Curious Curiosities

I have noticed a few things in Barcelona that I find very curious. I don't know why I find them unusual; maybe someone can analyze and explain.

Curiosity #1
Television in Barcelona consists of a few Spain-originated shows but the majority of the stuff on TV is popular American series and American movies. Most channels are American networks. I have Fox, CNN, TMC, Discovery, History Channel, about 5 different Disney channels, and Nickelodeon. I am sure there are some that I am leaving out, but I think you get the idea. To make matters more curious, everything is dubbed over in Spanish or sometimes Catalan. I find this curious because in the USA, you do not find movies dubbed over (except '60s Japanese sci-fi: Godzilla!). If you want to watch something that was originally in a foreign language, you get subtitles. Everything you see here is like watching really bad kung-fu movies where the words and the mouth do not match. At some point, I forget to pay attention to the movie. I just watch the bizarre motions of everyone's mouth. Maybe I am just weird...I do have a mouth fetish.

Curiosity #2
The other day Ron and I went to an Italian restaurant. I thought to myself..."at last I will be able to know what I am ordering. I know how to read an Italian menu." To my surprise, not so. The entire menu was in Spanish and Catalan. Turns out this has been the case at every ethnic restaurant. The Syrian restaurant - in Spanish. The Chinese restaurant - in Spanish. As in Curiosity #1 above...in the USA when you go to an ethnic restaurant, the name of the food is in the language it is supposed to be and you have a description in English. Now I can't even order my own food, even if I just want a cheeseburger!

Curiosity #3
Barcelona is not ethnically diverse. I see white people everywhere. Maybe I have special vision where I can only see white people. If this is the case, I just developed this special power since I have arrived in Barcelona. Maybe this will go away with time or treatment.

Curiosity #4
The public schools in Barcelona, Spain do not use the Spanish language. When children go to school here, their first language is Catalan. They begin to learn Spanish in the 3rd grade and even then it is only taught as a foreign language, a few hours per week. I do understand that Catalan is the original language of this region. The Spanish language was forced upon them during the time of Franco. What I do not understand is why they want to insist on teaching children as their "first" language a dialect that will only be useful in this region. Within their own country it is useless. For example, in Madrid, this language is not used. To make things worse for the children, while they are busy learning Catalan, another person is busy dubbing over all of the shows on Nickelodeon to make them Spanish. These poor children can't even understand their own kids shows. I think it is great that they want to teach their native language. I just think they would want to teach it as a second language. I would want my child to have a global advantage as soon as possible. That is just me.

Curiosity #5
There are parks everywhere within the city of Barcelona. This is a wonderful thing. In a city with concrete and stone everywhere, it is so refreshing to see it is still very green. The curious thing is this: you are not allowed to go in the grass. All of the parks have wonderful green grass, trees, and walking paths. The only place you are allowed to be is on the walking path. The parks seem to be for visual admiration but nothing more.

Curiosity #6
This curiosity may be related to Curiosity #5. The inhabitants of Barcelona love having dogs. Because of the nature of the city, people live in apartments with no yard. This brings people out in droves to walk their dogs along the ample city sidewalks. Now for the curious part....the dogs poop on the sidewalks. There is poo everywhere. You must constantly keep vigilance to avoid the poo bombs. Next to no one scoops the poo. The poo is just left in a steaming pile, waiting for the unobservant biped. I am happy to report that as for my family, we have managed to avoid the poo parade. (so far)

Curiosity #7
Those who drive in this city love to honk their horns. People try to make it through a traffic light before it turns red like someone who is being chased by a monster and the red light will somehow prevent the capture if they can just make it through. Because of this practice, during rush hour, the intersections just get completely blocked. Everyone is just at a standstill and everyone is honking their horns. It is not as if the person in front of them can move. The police come to the rescue. They clear the intersection and direct traffic to keep people from blocking the intersection. To add to this curious driving impatience, we were walking near one of these police patrolled intersections, when someone in their car honked their horn at the police officer to ask him to move out of the way and let the person go on through the intersection! I think the police officer allowed that particular impatient driver set a little longer than in the original plan. I don't think I have ever seen a civilian try to tell the traffic cop to get out of the way!

Curiosity #8

The majority of the women here have their hair colored. Don't get me wrong, I think coloring your hair is as necessary and basic as brushing your teeth and drinking water. I color my hair all the time. I need to make the gray disappear. The women here, have three favorite colors; red/purple, blond, and jet black. Sometimes these colors appear one at a time on a single head. Most of the time they appear all together at one time on one head. This practice is not limited to the young and rebellious. I have seen women in their 70s with this hair. The worst part of all is they appear to be home done jobs. The color is chunky and boxy with no real theme. To be honest, it looks like paint cans exploded on their heads.

I will leave you with these things to ponder. Please drop me a line if you have some insight.

