Dear my friends and readers of our site,
First of all, I apologize you for taking a long time to post my diary of life in Barcelona. I had a great experience to write about and share with you.
This time, I tried to make my writing more interesting for anyone who have never been to Spain or never experienced Spanish culture. In addition Nuno mentioned that some of his friends on his blog site are interested in my writing;, I put some emphasis on some aspects of Spanish culture, which Portuguese may also find it interesting.
Hope you enjoy my story.
Prologue
I traveled to Barcelona in 1995. It was my first experience to visit a country where English is not an official language. I had studied English in Australia before I set off for my world round trip: Japan > Australia > USA > England > Europe > Japan.
When you learn English, you are often told that: English is an international language. Millions of people speak English and you can communicate people around the world. What a wonderful phase to motivate us to learn. But it is not exactly right. Well, on your trip, you will not certainly have a communication problem in Switzerland, Norway, Finland and Holland. Even if you are in Italy, Portugal or Greece, you will survive with English. But in Spain, you may think what you were told is wrong.
On the arrival, a taxi driver took me to a wrong address. He did not understand a word of English. When I asked the way to pedestrians in English, responses came back in an unfamiliar language. Kids stared at me with curiosity. Communication was impossible.
Visiting Spanish friends several times, I found Spanish are fun-orientated and had a memorable stay even though I did not understand the language. I went out with Spanish students at Newcastle. There were lots of Sangria and disco nights at student residence. I became interested in their culture. So, I decided to learn Spanish one year ago and now I am about to fly to a wonderful city of Barcelona.
Day 1
I woke up with a great expectation for my coming trip. It is more than three years since I finished my student life in Newcastle. At the age of thirty-four, I guess I am still energetic to learn new things in my life. This time, I am, as you know, going to take a course of Spanish for two weeks in Barcelona.?My expectation to a new life started to overwhelm me. Good news had arrived a few days before my departure. Nuno Vicente, my friend from Newcastle University, had sent me an email, telling me that he will come to Barcelona for a couple of days during my stay. It is a fun to share experience with someone who has a lot of things in common. In our case, food and football.
I had flights were with Lufthansa, the German Airlines. Generally speaking, Germans are punctual and work systematically. Trains are always on time in Germany. Therefore, I trusted entirely and had no doubt for delay. My thought was focused on how I can get to a rented apartment. “Maybe it is better to get a taxi to the school and the apartment. Traveling by public transport wear me out” I thought. While I was deep in my thought, I overheard a Japanese tour guide explaining her customers that our flight will be delayed for 40 minutes due to no turn-up of cabin crews. “How come Germans can disappear on their duty! Lufthansa can be renamed Alitalia!” The reason was even worse. They are taking lunch! It remains me of my summer vacation in Sicily several years ago. “Oh, oh this is a bad sign.” my fear grew. At that time, an Alitalia flight from Milan to Catagna delayed with an engine trouble. It had tried to take off with all eager holiday passengers and had failed. After fixing troubles, entire crew went lunch leaving all passengers await at the gate. “ In Italia, si mangia bene!” a nice phase had came to my mind and I thought that time “Ok, Italians can not work with an empty stomach ” And I feared more for hungry Italians kill us all… But this time, I did not find it funny that German crews left all passengers awaiting and had gone to fill their stomach.
Unfortunately, this little incident was just a beginning of upcoming troubles. My baggage failed to arrive at the Barcelona airport along with ones of other fellow passengers. According to a clerk of the baggage handling company it was left in Frankfurt untouched and will be due to arrive next morning. “What a start, huh…”
I took an airport shuttle to Plaza Catalunya and walked down to Gran Via where my Spanish school is located. I explained to school secretaries, Elena and Hector to assist me to get my luggage as soon as possible. They rang up the handling company to arrange it to deliver. They are both very helpful and nice persons. I was a little relieved. As some of you know, things do not go smoothly and take a great deal of time in Latin European countries. Therefore, if you have someone who can help you with your language and pave the way, you are very much comfortable.
Hector marked where is the apartment on a city map. It was unfortunately not precise. I asked three passer-bys to get to the apartment. Each of them told me different directions. So now, you know how accurate Spanish people are. My tip is “Have a GREAT, GREAAAAAT patience. Then you will relax and enjoy your life in Spain.”
When I arrived at my apartment and I had a little chat with my new flat mates. About an hour. Then, I retreated myself to my room. I fell on the bed at once and drifted into sleep.
DAY???
I woke up early next morning. As the luggage handling clerk told me that my suitcase would arrive here at 9:00, I waited a damn two hours. I heard neighbors bumping garbage but there was no sign of my luggage. So, I went out for a walk.
