Devon Cooper

Before moving here to Terrassa, I lived in Madrid for about 9 months. Within those nine months I lived in two different apartments in two completely different neighborhoods. Luckily, I made good friends through my job. But living 8 hours away from your boyfriend (now husband ) makes it difficult to ever really feel at home. July was my first full month living (again) with Daynier and working in Terrassa. It is a much smaller city than Madrid. There are no tourists. There are no large crowds. It’s a lot like being back in Louisville… I must say, I miss the energy of Madrid. But anytime it gets too bad, I can hop on the train to Barcelona. It’s only a 40 minute commute. There I can get a big dose of big city life. 

What else should we expect? We spent two wonderful weeks in the U.S. Seeing friends and family, going to restaurants, enjoying the efficiency and laziness of american life.

So after only two weeks, we had already forgotten enough to be annoyed (if not sincerely pissed off) at all the promblems we ran into upon our return. In general, things here in Spain run just as smoothly as in Kentucky. In fact, because we’re in a much bigger city here, we enjoy the benefits such as great public transportation and never being bored. There are many little things, however, that snowball into serious frustration. For example, after 17 hours on airplanes, all we wanted to do was go home. At the Barcelona airport we went to buy our train tickets and ALL the credit card machines were down. ATM? Nope! had to walk all the way back to the terminal. Biggest airport in Spain. Cash only for the train. No ATM in the train station. nice. Okay, so I needed a bottle of water. I had a 2 euro coin. The water cost 1 euro. Okay, cool. No… wait…. the machines (all 3) only take exact change! great. Okay, We’re on the train with all our big, heavy luggage. All we have to do is get off the train in Terrassa and catch a cab home. Simple. Easy. Not so much. The taxi stop, usually full of bored cabbies looking for fares, is a curbside void. Not a cab in sight. Lucky for us, there was a bus to take us home. I almost couldn’t believe that we found the apartment to be as we left it. After all we had been through, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had come home to find it cleaned out by robbers, or burnt down, or emploded…

But we made it. And very gratefully so. I’m sure everyone has heard about the plane crash that happened in Madrid. at least 100 ( I think closer to 150) people died. It happened the day we flew. And while it did make me more nervous than usual, I had to think about all the people that were affected. How terrible! and how scary! Most of them were families going on vacation, since the plane was flying from Madrid to the Canary Islands.

I know flying is supposedly the safest way to travel. Everyone says it. But plane crashes DO happen. They are not so rare as we like to think. I hate flying. I think it’s one of the scariest things you can do. But I think it’s a good lesson. Nothing we do is without risk. And I refuse to be limited by fear. I am afraid of a LOT of things. But if I let those fears dictate my life… I’d probably be curled up in the fetal position in a dark room somewhere Alright. That was the inspirational message of the day.

Due to untrustworthy computers, who knows when the next post will be…

The Spanish people have a strong history of being protesters. I guess that’s why they seem to constantly be on strike. Since I arrived in September, there has been at least one group striking at nearly all times. First we had the cleaning crew for the subway/underground system. That was really unpleasant. Not only did they stop cleaning for several weeks, but during the night they would toss garbage down the entrances, so you literally had to pick your way down the stairs, avoiding old hamburger wrappers and dirty diapers. Then there was the bus drivers strike. They were required to provide minimum services, which meant one bus every 45 minutes. That is NOT enough for a city this big. I was personally affected by this one too, having to leave an hour early for work some days! Next was the garbage collecters strike. Once again, not pleasant! After that was the meter maid strike. All the police-type officials that collect the parking meter money went around and put tape and signs all over the parking meters. I think that one is still going on. Luckily, I’m not directly affected. In fact, this might be the only strike with positive consequences for the citizens, considering no one has to pay for parking right now.

And now, if everyone’s predictions are correct, the two current strikes will have big, bad repercussions for the entire country. All the other strikes were city-wide. The two current strikes (both starting today) are nation-wide, and both protesting the same thing: the high cost of gasoline. First are the fishermen. For them, today is “paro total,” which means no one goes out to fish. The second group are the truckers. This, after only one day, has proved to be the most dangerous and violent strike. ALL the major highways are jammed with trucks, causing a traffic catastrophe. Striking truckers are blocking entrances to major distribution centers and attacking truckers who don’t comply with the strike.
With these two strikes, within a matter of days Spain is likely to run short of food supplies.

