up in Plaza Santa Ana and just had a few drinks there, then went to a bar down the street and I didn’t hear any english laaadeedahh :) When they started to close we went outside and they had a few smokes. There was a guy selling a whole bouquet of roses for like 3 euros, so the guys bought them and everyone was just dancing around with roses flying in the air, hahaha :) ..After that headed to Black Jack, an after bar or so. Needless to say I was the only American around… And I don’t know why I love the idea of that so much. I’m not trying to deflect my identity or anything, but when you’re here, I think it’s just the idea of breaking out of old habits and knowing you can start over with people who are different than you.. that is more important than anything else. And I don’t understand people who come here and don’t want that to happen. I just don’t get it. How can they say they lived here for 5 or 6 months then? What would they recount of their experiences here? The time they got drunk with other Americans in the tourist center of Sol? I don’t loathe those people because if anyone knows it’s hard to do it, i think about all this mess I’ve been through. But that would be so disappointing :( More so than my last week! Haha, and that’s hard to beat.

The best part about it was that within an hour, my spanish was just rolling. It’s always kind of weak at the beginning for some reason, but after a while it just comes with ease. If it’s all you hear it’s all you think in. Like I said before, you don’t really know your progress because you always feel a little inferior to how they speak which is natural. But last night I felt like I had reached a higher level personally.. I just didn’t even think about it until now.

I just hung around the house today, did some reading, did a little freelance work for a company in the states, chatted with daniela over the phone in barcelona. Did I tell you? I think it was a mistake but my phone was charged with 88 euros of minutes the other day. They must have typed in the wrong number at a convenient store when someone else was recharging! So now i am set for like, 2 more months, hahaha incredible. That’s a dream come true because recargar is so expensive and money drains like water on prepaid phones here! Every now and then I get a little lucky, no?

Monday is tomorrow, and I’m tutoring diego. Today I have to think of a list of adjectives for him to change from like, “large” “larger” “largest”
:)