“Well, I am now living a few blocks away from Sagrada Familia and Hospital de Sant Pau. Let’s check it out” I said to myself.
Modernismo:
Modernism is the new architectural movement arose in Catalunya in the late nineteenth century. Antoni Gaudi who designed Sagrada Familia and Dominiche I Montaner who designed the Hospital of Sant Pau are leading architects of this style. One of the most attracting features of Barcelona is, you will come across a lot of unique buildings that represent Modernism.
I walked down to the cathedral which is still under construction and I wondered how much Catalans are proud and find their identity. Gaudi devoted his later life to construct this cathedral and ended his dream with his tragic death of traffic accident. Nearly one century has passed since the work started. Yet it will take another century to complete the building. This is because many architects collaborate to work out exact designs from Gaudi’s notes and initial drawings. He has left a minutia model and written materials. Another reason is uniqueness of his design. Although it looks impossible to build, he worked out the balance and dynamism to withhold this entire tower-shaped cathedral. In addition, the entrance fee is main source of financing the construction. I wished it would show me a different face when I visit Barcelona next time.
After visiting Sagrada Familia , most tourists move quickly to another tourist site and miss a great opportunity to visit another masterpiece of Modernism; Hospital de San Pau.
From Sagrada Familia, there is a pedestrian street running diagonally and it lead you to a magnificent red brick buildings. In the first impressive, you may think it is a kind of university campus. But it is actually a hospital.
When I was overlooking the front building, a large bus stopped in front of the hospital and tourists rushed out of the vehicle.
“Huh, Europeans can become a typical tourist like Japanese.” I wondered and the tour bus remained there, blocking the front entrance. Here, you may wonder what would happen when an ambulance arrives with an emergency patient who had an heavy traffic accident and is in coma. Imagine an ambulance driver shouting and honking at a flock of tourists “Get out of my way, you bloody tourists!”
To our relief, Domenech I Monataner designed the buildings for psychiatric wards to accommodate people with mental illness. Not an emergency ward. The focus was made in order to create a relaxed atmosphere for both patients and doctors.
I saw nurses and cleaning staff with white robe are chatting and walking in the yard. A male doctor was standing at the terrace talking with a mobile phone. It was around noon and I imagined that he would be asking his mother or wife about Sunday lunch.
“Hola mama, que estas cocinando para la comida (Mother, what are you cooking for lunch today?” a son asking.
The mother answered “ Hola carinho, hoy estoy preparando lo que te gusta muchisimo, unas zarzuela y gazpacho. (Hello pretty, today I am preparing something you like.”
A typical peaceful view on Sunday in Spain. Food is the most important thing in their life.
I went back to my apartment around 1 pm and there still no sign of my luggage arrival and I decided to go to school to ask Elena, the school secretary for expediting it.
“Hola Yasu como estas?” she said.
“Bien, Elena. Gracias para tu ayuda anoche. Pero mi equipaje no ha ya llegado.” I explained the situation.
“OK. I will contact the company to check your baggage and ask them to send it here. It’s better. There is always someone who can collect it. Either me or Hector”
It looked she used to this kind of problems and quickly contact the company. After two phone calls, she said that everything is OK and my suitcase will be sent here by seven.
There were still many hours to wait. So, I went to El Corte Ingles, a department store to check some grocery.
After buying some necessary stuff, I went back to the school. As it is Sunday, I should ring a bell at the front door to enter the building. In front of the building, a driver on the service van staring at me with a big smile till he stopped the vehicle.
“It must be my suitcase.” My anticipation rose.
He quickly got out from his van and opened the rear door and took out my heavily scratched suitcase.
“Tu equipaje ?”
“Si” I answered and searched a luggage claim form to show him. However, he just shook my hand with a big, big smile and declined to even looking at the document. I could not help but smiled back. I said “Gracias”
“Gracias para ti” he sped away.
“A Japanese is so rare to be identified instantly with certainty? Maybe I should get adjusted myself a bit in Spanish customs.” I thought
DAY 3:
This is Monday. School starts this morning.
Today, I write something about my flat mates and a nice and cozy accommodation.
Here, I introduce my flat mates
Malin and Micheal are from Swedish. They are couple living next my room. Their age is in the early twenties. They greeted me first in English when I walked into this flat, saying that they are from a southern city of Sweden. I wanted to ask the exact location. I knew that the capital city of Sweden is located in south but the name failed to come up to my mind.
“Is it Kobenhavn? No, no this city is famous for Royal Kobenhavn, the Danish china. It should be a Danish capital ” I quickly corrected before opening my mouth.