I don’t have strong political leanings, and if someone’s not being treated fairly, then a well planned protest or strike could possibly resolve some problems. BUT when your actions negatively affect the ENTIRE country…? And not only that, the violence! How can you prove your point with violence? We all know that doesn’t solve problems…

Yesterday I had a job interview in Terrassa and Dayni had is final test for the curso cero. He is now officially free for the summer and I am kidnapping him and taking him back to Madrid.

But first, to celebrate, most of the people from his class went to the beach. We went along and it was fabulous. It kind of struck me at one point, as we were all sitting in the sand and just talking and relaxing. This is the most normal thing for many of these guys. Hey, it’s a nice day, lets go sit on the shore of the mediterranian. It was a cloudy day, a little cold, spitting rain here and there. But that didn’t stop us from having fun. A couple of girls went swimming in the freezing water. A spontaneous game of soccer broke out. We all ate paella, drank sangria and beer, and just had a wonderful time. For me, it was another new, wonderful experience that I can look forward to more often, now that we’re moving to Terrassa soon. And for Dayni especially, I know it was great- he was away from the sea for so long in Kentucky after spending a lifetime with it at his backdoor in Cuba. It was a soul-warming experience for all of us.

and you beer snobs too.

I’m sure everyone assumes that since Spanish people are famous for their love of wine (and beer), they must have very high standards. I am sure that in some restaurants too expensive for me to afford, there are people doing the “Sideways” thing. But all the commoners here have a different way of doing things. And it just might scare the heck out of you snobs. They MIX. That’s right. You can mix pretty much anything into wine and beer here. My favorites are the “tinto de verano” which is red wine mixed with sugar and soda water. Then there’s the “calimocho” that’s red wine (the cheapest box you can get is usually around 45 cents) mixed with good ol’ coca cola. And for the beer lovers, there is caña con limon, or light beer mixed with lemon soda (usually fanta). I thought about trying to invent my own mixture. But I’m pretty sure it’s all been done before!

I’m in the office at work and on the radio is “It’s rainin’ men…” I don’t really know what importance that has, I just felt the need to mention it. That’s the kind of music we listen to in this office. That and Rhiana and another 2 or 3 songs that gt played over and over…

SO here is a good news update. I have a job interview in Terrassa, which is the town where Danny goes to school. If I can get this job, I will be SET! I would start in July, have August off to come home, then start again in September. It really seems too good to be true. Let’s hope that’s not the case. So my task now is to organize substitute teachers for my classes next friday so I can go to Barcelona. I even found a cheap plane ticket only one week in advance. Is that a sign? I’ll take it!

By the way, what did I tell you? That Rhiana song just came on the sound system…

In Spain, May 1st is Labor Day. How sad is it that my students had to teach me the history of this holiday (which originates in Chicago). Apparently I missed that part of history class. It’s also not a coincidence that the US doesnt celebrate this holiday until September. Heaven forbid we should be associated with a holiday that has communist implications…
But enough of that!!! Anyway, May 1st is Workers day and May 2nd is the celebration of Madrid’s rebellion against and liberation from the French army. SO we had a nice long four day weekend (called a puente). Dayni and I took advantage of the time to take a day trip to Segovia, a little town about an hour outside of Madrid. The big feature of Segovia is the Roman Aqueduct. It is absolutely marvelous!!! See pictures on my facebook page, or on Flickr.
We also celebrated Dayni’s birthday (Happy Birthday baby!) And now we’re getting ready to say goodbye as he once again heads out for Barcelona. BUT if all goes as planned, this should be the last of these terrible goodbyes. He finishes classes in mid May, and will be coming back to Madrid. Hopefully, in July, we will be headed home for a visit. Then, it’s off to Barcelona for good. This is the plan… !

1. If it was raining, but has stopped, and you are still huddled under your umbrella like hot lava is falling from the sky, you look like an idiot.

2. If you are an old woman, you do not look nice with bright purple hair. Or orange. Or pink. Or leopard spots.

3. If you are an old man and you are pushing an empty stroller down the street, everyone thinks you are creepy and weird.