June 29, 2006 by j.

Saw Superman on IMAX last night.. was pretty cool to see it on such a big screen - all movies involving flying or swimming (or running really fast) should be viewed on IMAX imho. The movie was ok.. a bit too parallel with Christianity for my taste. Like his dad’s booming voice filling the night sky with a message about giving his only son for the world. In the world but not of the world. That whosoever believeth in him shall receive everlasting life. No, kidding about that last one. If Superman’s dad really was God, I think he’d give his son’s girlfriend a smaller forehead and a straightening iron. I’m just sayin’.

Not hating on any religion, but come on. Superman is superman! He’s super! And if Jesus had gone around in the olden days wearing blue liquid latex and a red flying cape, would any fishermen have abandoned their nets to follow him? NO! They’d still be fishing!

Howevah! Brendan Routh is top-shelf A-grade yummylicious eye candy - it was a mesmerizing pleasure to watch him zip around the big screen for two hours. Titillating! I would watch him for two more hours, and then two hours more, if Kevin would let me. Mmmm.

More about his superness:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-06-28-superman-science_x.htm?POE=TECISVA

And for the oral-hygienically-conscious:
http://www.abc.net.au/goldcoast/stories/s1669605.htm?backyard

Posted in | No Comments »

June 28, 2006 by j.

I am feeling very gratified, together, woman-of-the-world right now. When I went to pay for my lunch, the girl at the counter - an extremely pretty Korean girl who looks to be about my age - had a big chunk of her undershirt or bra visible at the opening of her v-neck tee shirt. It was pale pink lace. I wondered if I should tell her about it… then looked around at the room full of leering men of varying ages and various plaid-shirts-slash-pleated-pants combinations.. and thought it would be cruel not to. So I gestured to her by tugging at my own v-neck collar and giving deep meaningful “we are asian women and must stand together against the white man!!!!!” eyes… or perhaps they were just “hey your bra is pink and i can see it” eyes, which is good enough. She understood at once and turned away from the counter, flushing bright red as she did so. I feel I have done my part for womankind for the afternoon. Is time for siesta now.

Posted in | No Comments »

June 26, 2006 by j.

I think my bed may be the most comfortable bed on the face of the earth.

Had a lot of drama getting home - storms along the east coast had us delayed, then circling the skies for nauseating hours… the guy sitting next to me had really long legs and feet that smelled like onions (ew). We finally had to land in Richmond to refuel, and then make the 14 minute flight from there to DC. Want to know why airfares are so high? THIS IS WHY.

Our last night in Madrid, we got dressed nicely and went out to dinner. Got greeted by buenos noches, chicas by just about every man we walked past… the first one that said it got a dirty look from me because I thought he said something-something-ass. Turns out he was just being nice. Whoops.

Still am mentally tied in knots, my internal clock is waaay off. And I miss my travel buddy

Pictures to come! TIKI TAKA!

Posted in | No Comments »

June 24, 2006 by j.

Back in Madrid. Too exhausted from traveling to be funny… Kristin, I’m ready to come home!!!

Last night was a holiday in Mallorca called San Juan. At night, folks gathered with friends and family on the beach for picnic meals, building lots of bonfires and surrounding themselves and their loved ones with rings of large white pillar candles placed in the sand. The effect was breathtaking - as I walk down the beach, I see ring after ring of fire in the sand, as far as the eye can see around the coast of the island. During this holiday, they are supposed to write down things they want to change about themselves and throw this into the fire.. and then wash their feet in the sea and believe that the days ahead bring what they hope for. How cool??? When I get home, I’m washing my feet in the Potomac River!

One last thought.. Topless beaches gooood. Topless beachgoers playing paddleball… baaaad.

I miss my baby

Posted in | No Comments »

June 23, 2006 by j.

Am in Mallorca. Not much to say, all we’ve been doing here is sunning and sleeping, and sunning some more. The beach and water are stunning here. Yummy seafood. My only complaint is that there are so many Germans here that it doesn’t feel like Spain any more.

Have been watching World Cup games here and there during the trip… the commentators jibber jabber, and do you know what some of the things that they say are (other than actual narrating of the game, that is)? Here’s a short list of non-commentary that my non-Spanish ears were able to pick out:

• AI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• TIKI TAKA TIKI TAKA TIKI TAKA!!! <-- this one actually means "tick tock", as in, running down the clock (that rhymes!!!) I spent a good portion of time looking for the player named Tiki Taka though.
• VIVA LA FIFA VIVA LA FIFA VIVA LA FIFA!!
• or the more generalised version.. VIVA LA FUTBOL VIVA LA FUTBOL!!
• AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Repeat any of the above 100 times and you’ve got yourself a job on telemundo!

Posted in | No Comments »

June 21, 2006 by j.

I have seen the sun. And it is good.

All I’ve done today is worship the sun, sleep, and eat. How much do you hate me?

Posted in | No Comments »

June 20, 2006 by j.

In Ibiza. The water is a gorgeous blue and we are right on the beach. Loving it.

A few things that Veronica reminded me that I didn’t put in my last post..

• It is possible to use the jacuzzi in a five-star hotel as a washing machine!!!
• There is no good way to dispose of half a watermelon that you have purchased in dinky supermarket and brought into five-star hotel.
• Mullets are back. Mucho big time.

Additionally, before leaving Valencia, we sampled one of their local specialties which is a drink called horchata. A creamy cold drink resembling gritty soy milk (quite good), which you eat with a special pastry called a farton! As much fun to eat as it is to say!

I’ve always had a thing for soccer players, and watching Torres kill in Spain’s victory last night was a special moment of hotness. Viva l’España!!!