“So, it should be Oslo or Stockholm” I wondered. My geographic knowledge about Scandinavian countries is quite poor. Instead of showing my geographical ignorance, I said to them “I like your national team. I love Henric Larsson ”
“Yasu, you are smart!” I thought it to myself, “Many Swedish fans suggested his return on the national squad before Euro 2004 and he made an incredible header. He is a family man. Of course, they should love him.”
But their response was not as enthusiastic as I expected : “ Yes, we like him. But I love Ibrahimovic”
“Oh?? That BIG BOY???” I thought but I just smiled.
Michael continued, “He is quite eccentric. Normally, Swedish is not keen to express themselves in public. But he, Ibrahimovic is very different.”
I thought, “ OK, he did at least one thing that I really wanted to do. He knocked down Mihailovic with his mighty head batting” Mihailovic is a veteran Serb defender and a bloody racist. He provoked Ibrahimovic by assaulting verbally his mother who is from Croatia and suffered from a great consequence.
Isabelle and Emilie also come from Sweden. But they are from Northern Sweden. This time, I never question about my geographical knowledge.
“North is north” I convinced.
They are both nineteen. They share a twin room. I did not see them in the first day because they were at the Camp Nou stadium and witnessed 5-1 victories against a Greek team in the Champion’s league. Now, football is becoming a popular sport even for girls.
The last one whom I am going to introduce you is Stephanie from Brussels. Stephanie is the only one who does not speak English very much. But she seems to have a great charm and she is very cheerful. Although we are not able to communicate in common language, it looked Swedish are having very much fun together. She is 22 or 23 years old and works at her father’s garage and car sales outlets. Like other youngsters, she likes going to disco and drinking. She said cheerfully “My mother did not like me to come home late so often and she kicked me out”
All of my flat mates are taking classes in A1 (absolute beginner) or A2 (elementary) level. So, naturally our day-to-day communication turned into English. We are six. I and Stephanie took single rooms. Swedish mates took twin rooms. We had two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. It is not spacious but it is relatively clean and cozy. I believe that a Spanish cleaning lady does a good job. Only a problem is a kitchen. Piles of unwashed dishes remained in the sink. But it is usual for younger students.
Unfortunately, we could not see Sagrada Familia from our window. Instead, we have a view with Agbar tower. The shape of this building is very unique. It looked like an egg. Try to imagine that you are having English breakfast. A boiled egg is standing in front of you. Just like that. Every two or three night, the Agbar tower is illuminated in blue lights and it is romantic just sitting at the terrace and looking at the view.
This morning, I woke up at six and walked to School Don Quijote to take a level test. Most of new students in the salon were in their early twenties and Europeans. No Asians.
“Here I am. A rare species in other side of planet of the Earth ” I thought.
Teachers welcomed us and started to explain today’s schedule and facilities at school. Soon, I found I am one of a few students who understood perfectly what teachers said.
After taking a level test and a brief interview, I was allocated to B1, lower intermediate class. Thanks to my knowledge of Italian and a little study. In the first week, I was told to take classes from 15:00 to 19:00.
Day 4 : The Spanish language
My short-term student life started yesterday and I was quite excited about taking some classes at school again.
Today, I would like to talk about Spanish, a new language that I started to study. Spanish is an official language of Spain and most countries in the central and south America. This remark sounds normal to some people. However, before the 1930s, people in this country did not speak a common language. People spoke Catalan in Catalunya (the region of Barcelona), Gallego in Galicia, the southwest of Spain and a Basque language in the northwest. In 1939, General Franco won a civil war and established dictatorship. He banned these three regions to speak their own language and keep their cultures. It continued till the death of Franco in 1975. For some people in this country, the term of Spain and Spanish is unfamiliar. Spanish is called Castellano.
Castelllano / Spanish is categorized in Latin language. Grammatically, it is much harder than English. In English grammar, verbs end in the same form except the third person singular; I speak, you speak, he speaks, we speak…..
However, in Spanish, there is a verb infinitive, hablar (to speak). It changes as follows: (I) hablo, (you) hablas, (he) habla, (we) hablamos, (you) hablais and (they) hablan. Verbs have different forms of suffixes in each tense such as past, future and conditional and imperative. So, you can imagine how difficult for foreigners to learn these grammatical rules in the first place. However, students from Portugal or Italy do not experience this difficulty as Portuguese and Italian have almost same grammar.
So, even someone with poor learning skills like Ronaldo at Real Madrid becomes fluent in a few month stay.
One aspect of the Spanish language that draws my interest is that there are many phrasal expressions which you can not imagine what it really means. For example, there are my expressions related to food.
