Discovering my American-ness…

Even though I was born and raised in the United States, I can’t say that I ever felt very American when I lived there.  Occasionally, I would feel a surge of American pride – like during the Olympics or on the anniversary of September 11th – but otherwise I strongly identified with being Latina.  Spanish … Continue reading →

Holi Catalunya…

Holi – the festival of colors – is a religious holiday that marks the beginning of spring.  It is celebrated on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March) of the Hindu calendar.  During this time, the normally strict social rules are abandoned, and people of all ages, gender, class and casts intermingle to … Continue reading →

Oops I did it again…

When you move to another country with different cultural norms, you are bound to commit a few faux pas.  After living in Barcelona for nearly two years, I thought I had gotten most of mine out of the way.  Alas, I was sadly mistaken. Last weekend, my friend and I decided to go to Quilombo to … Continue reading →

La gente está muy loca…

I miss my previous neighbors.  They were a friendly, quiet, young, married, couple from Valencia.  After over a year of living across the hall from each other, we had finally become friends.  I had even started a Spanish-English intercambio with the wife in an attempt to perfect my castellano (to understand why I needed this intercambio … Continue reading →

Mi grapadora roja…

We have a grapadora problem in the office.  There is a limited supply and they always seem to disappear or jam.  People with staplers get a little possessive over them – or maybe its just me and my only child syndrome.  One day, I tried making a Milton grapadora roja joke at work, but it fell completely flat … Continue reading →

Life with a carnival mask…

When I think of carnival, I immediately think of Rio.  I think of dancing the sultry night away to samba while wearing an elaborate, glitzy, mid drift bearing costume complete with matching headdress.  While Brazil is host to the largest carnival celebration on the planet, the days leading up to lent are also celebrated in countries … Continue reading →

Attempting to snowboard in Andorra…

Andorra.  To me it sounds like the name of a fairy tale kingdom – far, far, away.  In reality it is a country (yes a country – this was news to me too my fellow geographically challenged friends)  in the Pyrenees Mountains, nestled between Spain and France.  From Barcelona, this is not far, far, away, … Continue reading →

Besos y abrazos…

One day during lunch, my coworkers and I were discussing religion.   Yes, a taboo topic amongst co-workers in America, but this is Spain – with the exception of perhaps Franco – nothing is really off limits.  Specifically, we were talking about the conservative nature of the Muslim religion.  My co-worker (of the XY variety) then … Continue reading →

When tío doesn’t mean uncle…

While my Spanish has improved a thousand fold since my arrival, this past weekend I had a brief encounter which reminded me that every day is still a school day. My friend and I were about to leave the club when this guy asked me to dance.  It was 5am, my feet hurt, and I … Continue reading →