recortes y manifestaciones

The noticias have been buzzing with the austerity measures recently announced by the Spanish government and the coal miners' protests. More austerity measures have been announced to reduce Spain's budget deficit and everyone's talking about them... the sales tax is being increased, the unemployed will receive less benefits, bonuses will be suspended for the public sector, etc.  Needless to say, the rest of the EU is satisfied with these measures but not a single Spanish person is happy about any of the new policies. 

The situation of the coal miners, whose demonstration is perhaps not so coincidentally simultaneously occuring in Madrid, is quite devastating. The government cut back on subsidies (it's now around one-third of what it was before) for the coal mining industry, and many families are suffering. Hundreds of miners walked from northern Spain to Madrid to protest the cuts. 

You can read some more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18792427

June & July happenings

The last month has generally consisted of working on my thesis and the energy audit that we will present in the energy efficiency course in London, as well as fiestas and despedidas as many friends are leaving Valencia. 

out of town visitors

I was extremely excited to receive some out of town visitors! The first were two of my mom's college friends who came to Valencia for an applied mathematics conference. They were here on the day of my birthday so I showed them around the city and they also treated me to a nice birthday dinner. Later that week, my friend Liz from UCLA came down from Madrid, and it just happened to be a crazy weekend in Valencia. We managed to celebrate 3 birthdays, San Juan and the Spanish semifinal victory (not to mention see all the important sights in Valencia, go to the beach, and hear the racecars whiz by for the Formula 1). The next week, my friend Ishita from high school came as well! She was only here on a day-trip from Barcelona but it was great to see her and we also managed to see all the important sights in Valencia AND get her some vegetarian paella to try.  

Ishita and I at Plaza de la Virgen

Two California girls reunited at Valencia's beach

Independence Day

My fellow Ambassadorial Scholar held a 4th of July celebration in a very traditional and ambassadorial way which involved pigs in a blanket, chips and dip, mini hamburgers, ketchup and mustard (the American kind that you douse your food with, not the insanely strong and more authentic French kind) and a delicious red white and blue decorated lemon cake. We were the only two Americans there, along with friends from France, Serbia, Poland, Spain, Colombia, China, and other places around the world. Oddly enough, it's always when you're outside of your home country that you're feeling more patriotic and sentimental. 

delicious red white and blue cake

With my very glittery American flag

Eurocup 2012

"No hay 2 sin 3" was the anthem, as Spain has won the last 2 Eurocups (2008 and 2012) as well as the last Worldcup (2010). My friends (from Spain, Italy, and other countries as well) watched the game in the student area where there was quite a big Italian representation. Again, I think they were feeling much more Italian outside of Italy (although probably more so before the match than after). Here's some photos of the game and the celebration that followed.

Spanish pride

the 2nd out of 4 goals

Celebrating in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Festivals

Summer, just like almost any other time of year, is a time of many festivals in Spain. I'll start by explaining Noche de San Juan, which celebrates the shortest night of the year. Since this year it fell on a Saturday and on the same weekend as the Eurocup semifinal and the Formula 1, the beaches were full of people and bonfires and music throughout the night. There's many many traditions, but the most famous ones are to jump into the ocean at midnight and to jump over the 7 waves backwards. Other traditions include jumping over the bonfire twice and writing down three wishes and burning them in the bonfire, or writing down wishes and putting them under your pillow and burning them the next day. The Spanish tend to get quite creative.

¡Vamos España!

Jumping the flame

The next is the most famous fiesta in Spain... the San Fermines de Pamplona. The running of the bulls is the most well-known, but there's also concerts, parades, and other events throughout the city. It was incredible to see people from all over the world dressed in the San Fermin uniform of a white shirt and pants, with a red pañuelo or bandana scarf and red cinturón or belt. We saw some performances by Spanish punk bands, spontaneous percussion bands, constant parades through the narrow streets of Pamplona, and even joined the Basques in their traditional dance. (All of what I mentioned was fun, but I didn't expect to have so much fun dancing with the Basques!) 

Here's a link to the song we learned with the percussion band (quite easy to learn as we just sang along "Saaanchoooo, Quixote!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F6ck6qZRjY

Unfortunately we overslept and didn't see the encierro which occurs at 8am. We were all very disappointed, but I definitely have San Fermin on my list for the next trip to Spain.

Ayuntamiento de Pamplona

A sea of red and white

Dancing with the Basques

A bit more laid-back was the Feria de Julio in Valencia, which lasts the entire month of July. It consisted of various concerts (free and not free), markets, and the most important day which was the Gran Nit in which we saw parades, more concerts, and performances. Museums stayed open until 2am, although the fireworks were cancelled because of budget cuts.

A performance of "The Blisters," a Spanish band that sang Beatles songs

The sparklers came out for "Hey Jude"

Huge inflatable monsters came marching down Calle de la Paz during el Gran Nit... the reason? I have no idea.

 

An  Addam's Family performance, also during the Gran Nit