Literal Translation: Change of Mind
Figurative Translation: To make a u-turn (You’ll see cambio de sentido signs on highway exits which basically tells you that you can go back around)
As strange as it sounds, this trip got a bit emotional/philosophical at times. The past few months, I've become really good friends with Tess and we pretty much tell each other everything. Every once in a while, we get to talking about really serious things...and really dumb things. She has become my confidant and she always provides me with good insight or some new perspective. So, during this trip I've had a few cambio de sentidos - the literal translation. Maybe not necessarily a change of mind, but many things got me thinking for sure. Here are some of those:
LATINOS v SPANIARDS: Tess and I have noticed how it's really difficult to to meet Spanish men. We've realized that most of them won't just come and talked to you if they saw you, say, in a bar or whatever. I know it's a rare thing to meet the man of your dreams at a bar, but what I'm saying is the Spaniards can be way too shy. I did a little bit of a survey on my students and every single one of them who are in a relationship met their significant others through someone else. None of them just randomly started talking to their bf/gf at a party, a convention, an AA session, or whatever. The Latinos ,on the other hand, are way too forward (see previous post)! It got us wondering: which is better - the timid one or the aggressive one? Then this led me to another question: why is it that the conquerors (the Spaniards) are less aggressive than the conquered (the Latinos)? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
HIDDEN Xs: If you are a Spaniard from the Basque Country or Catalonia, most likely your name will have an X on it. Like Xalba: it's Salvador in Castellano; it's Xalbador in Basque. Javier in Castellano becomes Xavier in Catalan. Where are all these Xs coming from???
KITE SURFERS: Having lived in Miami for the past few years, Tess is all about water activities. She wanted to go kite surfing while in Tenerife so we did. Hahaha...kidding. Not we, I meant she. While she did that, I got to lay on the beach and enjoy a little bit of relaxation, a nice siesta, and good weather. And as always, I loved people-watching, especially the kite surfers. They all look so cool and healthy and strong. And their kites were so pretty. One day, I would like to try it...whenever I actually learn how to properly swim .
COOKIES v CRACKERS: These two things are clearly very different. One is sweet, the other is salty. But did you know both are called the same in Spanish? Galletas is the word. There is no distinction! Tess and I discussed this extensively and were very annoyed by it. I mean seriously! For a language that has two words for "to be" and two words for "to know", they couldn't come up with two words for two very different things??!! WTF!!!
TEIDE: I’m not exactly who you call a “nature, outdoorsy” person. Anytime anyone ever mentions going on a camping trip, I’m usually the first to say no - I need a clean bathroom with indoor plumbing. Maybe I could do it for a day/night, but no more. But every once in a while when I see things like the Teide, the Alps, etc., I can’t help but feel ridiculously happy. Seeing something so amazingly beautiful really just puts everything in perspective. I don't know why it is but I feel completely at peace when I'm among natural beauty. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to hike up the Teide, although we really wanted to. So, we've decided we would go back someday with our future husbands/boyfriends and hike all the way to the top. Maybe then, I wouldn't mind camping out.
VINO: On our way up to the Teide, we drove past a couple of vineyards. One looked really cute so we decided to stop by on our way back. The man was wonderful and let us taste three different kinds of wine. Now, I'm not usually a wine drinker, but I have to say these were pretty damn good. And he won me over when he said it's organic and it doesn't give you a terrible hangover the next day. It was great! I felt so Euro at that moment: driving - or riding - around in a manual car and wine tasting in some random vineyard. Every once in a while, it hits me that I live in another country and this was one of those moments.
AN EMOTIONAL END: On our plane ride home, Tess and I got to talking about love, relationships and family. It got pretty intense because all of a sudden we found ourselves crying...then laughing because we were crying. This emotional moment really made me realize how fortunate I am. It's so easy to forget how lucky we are and we take so many people for granted. Sadly, I need one of these moments to remind me of this fact every once in a while.