Things I love about Barcelona

After yesterday's post, I have decided to write about all the things I love about Barcelona so far.

I have been here for a month and it has been cold and rainy twice.

There is a beautiful beach two blocks from the apartment.

I have gone to the beach almost everyday.

My apartment is lovely and in a lovely neighborhood.

I have been forced to experiment with my cooking.

The kids have there own bedroom.

I have no dresser, so all of my clothes must be on hangers in the closet. (no folding, no wrinkles)

I have a guest bedroom.

I am living in a really cool city and a great place for my friends to come visit.

Maybe my friends and family will come see me here.

There is a nice little mall across the street.

I am learning a new language.

The kids are learning a new language.

This place has a night life.

There is more wonderful things to see than I will ever have time to see.

The rest of Europe is a train ride away.

Every person I have met has been positive and helpful.

I have had the opportunity to home school the kids and really learn their strong points and where they need extra help.

The movie theater across the street shows movies in their original language.

The kitchen is super easy to clean.

I do not have a lot of clutter.

I love magdalenas fresh from the bakery.

I have mastered the art of making espresso.

There is really good wine for cheap.

There is really good espresso everywhere.

A 2-liter of soda is 60 cents.

The shopping possibilities are endless.

It turns out, I like ham flavored chips.

Barcelona loves Christmas and it is about Christ.

There is an ATM on every block.

I am a total Phineas and Ferb junkie and it is even better in Spanish.

I get to watch movies from all over the world on the TV.

When I talk to people from back in the US I have to use Skype. Which means I get to see their face as well.

Well that is all I will right for now. I know there is more to come.

Food Fetish

I have had a serious learning curve when it comes to buying food. Everything in the grocer is in Catalan and sometimes Spanish. I thought I had figured out cornmeal; in Spanish it is harina de maíz. I buy this from the store, it turns out to be corn starch. Oh well, scratch the fried green tomatoes. Well with another try I have found espesante. I think this is the right stuff. I will find out tonight.

There are just lots of foods that I have taken for granted, that I just can not buy here. You can not buy pancake mix, but you can buy crepe mix. I think this is a suitable substitute. You can not buy pancake syrup...not in any flavor. The nearest thing I could find was a burnt sugar syrup (caramelo líquido). The kids hated it. This did bring about a culinary experiment that Ron and I thought turned out great. Blue cheese, sugar and pears all cooked together in a gooey mess. Try this sometime. It is AWESOME! I guess the kids will have to stick with jelly (mermelada). The eggs here are fresh. This is nice, but I mean really fresh. They still have some feathers and poo stuck to them every-now-and-then. They are extremely rich and I have to put 3 yolks to 7 eggs just so the kids (and Ron) will eat them. I can not find spices here. It seems that in Spanish cooking you use parsley, cilantro (fresh), basil, and thyme. This is the end of what I can find. Ron has been given the mission of retrieving my entire collection of spices from Seattle. I have nightmares of them being confiscated in Spanish customs. Let us all hope for their safe transport to me (I need them).

Things from the sea are in abundance. I am just not sure what to do with some of it. Octopus (pulpo) is very popular here and you can buy it whole; frozen or fresh. They also sell these tiny little fish that look a bit like eel. According to the picture on the packaging, you just eat them like a bowl of noodles. I can not remember what they are called , but sooner or later I will have to try them. Yogurt is very good here. I guess the Spanish do not like fruit pieces in their yogurt because all yogurt is smooth. This is great for the kids, they hated pieces. There are not a lot of flavors. I miss Yoplait and all there wonderful dessert flavors. I used to like to pretend I was being healthy and somehow better-than-thou when I was eating all that strawberry cheesecake yogurt. Well that is gone now. I guess I will climb off that horse.

Missing home food has caused many hours spent on the internet looking for someway to buy the things I miss most. The search has paid off a little. There are several British stores here in Barcelona that sell some American type food but with a British spin. That is ok...I will take what I can get. I also found a restaurant that serves American food from 10am-4pm every Sunday. I have heard a rumor; I can buy maple pancake syrup from the imported foods section of  El Corte Inglés. Ron and I tried to go there on Saturday, but the store was so crowded you could hardly move. I never found the imported food section. Who knows, this may be a pipe dream. On a positive note, I found a tiny jar of peanut butter today. I have not tried it and I have not told the kids. I do not want them to be disappointed if it turns out to be a bust. Adrianna and Antonio have got so used to food being different, they asked me if the banana was a "Spain banana or American banana". It took a while to convince them that the fruit would taste the same. The kids love the orange juice here. They are scheming ways to have the same orange juice when we get back to Seattle. What is not to love...it taste just like an orange...a really good orange. I could go on forever about the food (this is my obsession of the week) but I will not.

Sorry, no new pic. Ron is gone with the camera.