el fin de Paris...

19 Octubre 2007, Sabado, regresa a Sevilla

This morning we got up quite early and checked out of our hotel. According to the front desk man, the strike was over, so it would take us about a half hour to get to the airport. Our flight was at noon, so we figured we would give about two hours of travel time just in case. We headed out and bought some last pastries, and croissants for our Spanish families. I had to buy some boots before leaving, and no stores were open on 9 am Saturday morning, so I frantically bought some boots from a sketchy shop which was open.

We made our way to the train station and in about 30 seconds it was clear that chaos was reining…the strike, in fact, was not over. Also, I forgot to mention that during the time we were in Paris, the Rugby World Cup was going on, and this day, Saturday was the day of the final. As a result, the train station was completely FILLED with rowdy British (England was in the final) fans. We got in line for taxis, with about 200 people in front of us. After about 45 minutes in line, we realized we were going to miss our flight. I was cursing the damn strike like crazy at this point, and cursing the French for not having a better system of transportation when I realized the line behind us was about twice as long as before. After almost an hour and a half in line for a damn taxi, we got in and went to the airport. Since there was really nothing we could do, we were in high spirits, and laughing at the irony of our travel timing…We prayed that the flight was delayed, as I promise you all of our other Spanish flights had been. Alas, it was not so. We arrived right at noon to the airport, and missed our flight. We weighed our options and realized the best thing to do was take a flight back to Sevilla that same day at the other Parisian airport, Orly, for 125 euros, almost 1.5 times the price of our first tickets.

We got on the bus to Orly, much grumpier after having realized what the strike had cost us. After about 30 minutes on the bus to Orly, we picked up a bunch of Arab tourists, from Lebanon I think, who were all carrying big tubs of ¨zam zam water¨ (???). Amid the craziness of travel, I passed out because I was so tired. When we got to the airport, we went to have lunch and decided to eat our last French meal in a proper (albeit airport) restaurant. I really, really one last crepe before leaving, so we asked an airport information desk person if there was a creperie in the airport. The woman literally starting laughing at me…that was her response.

I do not remember a bit of the flight back to Sevilla because I passssseeddd ooouuuttt. Arriving in Sevilla was like arriving home. The weather was at least 30 degrees warmer and we could understand the language.

Conclusion…Paris is amazing. The food, the people, the buildings, EVERYTHING.

21 Octubre 2007, Domingo

Unpacking. Sleeping. Cleaning. Internet. El Patio Sevillano for patatas ali oli.

22 Octubre 2007, Lunes

This morning I went to go volunteer at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesus again, but with a mission. If you, dear reader, remember, I was supposed to come up with something to ¨share my cultural diversity¨ with my class of disinterested 12 year olds who did not want to learn English. The class began with this older bald guy straight up yelling as loud as he can at the kids for something that happened during recess last week. The teacher has not arrived fifteen minutes into class, so I was instructed to begin teaching the class myself. Luckily, the teacher walked in right then, complaining of how bad traffic was, and asked me if I had an activity. I got out my ordenador (laptop) and began playing ´´Unwritten´´ by Natasha Bedingfield, which is immensely popular here. Natalia told me about this activity from her class, where you just listen to the song, and then try to translate it, and I thought it would be good since the song was so popular, had a great message, and it was more fun than learning about the British royal family tree. (what we did last week) The kids got really excited as I split them up into groups to work, the teacher handed out dictionaries, and I wrote the lyrics on the board. After struggling for a bit, we worked together to unravel the meaning. I tried to ask them deep questions like ¨Qué quiere decir la cantante?¨(what is the singer saying here) and it was really great because the words of that song are so inspirational, which is exactly what these kids needed. ¨Feel the rain on your skin/no one else can feel it for you/ only you can let it in / no one else can speak the words on your lips¨ They really enjoyed it I think, and the teacher almost kissed me out of gratitude, as she got to share her grammar piece within the song as well.

I just got home from watching Las Trece Rosas, a Spanish film about thirteen beautiful young women brutally killed by Franco´s regime in 1939 for supposed anti-party sentiments. It was a beautiful film about an ugly time, about the resilience of the human spirit, and the other side of human nature….the rein of fear, something prevalent within every civilization, and a force that people must rise above in order for freedom to reign. I suppose the most interesting part for me, was being able to relate and understand the history of another country, a battle not so different from the one that is my personal family history, although it was a different country and culture, it was the same struggle. It is such an opportunity that I am so thankful for to be here and learn. Just today in my seminar, a gentleman came in who lived through Franco’s regime. He spoke of ugliness and horror, the men in his family being sent to jail for no reason at all, and of yelling through metal bars amid the shouts of other family members when visiting. It struck me quite suddenly when I saw this scene in the film that I had just heard a personal testimony of the same thing.

To summarize quite briefly, throughout the 1900s, there was a struggle in Spain between two forces, the left and the right. The left was represented by the Republicans who wanted democracy, personal freedom, and reform in all sectors, while the right was represented by followers of Franco, Nacionalists, who followed conservative ideals, military dictatorship, and strict religion. There was a short lived republic from 1931-1936 (la segunda Republica) followed by the ugly, horrible Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939 where Spaniards killed their brothers over moral ideology. Then Franquismo ruled, until Franco died in 1975. The military dictatorship was a terrible thing…strict reign of terror where women had no rights (couldn’t go out of the house with spouse/parental permission nor could they vote) and people could not congregate (one could be arrested for talking to two people in the street). Following Franco’s death, Spain went through a brilliant transition helped by its newly appointed (by Franco before death) king, Juan Carlos, and is now a constitutional monarchy.

Horrifying truth: women could not vote in Spain until 1975.

Spaniards have a very interesting approach to the past, especially Franco’s time. It’s like a bad smell in the room…everyone knows its there, but its not polite to talk about, nor does anyone really want to.

23 Octubre 2007, Martes

We are planning on having a Halloween celebration in the school where I volunteer. The kids here have no idea what Halloween is and it is our patriotic duty as Americans to show them things like carving pumpkins, mummy wrapping contests, and trick or treating.

Natalia and I wandered around Santa Cruz for a bit, and I tried these amazing nuts that are sold on street corners once the season began to change. I´m not sure exactly what kind of nut it is, but there are these steaming bins where the nuts are cooked, and I swear to you, they are so amazzzzzzzing.

24 Octubre 2007, Miercoles

I wasn´t feeling too good today, but I forced myself to go the gym this morning, as once again, I could not sleep because our lovely neighbors building new houses. I talked with Cristina today, and tried to explain to her what exactly a s´more is, and I couldn´t get past what a marshmallow is because they don´t have them here! And then graham crackers…also don´t exist...the poor girl was so confused.

Today Natalia and I went to El Aire de Sevilla, arab baths located in calle Aire, a tiny street which is known for its breezes (thus the name) because of its high location. It was stupendous. In the basement there are these absolutely amazing pools, with candles and low lighting, and various temperatures. One room had three pools…warm water, freezing water, and hot water. Another room had this amazing jacuzzi and sauna. Another had warm salt sea water in it. There was also a little room where you could drink tea or water, complete with Arabic décor and music. I have never felt so relaxed and at peace with the world.