My brother's been cloned!!!!

This other dude supposedly goes by the name "Dan" but I'm not convinced... Can you tell which one is which?

Arrrr, me damn hook keeps slippin' off me stump!

Highs and Lows

This blog is a little late coming, but I wanted to comment briefly on some high points and low points of my trips to Girona during the last few weeks of the summer.

High points included:

Some beautiful views of the Pyrenees and ponies...

Remembering what it's like to have hair (so sweet of Raquel to aid me with this process)...

And, of course, Albert's amazing gourmet cooking...


The one low point was getting my ass whooped in Nintendo Wii by Gemma and Oriol...


Yes, they look very sweet with these kitties, but don't be fooled -- when given a controller, they are vicious!!!

Anglit Bevakasha!

A brief walk through the streets of Jerusalem reveals how "in" it is for places to have English names. All the trendy restaurants, bars, and cafes have either both an English and Hebrew name, or just an English name. But it is not so simple to open an establishment with an English name in a country where many people don't speak great English -- one always runs the risk of losing clientele who don't understand the relation between an establishment 's name and its product. Hence, Israelis often choose to do away with all efforts to be playful and ironic, opting instead for clarity and directness (not so out of line with general Israeli character). This explains the presence of popular chains like "Coffee Shop" and "Meat Burger."

I can picture the boardroom conversation:

Well Dudu, I don't know, don't you think we're being a little redundant with "Meat Burger."

Not at all, Yossi, you know very well how many places have gone 'green.' You order a burger these days, and you don't know what you're gonna get -- real meat or that fake tofu crap! This is a meat establishment and I'm damn well proud! Are you not proud of our establishment?

I didn't say I wasn't proud, Dudu. I just...

Are you going 'green,' Yossi?

Fine, fine, "Meat Burger" it is!

Olé!!!

Spaniards are generally quite apathetic when it comes to nationalism -- ask most people what they think of "Spanishness," and they'll likely point to colonialism, the inquisition, fascism, maybe bullfighting... but when Spain's national selection plays an important game, the flags, jerseys, and capes come out in full form. It is hard not to get wrapped up in all the fervor here!

Adversity, hah!

The other evening, my housemate, Gemma, returned home at 2:15am frantically trying to wake me up to let her into the building after having been robbed while listening to music in Barceloneta. Someone had snatched her purse, which contained a hefty sum of money, her credit cards, keys, cell phone, passport, national ID, and other important things. To my surprise, rather than pout about the annoyances and difficulties of recuperating all she had lost, Gemma soon returned to her usual smiley and happy self. Last night on the way to a party I had to ask her how she managed to stay in such good spirits despite what had taken place.

She remarked, "Look, I can either be depressed and without my purse, or I can be happy and without my purse -- either way, I won't have the purse."

"But still, Gemma, it's such a pain -- I'd have a tough time returning to my normal self."

"I believe that we can find some good in everything. I mean, I've already begun to find some good in what's happened. For instance, I lost my only pictures of my X-boyfriend, and this has helped to liberate me from the relationship. To give another example, I lost all my phone numbers, including those of people who treat me poorly. So now they can't contact me, since I won't have another phone for fifteen more days, and I can't contact them. So, you see, some good things have come from this."

If only I had such an ability to stare adversity in the eye and say, "Fuck you," like she seemingly does.

Felisha's Birthday!!!

Today is Felisha's 1st birthday, a momentous occasion that she'll definitely forget, but that is nonetheless momentous. I talked to her over skype a little, but she seemed more interested in eating the camera than having a conversation with me. She did, however, give me one of those smiles that lights up the room before understandably demanding her birthday dinner:-)

Caspian Le Pew

After tirelessly pursuing his "petite femme," Dodi, Caspian "Le Pew" has become slightly dejected from her continual rejections. Even on the rare occasions when he's managed to find his way into her bed, she's made it abundantly clear that she thinks him a bore. He seems to be oblivious to the fact that attempting to pounce on the object of his desire is not always the best strategy for winning her affection, but then again, he never has been a quick learner. Well, who am I to judge courting rituals?

