Where are you from?

Is the first question you are asked from a new acquaintance in D.C. It comes as a surprise when someone is actually from our nation's capital. There is something crucial about this piece of knowledge to a new acquaintance. It gives them the opportunity to begin to understand the other person and some point of reference. And since I'm learning everyday more and more that this world is about who you know, where you are from is the first expression in the equation.

I think it would be cool to shift the question to "Who are you?" That would undoubtedly result in a long pause. Bob Dylan would wittily respond, "All I can do is be me, whoever that is". If that is the best Dylan can come up with, who knows how long that question would go unanswered with a new acquaintance. Cutting to the chase is not so cutting edge, I suppose.

Or what if we asked, "What's your color?" On the personality wheel, we all have different colors. My friend Aja told me her's was blue- the more pensive, introverted type I believe. I just did mine and I got was red, the opposite side of blue on the color wheel; very telling of my relationship with Aja actually. 

Red: You see a world that is bettered by passion and individuality. You incorporate emotion and immediate action into your life. You probably have many of these qualities: Fun, Non-Judgemental, Emotional, Enthusiastic, Free-wheeling, Impulsive, Impatient.

Sure that works well, but I need to carry around this test for everyone that just doesn't know their color yet. If only it really was just a wheel we could spin. For now I am content with the question "Where are you from?" because it is an entrance to conversations in Spanish, about travel, or realizing we live just a town away from one another. Cheers! 

D.C. you've been so good to me

My awesome suitemate Angelica and me

I have been in D.C. now for two months and have not written one post yet! I would have liked to been taking note of everything for the past months, but a part of me sees a new benefit to waiting. I think I can speak more honestly on D.C. after being in the culture for two months. One thing's for sure that has been confirmed. We are sheeple- people sheep that are so influenced by our surroundings. The culture of D.C. is about working hard and playing hard. That, indeed, is what I have been up to. Long days and long nights, errands and happy hours, meetings and salsa clubs. No wonder I haven't taken time to write about it yet.

If I were to have written a post in the first two days here I would have said something like this:

People said it was hot in the summer here, but it's not so bad. I heard people on the East Coast were more cold and less friendly like sun-kissed Californians. The city seems really safe, even though I've been told otherwise. What do fireflies look like? Wow everything is free here! Now that I am out of school, I'm going to work out everyday.

I need to alter some of those statements two months in, but some reign true:

Sharing yummy sangria at Jazz in the Sculpture Garden

It is hot and humid here, but it comes in waves, with thunderstorm interludes that are actually more scary to me than the heat. People are people everywhere; you find some lollipops and some sourpusses. People are mostly so kind to me, but that could be because I'm obviously from out of town. The city has its sketchy side like any city; just the other day we walked by the scene of an armed robbery, so my guard has been raised. As an outsider we selectively choose to see what we want, but as time goes by the truth is inevitably revealed. The fireflies at dusk on the lawn outside of the White House are the most magical thing I've ever seen! They are like dancing fairies but only last for a split second and then they disappear forcing their audience to look at the big picture rather than one individual fairyfly. Sure, a lot of things are free here, but then you want to get a drink, and why not a pitcher? It all adds up indeed. Now that I'm working full-time, I have to choose to either be social or exercise after 5:30 P.M. Can you guess which option usually wins? I've successfully ran before going to work twice, which was quite a feat.

So far, the city and I get along quite well. Hey D.C. you've been so good to me, let's see what is in store for the rest of the adventure.

Gazpacho: as vibrant as love

Milagros, a good friend of mine in Spain, told me one time this summer while we were making gazpacho, "Just as gazpacho needs tomato first and foremost, a person needs love. The other things are supplementary". If you have tried great gazpacho, you would understand. Pura, the elderly nun living in Casa Don Bosco, would make the best gazpacho during the summer when we had tomatoes coming out of our ears, and pretty much every other part of our body. One time when the gazpacho turned out especially well, we joked with the rest of the household saying we added a little extra love in the gazpacho this time; when we were peeling the tomatos the knife may or may not had sliced something other than the tomato and added a bit extra redness in the gazpacho, a vibrant punch of love you might say.

We had a great laugh on that one, and I must say I felt the love with every sip of fresh gazpacho that hot, humid summer afternoon.

