Florence and the Machine

"Between Two Lungs"

Libros, libros, y más libros

BOOKS, BOOKS, AND MORE BOOKS
I've been back for 3-4 weeks now, still dealing with culture shock, and have been burying my free time in books, wonderous books. Here's the low-down of the books I've loved, lobbed over my shoulder, or changed my way of thinking:

The White Castle, Orhan Pamuk
Translated from turkish (rather horribly), in Istanbul, tells the story of a christian man and a muslim man, seeminly identical, and struggles with identity and separating themselves from each other. My take? Either it was way too deep for me to get, there was nothing to get, or I couldn't get past the absolutely wretched translation I was reading. Do not recommend.

My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk
Decided to give the dude another chance, I mean, he's been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, my favorite short story writer of all time. Translated from turkish, it's a journey through ancient Istanbul, addressing the questions of signature, style, and ownership, all those things that Derrida holds so dear and María Salvador salivates over. This book was a huge success compared to the "White Castle." Changing points of view with every chapter, including allowing inanimate objects to talk, the book takes you through a murder mystery in the heart of Turkey, giving you glimpses of the culture and philosophy of illustrating. My take? Recommended for long trips, it's takes awhile to get through.

Ignorance, Milan Kundera
Translated from Czech, I was in Galicia when I couldn't pass up reading another Kundera, my favorite author. I was hooked on him when I read "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and have been reading him every since. Even though I hold the habit of getting tired of authors quickly, his style never bores me, with compelling and mind-blowing ideas and characters that say and think things that I've always wanted to say but never had the courage to do so, breaking social ideas and customs. "Ignorance" tells the story of immigration, but the journey back to one's home country after many years abroad. Whereas I don't empathize directly with immigration, as I've never had to immigrate, the ideas of alienization in one's own country hit home, especially after coming back to the United States after 6 months in another country. My take? Read any Kundera you can get your hands on.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson
The newly famous Swedish mystery novel captured my attention and I read it on the plane ride back to the US. Whereas I can see why it was so famous, it certainly does engage you, I found the first 5 and last 5 chapters quite boring. Generally it's a bad literary technique to end the main plot before ending the subplot. I deemed the last 5 chapters utterly useless. BUT the middle is fantastic. Be ready for some explicit violence and intriguing plot twists. My take? Read it. It's a great book to pick up and down.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, David Eggers
Read it. A memoir/work of fiction in prose, stream of consciousness, a raw look and read at how we all think, without barriers, while going/have been through constant tragedy. A heartbreaking work of someone wanting to create when they're trying so hard to not let their life destruct. Read it. Read it.
The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
I was out of books to read while on Cape Cod, so I picked up Dan Brown's latest. Remember "The DavVince Code," "Angels & Demons," "Deception Point," and "Digital Fortress?" This one is exactly the same, but now it's in...WASHINGTON DC! His style is the same, his plot and characters without change, but hey! The quest and location has changed! This is a new novel, right? Right? It is engaging and has cool tidbits about religion and Masons and symbols, but Robert Langdon presents nothing new. My take? Just re-read DaVince Code.

Currently reading:

The Hotel New Hamphire, John Irving
From the author of "Cider House Rules," I've read about 3 chapters and it's captivated my interest. It came highly recommended by Kanda Books (PS. click on the link), the second hand book store that I was frequent customer of in Valencia, and so far it's living up to it. We'll see how it goes!

Los Cuarto Acuerdos, Don Miguel Ruiz
For english speakers: "The Four Agreements." I'm not one for professed 'self-help' books, but this one is seriously sparking my interest. I'm already half-way through (and thoroughly enjoying reading in spanish) and it's planted some seads of thought. So far, I'd highly recommend it, even if you are like me and don't like self helpers. I think this book will be shipped off to Spain for some of my friends, to spread the Toltec wisdom, sabídura tolteca.

La Despedida Final

I'm on the brink of going back to the states for the first time in 6 months. Even though I'm more than accostumed to traveling by now, it doesn't make this trip any easier. I'm ready and want to see friends, family, and food back in Ohio, but to leave Spain and Valencia and this life that I've built up for myself....it's hard to leave. I've had the most wonderful here and have friends I'm sure to hold on for my lifetime, and plan on returning as soon as I can.

Me voy a casa hoy, pero os llevo en mi corazon y mi alma. Era un gran placer para conoceros, y vamos a continuar nuestra amor y amistad hasta siempre. Os quiero y nos veremos, seguro!

World Cup

The World Cup has started, as you are all aware, and let me tell you, it's quite an experience being in Europe while it's happening. Now, it's no secret that football...sorry...soccer...is not very popular in the states, but there's plenty of room for a huge market to grow, if only we could win something.

