April 2nd, 2005, 7:41 p.m.
I feel like there are a lot of things that I want to say and have been thinking about, so this entry is just some observations.
Something I've noticed about myself is that I'm happier when I have things to look forward to. In other words, if I know I'm going to a party in the evening, I'm excited and happy during the day, and it doesn't matter what I do. Interesting.
Spanish TV is terrible. TERRIBLE. They have exactly four things on TV:
1. The news
2. Movies
3. Really extraordinarily bad talk shows
4. Really extraordinarily bad reality TV shows
I'd just like to mention how much variety exists off the top of my head on American TV:
- news
- fake news
- Fox news
- sit-coms
- dramas
- comedy central shows
- movies
- gameshows
- history shows (discovery channel)
I mean, SERIOUSLY, the TV here is so bad. Oh yeah - and I have a question; is the Pope dying a huge big deal in the States? Cause it's been almost the entirety of the news here for several days. We're talking, front page headlines, the only thing on the evening news, etc. I can't tell if this is because Spain is still a predominantly Catholic country, or if it's this big a deal the world over.
So some of our friends have friends in town; Stefano, one of the Italian roommates, has Leņo, an Italian guy, in town. And Sarah, the German girl, has Shyler, an Aussie girl, in town. Well, they hooked up last night, and it was funny, because they were getting together at the club, and when we all left at 5:30 they stayed. And Leņo wound up taking Shyler home! "Home" being Nicole's couch, because that's where he's staying while he's visiting. Nicole and I were discussing this because we appreciate how it's just not that big a deal here in Europe. In the States, we were saying how Americans probably WOULDN'T bring someone home if they were staying in the living room of a friend, because they'd be afraid the friend would be mad (and how in some cases, they would be mad!). But here, it's just natural. It's not a big deal. To tell you the truth, this is INCREDIBLY refreshing. I think American culture thinks it's more open than it is. I think Americans are actually way, WAY more repressed and uptight than they think they are.
Language spot:
What do we call the top floor of an apartment building? Penthouse. What do the Spanish call it? The attic. I swear to God, when you get in an elevator it goes:
Entresuelo
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Attic
