The emo post

This is the post where I begin my reflections on everything I've encountered. But before I begin, I'll start by saying that I'm going to a Basque rodeo today. I have no idea what to expect.

I'll start by bemoaning something seriously lacking in America: a sense of community. Perhaps it exists in pockets of small towns buried between miles of cornfields, but from everything I have seen, America lost it long before I was born. Block parties do not cut it. Neither do running into familiar faces at town halls and PTA meetings. It won't cut it because 1) people in America move too often, 2) it's become so pluralist that it lost a sense of a single communal identity, and 3) the creation of suburbia has done more damage than this essay could even begin to describe. This isn't all bad: we move for a lot of reasons, love, family, jobs etc..., none of them bad. But it's when everyone starts moving that communities break down. Our value-pluralism has allowed us to be accepting of various creeds and identities without having to believe the same things. And the suburbs, as much as I hate them, have provided a house for every person with their own lawn and safer environment. But suffice it to say, community is lost.

Last night was a Basque party to welcome in Spring. It was celebrated with a choir with traditional Euskaldi songs. The students, all Basque with the exception of myself, all knew the songs and sang along. Some of the songs mourned the loss of their country to Spain, other songs about their villages. Each village has their own traditional song. I was talking with one of my best friends here, Inigo (a very common Basque name - so common you have heard it before ("My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.")). I asked what Inigo was planning to do once he graduated and he said he was going to go to med school and then return to his village in the mountains and work as a doctor. In fact, nearly all of the students will return to their villages, marry one of the boys or girls their grew up with all their life and have a family of their own. Inigo's graduating class had 20 students and he expects to see all 20 when they return with degrees.

One of the most interesting things for any tourist to the Basque lands is its language. "I have never seen a person speak Euskera who wasn't Basque," said my another classmate, Xavier (Chabi for short), "for me it is a treasure to speak a language so different. With a language this different you end up thinking about the world differently, something I realized when I learned Spanish. Now I think in both languages. But we will teach you Basque and you will get so many girls."

It is true, the Basque are quite proud of their language. It is probably their most distinguishing feature. If you ever want to know what Basque sounds like, you can simply think of stereotypical caveman noises and grunt them really fast. I went to a Spanish art exhibit on cave art, and when they played audio of the cave men, they were speaking basic Basque words. It has earned them the distinction in Spain of being brutes - and no Basque I ever talked to disagreed.

However, after spending five months slowly learning the language, I am proud to say it is learnable. I have dreamt twice in it. But yes, it is the hardest thing I have ever put my mind to and I speak worse than a child. It gives me such embarrasment that I will only speak with my roommate, Enaut, and a few other friends. There are too many things that makes Basque such a difficult tongue to list here. But if you ever want to take a glance at some of their trickier facets, look up:

Ergative case
Basque auxiliary verb
Basque verb-noun agreement
The suffix -ak
The verbs izan and ukan
Dialectical differences

Language specialists say most people learn about 800 words in their first two or three months studying Spanish, German, Russian or any other Indo-European language. This is a very high bar to set for yourself in Basque. On the other hand, even if you learned Basque from one region, it would be useless in another. "I come from Gipuzkoa," says Xibi (not Xavier), "so when I arrived at this dorm, most of the girls came from the Bizkaia region and I couldn't understand them. It took me a year before I finally adjusted."

It's true, Basque has many varieties that can frustrate any learner. 'Ze arraia!', for instance, means 'What the hell?' in the south. But if you were to say that in the middle of Basque country, people would probably think you are trying to say 'araida', which means cooked fish ready for eating.

The matter gets more confusing if you travel to the French side. "Whenever Basque tourists come from France I ask them to just speak French and I hope I can understand," says Enaut, who has a basic vocaublary in French, "because I don't understand their Euskera. Their spelling is similar, but the pronounciation is so different it's better to revert to French."

Sick of writing about Bilbao

When the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid of Mezeritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the firse, but I am still able to say the prayer," and again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place, and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: "I am unable to light the fire, and I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient. For God made man because He loves stories.

- Elie Wiesel, 1966

Nothing much, really. Just updating...

Only want to let you know I'm still alive.

I filled up my memory card yesterday so I put them all on my computer. Frankly the internet in hostels is too expensive to waste time putting them up.

