Today

Though totally unrelated to anything written below...it´s just such a good picture i have to brag =P

Forgive me if this blog is not up to the expectations of some...but i´ve had some difficulty finding the eloquence i desire when writing these entries...and also time is of great difficulty to come by...so I will briefly tell you all about my day...which was quite interesting...with as much eloquence as I can manage in the approximately 20minutes I have here...

Wish me luck?

Of course I´d like to start with the latest news to enrage the Spanish people and unite them against someone who is...fortunately...not us =D

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/11/11/elmundo/i-02816.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7089131.stm

So this is quite the news and though i´ve been ranting against Hugo Chavez for the past 2 months...only now do people actually agree with me...so of course I´m quite pleased with this recent development...and sincerely hope it hurries Mr. Chavez onto his decent into the inevitably horrific end that awaits him =)

ehh that´s bad of me...but you know what...that guy has given me a headache for so long...and has actually managed to make me dislike him even more than I dislike Giuliani...and for that...I must be excuesd for dreaming of his decent from power from time to time =P

So onto today...for those who are utterly disinterested in my political ramblings =P

Oh and one more political note before I move on....this one on the homefront...so for anyone that lives in Illinois and is reading this (probably everyone) you should all be absolutely enraged about this

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-silentsuit_26oct26,0,1832900.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

It is a clear violation of the first ammendment and anyone who doesn´t recognize the danger in which this places the rest of our constitutionaly guaranteed rights needs to open their eyes and protest before it´s too late.

One by one the gov´t is curtailing our rights and eventually we´ll be living in nothing but the shadow of the democracy which our country was founded to be.

Forgive the lack of eloquence on this matter...as it does truly deserve much more time devoted to it due to the outrageous nature of it all...but alas i have so little time...and I´m sure you are all more interested in what´s happening in Spain...so now I´ll actually move on to my day.

Today November 11th 2007:

Today, shamefully, I woke up at noon and missed mass...oops...and I had to be at ¨los jardines¨ (a park in Aranda) by 2...so I had no time to go to 1 o´clock mass either...unfortunate really...but the day was not lost!

Instead, around 2 we ended up leaving for a restraunt in Fuentenegra, a village neighboring the town/city of Aranda de Duero.

In this town I was greeted by more bodegas (subterranean wine ¨caves¨) than I´d seen in any town since arriving in Spain...impressive as the economy of the entire region is driven by wine production...

Fuentespina, along with most towns is really just built on a rather large hill and so the trek to the restraunt was rather arduous despite being only slightly longer than ten mintes (this i attribute to the little kids who kept whining all the way up...apparently they´re the same all over the world =P) Once we arrived at the restraunt we were greeted by a friendly but somewhat overly energetic owner/manager who seated all 30 of us at a considerably large table at which we all fit comfortably.

The walls were decorated with random tools used in the countrysides, and pictures of famous guests...or here and there what i´m sure were just exceptionally large chested women who had graced the restraunt before us. Once we were all comfortably situated the food began to come. First crackers and jelly, then mashed potato puffs, then chuletas, then ox tail, then salad, then more food than i could possibly recall...and finally we were given a small salad...and dessert!

I have absolutely no idea what any of the dessert was called...though to be completely honest one of them was quite reminiscint of the Tiramisu they serve here (not as good as the kind we get at restraunts in the US) and another was reminscint of Lemon Merangue pie...except without the pie aspect...just a meranguey consistency with lemon flavor...so that was interesting...and then two other desserts which I would be completely at a loss to attempt to describe...at some point I´ll get around to putting a list of food up here to kinda show you guys what the stuff I eat is like =)

Then after dinner was the show

which I was certainly not expecting.

It turns out that the hyper/rambunxious manager was also a performer....who was actually quite talented...he performed acts impersonating everyone from a Julio Iglesias lamenting his ¨maricon¨ son to a Mariachi band (whose depiction was borderline offensive due to its scraggly appearance) However, overall everything was quite impressive and they even had people get up to dance during one part...which was quite amusing

I was also relatively amused that the grown men sitting near me at the table were endlessly interested in the prices of our whores back in Chicago and whether they were legal or not.

I didn´t really understand why they were soooo interested and beyond that...what was I really to say...I mean some may call me a pimp...but it´s not usually meant in the literal sense =P

Haha sorry my attempt at some humor...but honestly they were obsessive about whores...and I was just basically like..well how the hell am I gonna know?

but I answered their questions to the best of my knowledge...so now if they ever go to the US they know that escort services are often simply covers for prostitution rings! =D i think anyways...if not...i blame law and order for my mis-education...

pfft

so yes after 5 hours of eating/drinking/kinda dancing...we all walked...and/or stumbled out of the restraunt to go back home...mmm I hope that gives you guys kinda an idea of what happenned? I woulda taken pictures! but i brought my camera and didn´t realize that I´d taken the battery out to charge it and had forgotten to put it back in...oops?

m´i bad =P

Bwah and i must say

I heard from my mom that in her Spanish Four Honors class somebody actually that the Spanish were better spoken than Mexicans

well let me tell you this

Mexicans may swear a lot

but at least it´s not THAT offensive...usually....

but really now...Spaniards take it over the top in absolutely ever regard

JODER tio...como dicen joder aquí

oh oh and doubtlessly the second most common swear I hesitate to even repeat as it offends my every sensability...but for the purposes of education I dare transcribe it and pray that I don´t go to hell for it =P

anywho easily the second most common swear phrase over here is ¨I deficate on the lord¨ to phrase it VERY nicely...and anyone who gets it...please explain it to those who don´t...simply because I refuse to write the direct translation down...

and now any of those who know me...know that I haven´t exactly the cleanest mouth in the world...so for me to actually refuse to even repeat a swear word...well...it is quite the strong statement...blah...i don´t like it

though I must admit that ¨joder¨ I´ve picked up and is probably my favorite explative at this point =P

but dude...they swear soooo much here...just have no doubt about that

Okay I´ve been here too long despite the fact that i´m also awaiting an e-mail from my english teacher...although at this point I have little hope that she´s actually going to send it to me this weekend...oh well...less homework for me...what a catastrophy yes?....no.

I haven´t changed THAT much...=)

mmm okay but I DO need to do my Latin...and Greek....and some history and other stuff....so do forgive...but I must go....

as always I´m always keen to receive e-mails from whoever is willing to send them =D

soooo send them?

and i´m usually pretty good about responding...so yes...it´s always nice to get news from home

and yes I´ll talk to you all as soon as I have a chance

hope all is well on the home front and I hope this blog entry was satisfactory at the very least


As Always,
Your cousin, grandson, nieto, sobrino, nephew, son, brother, best friend, good friend, guy you met on the train...
-Andrew Everardo Herrera