What's Going On

There’s this catchy little tune from this chicky-90s band called 4 Non Blondes—the song’s title: “What’s going on.” Of course this has nothing to do with this blog entry but maybe it does. Maybe this will tell you what’s going on while I’m here in Spain—tell you what’s happened today.

Well we didn’t have class today—instead we took an excursion to Salamanca and Ávila, two very beautiful and historic cities. We toured Salamanca with a guide, ate some bocadillos of pepperoni and “difficult” bread as Alex Miller called it, and went to find find some regalos (souveneirs) for Alex’s friends and perhaps mine. First off I started by hitting up the ATM to get some money out. You see, Salamanca has this very famous university and I really wanted a t-shirt from there because I don’t think I’ll be able to ever study there, so I’d like to own a t-shirt from there. Well, checking my bank statement it reported back to me that I had about 3€ in the bank at that moment. Now I thought my mom had taken care of those things, but I know that these things take time and money doesn’t grow on trees. So I just didn’t get anything, which put me in a sort of bad mood. I was looking forward to buying myself a shirt from there and perhaps a few gifts for family and friends but I was unable. Alex M. bought for his girlfriend, mom, and dad sweatshirts emblazoned with the emblem of the University of Salamanca. They’re very sharp and they were rather cheap so it was most definitely a good find. After we finished shopping we just piddled around Salamanca, walking the streets, seeing the sights, and snapping pictures. It was a rather uneventful day and that was okay with me. We were all tired and it was pretty warm today. We visited the park dedicated to Christopher Columbus because supposedly he was either born or attended the University of Salamanca, so they have a park and statue dedicated to him. More time wasted—we finally headed back to the bus, but not before a quick stop at the cow where the servant of Lazarillo de Tormes slammed Lazarillo’s head into, in the fictional novel, and told him never to trust anyone. Back on the bus, we visited the small city of Ávila where Santa Teresa de Jesús is from—a reformed Jew gone Catholic third generation. She wrote such works as Vivir sin vivir. Instead of touring the city this time, los tres toros took to a bar and ordered a beer, coke, and Fanta and utilized the free Wi-Fi that was available. I made some more phone calls—to no avail—and chatted on Facebook for a few minutes. Finally, back on the bus, I continued writing in my novel Resonance that I’m hoping to make a good chunk of progression on while here.

Back in Segovia, we returned to the house, watched some cartoons, ate a delicious dinner of what was very similar to enchiladas, and reunited with the girls at the Aqueduct to go to Gran Hook, a bar that has 3€ all you can drink beer and calimocho (coke and red wine mix). While sitting at the Aqueduct we found out that one of our fellow students had made friends with a group of gypsies. The word gypsy in Spanish is gitano and they are not well liked among the people here, having the tendency to steal and lead dishonest lives. One young man came over, was introduced and told us that Gran Hook was closed for vacation. I didn’t get a bad impression from the young man, but you can never tell with gypsies. Eventually we parted ways with the gitano and headed to the bar, Toys, instead. We enjoyed a couple beers then headed to an Irish pub where the girls drank Heineken while my two boys split a small Guinness. I’ll have to be honest with you, Guinness is my favorite beer and I was sad to see that I was short about a 1.20€ when it came to getting a Guinness but I know that my time will come to enjoy the smooth taste of a Guinness—tall and dark. Alex Miller was de-Guinness-ified this evening and he enjoyed the smooth and bold taste. I was glad to hear that. It’s just another great bonding point—good beer. Some people just don’t have the taste for it, but a good beer goes a long way in my book.


Today, on the way home, I looked over the hills in Spain, the long plains, and the mountains because we passed through all of it today, and just wanted to be out there. I wanted to walk across the land, throw a tent up at night, and just live simply, like a gypsy. I don’t need the thievery and dishonesty because it gets no one, nowhere, fast. But the idea was just so romantic that I was nearly inspired to write a little bit of poetry—perhaps another time—I was working very hard on my novel, which is my second. I aspire one day to have both of these novels that I have, published, and selling in Barnes and Nobles. To be honest, it could happen. I’m a good writer—a gift from God—and I’ve seen crazier things happen. Despite some faults and flaws, I’ve lived quite an extraordinary life that leads me to be the “old man” that I am. I think for 21, I’m a little bit more adept and a little bit more ready. That’s not to say that there isn’t time to be crazy and have some fun, but for the most part…that is what’s going on.