Spain gets weirder (and a bit more familiar)....

If it seems I write in this less and less, it´s because I have recently taken up a real schedule (meaning more than two ridiculously easy classes). I´m now enrolled in 5, all in Spanish, 3 at la Autónoma where the Spanish kids (and a freakin lot of Germans and other Europeans) go.

On Friday evening I went to an anti-fascist counterdemonstration, except the 'anti' and 'counter' part of it never materialized so I watched the very disturbing La Falange (an ultra-right wing group in Spain and I think other countries in Europe) march under police escort to a nearby plaza. These dudes are like, I don´t know, one hoodie removal from donning their full-on neo-Nazi gear. Their uniformity of marching, their excessive flag-bearing, and their unabashed racism ('No to Islam in Europe' and 'No to Immigration' were a couple favorite banners) are scary. One guy - probably a couple years younger than me - flashed a quick Heil Hitler salute as his friend snapped a photo with the camera phone. America is pretty fucked up politically right now, but rarely will you see a group like that parading up a city street (on a semi-regular basis).

We´ve been continuing the same-old same-old barhopping/discoteca routine on the weekends, which is fun, but not much more than that. It´s not thrilling and it´s definitely not really 'Spanish,' even though I find it easier to interact with (and speak to) los townies while drunk (as does everyone else). I´m probably just being cynical again, but the Americans in our program are annoying me more and more, maybe because I´ve been spending more time at Autonoma, or because we can´t seem to shake em when we go out (and people have a tendency to frequent the same cheesy, mainstream, humdrum places in the same goddamn neighborhood.) Irish pubs are great and all, for a while, but in Ireland, not Madrid.

But, to end on a positive note, um, hmm what can I say, life ain´t so bad, I found a job teaching English to a 3 and 4 year old (which I´m not qualified to do) 2 hours a week, the other American students are kind of annoying or at least unadventurous but except for a few are good people. For lack of a better idea (I think my English skills have deteriorated since coming here), I leave with an interesting quote I saw on the wall of a sangria bar near Puerta del Sol: ''Music! Like a naked woman, running crazy through the pure night.'' FIN!