At any rate, with a battered self-image and the need for a distraction from his burning desire for the orange fluff ball, Caspian has reverted back to his relationship with the one entity he has managed to coax into behaving as he pleases, his ambiguously-specied stuffed cub/puppy/kitten. Not only does he hump this sorry excuse for a lover, but he feels the need to feed it on a daily basis!

It's not the worst thing in the world to be conducting research in such cities...

Vista desde el Castillo de Gibralfaro en Málaga

The "Annual Reject"

The other day, I had a new experience that while odd, seemed to make some sense within the general purview of graduate school.  I received a letter from Columbia's Council for European Studies rejecting a grant application that I never submitted in the first place.   I was wondering what might have prompted this seemingly odd rejection, and I came up with a few possible explanations:

1) The CES targets people randomly for rejection to boost the prestige of the fellowship (the more rejections, the more competitive and hence prestigious the fellowship appears).

2) The CES mixed up last year's and this year's applications, in which case I deeply pity the poor reviewers who most certainly lost a good deal of z's having to review double the amount of applications.

3) Or most likely, the CES is mean-spirited and takes pleasure in repeatedly rejecting people.  I imagine the subtext of the letter reading something like this: "In case you were beginning to forget that we rejected yo' ass last year, we gonna reject yo' ass again this year.  And you better watch out 'cause we just might reject yo' ass again next year, and there ain't nothin' yo' ass (nor any other part of your body for that matter) can do about it!!" 

So if you ever have in mind to apply for a CES fellowship, just beware of the possibility that you may become, like me, one of their "annual rejects." 

Only in Barcelona

S is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He's a true Catalan, born and raised in Girona. We met one evening at a reform synagogue here in BCN. He's not Jewish, but he has Jewish ancestors who converted to Christianity during the Inquisition, and he's decided to try and learn about his family's roots. A few weeks ago, I hung out with S and his partner, R, a soft-spoken muscular American who mentioned that he was a movie director. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to ask what type of director on that occasion - the conversation just seemed to drift toward other things I guess. At any rate, this evening I met up with S and R at R's apartment in Barrio Gotico, one of the most beautiful and interesting sections of the old part of BCN. WOW was this an apartment! 240 sq meters, hard wood floors, chic furniture, a luxury guest room, zebra skin rugs and pillows, original paintings and sculptures from all over the world... Yes, R is one of the world's most famous gay pornographers. He shoots movies in multiple continents and obviously does quite well for himself. He told me a bit about the 'ins and outs' of the gay porn industry, quite a fascinating world of its own. Sounds like his job comes with its share of 'stiff' challenges, but seeing his apartment made me question whether I was in the right business -- if only there was as much demand for scholarly works on immigration as there is for...

Sun and Calçots in Tarragona!!!

These have to be the most fun food I have ever eaten. It's so nice when the typical fiesta food happens to be vegetarian (which is often not the case here in Spain).

Language mishaps

Note to self and others of you who plan to jog in Spain someday: Don't tell people you're going for a short "corrida," especially when you live on a street like San Ramón with so many friendly women, lest they get the wrong impression...

Small gestures that go a long way...

After a long day of airport frustrations last week, it was so nice to come home to a welcome note and a big plate of salad containing fresh strawberries and mangoes, among other things . It's gestures like these that make life just that much more bearable. I wish I had captured Gemma's salad on film as well, but alas, I was far too hungry...

A rare moment in politics...

It's election season here in Spain, and immigration has become one of the focal points of this year's political debate. Last night, I attended a panel discussion between politicians from each of the major political parties here in Catalunya concerning immigration. I submitted a question concerning the lack of a principal mosque for Muslims in Catalunya, tension surrounding the establishment of prayer rooms, and what each party intended to do about the situation. Most of the answers were pretty much the same old story, which I won't bore you with.

Montserrat Nebrada of the Popular Party (the main conservative party), however, remarked that Spain is a fundamentally Christian society from a "civilizational perspective." Christians, she argued, have constructed the Europe of today by initiatiting the separation of church and state, and by establishing the fundamental values of liberty and solidarity as the bases for modern democracy.