Alright, so not all were exactly extremely philosophical but whatever. You get my point. I love you everyone!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tenerife: No Es Moco de Pavo
Literal translation: It’s no turkey booger
Figurative translation: It’s no small thing/It’s no easy feat
My trip to Tenerife has been quite the adventure. Tess and I arrived to one of the seven Canary Islands very early Friday morning and left late Sunday night. We went to Tenerife for a couple of reasons: to celebrate Tess’ 23rd birthday (my god, she’s young!), to take advantage of our 4 day weekend, to take a break from chilly Madrid, and of course, to visit the Canary Islands.
Lots of shit (good and bad) happened that got us saying “No es moco de pavo” a lot. Here’s a summary:
STICK SHIFT CAR: As you all know, I don’t drive. So that left the driving to Tess. She has driven a stick shift car before (like a long time ago) so she didn’t mind if we saved some money and renting a manual car – like all the other islands here, renting a car is the best way to get around. Tess did awesomely! She was a bit nervous at first and the car stalled a number of times. But by the end of Friday, she was getting used to it. I was very proud of her. Me on the other hand felt really bad because I couldn’t help her at all. When do you let go of the clutch? I have no idea! So I concentrated on my navigating, which I have to say I’m pretty fucking good at. Yes we had to do some cambio de sentidos (see next post), but it was mostly because of the stupid confusing rotundas, bad road signs, construction work, and lack of street names on the map and on the streets. Yup, I got lots of excuses.
ALAN? ALAN WHO?: Tess and I had rented an apartment we had found on the internet. The man, Alan, who we were in contact with, sent Tess an email with a map that led us to their “sales office” in Costa de Silencio, the area where we were staying. After some time of looking for the office (these islands really need to get their act together and draw a proper map), Tess and I walked into the office, told the lady about Alan, and got the response of WHO??? The lady had no idea who he was and no one in that office has any contact with this guy Alan. Somehow, we found the apartment and we had a place to stay…whew! But it’s still a mystery as to who this Alan guy is and why he directed us to that office.
TEIDE: The highest point in Spain…and it’s ridiculously beautiful. This one was no easy feat either. It took us about two hours just to get up, over and around mountains to finally reach the Teide (again, poor Tess). Yes we stopped a few times to enjoy the view, but it was quite a drive up there. We had to go through lots of winding narrow roads. During one of our stops, we couldn’t get the emergency brake down and thought we were never gonna get out of there…thankfully a random man just happen to walk by (in a very deserted area) and helped us out. As we were halfway up some mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds. We could barely see what was in front of us. But once we got above the clouds, it was totally worth it.
PEANUT DISCO PUB: The name, Costa de Silencio, is quite fitting for this part of Tenerife. This area is super calm – compared to Playa de las Americas and Cristianos, where most tourists stay – especially at night. Tenerife is full of Germans and Brits. It’s also full of Latin Americans. I rarely heard Spanish there…at least the Spanish I could understand. In Silencio, the only tourists that were there were old retired foreigners. So Tess and I found only one place to go to – that didn’t involve driving - on Friday: Peanut Disco Pub. Oh si!...not only is it a disco, but it’s also a pub. We were there for less than two hours and we got, against our will, about 5 different guys’ digits and offers to give us “tours” of Tenerife. One even wrote under his number, “Para ligar, trabajar NO!” (In order to flirt, not to work!). It was ridiculous. This place was basically a pub with about twenty Latin Americans (mostly men) hanging out and dancing to sexy Latin music. If only they were sexy! Gradually, they all came up asking us to dance, which eventually led to a lot of “me encantas”! Me encantas my ass! There was a Columbian guy who would not stop telling me this, and I just looked at him half laughing, half “get the hell out of here”. He was 45 years old with two daughters, 14 and 18. Sick!!! Needless to say, Tess and I found ourselves running out of there, escaping as they were all distracted.
P.S. Me encantas means I like you, but it’s more than just like. It’s between like and love.
AIRPORT CRISIS: Oh the airport crisis. For being an island, Tenerife is pretty fancy and has two airports. We flew into the Northern one so we just assumed we would fly out of the same airport. But of course not. We arrived at the Northern Airport, dropped off the rental car, checked in just to hear the lady say Air Europa ONLY flies to Madrid via the Southern Airport. Ooops! With a little less than two hours before our flight, we hurriedly got into a cab and agreed to pay a ridiculous amount of money to catch our flight. We just made it on time for our flight and do some window shopping, which was quite necessary after a nerve-wracking cab ride.
