happy birthday from Spain!

Sorry about the delay in posts...to all 3 of you readers out there :)

This weekend has included a bit of everything. Mark was due to fly into Sevilla Saturday (Valentine's Day!) at 11:30am, but on my way to the airport to pick him up I got a message letting me know he'd missed his flight in Lisbon, and would not be into Sevilla until 11pm Saturday night. He finally arrived, exhausted and luggage-less. The luggage was delivered to Cadiz about 48 hours later (fast!), and after a couple calls to the Portuguese Police at the Lisbon Airport ("Does someone speak English?"..."No, Portuguesh"..."Spanish?"..."No, Portuguesh"..."English?"..."Un momento..."..."Hola?") we have also located the coat. Getting it back will be a different adventure...perhaps an excuse to drive to Lisbon? If only I could drive stick.

I also had the privelege of having Mark here for my (24th!) birthday on Monday. And my old friends, the-birds-of-Spain, did NOT disappoint when they (well, one of them anyway) sprinkled me with their good luck...on my face. This was milli-seconds before I called out "Hello!" to a friend who was passing by. She thought the ice cream I was eating was perhaps blueberry flavored, and (ha!), silly me I had gotten some on my face. If only :)

[Sidenote: As I read back to some of my posts, I think I've been doing a fair amount of "complaining". Please don't interpret this as a lack of love for Spain. I LOVE this place, and would highly recommend visiting someday if you get the chance. I'm only here for 3 more months...make your booking at "Apartment le Cat & Lauren" soon if you want!]

As I only have a few moments before Mark finishes up some work that he brought with him (ah! the life of a grad student!), I leave you with two clips from the newly debuted Spanish version of Saturday Night Live. Which is shown on Thursdays. Go figure.

The Cowbell Skit - in Spanish


Weekend Update - A proposal that Israelis and Gaditanos (people from Cadiz) should switch places (the basic premise being that Israelis might Gaditano humor and way of arguing and "stop destroying Gaza". The skit is more about making fun of Gaditanos than making a political statement, as Cadiz is famous in Andalusia for believing itself to be the best at everything and to have the best food/culture, etc (not in an overly-proud kind of way, most of the time, but a way that's more a cultural preservation method...though I suspect the pride in one's province/city is about the same almost anywhere you go in the world). The Gaditano guy (the one on the right), from his accent to his way of over-exaggerating things, to talking about the "chirigotas" during Carnaval, really plays up Gaditano humor. I had to watch this about 3 times through to get it (and there are still some things that I don't get), but it was fun watching Gaditanos being made fun of and being able to say "Hey! I understand why that's funny...because I HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH THESE PEOPLE!". I particularly like the way the Gaditano guy says "Buenas noches!" 3 times in really exaggerated ways when he's intro'd.