Posted by Chris Showers on July 12th, 2010.
 A large screen was put up in the Plaza Mayor of Burgos this afternoon so that soccer fans could watch the final match of the World Cup. Right now as I’m writing this, the Queen song “We are the Champions” is blasting from speakers on the street below my house. No, Spaniards don’t just really like Queen — the song is being played over and over again because Spain won the World Cup this evening. It goes without saying that, since the win, there has been some massive celebrating going on here in Burgos. It’s safe to say that these Spaniards really know the meaning of the phrase ”party hearty.”
The afternoon started peacefully enough with almost everyone in the city heading to the Plaza Mayor to watch the final match of the World Cup on a large screen that had been set up just for today. As you can see from the picture above, there was a big turnout of red-clad, Spain-supporting, Burgos-dwelling people. The afternoon turned out to be a tense one: it was a really close game. Still, Spain won in the end.
When Spain won, what did those watching the game in the Plaza Mayor do? They went to the Plaza España, of course. Why? To jump in the fountain and celebrate the victory. Now, I’m no soccer expert and I could be missing something, but I don’t really see the connection between “victory” and “jumping in a city fountain full of cold water to celebrate.” Of course, that’s just me. In any event, the celebration started about two hours ago and it’s now 1:00 a.m. and still going strong. I have a feeling it will last well into the night.
In any case, I send my congrats to Spain’s team. This is the first World Cup that Spain has won and it deserves the victory. ¡Enhorabuena España! Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on June 21st, 2010.
As you can tell from the “halleluiah” title of this post, I’m pretty happy. Why? The answer’s simple, really. You see, my university degree from the USA has recently been officially recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education. In case you didn’t know, the process of getting a university degree recognized here in Spain is known as homologación (hence the title: “I’m homologated”) and it’s both a very lengthy and a very time-consuming ordeal.
Let me give you the rundown on the whole “homologation process” (does anybody know if “homologation” is really a word in English??). To have your degree “homologated” (another possibly made up word in English), the ministry you need to talk to is the Ministry of Education; which, incidentally, has changed its name about three times in the past year. But this post isn’t about the various name-changes that the Ministry of Education has undergone recently, it’s about degree recognition — so let’s get back on track. You can find information about the recognition of foreign studies on the Ministry of Education’s website.
Basically, there are two types of university degree recognitions in Spain. The first type is what they call Homologación a un Grado Académico Español. This first type gives you a piece of paper saying that your degree is similar in difficulty and duration to a Spanish Diplomado or Licenciado degree. Thus, it does what its name suggests: it aligns your degree to a specific academic grade or level but it doesn’t align your degree to a specific academic major. The second type aligns your degree perfectly to a Spanish degree from the Official Spanish Catalog of Degrees. With this type of homologation, not only do you have your level of studies recognized but also your major. In both cases you have to submit legalized copies of your university degrees and transcripts, along with sworn translations. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on June 8th, 2010.
I woke up this morning at the usual time and, just like every other day, set out for the Plaza España to catch the bus that would transport me across the city and to the school where I work. After a few minutes at the bus stop, I began to realize that I was having to wait for the bus for a lot more time than usual. At first I thought my “number six” bus line was just running a little late… but then it dawned on me: the civil servant strike.
You see, city bus drivers are civil servants in Spain. As civil servants, they are included in the 5% average pay cut that Zapatero recently announced to help reduce Spain’s deficit and thus “save” the country from the financial crisis. Of course, this announced pay cut didn’t exactly go over very well with the civil servants (surprising, right?) and today they all went on a one-day strike to speak out against the change.
Spain seems to have become the “hot topic” in Europe right now with respect to the financial crisis and everyone is wondering if it will become the “next Greece.” Personally, I don’t think that things in Spain will reach the level they did in Greece; but, I’m no economic expert. In any case, if you’d like to read more about Spain and the financial crisis, you can check out this very good New York Times Blog article that explains the situation much better than I can.
I don’t really know how “worried” I should be about the crisis. In fact, I sometimes think that people here are blowing the whole thing a bit out of proportion and hoarding money unnecessarily. I suppose it’s understandable to an extent: nobody wants to be without a job or loose money that they have spent a lifetime saving. Still, I can’t help but feel as if Spaniards are overreacting. Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong.
In the end, thanks to the civil servant strike, I had to take a taxi to get to school today. Let’s hope they don’t strike again anytime soon… taxis are much less convenient (and more expensive) than city buses.
Please, leave your thoughts about the crisis in Spain in the comments below. I’d like to know what others think about all this — expats and Spaniards alike. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on June 8th, 2010.
 A headless, umbrella-wielding street performer does his thing in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. After living in Spain for more or less two years now, I thought I’d seen everything… I was wrong. Just the other day I was in Madrid and happened upon this “headless” street performer out to please the crowd of people who were passing through the Puerta del Sol. Seeing him made me reflect a bit on some of the acts that I’ve seen on the streets of Spain – not only in Madrid but also in other cities.
Indeed, the streets of many of the Spanish cities in which I’ve lived have, at times, looked like the audition line for American Idol. I’ve seen singers, dancers, musicians, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and –today– a headless man. Some of these acts really are quite impressive — especially those on the streets of Madrid — but there are always a few “duds” as well. You know, the typical homeless guy banging a bongo drum to no recognizable rhythm and trying to earn a few céntimos in the process. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on June 6th, 2010.
 The butcher shops here in Spain come complete with hanging "legs of ham" to entice customers to buy (especially look where the red arrow is pointing). Have you ever woken up in the morning and had a hankering for ham? If you answered affirmatively to that question and you live in Spain, you’re in luck: a nice “leg of ham” is waiting for you just around the corner at your neighborhood deli. Yes, you heard right… here in Spain “ham legs” like the ones pictured above are suspended from the air and sold in places like grocery stores and delicatessens.
As an American, I was a little put off the first time I saw one of these ham legs literally “hanging around” in a grocery store. In fact, I remember asking myself how these things don’t go bad after being stuck in the middle of the store with no refrigeration whatsoever for days (or even months) on end. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on February 1st, 2010.
I am proud to say that my blog has been nominated as one of the Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs over on the Lexiophiles site. The voting has opened today and now it’s up to you to help me win. If you’re a regular reader of this blog and you like the articles that you see here, please help me out by voting for me.
Thank you in advance for your help and support! Stay tuned for more information in the upcoming days… and please, don’t forget to vote for the Abroad in Spain Travel Blog. Continue reading this post…
|
|
Recent Comments