I was in France when their team totally and epically collapsed and the whole country was in a french sort of uproar, which consists of hush tones and drinking more wine than usual. And severely making fun of the coach of the team and blaming everyone else. And being dramatic.

I was in Spain when they played Portugal, their neighbores, in a jam packed bar, glasses raised, singing and yelling, crying with joy when they scored, jumping to their feet and hugging whoever was closest, yelling "¡hijo de puta!" and "¡cabron!" everytime Cristiano Ronaldo, your classic-pretty-boy-soccer-star-from-Portugal-who-plays-on-a-Spanish-club-team-during-season, was shown on the screen.

But anyway, in Europe, I've gotten to experience true fandom, the patriotic-wigs-flags-as-capes-painted-faces-Heineken-in-hand kind of fandom. Now I hope you all clicked on that link and watched the clip (I've just now discovered the Daily Show, a few years behind the times, I know). I totally agree with this sentiment. I find it cute how everyone preaches that football brings people together from all over the world. What it really does is bring people from the same country together in a drunken yelling frenzy, cursing the other team and country as often as they can. But, it's all for love of the game. Pros and cons exist everywhere, I guess. I have really enjoyed watching the games here, knowing the harsh contrast it would be if I was in the States, meaning I would be sitting on my couch or my grandparents munching on potato chips. The World Cup is quite an experience, and one I hope every person from the USA gets to experience, outside the USA. Or it would be AWESOME if soccer became more popular back home.

Paris

Paris. Incredibly huge, incredibly touristy, incredibly expensive, and incredibly...well...french. I only had a day and a half to explore the city that's probably bigger than any other city I've ever been in (with the exception of New York City, of course). I stayed in the Montemarte district, which is close to the train station, but I spent most of my time in the Latin Quarter, which appealed to me not because of the kitschy tourist shops and streets packed full of people from all over the world (I was unpleasantly reminded of all the annoying american accents I happily forgot), but because there were people that spoke spanish= I could COMMUNICATE with someone. I had spent the whole trip wildly gesticulating, trying to get the point across that I want a coffee and some bread or I just want one train ticket to city X. Therefore I camped out in the Latin Quarter, watching the World Cup and chatting with some dudes from Mexico and Chile.

reminisces of The DaVinci Code movie, which was a incredible failure, but nonetheless, the glass piramids were pretty cool

I got there on Monday afternoon and had to go to my hotel by 6pm to check in, so I only had 2 hours to go to the Louvre, because unfortunately it's closed Tuesday. I went running through the metro of Paris, got my ticket, and immediatly went to see the Mona Lisa, Nat King Cole singing in my head. Summary: totally unimpressive little painting.
After that dissapointment I went off in search of my favorite sculpture, and that was impressive.

I spent the most of my time with the sculptures, finding some true classics and some truly hilarious ones.

this guy obivisouly chewed too much tobaco

The rest of the day was spent in my sleeping space, chilling with other travels, having some glasses of wine and debates about Heidegger and books until 3am. Woke up the next morning, ready to walk to the Eiffel Tower and Arc d 'Triumph. It was a beautiful day, the first day where it wasn't rainy and cloudy during my whole trip. I enjoyed the sights, but was a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the city and the massive amounts of tourists. I really don't enjoy feeling like a tourist, so I didn't spend much time at the traditional sights of Paris. In contrast, I just wandered around the city, enjoying the day and munching on my baguette. I went back to my sleep space and chilled with the cool people again, and we had a picnic in the park of Paris, and then later moved to the side of the canal. Best night in Paris imaginable.

Michael Jackson lives again!!!

Dijon, France

After spending a week back in Valencia, I decided on a whim to go to Dijon, where some friends were studying. No, I didn't try the mustard, I'm not a fan in any form, BUT I did try loads of wine, which is excellent even in the cheap form in France. Ah, cheap....France ISN'T. At all. Not even close. Even the supermarkets are ridiculously expensive. So, lesson to all my readers: If you want to go to France, you better have a trust fund that you can break into, or spend more money to get a hotel with a kitchen. Seriously. I luckily didn't have to pay for sleeping, I crashed on the dormitory floor of my friend Sam's room. Yusssssss, hard floors and cold weather. I was super comfy (and wearing about 5 sweaters). Dijon is one of the oldest cities in France, and it's obvious because the architecture is incredible. It's a really beautiful city, clean, and clearly a wealthy population. Oh yeah, and great bread, best consumed at 7am. All in all I had a great time chilling with Sam and getting to know the other students, all of which are hardcore philosophy students.