Right now I'm traveling through Europe on Spring Break. I spent 8 amazing days in Paris. That city is really built for 20-year-olds, let me say. It also helped that my friends were students at the Sorbonne who spoke all the French necessary. One interesting night we went to Inside the Dark. An absurdly expensive restaurant with one twist: you eat in the dark. Complete darkness. You can't see anything. And your waiters are all blind. You get to the restaurant, tell the people working there about any food allergies. Then you can buy expensive drinks or cigars to wait. When a table is ready a blind waiter finds their way to you, tells you to make a chain of one person's hand on the person in front of them's shoulder. Then you enter the main hall which is enveloped in darkness. Then you eat. As you might've guess, you really appreciate the other senses... namely, taste. (Might I add that the establishment confiscates any lighters, cameras, phones... anything with a light). Afterward you get to see photos of your food. Very very well done masterpieces that you never get to see live. Still, the place was too fancy for me and I prefer greasier, cheaper diner food to this.

Right now I'm out of Paris and spent the day and yesterday in Riems and the Champagne region. My friend Katie and I are spending the night in a youth hostel. Katie bought a 30 euro bottle of Champagne (probably between $75 - $100 back in the States). Thanks, Katie, it was fantastic. Tomorrow I'm out of here for Luxembourg. On Sunday night I should be in Berlin and meet up with another friend named Jette Hubschmann. She grew up in the eastern side of Berlin and does various acting and voice-work for films and radio in Berlin (although she just got accepted to a prestigious photography school). After Berlin I'm looking to either Stockholm or Vienna. If I visit Stockholm then I'd head further north to endure the tremendous northern Arctic wind and ice for a chance to see its equally tremendous natural beauty (so I am told). If I go to Vienna then I'd visit Innsbruck and Salzburg.

My wisdom tooth is driving me crazy. It must be infected.

Barcelona

Everyone, I will be in Barcelona from today until Sunday.

I will be staying at the hotel: Catalonia Duques de Bergara

Road: c/Bergara11

Tf.: 933015151

I will have my cellphone on me.

Wilde.

It is a perfect Summer day outside and class starts in a little bit. Here is a brief update on my life.

1. I met a French teacher at the University who doesn't know English so she said she'd teach me French for an hour a day free if I teach her English for an hour. Great deal. Plus it doesn't take up any significant portion of my free time because it's during a two-hour gap between classes that I wouldn't be constructively using anyways.

2. Desperate for English reading, I bought Heart of Darkness by Conrad and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde.

3. I'm worried about getting a Summer job that's actually worth putting on a résumé.

4. Gave up Euskera, simply impossible in the allotted time.

5. Listening to John Vanderslice's Emerald City.

6. Got a bad cold. So does everyone else here.

Great day...

Time to close the door on a number of things in the past. Today's weather is PERFECT!! and classes were canceled for Ash Wednesday (gotta love Jesuit-run universities). What am I doing indoors? Hasta la próxima...

A profile of Spanish politics

No one has ever accused the Spanish of a simple democratic system. In contrast to our two-party system in America (and at times in the past three parties, and at one point even four major contending parties), Spain has a many parties all with good chances to win seats and perhaps even presidency. A basic article on Spain's government would tell you that this the country is a Constitutional Monarchy or a Parliamentary Monarchy, however this is true in name only. The full title of Spain's government (which is the windy 'parliamentary representative democratic consitutional monarchy'), perhaps gives us slightly more insight but this still is misleading. So what is the face of Spanish politics?

'While our official name makes our government appear like France,' says Professor Raúl G. of the University of Deusto, 'in truth Spain is much closer to a federation. Though not as tightly bound as Germany, which is a federation in the truest sense of the word, but still functioning much like one with the United States of America somewhere between Spain and Germany.'

But the king is not completely without power. Among them, the king - currently Juan Carlos I - has many priveleges we would expect with our executive branch in America: among them, the ability to grant reprieves and pardons, the title Commander in Chief, the commander of armed forces, the ability to remove the President from office, to formally declare war or peace with nations (though only after approval from the General Courts). Aside from the few but important powers King Juan Carlos I enjoys, the rest is decided democratically.

The two largest parties are the conservative Partido Popular and the center-leftPartido Socialista Obrero Español (currently in power after the Partido Popular lost significant support after supporting George Bush in Iraq), both usually go neck and neck in elections. The far-left Unida Izquierda is the third most popular, followed by the combined conservative Cataluñan parties and then the Basque Nationalist Party at number 5 (the impossibly difficult-to-pronounce Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea).

From a glance as simple as this, one would think that the Basque Nationalists are represented by only one major party. This is not the case. One might grow suspicious of such a conclusion when one looks at the numbers. In last year's congressional elections, the BNP only received 300,000+ votes, yet the city of Bilbao alone has 2,500,000 citizens. Clearly something must be up.

If I feel like it, I'll finish this post. Now I'm bored.