1) Ella esta como un queso (Literally, it says she looks like cheese.)
2) Ella esta jamona. (Literally, it says she looks like ham.)
Can you guess what do these sentences mean? Maybe Nuno and other Portuguese readers may guess them with knowledge of their own language.
The answers are:
1) Chinese and Taiwanese usually find cheese has terrible smell and taste like a rotten food. They may think it means, “She is ugly or horrible”. Instead, it actually mean, “She is pretty or beautiful.”
2) You may imagine a fatty ham and translate this expression, as “She is fat, ugly pig!” But it means that she is physically fit and attractive. When you go to a butcher’s in Spain, you encounter a line of jamon serano or iberico hanged above. All are perfectly shaped.
Now, you are also interested in learning this interesting language.
DAY 5
Today, I would like to talk about food and gastronomy. It is my favorite subject. As I had two lessons from three to seven in the afternoon in the first week, I spent rambling around the city center to look for some shops that sell traditional regional foodstuff and fashionable clothes. I would say that Barcelona does not disappoint you in these senses.
Here I will particularly introduce you some tips to find excellent grocery. The easiest way to do grocery shopping in big cities in Spain is to go to El Corte Ingles supermarket. El Corte Ingles is, as Portuguese readers know well, the largest department store that targets higher segments of income groups. An English equivalent in Newcastle can be Marks & Spencer. A great difference with is: Marks & Spencer stock a great variety of microwave meals. On the other hand, El Cort Ingles has a wide range of unprepared ingredients from red lobster to French Champaign.
Here are two types of cheese selected with my taste:
Queso de Samorano
Hard type cheese made from sheep milk and cured for about 4 months. Taste is a little spicy (piccante) and salty. Pasta is hard with holes and yellowish in color. It is recommended to taste with red wine or grated and sprinkled onto Italian pasta.
Taste : 6
Presentation: 5
Queso de Murcia al Vino: This cheese is made with pasteurized goat milk and originated in region of Murcia, south of Valencia. The presentation of cheese is excellent. It is bathed and rubbed with local red wine. This cheese is made from local breed of Murcian goat and obtained the European recognition of Denomination Origin. The cheese is elastic and smooth. It is a mild cheese with some characteristics of goat cheese. In my opinion it is unfortunate that pasteurization has killed the uniqueness of goat cheese such as distinctive smell and strong taste. It does not possess a quality of French unpasteurized goat cheese. Nevertheless, it is a good cheese.
Taste : 6
Presentation: 8
Generally speaking most of cheese consumed has mild taste and produced with sheep or cow milk. Salty and unpesteurized cheese is rare. Both cheese do not possess strong flavor like Queijo picante da Beira Baixa (Portugal) or Canestrato Pugliese (Puglia, South Italy), which are both rated 9 in my personal evaluation.
In next trip to Spain, I will try to find some unpesteurized goat cheese and butterly (amateigado) cheese from Extramadula, Southern Spain.
After classes, I went home. It was about 8 in the evening. While cooking some spaghetti, I had already felt hungry. So, I cut off some slices of Queso Samorano and nibbled. Then I made a few sips of wine.
“I wish I could find these stuff at a reasonable price in Japan”
DAY 6: My gastronomic quest 2
When I woke up at nine thirty in the morning, three other flat mates were still in bed. Last night, we watched a match of Barcelona vs. Panasinaikos (?) and stayed up late. Poor Greek visitors were beaten with 6-1 at the Camp Nou stadium. At the end of the first half, Greeks were at 3 goals behind and had no gust to come back. Barca Fans (including us in front of TV) were very excited. We watched another program till 2 am before going to bed. As four of us have afternoon classes, it had become custom to stay in bed in a whole morning.
I made coffee for myself and had some bread. After breakfast, I went out to look for a carneria (butcher’s) and panetteria (bakery) for bocatillos (sandwiches). I became accustomed to make some sandwiches and have lunch outside. It was late October. The weather here is warm enough to take a pleasant walk.
Walking a few blocks down toward Sagrada Familia, I dropped by a carneria and bought some slices of Jamon Iberico. Yesterday, I had bought some salami sausage to bring back to Japan. So, a woman behind the counter recognized me instantly.
“Hola carinho, que deseas hoy (Hi, pretty, what do you want today?)” she said. For Spanish people, ones who they made a brief acquaintance with often called “carino/a (pretty)” or “guapo/a (handsome or beautiful)” In fact, not all Spanish boys are handsome like Ricky Martin. Not all girls are as beautiful as Donha Leticia, a wife of the Spanish Prince. These are the expressions that they like to use.