Talking about philosophy...I'm planning on minoring in philosophy, continental philosophy, because it compliments perfectly how I'm studying spanish (which is NOT just a tool for communication). Philosophy of language is incredibly fascinating and makes me think of how we see and label our world in a totally different way.

La Playa de Las Catedrales

One day while in Galicia we took a little road trip to the beach called "the cathedrals," because when it's low tide, the rocks look like little cathedrals. Bascially, mind-boggling beautiful. Don't what else to say about it other than if you ever make it to Galicia, make it here.

me taking a picture of a man taking a picture of a couple sleeping under an umbrella right next to the restaurant= hilarious irony

Lugo, Galicia

buying new clothes in the tienda china, which has the clothes of highest fashion

After the camino we spent 10 days with Maria Salvador, a friend from Earlham. Wow. What a great place to recuperate after weeks of walking, mostly because her mother fed us SO INCREDIBLY WELL. I've never been that constantly full in my life with such yummies.PAELLA MARISCO O MY GOD

We got to sleep in, read in bed (we were like starved children- finished 2 books in 10 days), and take relaxing walks around the Galician countryside, which is the most beautiful countryside in existence. Lugo is famous for it's Roman wall, which I believe is the only still complete, standing, and in great condition. We took a walk around the wall and saw all the historical roman architecture of Lugo. They have a festival in the end of June where everyone dresses up like romans (toga party!) and goof around the city. Awesome. We saw an amazing jazz trio, OAM Trio, which left us feeling high on music for a few days.

I am a galician poet

Maria and her brother, Suso, made sure I got the full 'galician experience,' which means tuté with the seniors of the village. Tuté is a card game that's a combination of euchre and pinochle, which meant that I DOMINATED. Suso and I were partners against the woman of the village that never loses. We killed. O man, wiped the board clean. The other partners were annoyed that "this foreignor came in and beat at us our game, not okay! Not OKAY!" woops....

Suso- the tuté king, and a total badass

Suso and "W"- my protectors: if anyone messes with me, I can show them this picture and say, "Hold it, you mess with me, you're messing with THEM. Whatya think now?? HUH?"

El Camino

So, as you can tell, I'm totally lacking in posts, but I've also decided not to post about the camino. I thought about it awhile, and it's just so hard to write about in a way that expresses everything I feel about it, so, if you want to hear about it, call me (when I get back in the states) or we can meet up for some yummy coffee and chitter chat. Sorry that I'm not going to post my fotos, but I will post things about Lugo!!! Coming up next...

By the way, if interested in crazy awesome food fotos and an interesting view of the world, check out Janel's website/brainchild: janeltorkington.com. It's pretty fun and awesome to read, and the pictures are nice.

El Camino/ León- San Martín del Camino: 26k

Alright, I cannot express how difficult writing about the Camino de Santiago will be, so I'll just attempt and hopefully you will be a little closer to understanding what an experience it was. Basically, anyone who reads this should just take my advice: go do it yourself. Buy a plane ticket and start walking. There's nothing more simple in the world than walking.

the cathedral of León

I did the camino with Janel, a great wonderful friend I met at Earlham, the person mejor en todo el mundo para caminar dos semanas solas y juntas, los dos al mismo tiempo. She had been living in Bangkok for 8 months, and I in Valencia, and we both thought what better way to transition to another chapter in our lives than by doing the camino, a completely liminal and transitional space, constantly moving, changing, growing.

first morning walking through the streets of León

the bridge that goes to nowhere

The first day: COLD, raining, and all on the highway, which equaled a rough start. We had a great time nevertheless because we were walking, talking, catching up after a year apart, finding our walking rhythm and the rhythm of the camino. When we made it to the albergue, the hostel only for pilgrims, we instantly took a HOT shower, put on all the clothes we own, and ate a pilgrim meal, which consisted of greasy bacon, fried eggs, and french fries. Most unhealthy meal I have EVER eaten in my life, but after walking so far and shivering the whole way, it was perfect. Afterwards, due to an intense food coma, we napped for a couple of hours, awaking to hunger, which meant going out to search for food to cook with. Dinner tonight? Japanese curry and a bottle of wine to share with other pilgrims. Success?? Hell yes. We made quite a few friends, including Marcos from Galicia and Nice and Bea from Brazil.

first albergue: Santa Ana (ironic, right?)

Marcos!

the brazilian girls!

Janel and I, ready for our second day, and you can't tell by this picture, but freezing our little butts off

Story of the day: We met an australian woman named Carol, who told us about a woman who is walking for her heart, which she just got a new one 3 years ago, and for her donor. This camino is powerful.