Figurative translation: It’s no small thing/It’s no easy feat
My trip to Tenerife has been quite the adventure. Tess and I arrived to one of the seven Canary Islands very early Friday morning and left late Sunday night. We went to Tenerife for a couple of reasons: to celebrate Tess’ 23rd birthday (my god, she’s young!), to take advantage of our 4 day weekend, to take a break from chilly Madrid, and of course, to visit the Canary Islands.
Lots of shit (good and bad) happened that got us saying “No es moco de pavo” a lot. Here’s a summary:
STICK SHIFT CAR: As you all know, I don’t drive. So that left the driving to Tess. She has driven a stick shift car before (like a long time ago) so she didn’t mind if we saved some money and renting a manual car – like all the other islands here, renting a car is the best way to get around. Tess did awesomely! She was a bit nervous at first and the car stalled a number of times. But by the end of Friday, she was getting used to it. I was very proud of her. Me on the other hand felt really bad because I couldn’t help her at all. When do you let go of the clutch? I have no idea! So I concentrated on my navigating, which I have to say I’m pretty fucking good at. Yes we had to do some cambio de sentidos (see next post), but it was mostly because of the stupid confusing rotundas, bad road signs, construction work, and lack of street names on the map and on the streets. Yup, I got lots of excuses.
ALAN? ALAN WHO?: Tess and I had rented an apartment we had found on the internet. The man, Alan, who we were in contact with, sent Tess an email with a map that led us to their “sales office” in Costa de Silencio, the area where we were staying. After some time of looking for the office (these islands really need to get their act together and draw a proper map), Tess and I walked into the office, told the lady about Alan, and got the response of WHO??? The lady had no idea who he was and no one in that office has any contact with this guy Alan. Somehow, we found the apartment and we had a place to stay…whew! But it’s still a mystery as to who this Alan guy is and why he directed us to that office.
TEIDE: The highest point in Spain…and it’s ridiculously beautiful. This one was no easy feat either. It took us about two hours just to get up, over and around mountains to finally reach the Teide (again, poor Tess). Yes we stopped a few times to enjoy the view, but it was quite a drive up there. We had to go through lots of winding narrow roads. During one of our stops, we couldn’t get the emergency brake down and thought we were never gonna get out of there…thankfully a random man just happen to walk by (in a very deserted area) and helped us out. As we were halfway up some mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds. We could barely see what was in front of us. But once we got above the clouds, it was totally worth it.
PEANUT DISCO PUB: The name, Costa de Silencio, is quite fitting for this part of Tenerife. This area is super calm – compared to Playa de las Americas and Cristianos, where most tourists stay – especially at night. Tenerife is full of Germans and Brits. It’s also full of Latin Americans. I rarely heard Spanish there…at least the Spanish I could understand. In Silencio, the only tourists that were there were old retired foreigners. So Tess and I found only one place to go to – that didn’t involve driving - on Friday: Peanut Disco Pub. Oh si!...not only is it a disco, but it’s also a pub. We were there for less than two hours and we got, against our will, about 5 different guys’ digits and offers to give us “tours” of Tenerife. One even wrote under his number, “Para ligar, trabajar NO!” (In order to flirt, not to work!). It was ridiculous. This place was basically a pub with about twenty Latin Americans (mostly men) hanging out and dancing to sexy Latin music. If only they were sexy! Gradually, they all came up asking us to dance, which eventually led to a lot of “me encantas”! Me encantas my ass! There was a Columbian guy who would not stop telling me this, and I just looked at him half laughing, half “get the hell out of here”. He was 45 years old with two daughters, 14 and 18. Sick!!! Needless to say, Tess and I found ourselves running out of there, escaping as they were all distracted.
P.S. Me encantas means I like you, but it’s more than just like. It’s between like and love.
