Spanglish

No. I'm not talking about the movie here. I was just thinking back to the time ganyamanya and I spent in tantalizingly colourful, guttural, spectacular, spirited Spain. And we managed to get by with un poco de Castellano and muchos Ingles! Long live globalization! Or maybe not. Because the things I most enjoyed about Spain were the elements untouched by American cultural colonization- the crowded streets, the random traffic, how everything shuts down in the afternoon for siesta, the amazing night life and the tremendous feeling of community that permeates everything Spanish.

It might be a good idea to start at the beginning.
First stop in Spain: Barcelona
We arrive at the airport and head to baggage claim to pick up our back packs. Oh.... did i tell you about our back packs- our incredibly cool back packs- the very first that i've ever owned- and mine is better than ganyamanya's- you can see mine here- http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=47690734&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1&color=SAPPHIRE/BLACK&img=/media/705784_4742Lrg.jpg&view=large&vcat=REI_SEARCH - no! i'm not getting a commission from REI- and NO! i don't have A.D.D.!. Anyways, where was i???... haan... so we get to baggage claim and there were 15 or so boys (they were old enough to be men... but Spanish men will always be boys, just like French women will always be girls) playing futbol while waiting for their luggage. And they were playing serious and rough... in an airport... like it was the most normal thing to do in airports. I knew then that we were definitely in Spain!

The first three days in Barcelona I spent with clients and company people. So nothing to report there. I think ganyamanya had fun roaming the streets by himself- would've earned himself a few brownie points by telling me that he got bored without me, but no, that was not destined for him.

There are just 3 things to know about Barcelona: La Rambla, FCB and Antoni Gaudi.
Thing no.1: La Rambla is a centrally located pedestrian thoroughfare with lots of roadside shops, peddlers, live statues, performers, passersby and tourists. This is where ganyamanya spent most of his time when i was working hard at the conference. Once I was done with that shit, we spent time at la rambla- with lots of paella and sangria.
Thing no.2: FCB is the barcelonian equivalents of God. On the night before we left from Barcelona, FCB won the Spanish league after 5 years. And I have never seen so many people with so many beer cans on the streets before or after. Everyone in Barcelona was out on the streets, in cars or on their feet or as the night wore on, on all fours. Honking started at about 11pm at night and went on until 5 am in the morning. Anthems were being sung, shop fronts were being attacked, beer was being consumed and thrown up - a martian visitor would've thought this to be a strange tribe indeed... with blue and red striped exoskeletons and cans/bottles attached at the end of one of their limbs and a smouldering, smoking white pipe attached at the end of another.
On to Thing no.3: Antoni Gaudi is at the heart of all tourism in Barcelona. If you don't like Gaudi, pack up your bags and leave right away. Cause if you stay, you will probably start liking him. I remember being in shool and feeling that la Sagrada Familia was the strangest architectural work I had ever seen. Once you visit his buildings and read about his architectural philosophies and his commitment to his work, you just cannot feel the same way. One of the nicest afternoons in the entire trip was the time we sat in a small streetside restaurant facing the Sagrada Familia, sipping sangria and just looking at the incomplete church.

More about the Spain trip on my next post. I just realized that my blogs are a chronological nightmare. And if you have a problem with that, all I have to say is "You’ve got a nasty mancha on your camiseta".

p.s. I have no idea what that means.