“Hola, Buenos dias. Queria qualquier jamon iberico, por favor ( I would like some Iberian ham)”
“Para ahora? (for now)”
This is the expression that you need to use when you want it in some slices or pieces to serve for meal today.
“Si, para ahora por favor.”
Then, a vender slice it for you. In Spain, at many buthchers and Queseria (cheese vender’s) have some products sealed in a vacuumed pack. It is very convenient for foreign travelers to bring them back for souvenirs.
“Ademas? (anything more)”
“No, nada mas , gracias ( nothing more, thank you)”
I handed a pack of rice and paid for both.
Jamon Iberico
Jamon can be translated as cured ham in English. For Japanese and Asian people, generally it could have been very difficult to imagine what it is ten or fifteen years ago.
Nowadays, thanks to advanced transport technology, we can find some Jamon Serrano in Japan. Yet, many people do not know the difference between Jamon (or Presunto (Portuguese) and ordinary ham.
A whole part of leg is used to make jamon and it is rubbed with salt. Then it is hung and preserved in a well-ventilated cellar. Good quality jamon is cured in a mountainous region with natural wind that come into the cellar. It is cured for 12 to 18 months to make good quality jamon. During curing period, extra fat extracted and trickled down onto the floor. Nowadays, the majority of cured ham is made in a high-tech cellar factory.
Jamon Iberico de Jabugo (DOP) is strictly maintained the traditional method. It is made from Iberian pig, a breed of black pig and is classified in the highest quality ham among Spanish ham.
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to taste this marvelous ham but some slices of Jamon Iberico. It is quite salty and contain adequate fat.
When I feel like drinking, I would say I have nothing to complain if I have some slices of jamon Iberico and good cheese.
After buying some filling for sandwich, I bought some banquette and then I went home to prepare some sandwich.
It was still 11 a.m. I still got four hours before Spanish classes. So, I decided to explore the city of Barcelona. I took subway to Plaza Catalunya and walk to San Joseph Market. I like rambling around an open-air food market. In Japan, there is no place where people sell various grocery in stalls in one location. Retailing system has been modernized. Big supermarket chains offer products much cheaper than small outlets. As a result, small outlets have almost become extinct in my country. However, in Spain there are still a lot of small grocery outlets where you can find artisan products and specialties. Therefore, I was so excited to visit the market.
Here, I would like to guide you to the biggest market in Barcelona.
Here are a bunch of Spanish cured ham hanging in front of a butcher’s. The ones on the right have black hooves are Jamon Iberico, the ham made from black Iberian pig. The ones on the left are Jamon Serrano, from ordinary pig. Jamon Iberico is almost three times as expensive as normal Jamon.
There are many different types of sausages in Spain. The ones in the picture are called chorizos, typically Spanish. They are also produced in Portugal. The ones in dark red contains more pimientos (paprika). They are not as hot as it looks (not as deadly as Fei’s mother’s cooking, which burned Nuno’s tongue). Spanish and Portuguese almost never take spicy food.
If you want fresh seafood, the San Jeseph market is an ideal place.
You can find live crayfish and crabs spitting bubbles out of their mouths. Scallops in the picture are also alive.
It is known that Japanese are the people who consumed the largest quantity of seafood. Yet we do not have such a large fish market as this. We, Japanese consumers can hardly encounter live scallops and lobsters in this scale. This is because fresh and best quality fish is sold to wholesalers or expensive restaurants in port. We see fillet fish and boiled scallops neatly packed and placed on shelves at supermarkets.
I also recommend this market for selecting some souvenirs. You can buy cured ham, salami and chorizos at a half price of duty-free stores at airport. You may wonder what duties are uncharged!
The San Joseph market has also some bars where you can enjoy freshly fried squid and fish. On Saturdays, bars are often filled with men with beer belly, whose wives are buying some ingredients for lunch.
DAY 7
Barcelona is the city surrounded by very distinctive art and architectures. Many people here identify themselves as Catalan before Spanish. It is also known as a cosmopolitan city where thousands of immigrants work and live there. When you get on metro, you will notice that. There are Africans, South Americans and Arabs.
The other day, when I took Metro to school, I sat directly opposite to two African guys.
I had eye contact with one of them. Then he smiled.
“Hi, where you from? ” He asked me with heavy accent.
“I’m from Japan. I’m a Japanese.”
“Ah, Japan. I wanna go to Japan next year.”
I smiled at them. They got off first at the next stop, waving me good by. Many of the Africans whom I met are very cheerful even though they are living with temporary minimum wage. Surely some of them arrived in Spain with a boat, escaping from poverty.
Arabs, on the other hand, seem to be very quite and introverted. I saw many young Arab women with infants.
