American in Spain

Here are a few photos that I’ve taken over the past year or two that all have something in common: vanishing points. A vanishing point is a point in a perspective drawing to which parallel lines seem to converge.
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We just saw some footage on the news from this year’s “Batalla de Vino” that takes place every June 29th in a town called Haro, in the Rioja region of Spain. It looks like the Tomatina, except much safer and much drunker. We’ve got to try it!
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As I’ve mentioned before, this past weekend was a big San Juan festival in Colindres. There was a bonfire, an exhibition of dance from the local dance academy (where we go for ballroom dancing classes), a concert by a double of the nationally famous pop star, David Bisbal, and a celebration in the park with free stew, oxen racing, and broom and beret throwing competitions.
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A few weeks ago, I was in the zapataria¹ the other day, and I found a nice pair of sandals that I liked. I tried them on, liked them, and decided to buy them. Only after I had already handed over my money, I casually asked the shop attendant, “By the way, what brand are these?”
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Three of the best things in life.

So the US got knocked out of the World Cup. I’m pretty disappointed. We got some pretty bad calls from the referees in our last two matches. Oh well. At least I feel some allegiance to some other countries that actually have decent chances of doing well. Spain plays today in a game that doesn’t matter for them, since they are already through to the next round. Rumors are they they will play all the bench warmers to let the stars rest for a bit (and get rid of their yellow cards). Still, I hope they beat up on Saudi Arabia.
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Well, we’ve survived to another solstice, today is the longest day of the year, and some of the warmest days of the year are in the near future. Sounds like a good enough reason to celebrate!
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This past weekend, we went to Mondragon to celebrate Grandpa Ramón’s birthday. We had a big feast at the Extremadura Cultural Center where most of Marga’s family are members. I was surprised to see that the birthday cake bore a piece of artwork of mine.¹ (more…)

They just had a vote in Cataluña (an Eastern region in Spain containing Barcelona) to decide whether or not the people were in favor of Cataluña becoming it’s own nation. Less than 50% of the registered voters voted, and guess what? They got a result that favored the power-hungry minority.
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I got this in an email. It seems to be posted around the net with “author unknown”, so it seems like I’m free to replicate it for you here. Being a liberal emigrant myself, I found it quite funny.
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Every year, my parents give me a bridge calendar for Christmas. I’m using and enjoying it more than ever this year. Most of the explanations are reasonable and make sense. A few weeks ago, however, I came across an explanation that I just don’t understand.

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