Archive for February, 2008

Sometimes it’s the simple things that put you in a good mood. Today it was directions.I was walking home from my Spanish class, enjoying the sunshine, when I caught the eye of a young man walking towards me. Preoccupied, he nodded in my direction and asked “Stadio Mestalla ¿es cerca aqui?” I smiled. Having been studying Spanish for two weeks, my vocabulary was somewhat limited, but I had studied my directions, and even more conveniently, I actually knew where Mestalla Stadium was. “Sí,” I said, “Está allí, a la derecha.” I pointed over at the stadium. His mind on the imminent football game, the man thanked me quickly and strode off in the direction I had pointed. I realised, as I watched him walk away, that he hadn’t noticed that I wasn’t a native Spanish speaker. Well, I thought to myself, it’s a long way from a conversation on abstract philosophy, but it’s a start!

A new year has just begun. The year of the rat according to the Chinese horoscope, and the year of the Olympics.The Games in Beijing will be of particular interest in Spain this year. As with each edition of the event, millions of people all over the world join together in front of their televisions to see this most important sporting event.

Another important date, the 9^th of March is a key moment in our country because we will be choosing our new Parliament. It’s true that as the Spanish elections are really only played out between two parties, there’s not that much excitement.

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