Hello World! Good lord I´ve got a lot to write about, however, I can´t spend all night here; only 58 minutes and 13 seconds before my time expires. So, I´m in Granada and have met my host "family" that consists of one woman named Mercedes and two other students at the Don Quijote School. She is awesome. She only allows Spanish to be spoken and written in the house so hopefully that will help with the learning curve. my two housemates are both out of town; one in Cordoba with her class; the other I´m not sure; Mercedes told me but I couldn´t translate. My first day of school is tomorrow so I assume it will be like any other first day of classes consisting of comparing trapper keepers, scoping out the cool kids lunch table, and stuffing the smallest kid in his locker. I think I´ll tell you all more about this experience as it continues, though honestly, I´m really excited about the speaking and writing all in spanish thing. So I may be doing some entries in Spanish.
However, for now i´m okay with English.
So much to say about my travels to New England and UK though. A quick shout out to those who were so generous to put me up for a few days. These don´t constitute thank you notes, but just a brief expression of my appreciation for accomodations. In New York, Mike and Emily, thanks for letting me stay with you guys for a couple nights. Norm, our conference call was enjoyed and am glad you´re doing well. Much thanks to Emily in particular who gave me an awesome 2 day tour of the city and did really good job of pretending that she really enjoyed seeing ground zero for a 50th time. In Vermont, Melinda you´re awesome. I really enjoyed the brief time we had; the boat trip and our attempt at salsa dancing. It seems that you are well on your way to being the smartest person alive. In Boston, Kate and Christina, I´m glad we were all able to go out for beers that first night. Also, Martha´s vineyard was great. Christina, It sounds like you had a great time jumping off the bridge while Kate and I were watching some freakshow frisbee guy (I´ll try and get the footage online somehow) and being lost in the bus system. Nonetheless, Kate it was great to see you; it´s nice now that you have officially blown your 3 years senior brother out of the water career wise; now I can´t even try and compete; it makes it much easier to accept. In Invermoriston, Cameron, Andrea, Merian, Denis, Alistair, Sarah, it was great to see all of you, what a great few days that was. I hope everyone´s baggage arrived safely or at least arrived and I´ll give you a call Cameron when I get into town; maybe Andrea can instruct you on the use of a telephone. by the way, for everyone who´s interested in where I was on Loch Ness in Invermoriston, it was absoluely phenomenal and because I didn´t take any photos you can check it out online at:
https://www.oldfarmcottageslochness.co.uk/Index.php
In London, thanks to Ed and his housemates for letting me crash on the couch for a couple nights. Great to see all of you and look forward to seeing you on the slopes this winter. Roger, Liz, and Nikki, it was great to be able to see you the other evening. So many problems with the world; so little alcohol to solve them with. Adam, great to see you and meet Diana. Thanks for letting me stay at your place. Great to see Doug and Andy that night as well.
Hey, so I just went over to give another Euro to the lady working at the front counter and just started speaking to her in English because I´ve been writing in English and totally forgot I was in Spain; not good; not a good sign for this blog.
Really briefly, some highlights.
Ireland: the nicest culture of people I have ever met ever.
Dublin was a stunning city, a metropolis actually (Ireland apparently is the fastest developing coutnry in Europe), that doesn´t have Starbucks and it does have extremely friendly people. I spent a day there and then took the DART (Dubiln Area Rapid Transit) to Howth. I spent a day in Howth which is a small sea town with sandy beaches that are four miles long in one direction (I know, I walked them) with water that is warmer or as warm as a swimming pool (someone explain this to me) and verdant, foggy, sheer cliffs with a lighthouse. Beautiful houses built on these cliffs as well.
I visited Belfast in Northern Ireland for a day. An interesting place with an interesting history. I can´t explain who hates who there or why, but it has something to do with protestants, catholics, the English, and Independence from the English. Look forward to reading Leon Uris' Trinity to get me up to speed.
Scotland, or at least the area immediately surrounding Loch Ness (I didn't get travel from the estate much). Lots of greenery.
London is a neat city. Obviously I didn´t go during the best time, but, I should note, that in spite of the recent tragedy the authorities did and are doing a phenomenal job of evacuating and isolating particular areas and getting mass transit back up and running only hours after the attack. Obviously some transit lines remain closed, but their quick response and organization kept London´s populace relatively calm and by the time I arrived to the accident areas at around 2:00 pm, there was no visible damage (they had stragically closed blocks and hung sheets do block views). Thus, there were no crowds gatherered around the sites, and thus no mobs; virtually everyone continued about their business as usual. Also, apparently a fiscal plan had been devised for such an incident that was carried out and has apparently done a good job of minimizing the impact on the strength of the pound and the economy in general.
I went to art galleries and all the other sites around the city and drank much beer (American beer has left UK beer in the dust when it comes to variety and complexity. Maybe its an acquired taste, though I'm not sure 'casque conditioned' will ever win me over).
Ok, I´m going to bed.
Will
|
