Posted by Chris Showers on April 12th, 2009.
I have been SUPER busy during the last two or three days. Why? It’s easy: today I have a couple American friends coming to stay the night and I’ve used the last day or so to get my apartment clean, make sure I have food in the refrigerator (since I’m a single guy, sometimes my fridge is a little bare), and generally “prepare” for their visit. In fact, I’ve done so much preparing that you would think Zapatero himself was going to show up at my door.
I usually try pretty hard to integrate myself into the “Spanish” lifestyle and really make an effort to not be one of those expats who lives in Spain but only associates with other people from his home country. In fact, I’d say that here in Spain about 99.9% of my contact is with Spaniards and I almost never talk to anyone from the USA. Soooo, this visit from the Americans will be sort of a “nice change.” Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on April 9th, 2009.
Writing a blog, for me, is pretty beneficial in terms of keeping me sane. Especially given the fact that I’m living in Spain instead of my home country of the USA. Why do I say this? It’s simple, really: this blog is my “lifeline” to the English language and the USA. It’s the way I keep in contact with my native language and my native culture.
Although I love Spain and am very happy living here, I think I’d probably go a little nuts if I couldn’t express my thoughts somewhere in English and generally interact with people from my own culture from time to time. This blog lets me do that on a large scale from within the tiny city of Burgos where the total “American” population is probably about five. This blog also lets me meet a lot of interesting people from around the world — another pretty beneficial thing if I do say so myself. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on April 7th, 2009.
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? Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on November 14th, 2008.
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. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Chris Showers on September 2nd, 2008.
The countdown has finally begun. After a year of planning, filling out applications, and going through numerous levels of bureaucratic red tape, I’m finally about to set out once again for Spain. In fact, in slightly under two weeks’ time I’ll be teaching English under the scholarship and “living it up” in Burgos with my new Spanish flat mates.
As I start to dust off my suitcases and make the lists of things that I need to bring with me, the thought that I’m actually going to be living in Spain for a pretty substantial amount of time is starting to become real to me. Continue reading this post…
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