Weekend in Switzerland

This past weekend, I went to Switzerland to visit my cousin in Luzern. Despite the colder weather (air conditioning compared to Spain), it was an amazing trip and definitely one of the coolest things that I have been able to do all summer. Right after getting off the train from the Zurich airport (flughafen) to Luzern, we headed over to one of the town's hang-out places, the Black Sheep. It is especially packed on Thursday nights because of their 2 for 1 special. The music was a good mix of European, German, and American dance songs, but also included one Arash song. On Friday, 23 July, the Blue Balls music festival began. Music groups from all over the world come to Luzern to perform and although you need extra tickets to get to the...

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Posted in: Blue Balls Music Festival,English,ferry,J-Mad,Lucerne,Luzern,Schweizerhof Hotel,Spain,Switzerland

Waka Waka WIN

CAMAREROS! EHY! CAMAREROS! EHY! UN COPA MUNDIAL! It has been amazing to be in Madrid for the World Cup when Spain won. Sunday, 11 July 2010, my roommate and I went to Plaza de Colón to watch the game with the crowds on the big screen set up by the Hyundai Fan Park. The plaza was packed from Colón all the way to Cibeles. The game was so intense and when Spain finally scored its winning goal, the crowd went wild. When we found out that we had won, people broke down the barriers to all of the fountains and climbed inside to celebrate. People brought firecrackers and would toss them on the ground so that the crowd had to quick spread out. Fans that had brought flags with them were jumping in front of the honking cars and acting like...

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Posted in: David Bisbal,English,Football,J-Mad,K'naan,Madrid,Soccer,Spain,World Cup

Spanish Bull-shhhtuff

Friday, 9 July 2010, my Belgian roommate and I went to see a novillada (novice bullfight) in Madrid at the Plaza de Toros. We paid 5 euro each for second-row seats in the shade. The fight lasted about three hours total and was definitely an experience. There were three bullfighters, ages 21, 22, and 16. The bulls at the novice fights are young and "small" - less than two years old. One bull did not really want to fight and was lucky enough to be herded out of the ring. Once the disoriented bulls start charging people, then they will be killed. Another bull, who was like a heat-seeking missile as he charged the picadores and bandarilleros, charged a horse (the horses are blindfolded) and flipped it over on its back. The older two...

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Posted in: English,Football,J-Mad,Madrid,Pamplona,San Fermin,Soccer,Spain,World Cup

Ferdinand

This week, the festival begins in Pamplona (July 7 to 14), where the Running of the Bulls is every morning at 8:00am. I told my host mom that I want to go, just to watch, but also to find my Ferdinand. Because for some reason great literature did not make it across the Atlantic, Ferdinand the Bull is a children's story about a bull named Ferdinand who just wanted to sit and smell the flowers under a cork tree in the fields. My host mom laughed and laughed. She said Ferdinand was not a bull, that the story is a tonteria, and that Ferdinand must be like a donkey because there are no Spanish bulls like Ferdinand. No pasa nada, I will find Ferdinand anyway. Below is the 1938 Disney version of the story (please excuse Disney's racism - I promise...

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Posted in: Bull,Bullfight,English,Español,J-Mad,Madrid,Pamplona,Running of the Bulls,Spain