From fifteen minutes ago in a souvenir shop:
me: What does this sign say?
V: I want an egg…… no wait. I love you very much.

Posted in | No Comments »

June 19, 2006 by j.

In Valencia now and I have to say, I’m not all that impressed, not after the last few cities that we passed through. So, will leave you with some general observations about Spain in this entry.

If you watch Seinfeld and know about the contract between pigeons and cars… there seems to be a contract between pedestrians and cars here. If you hear a car coming, you get out of the way. Even if you’re walking down some narrow alley and “getting out of the way” means flattening yourself against the building wall, then that’s what you do. Because the car definitely ain’t slowing down. There’s no screaming or shaking of the fist or panickedly pulling your children to safety, you just get out of the way for the 2 seconds it takes the car to pass. A much more efficient system imho.

Cars here tend to take their turns wide without slowing down much. The result is that intersections have been built in a more rounded fashion, and the pedestrian crossing zone is a ways away from the actual street intersection (necessary for seeing the coming car and deciding which direction you want to run for your life in).

It gets dark really late here, like 10:30/11 pm.

Things we have done recently:

• Experienced a Turkish bath in Granada. Consists of showering, dunking yourself in freaking ballshrinking-temperature waters (WHY?!?!), then soaking blissfully in a warm bath with 10 or 15 of your closest friends. Or in our case, hairy men and fat women. Then we’re calling one by one out of the water for a massage which leaves you very oily. Then more hot water. Then another frigid cold dunk (WHY?!?!) And then we are turned out onto the street sopping wet and oily, to continue our day in high fashion.
• Ate at a pincho bar. Which means grabbing food off of communal plates on the bar and then paying at the end via a complicated system of toothpick hierarchy. Tres yum.
• Traveled via sleeper car. Not a bad experience at all.

Next stop, Ibiza!

Posted in | No Comments »

June 16, 2006 by j.

Left Seville and we are now in Granada. It is even cosier than Seville, with less of a touristy feel to it. Have not done much here yet except ogle the guys at the pool, get some pottery stuff from a local crafts fair to smash on the way home, and watch a puppy get abused by a dirty homeless man. Nay, un-man.

The train ride from from Seville was lined with field after field of sunflowers, which was gorgeous. Granada, as Seville, seems to be highly influenced by the Islamic culture, in their architecture and design choices. All of the tourist shops in both sell Moroccan items, inlaid wood/pearl boxes, hookah pipes and so on.

Seville had an area called the Barrio de Santa Cruz, which is a series, or maze, of winding alleys lined with residences, bars, restaurants, and shops that is really fun to get lost in. The moorish influence is strong here, in the choice of colors, architecture design, and the design of the tiles that are used to decorate just about everything in sight… a lot of signs are actually written in two languages: Spanish and Arabic.

Getting lost in the Barrio is fun unless you are looking for something. There are only two rules about the Barrio. First, any shop or restaurant that you find interesting and mark as one to “come back to”.. immediately disappears as soon as you walk away, never to be found again. V can attest to this, as we spent a few hours searching for the bar that had 3.50 euro half-pitchers of sangria. Second, any shop or locale you don’t find interesting.. you are sure to walk past again and again and again as in the seventh layer of hell, in your search for the freaking mythical Barrio-exit.

Here are a few gems that V, clearly short on sleep, has been blabbering to me today:

• My sister likes pigs.
• I saw some jugs back there that I love. Big ones!!
• Have you ever had bimbo? I think I had some in Prague.

Posted in | No Comments »

June 15, 2006 by j.

Ah…. how we have misplanned our time in Seville! Today was our last full day in Seville and we had marked all of the places we’d go back to, to finish up shopping and what have you. But it’s some kind of holy day here (Corpus Christi… yes, like Tejas) and everybody and their mother is off of work. Everything is CLOSED. SERRADO. The only places that are open are cervecerias. BOO.

On the flip side though, there are shrines placed all over the town, draped in red velvet with elaborate carvings and candelabras and fresh flowers placed all about - some very large in scale and welcoming passerbys to take a moment to reflect. Balconies are wreathed in fresh flowers and green, and draped in maroon and gold velvet. Many stores have replaced their window displays with similar shrines as well. All of the streets and walkways have been laid with branches of evergreen, which makes the air smell fresh and new like christmas day. And it appears that the thing to do today is to go around town in your sunday finest, with your family, and appreciate these displays. I traipsed around in my flip flops and jeans looking as touristily interested as possible (to avoid the appearance of disrespect), cursing my bad luck that I had not bought that Spanish steel three-foot sword the day before. BOO.

Also, we visited the very impressive cathedral here (closed, of course), where a group of overweight women tried to chase us down to hand us ugly branches of some kind of plant. Un regalo! Un regalo! they cried, A gift! A gift! Having been warned by guidebooks that this is a common gypsy tactic (although I don’t see how someone so fat can fit her fingers in my pockets), I said no! forcefully and moved away, but then she started to chase me! I ran for my life and was close to hitting her when she gave up. No means no, señora! Back off!!

Last night we saw a flamenco show. Interesting how the younger and more technical dancers might give better or more challenging performances, but it is the older dancers who dance with a passion for the the art and a zest for life that is clearly visible and a joy to watch, no matter the imperfections. It reminds me that I need to do the things I want to do, the rest be damned.. a fantastic reality check which has in itself made this entire trip worth it.

The night before, I forgot to mention, was watching German MTV with Veronica when a parody of Bob Marley’s Jammin’ came on titled “Germans”…. as in

We’re Germans!
We’re German in the name of the Lord…
We’re Germans!
German right straight from yore…

and so on about driving on the autobahn and eating sauerkraut. JA!

Posted in | No Comments »