This afternoon, I took metro to school and I saw three Arab men sitting in a compartment. One of them was carrying a backpack.
Suddenly, the scenes of London and Madrid bombing on the BBC news came into my mind. The x-ray image of an instant glass-bottle bomb that contains a bunch of nails inside appeared.
“To increase deadliness of bomb a suicide bomber uses the bomb with nails. When he blows himself up, the nails travels all direction to attack other passengers. It certainly gives maximum damage ” a BBC correspondent had made a point.
“This is not happening here, of course” I prayed “This guy is absentminded now. He does not look as nervous as he blows himself up.”
Fortunately, the guy was an ordinary citizen and I had a safe journey to school.
DAY 10
This is Monday. The second week of my Spanish course starts. Fortunately, I could switch to morning lessons from 9 am to 1 pm. It is better for me because the number of students in afternoon class is not regular and unpredictable.
I am not here for serious studies but I still wanted to make the most of this opportunity to meet different people from different countries. Students who regularly go to discos and drinking tend to choose afternoon classes and be often absent from lessons.
So, it is logical for students who want to study to choose morning classes. When I went into a classroom, I found that attendance was at least adequate.
It was a class of eight. Gaspar (20) is a Polish and came to Barcelona with his girl friend. Sebastian is nineteen and he’s from Germany. The other German student is 32 years old and he is the only one who is in my generation. Other four Scandinavian girls were also around twenty.
We started our class introducing ourselves.
“Me llamo Yasu y soy Japones…..” I introduced myself briefly and then Maite, a teacher asked me a brief question.
“In Japon, teneis una comida mas sana, verdad? Como Sushi (In Japan, you have the most healthy food, no? Like Sushi)”
The girls in class were nodding with agreement. Heath seems to be an important agenda for girls anywhere in the world.
“Si, es verdad que la comida Japones tradicional es muy sana.” I said. I also added modern Japanese food is not healthy at all.
Gaspar and Sebastian are almost in the same age and both of them seem to have got some time-off after finishing school in their countries to enjoy themselves in a foreign country. Other girls are also between 18 and 20.
The German guy had a different reason for studying Spanish. He is currently working on forestation project at a German company and he will be sent to Argentina for six months from next year. He had arrived in Barcelona three weeks ago to start a Spanish course and will stay till the middle of January.
He explained an environmental project that he was in, planting trees on the bare field of Argentina. For some reason, after ten years, they have to cut them down. According to him there seem to be logic in an ecological term to cut them down. However, we were not at the level to explain and comprehend this complicated matter properly.
A teacher joked “Tu plantas los arboles y despues de diez anhos, cortaras todos? Que mal! ( So, you plant trees and after ten years, you cut them down? Bad!)”
We all laughed. In Spanish lessons, we had a lot of jokes and laughs in our conversations.
In the class, there was a girl who drew my attention. She is pretty enough. The teacher asked her to introduce herself. Her name is Elin and no more than twenty-two. She’s Swedish. She had worked in an ice cream shop and she said her favorite was chocolate ice cream. Ice cream is called “gelado” in Spanish
“Gelado?” A word came out from my mouth with a question mark.
“Tu no conoces Gelado?” The teacher asked me with a gesture of holding it in front of mouth and starting to leak.
“Gelado como gelato in Italiano.” I usually associate unknown Spanish vocabulary with Italian to understand the meaning. But the Spanish pronunciation of G did not help me to guess the meaning.
Trying to conceal my embarrassment, I commented.
“Elin trabajaba en una gelateria y le gustan gelados? Pero… ” I could not find a word in Spanish and I used my hands draw a woman’s body in the air, “ But.. how can I say… She is slim and pretty…”
The class laughed and Elin blushed. I wondered if I gave her a wrong impression. I can not say this humor to girls in Japan. They feel certainly harassed.
“Well, I think it was no harm. She may not be used to it as much as Latin European. Nuno and David may say the same. ” I got my own conclusion.
The rest of lesson went well.
Day 11
At 16:25 in this afternoon today, Nuno is arriving from Brussels to visit me. A few days before I left Japan, I had sent me an email, telling me he will come to see me in Barcelona. Nuno Vicente is, unlike most of Latin European friends, a kind of person who does not make a firm promise if he cannot keep it. So, I am certain that he will come even if he has a tight schedule. However, what I must add is that he makes it but he is the man of the last minute!
