I don´t really have a coherent plan for this entry... so let´s see how this goes!
Lagos last weekend... not much to report except that we were both so exhausted that we watched Spiderman and TLC (ten channels that only played four programs. on repeat... haha) in our pensao (inbetween a hotel and a hostel) and carried pizza to our room because we were sick of doing stuff. We laid on the beach on Sunday for about four hours and got appropriately crispy. The Algarve coast is really, really beautiful; it's cliffy and coated in signs that say DANGER, but everyone picks their way down to the coarse sand beaches and swims in the gorgeous water.
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| Praia |Dona |Ana, Lagos, Portugal |
Seville was only a five hour bus ride away (this time there weren't screaming children or adults shouting into their phones, so yay....) so we got here Monday evening, immediately met some timid American girls and cocky English guys in our hostel and went on a bar tour that night. Insanely fun, we went drinking and dancing until 7AM.
Something that really struck me though, was how much people wanted to debate American politics and values with me. Even more surprising, I had no idea I was so patriotic until I was hotly defending our political system and those who voted for Sarah Palin to a Dutch guy. This is coming from a person who actually wants to move to France (although Lisbon is currently in the running, and Seville would be fun/great too...) but the US is my home! And while I haven't agreed with much that happened during.... The Bad Years... (the Reign of Cheney), I appreciate the fact that America chooses to vote for a dumbass to be head of a world super power. He and I were both struggling to understand how I can say I hated Bush and dislike so many core beliefs of the polticial right, but at the same time defend their right to have insane mindsets.
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| It is disheartening/disgusting/hilarious the awful shit that pops up if you type "american woman" into Google images. |
Another thing: Americans seem to go one of two ways abroad; 1. super obnoxious, disrespectfully loud, and inappropriate, which honestly I've experienced to be in the over 50's crowd; or 2. super timid, deer in headlights, and overly apologetic. These people seem to be fake-tellectuals in their 20s.
Fake-tellectual: a person with very little sense of humor, educated at a just-missed-Ivy or actual Ivy league school, who believes that they are culturally relevant by reading books about places and seeing sights, but way too scared to actually experience the places and people that inhabit them.
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| Probably a douche, who does that kind of crap on purpose?! |
Julie and I have no intention of calling ourselves "cultured" because we went to an art museum and an old church. We meet the people we encounter and are just trying to have fun and be happy. We met a couple of American girls that are in Sevilla to teach English, but they are scared to party late (despite the fact taht they have nothing to do the next day), whine about drinking (then don't!), and look down their noses at Julie and I because they went to Tufts. Yes, your school is more acclaimed then JMU, but so what! I guess having a good time makes you stupid, whereas sitting in your room by yourself because you're scared makes you smart. Life is about experiences, baby!
We saw flamenco tonight for free and it was badass. It's got such a fierceness to it! I want to learn, but Julie thinks I'll suck hard. It's just so cool to see a dance that's not about being pretty or graceful, it's about being alive and rhythmic.
The only reason I'm posting so much is because there is a guy snoring in our 10 person dorm room. He is about 18 inches from my face and I'm not having it. I'd get ear plugs, but we have to be up at 7 to eat and catch our train to Barcelona.
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