Por las calles

5 junio 2012

I want to describe what I see every time I walk through the streets of Gijón to my Instituto.

First of all, I say "Hasta luego" to my host family and shut the door and head down two, dark flights of stairs, past a mirror on the right wall. I push the little silver button on the door handle that releases it. Then I step out onto the street.

Their archtechture has so many swirls here. : ]

It's a narrow street with cobblestoned sidewalks. All the side streets are pretty narrow, mostly all one-ways. We live next to a bar, which is quiet during the day, but slowly gains more tenants who stand outside smoking, holding dog leashes as the day progresses. On the corner is a pandería with bread galore, and some sweets as well. I cross the street and head up toward the small highway next to a park. Crossing the streets is an art. They show a green walking person or a red person. Once the green person starts flashing (you know what I mean) then you know you have to hightail it out of that street. It's basically a five-second warning. And once that light changes, the cars spur out of there. If they don't leave in that first second, a car behind them will honk to let them know the light has changed. If you're brave, you can try to walk when it's red. There are lines on the street, so technically it's legal, but... it's pretty sketchy. I generally only do it when I'm in a hurry or when it's a one-way and it's easy to cross.


Anyway, so then I turn and head past a gym that always thumps with music and vigor, and then past the mall. I ventured in there yesterday to buy esmalte (nail polish) since I left mine at home.


As I walk I always note the same things. Everyone seems to have dogs here. I've seen a gazillion Westies and Yorkies and tons of other small dog breeds. People don't usually smile at you, either. But if you're lost and you stop to get directions, people are always kind and helpful.

I hold my breath as I walk by the fish stores. It never works though; the smell permeates a good block of the street. I try to avert my eyes. Seafood is just too much for me. The bakeries, though, smell amazing. They boast tantalizing window displays with pastries and chocolates. I have my eye on a chocoalte canoli and I always check to see that they still have it each time I walk by.
Only on the way home do I pass this chocolate shop that I have yet to venture into. Trust me, I think I've made it a goal to try as many Spanish chocolate desserts as I possibly can. My reputation here is that of a chocolate addict. Oh well, it's true.

Then, after some seafood and bakery shops (along with other furniture stores, travel agencies, etc.), I cross another highway and pass through a kids' park. It's a large park that dominates the block and helps me gain my bearings. After the park, I walk past a blue and white mosaic structure that's really beautiful but seems to be overlooked. It's pretty amazing. There's an amazing church behind it.

My last street has a lot of clothing vendors. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not here to buy clothes, because everything is really attractive as it's modeled in store windows. I've already peeked into a few of them. Those darn Europeans have style.

This is normal. Nobody uses dryers here.

Then I pop out of the dark street and into a town square, by the El Parchis bus stop. And the Instituto. I walk through the square, past many benches and comfortable people watchers and head around the corner and into the Instituto. After two flights of stairs, I walk into Aula (Classroom) # 1, and I'm there.

Here are some other pictures from the incredible city of Gijón.

This is seen from the street, so it counts as being part of the street tour. The beach is just a few blocks from the Instituto.

I'm famous.

No, I really am. Look at my twin behind me. Really, there's no escaping it.
Apparently I look like her here too.

Starstruckism

So, Bethany and I are like twelve. Why, you ask? Because we got an extremely severe case of Starstruckism and we're still not over it. We'll never be over it, either.

It all began with a concert, the coveted U2 concert, in fact. This was a pretty big deal because U2 was supposed to come last year around this time but Bono had to get back surgery, which delayed the concert. Bethany won these tickets, so we were excited to be at the U2 concert for free.

Anyway, hardly relevant. I know, you would think U2 was the main event for Bethany and I, but no. We're pretty big fans of The Fray, actually. Bethany has been for forever and she turned me onto them years ago. So, naturally, we were stoked to see them opening for U2. We sang to all their songs and poured out our souls to my video camera as we sang along. After what felt like five minutes, which was actually about 45 minutes, it was over and the audience now had time to contemplate the massive stature of the stage U2 brought along, or seek refreshments before U2 came on.

We decided to go for a pretzel.

We ordered but then had to wait while our pretzel cooked. We stood there waiting, chatting about seeing people we know at big events like this.

Then a figure strolls on by, probably in what he thought was an inconspicuous manner. But Bethany and I both had a strange feeling we knew him. Bethany pointed and said confusedly, "Waaaaait," and I countered with an incredulous, "Nooooo." But she knew for sure. "Yeah!" she said with conviction, still pointing.

Yes, indeed, that was Isaac Slade, lead singer of The Fray who had just sauntered by us.

We couldn't just stand there, so we left all notions of pretzels behind and proceeded to stalk Isaac through an entrance to the stadium. Suddenly, gone were the boundaries between famous singers and loving fans.

It was like we were in a movie.

We followed him down the stairs as he politely asked a woman if a seat was taken. He sat and texted for a moment, fully aware that he had two hawk-eyed girls staring him down. We tried to take a picture discreetly, but it didn't really work. Our dilemma ended in us standing there huddled together whispering, unsure of what to do next. People were starting to wonder what in the name of U2 we were doing.

Finally, Isaac stood up and casually stepped up to where we stood and looked at us expectantly, hoping we wouldn't blow his cover. The only thing I could think to say was, "Can we get a picture?" (I said it quietly, mind you.)

He leaned in and said apologetically, "I'd better not."

However, no matter how adorable he looked turning us down, I wasn't to be deterred.

"Are you sure?" I asked, clearly put out.

"Well, if we go up there, we can," he said obligingly.

Oh, Isaac. I do love you and your obligingness.

So then Bethany and I sprinted up the stairs, suddenly spry enough for a marathon, while Isaac kept his cool and walked up the stairs at a normal pace. Clearly he wasn't as infatuated with us as we were with him.

When we reached the top, Isaac took charge and said he'd take the photo. He took my little pink camera and after a moment of figuring out where to pose, Bethany and I got on either side of him and we all grinned and he snapped the shot. We both thanked him and Bethany patted his arm affectionately and said it was good to meet him.

He headed back down the stairs and we ran back to the pretzel wait zone. We jumped and screamed and couldn't contain ourselves, and everyone around turned to see what was wrong with us. We didn't care. We just met Isaac Slade! As we jumped ecstatically up and down, here comes Isaac back out, probably because we drew unwarranted attention to him in that stadium section.

Yeah, he saw us screeching and hopping up and down, temporarily turning into really excited tweens. We tried to disguise it as normal-girls-standing-in-the-pretzel-line behavior, but we're pretty sure he saw through it.

We couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces all night long. Or all day long the next day.

We caught Isaac Slade in disguise and he let us take a picture with him. It really does feel like an experience worthy of being in a movie. Except real life is definitely way cooler than the movies.

Bethany and I met Isaac Slade!!