This time is not an exception. He was scheduled to arrive here on Tuesday. Till Monday, I still did not know his flight schedule. As I thought about all the possibilities, I concluded that the worst option is a Ryanair flight to Girona. It takes one hour to get there from Barcelona. Instead of spending time on finding an excellent restaurant with an economic value, I had to work out how to meet him. He told me that it is not necessary to come to the airport and he just asked me how to get to Barcelona from the Girona airport. I could not say that I will meet him at the bus terminal in Barcelona. He was the man who got a speeding ticket when he took me to the Lisbon airport to see me off. How can I?
I arrived at the Girona airport fifteen minutes before the scheduled arrival. He did not see me when he went through the exit door. After most of the passengers left the arrival lobby, he finally found me.
“Hi Yasu, I didn’t see you.”
“Hi Nuno, I think I was in toilet when you went through the gate. Never mind. It’s been a long time” we exchanged a usual greeting manner, a hug and a handshake.
He was only carrying a small backpack and no luggage whatsoever. “He looks thinner than the last time I met in Shanghai. His stomach has shrunk for sure. ” I wondered, “Mama Lu is in London. No one feeds him well in Brussels. I guess that is why”
“So, you are learning Spanish now? How is your study” he asked.
“Creo que hablo y entiendo espanhol bastante bien. Como va tu frances?”
“OK. I have been taking an intensive course for three weeks now”
“Good. You also speak Spanish, no? You’ve never learned at school?”
“No, never. I have never learned that barbaric language” he grinned.
It was funny. When he talks about Spain or Spanish culture, he sometimes uses adjectives such as “horrible” or “barbaric”. That gives me a great laugh. I suppose that he shows a great national pride when he compares something of Spain with his country. He accepts Italian and French easily.
“Sounds of Italian and French are beautiful But Spanish…” he tried to demonstrate a typical sound of Spanish such as J. In Spanish, J is a no-voice sound. You pronounce it with a breath, like clearing a throat.
I imagined that he would say that Italians are fashionable and would admire French wines. But he dislikes Spanish tapas. I did not bring up this subject any more and I believe that Portuguese has a sense of rivalry toward Spanish. Generally speaking they are good friends and neighbors.
Intentionally, I changed topics. Our common interests are football and food. This time, I have a little less than 24 hours to talk, discuss and debate these topics. Actually, he usually has some new input on these exciting topics. Before leaving for Spain, I told me about a unique goat cheese from Cyprus.
On the way to Barcelona, we discussed about our National Team, la Seleccion Nacional Portugesa. For friends of Nuno, I would like to stress that I did not become a big fan of this squad for a sake of Nuno. I had been a fanatic supporter before I met him. Probably, I suffered much more than him when we witnessed the horrible defeats in the last World Cup. But this time, we have not only Figo but Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco to coordinate attacks. All other players have gained further experience in the Euro Championship.
I particularly asked about newcomers and rising stars in our team such as Joan Moutinho, Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and Manuel Fernandez because I cannot get much information on Japanese football magazines or English websites.
When we got to the Barcelona bus terminal, we took the subway to my flat. On the arrival, I introduced him to my flat mates. Especially, Stephanie seemed to enjoy very much making conversations with him in her own language. I was quite impressed with Nuno’s French. For four months in Brussels, he speaks French fluently.
“Wow, you speak French quite well” I admired.
“Well, I am in an intensive language course for three weeks now.”
“Just three weeks.”
He sometimes tried to find a right word with some difficulty but he had an ability to question Stephanie how it says in French. I had enjoyed traveling Italy, Portugal and Spain tasting exquisite local specialties and I had managed doing some grocery shopping at small specialty stores in these gourmet countries. France is the only country remained to explore more. I was content that I have now got a perfect guide to France!
“Well done Nuno.”
While he was having a pleasant conversation with my Belgian flat mate, I prepared some dinner. I prepared some Iberian pork rib steak and some salad. I brought a small bottle of Cava, a Spanish sparking wine and queso de Murcia al vino. I know that vegetarian diet never work with him. Satisfying his stomach is the crucial part of my task. Although I did not have much time to cook some special dishes, I thought the selection of ingredients was good enough.
After dinner, Nuno suggested to have some tea at bar. So, we went out. After walking down one block, we found a bar showing a football games and went inside to order some tea.
Sipping a cup of tea, “Do you want some tapas?” I asked him.
“No, just tea is fine.” He answered.
I wanted to ask him why he does not like it.
“Look at these stuffs. All soaked into oil and they are too oily. HOOOORIBLE!” He pointed at chorizos (Spanish spicy sausages) and meat on the counter. He continued, “Croquetas are also oily. In Portugal, Kitchen paper is used for fried food to absorb extra oil ”
To defend Spanish gastronomy, I would say that not all tapas are oily and unhealthy.
