Ok, ok. I realized this would happen at some point – I would get behind in blogging. I realize that as these posts aren’t about current things, they may hold less interest with you, but in the interest of documenting as much of Spain as I see it, I’m going to post these stories/thoughts anyway.
1 month after Presidential elections
This is one subject I delayed writing about until after elections simply because it can get dicey. I feel a lot more comfortable relaying the way the elections were seen from abroad a month afterward than I might have a month ago. I’m not going to tell you who I voted for (hooray for absentee voting, however!), though Becky (my soon-to-be-architect sister) knows, and if you really want to know I’ve heard that bribes involving foam-core board work like a charm with her this season.
Comments heard surrounding the U.S. elections (by Spaniards):
“These elections are important not only for you, but for us as well, because the U.S. has so much power.”
“Usually conservative Spaniards want the U.S. Republican candidate to win, and the liberal Spaniards want the U.S. Democratic candidate to win, but in these elections both groups want Obama to win.”
[by a woman from the Democratic Republic]: “I was really glad Obama won, because I think it will have a good impact on race-relations in the U.S.”
[When students were asked who they wanted to win] “Obama!”
[When asked why they wanted Obama to win] “Because he’ll be the first black president.”
“Because it will be historical.”
[By a teacher] “I was under the impression that Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were very similar as they were both well-known women in U.S. politics.”
[By a teacher] “When I saw the polls in the morning, I just started crying, it was a change that not just the U.S. needed but that we needed, that the world needed.”
how to get lost on a mountain, and then get back down
Lauren’s colleagues have been pretty good about inviting her to weekend venture with them, and one teacher in particular who we call M, invited her to go on a hike several weekends back. M is a fantastic person, but also someone who can be a bit intense (though endearingly so). When she’s enthusiastic, she’s very enthusiastic! (Sidenote: when Lauren asked one student why they didn’t want to skip class with M, the student replied “because she’ll kill me”.) Anyway, as Lauren wanted to go, she was also all about having “backup” on this one, and asked me and our friend Colleen to go along with. 
We met up with M and her friend, Pablo, who would be leading us on the hike he had mapped out on his GPS system. Lauren had been able to gather that the hike would be somewhere out in the country, but when Colleen and I both asked her where exactly we’d be going, she was all “heck if I know!” (Sidenote: this is something I love about Lauren. Very rarely does she hesitate on doing something new here, even if we don’t fully understand what’s going on…a perfect friend to travel with :)
Halfway through the drive out to the “country”, we were able to figure out we’d be somewhere in the hills just west of Gibraltar. The climb up was great – Pablo had promised we’d see the northern tip of Africa, and we did! It was amazing.
And then we got lost. Colleen, Lauren and I, along with 3 other Spaniards (Javi, Yolanda, and Susana) who had come along on the hike had gotten a bit ahead of Pablo and the rest of the group (including M). Javi had been on the hike before and thought he knew where to go, but after we watched the sun set 
and noticed we were still on the top of a mountain where the wind was blowing fiercely (they call it “viento de levante” – lifting wind/east wind), all 6 of us decided we should figure out some way to get down. We had ended up on the highest mountain where there were several cell phone towers in a slightly flattened area. With the mix of fierce wind, being at the same level as the clouds, and it getting darker by the minute, it felt like a scene straight out of a Hollywood creeper movie like “Psycho”.
We ended up deciding to take this paved road back down the mountain, instead of trying to go back on the mountain paths to try and find the rest of the group (we had their cell phone numbers). It was one of the best calls anyone has ever made. I’m sure we would have been stuck on the mountain overnight if we had tried to go back. Even going down the paved path we weren’t entirely sure where we’d end up, but we figured it would probably be a lot warmer than the top of a windy mountain J Javi, Yolanda and Susana were impressed at how happy and calm the “americanas” were (we were singing and laughing, partially to distract ourselves, and partially because it was kind of cool how we’d have a story to tell IF we ever made it back home). We told them it was probably because of the bottle of wine we had in our backpacks that they didn’t know about. Just kidding.
Looking over to Africa from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.
after getting back from being lost on the mountain from Catherine Steiner on Vimeo.
4 comments:
I find it very "interesting" that other countries view us as being so racist, when they are probably more racist. In Spain, they're very prejudiced against gypsies and north african immigrants...in Argentina they made the same disparaging comments about US racism but are terribly prejudiced against indigenous people. I guess it's easier to see from the outside. I find it annoying though.
Carrie - interesting point. I think you're totally right that it is easier to see something like racism from the outside. I think it's been particularly interesting for me to see the use of the word "negro/a" as a word that implies a negative connotation, just as we similarly use "black" in the US to imply the same. Similarly, the use of the word "chino/a" can imply anyone of Asian descent, and can be used to describe something as being of cheap quality.
I think another thing that's interesting to see is American student's reactions to the racism of Spaniards. I've heard more than one of my fellow (white American female) teachers say things along the lines of "Well, they don't intend it in a racist way", and therefore choose not to confront it. Lack of intent, I think, doesn't make it any less racist.
P.S. I didn't mean to leave myself out of that last category. I have also chosen not to confront certain actions/phrases I've seen teachers and students use that are racist (some of them quite shocking, actually). I think it's true that in a lot of ways they don't intend to be racist. However, the confrontation still needs to happen. I just wonder sometimes how to start that conversation, as I would be a "third-culture" commentator. How can those conversations begin and be carried out without the awkward tension of people feeling that their entire culture/nation/personhood is being judged? I suppose that uncomfortableness has to happen however, in order for people to even begin to realize how their actions/words are racist.
Here in the Republica Dominicana we in the Peace Corps community had tshirts made that said "!Obamanos!". We got in trouble cause we're not supposed to express political opinions, but everyone here wanted him to win too.
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