I was away in Menorca, incomunicado, the last few days and hadn’t heard anything about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis until I opened my email this morning and found this letter that my friend, Fadi, sent to CBS regarding its coverage of the tragedy. As is always the case, Fadi has a great way of putting things into perspective. Check it out: Continue reading
Filed under Essays, Friends / Family
I first started reading My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk in 2004 while on vacation en solitario in Fuerteventura. My friend, Waya, recommended it to me and said that it was an amazing story that I would love. After reading and re-reading the first thirty pages, I gave up. I just couldn’t follow the story, and it made me feel like a countrified ass cornfed half wit. Then I started to notice that a lot of other people had the same experience with Pamuk’s novels, so I felt a little better about myself and began to quietly boycott his works.
Last week I was browsing my bookshelf with William (ironically Waya’s bro), and we came across My Name is Red. When I mentioned that I couldn’t get into it, he was completely relieved. His girlfriend made fun of him because he couldn’t get through it either. Did that mean that she was also laughing indirectly at me, calling me a chickenhead? So I decided to give it another go. Continue reading
Filed under Essays, Friends / Family, Literature
¿Cómo sale una persona nacida en Úbeda en pleno verano a más de 40º a la sombra? ¡Mega mona, mega tó!
¡Felicidades!
Filed under Friends / Family
As mentioned in Berga Forever, my good friend and (until today) co-worker, Berga, is moving on. He has made this video to cover his year and a half FON Story, which at the end of the day is also my FON Story to date. Thanks, Berga!
Filed under FON, Friends / Family
Yo empecé a trabajar en FON el 9 de enero de 2006 y dos días más tarde entró un barbudo medio hippie. Le pregunté cómo se llamaba y resultó que tenía el mismo nombre que otro en la empresa. En aquellos tiempos solo éramos unas ocho personas habitando el mismo espacio pequeño. Así yo le dije que era imposible tener dos personas con el mismo nombre y le pregunté el apellido, como alternativo. Cuando dijo “Bergantiños”, le dije que imposible. Too difficult. Esperé dos segundos y le bauticé “Berga” . Continue reading
Filed under FON, Friends / Family
Incoming!!! It could be any day now, inshallah. Call him (or her) what you like — Chiquito, el Gran Hujaito, or Alfonsito (Zinedine is already reserved) — but the resemblance is uncanny!
Filed under Friends / Family
En este nuevo episodio de Galicia Vice, titulado Operación Chueca, Berga (Tubbs) e Hysidro se infiltran en una banda de segovianos durante la celebración del EuroPride en el barrio madrileño de Chueca. Continue reading
Filed under Friends / Family, Living la vida española
The last two nights, I have had two unrelated dreams that both relate to home. I use the term home liberally because the dreams relate to three different homes: my present home in Madrid, my family’s home in Maryland and the first house I had lived in in Maryland from the ages of 2 to 8. What is always interesting about dreams is their ability to make possible physical impossibilities. Continue reading
Filed under Digressions, Friends / Family
There are so many different ways to measure distance, more than just in terms of time zones, travel time, and travel distance. Furthermore, there are even more ways that these different measures of distance combine to distort, amplify or even diminish physical distance. There are airplanes, phones, and emails that diminish physical distance. I can’t even fathom what it was like for my great grandparents when they left their families to emigrate to the U.S., never to see their family members or hear their voices ever again.
Luckily, I don’t have that problem. I go home at least twice a year, something that is an essential necessity for my own sanity. Nevertheless, I do experience the distance all the time. For example, I only speak with my parents about once a month. This has nothing to do with a lack of affection. Fortunately, I don’t need to speak with my family everyday to know that I am important to them. I just know it. But there are also real, concrete reasons why speaking on the phone is complicated. Continue reading
Filed under Friends / Family
Grave Error 