March 6, 2008. I forgot what, if anything, happened.
March 7, 2008. Again I met John Barkley, who introduced me to a guy who supposedly was interested in an “intercambio” or exchange of English lessons for Spanish lessons. Turns out that he and John were huge friends and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, which is embarrassing since they are both in their 70s. While they were doing this, they called the other guy’s daughter whose “novio” is American and won’t speak English with her since he’s lived here 15 years and apparently now speaks the lingo. So, it’s half an hour of Spanish for half and hour of English. She’s nice and cute and, unlike her father and John sitting across from us, kept her hands to herself.
Amy and Dan came over for lunch and we poured over maps so that Anne and I could plan our trip to France (we’re going to Mirabel to ski for Easter week, which I now know is a big holiday throughout Europe). We got some ideas of where to stop since we anticipate an eight-hour drive, which is too much, probably for one day.
March 8, 2008. This evening we saw the fountains of Mont Juic, which is translated as Jew Mountain and is, predicably, where the Jews lived. The Jews left over 500 years ago, one way or another. It is also, predicably, next to the Arab quarter. The Arabs are still around, getting short haircuts on Sundays and making sure it’s a very dangerous neighborhood. But I digress. The fountains are set to music with lights and so forth and it’s a real scene with tons of people milling around, selling junk, and probably pick-pocketing. It’s a lot of fun, a real scene with schmaltzy music and the excitement.
March 9, 2008. Forgot to write anything so nothing happened.
March 10, 2008. Forgot again.
March 11, 2008. Beautiful day. I went out on my bike, enjoyed the spring weather. This evening I had my first meeting with Christina, a Spanish woman who smokes and wants to practice English so, like in Aspen, we trade half an hour of English for half an hour of Spanish. She is very nice; we talking about how she knows smoking is terrible and her boyfriend (who is American but won’t speak English with her) wants her to quit.
March 12, 2008. Frank McDonald from FM Imports stopped by to see us. He’s here on a wine hunting expedition for his clientelle in the US and to tell them not to raise their dollar prices. We had him to dinner and had a great talk. He’s an interesting guy who has travelled VERY extensively, including visiting some places that are off the beaten path (for tourists). It’s the latest we stayed up since arriving in Spain, I think (9:30 at night! — no, just kidding, it’s almost 12:30 — hey, we are lightweights). Next time Frank, we’ll stay up later!