Day 12
Next morning, after having breakfast, we went to visit Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi’s architecture. Walking down Rambra Avenue, you will never miss this building. Antoni Gaudi used its front wall as a canvas to draw vivid and colorful mosaic design. According to some art expert, some of his work shows some influence of Muslim architecture. This building was recently opened to public. Therefore, on my third visit to Barcelona I finally got an opportunity to visit my favorite building of Antoni Gaudi.
As Nuno had also never visited this building, we agreed to enter.
We took a spiral staircase which led us to the main floor. The main attraction on this floor is a light decoration. The ceiling is designed with lines of tornado and the light decoration is fixed in the core of tornado.
We took a lift to the attic and then to the top of the building. On the roof terrace, we observed Gaudi’s typical mosaic design.
After the visit of Casa Batllo, Nuno and I decided to take a cable car to the hill where we can overlook the entire city of Barcelona. In order to take the cable car we had to take a few metro first. Unfortunately, we found out that the cable cars do not run on that day. So, we changed our plan and started to check how to get to the Camp Nou Stadium by Metro. However, we had another disruption.
The underground Metro / subway system in Barcelona is very complicated. Five or six lines of the subway are operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and two other lines are run by the other company. In theory, you only have to pay a single fare when you make connections within the same company lines. You pay a fare one more time when you connect to the line run by the other company.
At some of subway stations there are more than three line connections that give a great confusion to most tourists. The main reason is that the way to connect another line is long and complicated. Many tourists go out of gates and end up buying a ticket again. As most of them do not speak Spanish, they would easily give up or some of them may do not notice this bloody trick to rip off passengers. Unfortunately we had become victims of this theft. As I had a ten multiple ticket, I did not notice this trick. When Nuno put his single ticket, the gate bar immediately blocked him.
“I can’t believe it! I had to buy a ticket again” he was furious.
We immediately went to a ticketing desk and he asked a clerk to return his money. He had to explain that he traveled within the same metro company and he does not have to pay it again.
“No you have to buy a ticket.” the woman responded with an iron face. In Spain, employees at public services often become an unpleasant creature. This type of workers do their job to make a living only with a great reluctance, they show no mercy toward poor civilians.
“Now I really want to break something here. Bastard! ” He expressed his anger.
When I had traveled in Spain in the first time, I saw many broken telephones on the street. I had wondered what sort of animal had done this. Now, I perfectly understand the reason why people do such a thing.
In Spain, telephones and vending machines do not work properly and are often out of order. A telephone has a slot to insert coins and another slot to insert a telephone card. Foreigners usually think that they can use either coins or telephone card. However, it usually works with only coins or only card. If you see “Introduzca una tarjeta (Introduce a card)” on the window on the telephone, do not insert coins. It simply steals your money. Even if it shows “Introduzca monetas”, it does not guarantee your safety.
As we had wasted our valuable time with idiotic metro system, I said to Nuno to have lunch and go to visit El Corte Ingles supermarket instead of going to the Camp Nou football museum. As we had a limited time before his departure, I offered this option.
A restaurant where we went was not a traditional one but serve modern dishes. I actually wanted to bring him to a restaurant at the waterfront or a Basque style restaurant where they serve fresh seafood. I imagined that he might have been suffering from poor Belgian cuisine for a long time. However time did not allow us to go to the Gothic district or the waterfront area. Anyway, we had decent lunch and had relaxed a bit.
After that we looked around El Corte Ingles, talking about stuff on the shelves. The majority of products on display were Spanish origins. I could not find many Portuguese products other than Port wine. At Corte Ingles in Lisbon, I encountered a great variety of Portuguese cheese. However, the Barcelona stores had a full of local products such as Queso Manchego. There were no Queijo de Beira Baixa nor a pink Pauleta cheese. I could observe a typical consumer needs: Basically, Iberian consumers have a great tendency of sticking to their local products and little space for foreign products in terms of food, unless a product has a distinctive feature or recognitions, namely Porto wine and some of French cheese.
After checking some products at El Corte Ingles, we quickly took subway to the bus terminal. Nuno said that he would go there by himself to save my time. But I insisted on seeing him off at least at the bus station. When we arrived there we had less than ten minutes before departure.
“Thanks goodness. If we had been to the stadium, he may have missed the bus to the airport.” I thought.
We exchanged handshakes and hugs before his departure. The bus cruised out of the parking space smoothly and disappeared from my sight. Nuno said that he planed to go to Germany in June next year to watch some of matches of our national team. I remembered that we shared a great moments of the national team beating Russia with 6 goal difference in Lisbon.
“If I could witness the game like that, it would worth visiting Germany next June” I thought.
