Mundialistas in Madrid: the 2010 World Cup, Nationalism, and Immigration

"Spain's World Cup team hoists the trophy Sunday night in Johannesburg after the 1-0 win over the Netherlands." Source: Matthew Futterman, "They Reign in Spain," Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2010. This piece was written in the fall semester of 2010 about my summer experience as an intern working with the Centro Hispano-Paraguayo.  The first names of my office colleagues have been changed and their last names excluded to maintain their privacy.  With the exception of Image 2, I took all other images cited in the article; Image 2 was taken by a friend.  I appreciate your thoughts and comments regarding my work and hope that you find this post thought-provoking. Introduction In an age of increasing globalization and the worldwide...

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Posted in: Basque,David Bisbal,English,Fútbol,internship,J-Mad,Madrid,Pamplona,Real Madrid,San Fermin,Santiago Bernabéu,Soccer,Spain,World Cup

Segovia Otra Vez and Final Days in Madrid

After spending a couple more days in Madrid, we decided to take a day-trip to Segovia, a nearby city, on August 11, 2010. Segovia is well-known for its Roman aqueduct as well as its cathedral. However, my favorite place in Segovia is the Monastery of Parrel, on the northeastern edge of the city. We visited all of the places that I visited on June 5, 2010, as described in my previous post. The second trip to Segovia went as well as the first, except that we were able to find our way around the city more easily this second time. The change in climate was clearly visible from June to mid-August. When my friends and I first visited Segovia in early June, the entire area was green and flowers were blooming. On the second trip, everything...

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Posted in: Casa del Campo,English,J-Mad,Madrid,Segovia,Spain

Busing to Barçelona

August 8 - 10, 2010 In addition to seeing Madrid and Toldeo, we wanted to see more parts of Spain. On Saturday night, we took a midnight bus to Barçelona. After the eight hour ride, we made it to Barçelona. Our hostal, Hostal Mont-Thabor, was located on Calle de las Ramblas, a main street running through the city. The hostal was small, but nice and affordable – we were easily able to rent a private room with our own bathroom. After dropping our belongings off at the hostal, we hiked up to the 1992 Barçelona Olympic Stadium. We were able to get into the stadium for free because one of the side entrances happened to be open. After walking around the stadium and the surrounding park, we took the Teleférico (cable cars) towards what we...

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Posted in: Antonio Gaudi,Arc de Triomf,Barçelona,Casa Batlló,Castle Montjuïc,English,hostal,J-Mad,Las Ramblas,Park Guell,Sagrada Familia,Spain