AIRPORT CRISIS: Oh the airport crisis. For being an island, Tenerife is pretty fancy and has two airports. We flew into the Northern one so we just assumed we would fly out of the same airport. But of course not. We arrived at the Northern Airport, dropped off the rental car, checked in just to hear the lady say Air Europa ONLY flies to Madrid via the Southern Airport. Ooops! With a little less than two hours before our flight, we hurriedly got into a cab and agreed to pay a ridiculous amount of money to catch our flight. We just made it on time for our flight and do some window shopping, which was quite necessary after a nerve-wracking cab ride.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Que frio!
Ok, it has been freezing in Madrid the past week. Maybe not as cold as Chicago - the low is about lower 30s - but I have apparently become accustomed to Madrid weather. I was so annoyed with myself for being cold. I was like, I'm from Chicago!!! WTF!! And I remember when I arrived here around this time last year, I was still wearing a thin coat. Oh global warming!
This weekend is another puente. A puente (bridge) is what they call a long weekend here. Saturday is some holiday I don't remember and Monday is a religious holiday. So Tess and I are taking advantage and going to Tenerife, one of the islands in the Canary. I'm super excited. I need to get away from this cold and I just want to wear flip flops. It will also be nice since I'll be returning to Chicago soon...ahhh snow!!!!
Speaking of Chicago, I am super excited to go home. I've been listening to Christmas music and I'm just imagining all the food that I'm gonna eat...as always, it all goes back to food for me. It's going to be a tight two weeks (again, I'm just so popular!) but I'm going to try to do the most I can. Yay, I can't wait. See you all in a few weeks!!!
This weekend is another puente. A puente (bridge) is what they call a long weekend here. Saturday is some holiday I don't remember and Monday is a religious holiday. So Tess and I are taking advantage and going to Tenerife, one of the islands in the Canary. I'm super excited. I need to get away from this cold and I just want to wear flip flops. It will also be nice since I'll be returning to Chicago soon...ahhh snow!!!!
Speaking of Chicago, I am super excited to go home. I've been listening to Christmas music and I'm just imagining all the food that I'm gonna eat...as always, it all goes back to food for me. It's going to be a tight two weeks (again, I'm just so popular!) but I'm going to try to do the most I can. Yay, I can't wait. See you all in a few weeks!!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I'm going to be Shakira soon...NOT!
Today, I went to my first belly dance (danza del vientre) class. It was a challenge, but great. I've always wanted to take a belly dance class but never had time or money. This summer I decided that I would take classes here in Madrid since I can't afford the gym here. I have to get some exercise somehow. And I thought it would be a good way to meet people and improve my Spanish.
My friend, Tess, wanted to do it with me and finally today we decided to go. Thankgod she was with me because we were the only ones in the class. Our teacher is a young woman from Russia. Poor girl was probably so frustrated with us. It's so difficult. So many things to think about: your breathing, your posture, your "core", etc. I mean, I can't think this much all at once. Also, what kind of dance only requires you to move your knees and shoulders??!! My god, Shakira make it look so easy.
Well, next week, we'll try again. I really enjoyed it and I think it will be a good diversion/exercise for me. Although a student of mine said that most people (excluding Shakira, of course) get a little pouch from belly dancing. Apparently that's more common and better for the dance. I guess this must be true because even my teacher didn't have flat abs, but man, her hips don't lie either...maybe this will help me get a boyfriend...ha!
So there goes my I-want-to-be-Shakira dreams. But it's cool. I still had fun...and it'll be a good alternative to my freestyle "booty dance".
My friend, Tess, wanted to do it with me and finally today we decided to go. Thankgod she was with me because we were the only ones in the class. Our teacher is a young woman from Russia. Poor girl was probably so frustrated with us. It's so difficult. So many things to think about: your breathing, your posture, your "core", etc. I mean, I can't think this much all at once. Also, what kind of dance only requires you to move your knees and shoulders??!! My god, Shakira make it look so easy.
Well, next week, we'll try again. I really enjoyed it and I think it will be a good diversion/exercise for me. Although a student of mine said that most people (excluding Shakira, of course) get a little pouch from belly dancing. Apparently that's more common and better for the dance. I guess this must be true because even my teacher didn't have flat abs, but man, her hips don't lie either...maybe this will help me get a boyfriend...ha!
So there goes my I-want-to-be-Shakira dreams. But it's cool. I still had fun...and it'll be a good alternative to my freestyle "booty dance".
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