Title explained: Trains, tapas, and tribes

Best explained with an example: riding a motorbike down to the beach in Almúnecar with my Couchsurfing host, stopping for sardines at a local bar on a Sunday afternoon. THAT is what I mean by trains (any and all means of transportation, taken in my travels), tapas (all sorts of "typical" food from a region), and tribes (all the cool people and communities out there that I anticipate to meet).

One of my favorite adventures, summed up in a reflection:

Madre Mía: Verbs, Verbs, Verbs

In a scene from My Fair Lady, Audrey Hepburn shares my sentiments about how I felt every once in a while in Spain:



Although my frustrations lie in the verbal usage in Spanish. There are different verbs for everything, how am I to ever learn them all! In Andalucía, there is a verb that describes the action to wipe your plate clean with bread after a meal. Imagine.
Coming back to California and talking to some Mexican friends, I find that they use verbs differently as well. As a non-native student of the language, do I hold an archive for every country in my head and change it for where I am or who I am talking to? That sounds like a mess.

Yes it is a challenge to learn all of the vocabulary, but for the Spanish speaker learning English, the contrasting problem occurs. They have to change their mindset to using the same verb to describe many actions and then just interpret what the other person is referring to. Apparently, in the English language, we use "got" in a lot of cases.

I wonder as I begin my courses back here at Berkeley, how that makes literature different in both discourses. Does it make English poetry more rich because you can have more interpretations for a different word? Or is Spanish poetry more rich because you can describe something precisely? I think the answer to that one is subjective and on a case-by-case basis, but it is something to consider as I take my Spanish 107A course: Medieval Spanish literature, where the f´s mean h´s and "ca" is "porque". Wish me luck.

Black and Light

There's one time of day that always seems to come around for some reason or other- dusk. No matter who I am with, I comment on how it is my favorite time of day for two reasons. One: the day's work is done and a night of dancing, reading, or celebrating lies ahead. Two: At this time of day, color doesn't matter. Shapes are black silhouettes; the sky is light, and peace settles on the surroundings as shadows form. The skyline that trees or buildings form is the focus as an aurora of colors lingers from the sun's goodbye. Here are some of my favorite pictures of it:


London, England


Almúñecar, España


Almería, España

A Recount of Escorts around Europe

I have been meaning to put up various posts to my blog, and they are things that I still want to say and remember. I found myself in many situations where nice people gave me private escorts around Spain and Europe. It is just an introduction to how I feel there are so many beautiful people in this world. Every one of these encounters came as a godsend to myself and whoever I was with. Here is a list of most of them:

1. My first escort in a taxi ride was a major rip-off to start off, but it only got better from there.
2. When my parents and I were looking for my friend Laura's house outside of Madrid, two friendly police officers plugged in the address in their GPS and we were escorted to the corner of their apartment complex.
3. The French pick-up truck outside of Toulousse, France after my dad accidentally put in the wrong gas in our rental car. Yikes!
4. A man in a red hotrod car helped my sister, my cousin and I leave Sevilla by, rather than just giving us some makeshift directions, graciously caravanning us to the mouth of the freeway on the way to Portugal. His name was Miguel and he was very attractive too.
5. I had expected to catch a taxi from arrival into almeria, but after talking to a lady from Almería for five hours on the train, she insisted that she gave me a ride and then continued to buy me a coffee just before I entered into a crazy summer.
6. My sister and I were looking for a church in the tourist section of Málaga where we were staying for a week. Well the front-desk help, named Dan, willingly escorted us to his favorite church. We proceeded to join the party after the mass with the community.
7. My great friends Mila and Jaime insisted on picking up my sister and I in Córdoba to get us to Sevilla, and also Mila let us stay with her for the night. A whirlwind of hospitality within 24 hours.
8. Last but not least, I needed to catch a flight back to California at 7am. I needed to leave for the airport at 5 in the morning. The host family, after opening their home to my sister and I for a week, insisted that Pedro, the father, took both my sister and I rather than us catching a taxi or bus.

All I can say, is that there are some beautiful people in this world. I met a few of them in Spain, I am expecting to host some in California, and I am looking forward to meeting more beautiful people from around the world.