George Michael is Back

At least he was on Tuesday, I'm pretty sure, because I saw him in the flesh at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid. Very very good show. The first half was actually transcendental, the second half lost me a little bit. Maybe it was the cheesy re-working of "Freedom." (I mean, there's already the original and then "Freedom 90", is he going to do "Freedom 06"? Hope not.)

The first several songs gave me chills, and when he did "Jesus to a Child" and "Praying for Time", the emotion in the stadium was palpable. He really nailed the upbeat tunes like "Faith" and "Amazing", as well. And "Father Figure", well, how could you go wrong with a song like that?! OK, I'm biased, because it was during that song that I first slow danced with a guy at the Boardwalk in Lincoln, Nebraska, but still. The only glaring omission was "I Want Your Sex." Isn't that the song that really catapulted him to fame? I guess sex was the thing that dragged him into the gutter, as well. Maybe he's turned over a new leaf.

It's funny, because as I was heading to the show, I'm like, I don't need to write an entry on this, too cheesy, too nostalgic. Then, as soon as I heard his voice and felt that energy, I was like... cheesy or not, this is good stuff!

Michael started the 25LIVE tour - his first in 15 years - a few days earlier in Barcelona and will go on to tour a total of 28 cities in Europe. I initially sat next to two women from L.A. who had flown all the way to Madrid just for the show. A few minutes later, the group that was supposed to sit where I was kicked me out, and the usher showed me to my real seat - in the family and guests of George Michael section! Very strange, because I knew about this concert months ago, but it seemed kind of expensive and I figured I'd try for tix at the last minute. They must have opened up some of the best blocks at the end, because I just went online and purchased it two days before the show.

I thought for the first half that I was sitting behind Tori Spelling, but I'm not really sure what her face looks like this week, I'll have to check into that. Then, later in the evening, she noticed I was checking her out and started kind of flirting with me, then I noticed that she was speaking perfect Spanish, so doesn't seem very Tori-like, but who knows. Anyway, I'm sure there were important people there, but as usual, I couldn't figure any of them out and was too busy watching the show to spend to much effort.

I didn't bring my camera, because I'd read on the venue website that they were forbidden. I don't know why I paid attention to this, because I know by now that they never seem to check things like that here, VERY laid back. Well, they didn't check at all, and when I looked down on the floor, it was like a sci-fi flick with everyone holding their little monitors up. I was bitter, but fortunately, we have YouTube, so I can share someone else's videos with you.

FAITH (thanks to triumphjack)

FASTLOVE (thanks to holendezfeliz)


PRAYING FOR TIME (thanks to Likethecars)

Right before he broke for an intermission, Michael did his song "Shoot the Dog", a harsh critique of the relationship between U.S. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He had a huge blowup Bush doll inflate on stage, which prompted screams from the crowd, but then, to top it off, he unzipped Bush's zipper, and a dog wearing a British flag (Blair, of course) popped out. It was too much. I tried to capture with my #@$%&*! picture phone. Not the best pics, but you get the idea.

Blow-up Bush

Bush Being Blown by Blair

Overall, I was sooo glad I spent my last 80 euros on that ticket. Now I've earned more, so you'll be happy to know I can eat and other important stuff like that. On my way out of the concert I snapped a shot of the cool Dali sculpture and Stonehenge replica in front of the Palacio de Deportes.

Dali Sculpture at the Arena Entrance

I went underground to catch the metro home with George Michael nostalgia floating through my head. Sigh, those were the days...

UPDATE 10/3/06: Mr. Michael was arrested in London shortly after the concert in Madrid for possession of an illegal drug (marijuana) after being found slumped over the wheel of his car in an intersection. More info here. Poor guy, always getting his ass into trouble one way or another.

White Night Madrid

Begun in Paris in 2002, the White Nights theme of a night of free art and entertainment has expanded in the past several years to include other European capitals. Tonight was the debut of the event in Madrid. The entire city center bustled with art, theatre, and music that filled the streets and kept the doors of museums open until the wee hours of the morning. The festivities continued throughout the night, ending with a sunrise music performance at the beautiful Buen Retiro Park.

It was a little cold and sprinkling rain here and there, but the vibe outside was WARM when I visited the museums and fountains in the south of the city and HOT when I made my way up to Chueca on my way home. The Prado Museum projected images onto the front facade and a dazzling all-white fireworks display marked the 9:30 p.m. opening ceremony.

The Prado in a New Light

When I arrived to Chueca, there was a DJ playing really good trance-like electronica. The crowd erupted into cheers of glee every time he brought the music to a lull and then picked it back up again. It was so much fun.

Chueca's Fuencarral Street Becomes a Dance Floor

Just a bit farther up Fuencarral, there was a stage for live bands. I arrived right in the middle of this amazing Belgian pop band called Vive La Fete. They must be pretty popular here, because it seemed like everyone was singing along to the lyrics.

