Things have changed in Spain from when I was here in 2002. There is still the ubiquitous cafeteria/bar/restaurantes all over the place with the typical local spanish fare--and it depends on where you are as to what you will find but jamon is always available. But what is new is the proliferation of ethnic restaurants. Back in 2002 there were some various ethnic restaurants in Madrid and Sevilla but they were limited to the cheap chinese and kebap places or the really upscale places. Now you can find all manner of restaurants in the mid price range (there is still the cheap options but even those are more prolific). The big and happy surprise is the Indian restaurants--they are now numerous in Madrid and the ones I've sampled were really good (and they have actual spicy food!!). But there are now lots of Japanese restaurants, a few Thai places, many more Mexican and other Latin American places (I had some awesome Chiles en Nogada!). Oh, there were always a fair number of Italian places and those are still around as well--and some of them are quite good. The other thing that has been a happy find is that some places are now playing with Spanish cuisine, creating new versions of things that are kind what you might call nouveau--que guay. Another happy change is that in stores it is now possible to buy ingredients to make all sorts of things. I made a spicy thai soup for Esther at her apartment recently and was able to buy everything I needed right down to the fish sauce and lemon grass!! [an aside for inside readers--I actually bought the lemon grass in London and brought it back to Madrid--but after I was back in Madrid I found some lemon grass] It was fabulous by the way. So for someone like myself who likes to eat all sorts of foods--someone with a cosmopolitan palate--Spain has made huge leaps forward over the last handful of years, and happily so. Don't get me wrong, I love Spanish food and some of the ingredients they produce here (cheeses, chocolates, olives and oil, jamon, beef, wine) are as good as it gets. But I do like me some variety and after living here for 6 months I'm still a happy camper.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A Movie Review
En el punto de mira
This film is a fascinating study in what is wrong with movies but also what is right with them ca. 2007/2008. The movie was of particular interest to me and those with whom I viewed it as the "story" is set in Salamanca, España--my current place of residence.
From the NYT review "“Vantage Point,” a gimmick in search of a point, is nothing if not, er, timely. Set in the picturesque Spanish city of Salamanca (otherwise known as Mexico City), this jigsaw puzzle exploits a repellent conceit — the shooting of an American president (William Hurt, effectively insincere) — in a vague attempt to explore questions of narrative and subjectivity (like “Rashomon”) through the box-office-friendly form of a thriller"
This film has done big box office in the US which goes to part of my point. More on that later. The film was mostly shot in Mexico as the city of Salamanca refused to allow the film maker to take over the Plaza Mayor for 3 months in order to film. This is the heart of the city and would effectively shut down the commercial core of the city for months. So the crew shot some scenic shots and did some ariel filming as well and then meticulously reconstructed the Plaza Mayor in Mexico. The effect in the movie was very good. . . . but once the film moves outside of the Plaza it is evident to anyone who has been to Salamanca or Spain for that matter this the film was not shot in Spain. The streets and shops are all wrong--even the cars are wrong. And in the film's climax there is a chase in and around an autopista -- and there is no autopista in Salamanca! These are mostly esthetic complaints that would slide right past most US viewers. The big problem with the film is there is no story or character development in the film. The plot (what there is of it) is the US president visits Salamanca to make a speech about terrorism signaling new cooperation etc. He gets shot as he is giving the speech and then there are several timed explosions. The tale is unraveled for the audience through numerous retellings from different vantage points (thus the title) so that a different version is seen each time. We come to find out that the president wasn't actually the one who was shot but rather a double who was a stand in. But . . . the killers knew this and actually also attack the hotel where the real president is and kidnap him. It was partially an inside job and one of the Secret Service guys figures out what is going on and chase the rogue agent and subsequently rescues the president. The problem is that we have no investment in any of these characters and there is no ( I repeat no) explanation as to why the terrorists are trying to kill and/or capture the US president. Why the terrorists are Spanish/Latino (who are these guys? and who are they supposed to represent? ETA is the implication but it is never articulated. They have never engaged in this kind of action either so . . . . ). Why did the US plant a phony president? why is the real president there also? why did the "terrorists" kill the fake president if they new the real one was nearby and they were going to capture him any way? It is all left to the imagination. There is some merit to the idea of exploring narrative and subjectivity but this film leaves much of the narrative up to the audience and the motives are left to our subjective view as well. This is yet another example of recent film failings in my view. If you keep the pace fast and the visuals exciting it will work at a visceral level and make money. The film maker got that part right as he was able to turn one big explosion (blowing up the Plaza Mayor) and 5 minutes worth of plot in to millions of dollars at the box office.
Friday, January 18, 2008
The first real post!
Bienvenidos a todos,
Well I arrived in Spain this past Sunday after some flight delays and was then unable to connect with my ride to Salamanca. I ended up hanging out in Barajas for several hours waiting and trying to contact my contact person to little avail and finally gave up and got a hotel. Shortly after that I was got a hold of my contact in Salamanca (thanks to help from una amiga buena in EEUU)
and arranged for transport on Monday morning. I had a nice meal and a couple of cervezas and called it a day. Monday I arrived in the lovely city of Salamanca and met people and was shown around and moved in to my apartment. Tuesday was a sick day---the travel and stress caught up with me. I have subsequently been doing a little work and a little orientation every day until today (Friday). Today the students arrived and we took the charter bus to Barajas airport in Madrid to collect all of them and bring them to Salamanca . . . easier said than done. Due to snow back in the states and a plane crash on thursday in London many flights were disrupted. 25 of the group had arrived by 2 so around 2:30 we sent them back to Salamanca on the bus and we waited for the other 6 arrive. Esperamos . . . . esperamos . . . . and finally by 7 the last two were here. We rented two cars and drove them back to nuestro ciudad and delivered them to their new familias and I got back to my apartment by midnight . . . a long day for all involved. But they are here now with the exception of one who arrives tomorrow. Mañana comencemos la orientación.
new purposing of the blog . . .
Okay, I've decided that I'm going to use this blog for the time being to record my (and my group's) experiences this semester in España. I will also begin to try to do follow up thoughts on classes once I start teaching in february which was my original idea for the blog but things got off track due to too much work and general angst. I hope that this proves to be a fun and interesting side project.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
New class related blog . . .
I've created this blog as an experiment with posting ongoing thoughts about the classes I'm teaching. We'll see if it proves useful to me or anyone else.