In a rare political moment, a debate then ensued about Spain and Europe's philosophical roots. Lidia Santos of the socialist party referenced Spinoza (a Jewish philosopher) and his influence on political thought in Spain. Nebrada then countered with Leibnitz (a German philosopher who defended Christian orthodoxy in the face of Spinoza's critiques). They were prepared to go on, but the moderator interrupted to bring them back to more 'concrete' matters. Oh well, it was interesting while it lasted...

All roads may lead to Rome, but once you're there, then what?

Seth Shames in our phat penthouse suite in Hotel Tirreno

Somehow Seth and I always manage to lose our way into finding amazing things. It is a pleasure getting lost with Seth - in fact, I don't think there's anyone with whom I'd rather be lost.

Spaniards and Peeling

Show this to a Spaniard, and he or she will likely react with a mixture of curiosity and condescension. What, after all, is the use of a dull metal spear with holes in it? Despite the fact that Spaniards insist on the necessity of peeling just about everything, including tomatoes and apples, peelers just haven't taken off here. I guess this speaks somewhat to Spaniards' tremendous dexterity. Give me a knife and a cucumber, on the other hand, and all that will remain is a fine sliver. It's a good thing I didn't follow in my father's footsteps of becoming a moel!

My New Look

Don't ask me how I ended up in my housemate Gemma's pijamas, but alas, there I am!

Ron Abrams

It's not everyday that one gets to meet people like Ron Abrams. When I met him, he was sporting a cap with an Israeli flag and a jacket with a Maple Leaf stiched onto it. I thought it would be impossible to capture Ron's persona in words until he gave me his card, which seemed to do so far better than my poor literary skills ever could. There are just so many things about it if you have time to take a close look...

Ron aspires to be "the world's greatest faith healer and the first Jewish faith healer." He has successfully intervened in treating people who suffer from "strokes and crippled knees," but, to his dismay, he hasn't managed to cure cancer... He still needs some time for that one. He did, however, manage to rid the rabbi of headaches. As Ron would say, "Where traditional medicine fails, I can help." So if you're ever in need, you know who to call!!!

Plataforma de Musulmans i Musulmanes per la Igualtat

Yesterday was another one of those days when my inability to speak Catalan was somewhat problematic. I attended a press conference in which a platform entitled Muslim Men and Women for Equality was launched. Its objectives are to renounce terrorism, foster harmonious 'convivencia,' combat Islamophobia, and promote gender equality. It is a diverse group comprised of Spanish converts, Moroccans, Pakistanis, and Senegalese. Its formation was provoked primarily by the recent detention of a group of suspected terrorists just down the street from me in Raval on suspicion of planning to bomb the Barcelona metro.

As is usual, the press conference was held in Catalan, despite the fact that most media venues are in Spanish. It creates a funny dynamic because many immigrants do not speak Catalan. So the panelists from Morocco and Pakistan would speak in Spanish, but questions from the media would be in Catalan. Although the Moroccan fellow, Abdelkader Sulami, understood Catalan perfectly well, the Pakistani woman, Huma Janshed, clearly did not, so she was essentially excluded from the question/answer part of the conference (she did, however, respond to the one and only question posed in Spanish by a Moroccan fellow in the audience). At any rate, it's good for me to go to these meetings because many of the who's whos of Islam in Cataluña attend, and so I can make them feel guilty about not responding to my emails!

Reading the papers the next day, I was unsurprised to see that coverage of the formation of this platform was tucked away in small corners of major newspapers. La Vanguardia, probably the most widely-read paper, presented the objective of the platform as combatting Islamophobia, while no mention was given to the other objectives... The major headline news today was somewhat ironically about the detention of three "Islamists" in Vitoria (Basque Country).

Intro to Blog

I am not, and probably never will be, a frequent blogger, but every once in a while I have an experience that you all might find interesting, so I thought I'd share. For instance, last week I went to carnaval in Sitges and, though I was supposed to be a nice white rabbit, I ended up looking like a character from a horror movie gone terribly terribly wrong -- hence the nickname "chucky rabbit," as I was called that evening...