Vive Le Fete in Action

As I made my way closer to my metro station, I came upon an outdoor lounge party in front of the newly re-opened Museo Municipal.

Museo Municipal Entrance by Day

It was starting to rain, and I was tired, so in spite of the lure of all night fun, I retreated underground for my ride home. I made it home early - 2 a.m. - and satisfied that I actually enjoyed some of Madrid's first night in white.

The Americans

What do you call people from the United States? This question has come up for me ever since I started traveling abroad 15 years ago. When I studied in Costa Rica, I had a class in intercultural communication with students from both the U.S. and Costa Rica. Seems like everyone south of Mexico, including the Costa Ricans, calls us North Americans. I pointed out to them that North America includes Mexico and Canada and even Central America on the maps I've seen. At least in Spanish, they have a specific word for people from the U.S. that they could use - Estadounidense. I think the direct translation would be a "United Statesan."

When I was traveling in Portugal, I met these two Canadian women on one of the bus excursions. I told them how we said we were Canadian when we were in Morocco due to our fear of the negative perception of Americans in Arab countries nowadays. One of them asked me, "When you say Americans, do you mean North Americans?" I said yes, but in reality, I was only speaking about people from the U.S.

In Spain, and most other parts of the world (the non-Americas), it seems like the most common term for us is Americans. In light of the sometimes overbearing behavior of the U.S. on the world political stage (ahem, ALWAYS in the past six years), I can understand the perspective that for us to call ourselves Americans is egotistical. Although, I would argue that in English, it's really the best and most commonly used option. You can call someone from Canada a Canadian, someone from Mexico a Mexican. If you don't call us Americans, you'd have to say "U.S. citizen" or "person from the U.S." Besides, I think that if you say American, very few people are going to think you're talking about someone from Mexico or Canada, but maybe I'm just being an egotistical American :)

Healthy Role Model for the Modeling World

The organizers of Spain's top fashion show, the Pasarela Cibeles, recently announced that they would not allow models to participate unless they had a "healthy" weight-to-height ratio. Apparently, 30 percent of the models failed, which is not surprising in the never-too-thin-unless-you're-dead look of the 2000's.

I'm so glad to see something like this, as it seems like more and more I'm seeing really disturbingly thin women and sometimes men. Right after I read this article in a local daily, I found myself on the stairmaster at the gym behind a girl who literally looked like an Auschwitz victim. It's so, so sad, and I think the fashion and entertainment industries are probably the best place to start changing the perception that you have to be emaciated to be sexy.

I checked my index using the formula (divide weight in pounds by height in inches squared, and multiply that total by 703). My result of 21.62 was right between 18.5-24.9, which is the "normal" range, whew! The Pasarela Cibeles folks turned away anyone with a number under 18. I read about this in several publications, but I got my final facts from this article.

Campeones!

Although I did not see the match, I heard that it was riveting, and Spain came away as the pretty easy champion of the World Basketball Championship game on Sunday. Unfortunately, I don't have any sports freak students right now to explain to me their emotions, but since it's the first time Spain has ever won this title, people are pretty obviously excited. I haven't seen the out of control masses that I would expect, but then it's not the World Cup. I'm sure that would set off days of non-stop partying in all parts of the city.

In a strange turn of events, there was a fire on the 42nd floor of Madrid's tallest skyscraper - one of the new Cuatro Torres complex currently under construction, that was nearby a plaza full of people awaiting the return of the championship team. Here are photos of the fire. Here is a photo of what has been estimated at fifty to one hundred thousand revelers that celebrated the team's return with the fire in the background. In the beginning, some thought that the bright flames were fireworks meant to mark the momentous occasion.

Fortunately, the firefighters were able to climb the building and put the fire out. The incident brought back memories for some of another emblematic skyscraper in Madrid called the Windsor, that was destroyed by fire in Februry of 2005.

Visions of Arctic Snowcaps and Cute Baby Polar Bears...


I wrote this entry about a month ago, before I went on vacation, but had it saved in draft form. Unfortunately, it's as valid today as the day I friggin wrote it. Although, I don't think it's been 115 lately, I'm amazed at the consistent 95+ temps. I think I may have become more accustomed to it, though. The other day, I saw a pale blond tourist on the metro with sweat literally pouring down his face, and I was almost dry :) They TELL me that the heat starts to break in September, we'll see...

OK, so I've resolved to not whine about the heat, and that's why I only did a blip about it, but this entry came to me at 3 A.M. while lying in a puddle of sweat with the fan on high aimed strategically at my head to ensure that the breeze covered my whole body if I raised certain body parts in the right way. The heat is much stronger than a blip. It's an entire entry. SOMEBODY KILL ME NOW PLEASE!!!!

