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 [...]]]>

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! 

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Well, I’ve finally ”made it big.”  I’m now a star in the city of Burgos because I was in the local newspaper here.  Please, leave your autograph requests in the comment section of this post (ha!).

You see, the high school that I [...]]]>

Me with Turkish and Italian students who were received by the mayor of Burgos.

Well, I’ve finally ”made it big.”  I’m now a star in the city of Burgos because I was in the local newspaper here.  Please, leave your autograph requests in the comment section of this post (ha!).

You see, the high school that I work at participates in the European Comenius Program.  If you’re unfamiliar with the program, it’s basically a student exchange in which students from various foreign countries come to Spain to spend a few weeks at our school and afterwards students from our school go abroad.  In this way, students from across Europe (and its surrounding areas) get to meet their counterparts in other countries. 

Anyway, right now some Turkish and Italian students are at our school visiting with the Comenius Program and, because they don’t speak Spanish but do speak English, I have been spending the week acting as their “official translator and interpreter.”  This means that I had to accompany them yesterday to a welcoming ceremony held in the Burgos Town Hall by the mayor.  Of course, since the mayor was involved, the press was there and I had the lovely photo that you see above taken with the students. 

This picture actually was printed in two — yes, two — newspapers (one local and one national).  I’m assuming it was some type of “standard press release photo” because in both papers the same photo appears with the same caption.  I literally “took a picture of the picture” in order to post it on my blog, so I’m sorry if it’s of low quality.  Also, I’m way in the back of the photo behind most of the students; sooooo, although you probably can’t even see me, I assure you that I’m there. 

They say I was also on the local news yesterday because of this.  I didn’t see myself on TV but those who did see me said that there was a nice shot of me standing near the mayor to translate.  If I find a copy of the video, I’ll place it here.

One thing before closing this post.  Look closely at the caption of the above photo as it was printed in the paper.  If you pay close attention to the program name (in English), you’ll notice that they wrote “Sea: richnnes of inspirations.”  I guess the Spaniards got a little confused when they were spelling “richness” in English… go figure. 

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Recently, the city of Burgos launched a new ad campaign to get people to “buy, buy, buy” in the downtown shops.  Above is one of their new signs, which have been strategically placed throughout the city.  The signs must be working because shops in Burgos are [...]]]>

Signs urging customers to buy in Burgos.

Recently, the city of Burgos launched a new ad campaign to get people to “buy, buy, buy” in the downtown shops.  Above is one of their new signs, which have been strategically placed throughout the city.  The signs must be working because shops in Burgos are booming and shoppers are out at practically all hours of the day looking for deals (except during siesta time, that’s sacred). 

I sometimes ask myself how it can be possible that people are out shopping like never before while Spain is in “Financial Crisis Mode.”  The unemployment rate in Spain is on the rise and people on the street generally “complain” about the crisis all the time, yet everybody seems to still be “buying up a storm.”  Where’s the money coming from?  How can this be happening?  It’s an enigma to me….

This whole “crisis” thing makes my head spin.  I guess that’s why I’m a foreign language teacher and not an economist.  Leave your comments on Spain and the economy below.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Now that the election in the USA has ended, I thought it might be interesting for me to write a post with what Spain’s reaction to Barack Obama’s victory has been like. As you may or may not realize, the Presidential Elections of the USA are followed quite closely in Europe [...]]]>

Now that the election in the USA has ended, I thought it might be interesting for me to write a post with what Spain’s reaction to Barack Obama’s victory has been like. As you may or may not realize, the Presidential Elections of the USA are followed quite closely in Europe and in other parts of the world because the decisions made in our country often affect those everywhere. In fact, as the election in the USA grew nearer, more and more Spaniards began to ask me who I would be voting for and what my thoughts were on the subject in general. Later, when Obama won the election, I was bombarded with questions about whether or not I think he will be good for the country and whether or not I am happy with him as president. Just as I’ve formulated my own opinions about Obama, Spaniards, of course, have formulated theirs. Here’s what many are saying. 

In general, Obama’s victory in the USA seems to have been received in a very positive way in Spain (and in most of Western Europe as well). In fact, to me, it seems as though many of the people of Spain feel as if Obama will bring a breath of “fresh air” to our country (and the world at large) by sweeping “change” through our government and enacting numerous reform plans. The day after the election, I even felt as though the people here in Spain were already looking at the USA in a sort of “new light.” By this I mean that our government was no longer associated with “Bush” and “wars” and instead had been somewhat put on a pedestal as a prime example of “dreams coming true,” “courage to overcome,” and “positive change that will fix all the world’s problems.” Sometimes I wonder if our expectations for Obama are too high.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m very happy that Obama won the election in the USA and think he absolutely was the better candidate for the job; however, I also think that we can’t forget that he has many challenges to deal with. He has an unjustified war to “clean up,” a financial crisis that is the biggest we’ve seen in a century, and a lot of promised social reform plans to initiate on American soil. He has a tough job and I hope that people don’t become disappointed with him if “change” doesn’t happen as quickly as they’d like.

I know that I have readers who visit this blog from all parts of the world and I’d be interested to know how my fellow Americans, as well as those from other countries, view Obama’s victory. Please, post your comments about the election here….

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com