Whew, glad I got that off my chest. I spent the majority of the day yesterday in the mall, where the air conditioning makes it almost cold in some places. I have visited the mall frequently, as it's near my house and has all the amenities the modern Jeff would want (including free wifi with purchase!!!), but yesterday was a forced mall visit. I try not to frequent big megastores like that, but most smaller establishments here just don't really have air conditioning, or the air doesn't really work well, or you sit on an outside terrace (a beauteous thing when it's under 100 degrees). So, I'm at the mall, sipping Starbucks and deciding whether to buy my next small purchase at McDonald's or the Asian-Cajun fusion place :(

Add to the heat the fact that seemingly everything one needs for life creates heat. My laptop BLEEDS heat after using if for 15 minutes, and it by definition needs to be, um, kinda close to your body. The hot water heater in the kitchen... yep, it's hot. Although, I'm now appreciating that we actually have to turn the pilot light on, so when we aren't showering, it's off. The TV, my source of all Spanish language, hot as hell. Coffee... heat. At these temperatures, even the wind is an unwelcome blast of heat. WHEN will it end? It was 115 degrees Fahrenheit in Cordoba a couple of days ago, and I think they have humidity, so I'm actually counting my lucky stars.

Random Blips

BiblioMetro
Today, I was on my way to get stuff done, waiting for the metro somewhere, AS USUAL, and I noticed the Bibliometro kiosk in the middle of the metro platform. I had seen these in other stations, so I decided to inquire as to exactly what it was. Well, it's like a little library, and you can check out a book and return it to any of the like 20 Bibliometro kiosk in metro stations or around town. Within a couple of minutes, I had a library card and a book. How cool is that? I was just thinking that I really need to start reading easy Spanish lit to improve my Spanish from a different angle. Now it is happening, yippee!

American Breakfast


If countries were represented by their best meals, I think that the United States would have to be a big fat sizzling breakfast. Spain would definitely be a long and langorous lunch, followed by a nap. Who would be dinner? Dinner, dinner, where art thou??

I love the food in Madrid, but they're not really big on breakfast. The usual breakfast fare here is a grilled croissant with jelly or a muffin along with an espresso. You can get bigger plates with eggs and meat, but they're just... not the same as the AMERICAN BREAKFAST. OMG, this has always been my favorite meal in the U.S. If done just right, you really only need to eat like one snack for the rest of the day. This came up in an email trail when my friend Alex mentioned he was going out for a good 'ol American Breakfast, which set me off to fantasizing about the Big Boy Combo at Orphan Andy's in San Francisco. Two eggs (anyway you like), two (huge) pancakes, two bacon, AND two sausage. Comes with coffee and juice, too, for only $7. Yum, yum, YUMMY!

It was a joke for a while amongst my friends in SF that if I could, I would eat pancakes for every meal. I've sort of become a connisseur of the genre. When I return, I'm definitely going to have to do a "best hotcakes" issue or something. I finally found pancakes here, they're actually a dessert and they're called "tortitas". Not quite the same, as they're usually served with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, but it definitely satisfies the craving in times of need. But when I get back to the states, I'm heading to Andy's first thing (after customs, of course).

Ironically, the only pic I could find of an American Breakfast (above) was at the blog for an English restaurant called Belle and Herbs in Newcastle. Looks like they've got breakfast covered around the world.

De Vacaciones
I had heard that in the summer Madrid slows down and in August, it virtually grinds to a halt due to summer vacation season. Because there are still many single family proprietor shops in Madrid (go Spain!!!), it's not uncommon to encounter a CLOSED sign in August during the family vacation.



I didn't realize how dead the streets had been until this week, people started to return. Suddenly, the city is hopping again, and everyone is extremely tan, happy and relaxed. I had conversations with my students about vacations here in comparison to those in the U.S. They always FREAKED when I told them that you usually start out with two weeks at U.S. companies. They usually get at least four weeks, and an employee in Madrid must have almost another month of vacation due to city, state, and federal holidays (I'm not kidding). It's really a part of the culture here to take a big vacation in the summer. I get the feeling it's almost like a "keeping up with the Joneses" thing. Like, "where did you go for vacation?"

I caved to the pressure when my last remaining student of the summer decided to take a couple of weeks off in August. I'm like, OK, I have to have something to tell my students when I return from summer break. And now I do :)


Amazing Historical Monument Fatigue
I really started to notice this on my trip to Portugal. Just before I left, I went to Toledo, which is a 20-minute train ride from Madrid, but really really crazy old and beautiful. I think I've been in Europe too long. When I first came to Spain, I freaked at how amazing and beautiful all of the old buildings were. Suddenly, they just kind of seem like places where people live and business occurs. In Lisbon, which is teeming with layers of ancient history, I had to really pick and choose what I wanted to see. I actually only took pictures of the churches recommended in the guidebook, even though all of them would have blown me away six months ago. It's sad in a way, to lose that sense of amazement.

Now, I really understand now why I got the reaction I did from the German exchange student that we hosted in college when I took him to see the Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln on his first day in the U.S. It's hard to impress someone with a 70-year-old building when they have something like Notre Dame in their back yard. I still think that the Nebraska State Capitol is a pretty cool building, though.