A Month In Review – Part the Last

So Imma need someone to direct me to the bitch responsible for taking away ALL my time in Spain! Like ya gurl just got here debatably 5 minutes ago and, de repente, I gotta pack my shit de nuevo and go home. Pues, I figured since the first 4 days of this week will consist of me crying into a bag of Cheetos while trying to desperately study for finals, I might as well reflect on my last month here in Spain before the chaos starts. It’s been an action packed month and so here are some of the crazy things that occured;

• Well there was that one time I SUH-LAYED my interview for this class I super wanted to take and, hours later, was sent an acceptance email into the class #BadBitchesRaiseUp

• That one time I met up with my girl Encarni and went to Cien Montaditos on a Monday
• When that 50 cent deal was so loyal that it made me early to going up on a Tuesday

• Meeting up with Eva and her bae through ONCE and having a good convo about Sevillian accents, travel, and the economic breakdown of our respective countries lol
• Meeting with Pedro randomly through the Facebook intercambio page
• Having a greeeeat potluck dinner with some Erasmus buddies, meeting cool humans at the intercambio later and then pretending to have fun on Calle Alfalfa
• Going to Morocco and seeing the beautiful landscape and city structures
• My face when I realized hella people outside our JYS group were basic

• I mean like reeeeeeeeeally basic

• Meeting the director of ONCE
• Realizing I didn’t fail the fuck out of literally every exam I took during midterms

• That one time I was in my 7pm class the Tuesday after Morocco and my stomach gurgled a little too loudly
• The battle that ensued between me and the bathroom once I got home and realized it was diarrhea

• When my host mom suddenly got her MD while taking care of me and decided that I shouldn’t eat for a few days

• When that shit went on for 7 goddamn days

• Then, one day, I was free from the shackles and ate a shit ton of churros and horrible things lol

• Meeting up with my girl Eva and charling for a bit in the rain
• Going to that one random as fuck English class at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas and leading a classroom activity lol #WhoAskedMe
• Learning about the unfortunate news in Ferguson and New York, but having supportive friends and family to help me vent and mourn the lives of those lost for no reason
• My reaction when like nobody here was talking about it

• Finally meeting up with my girl Eva and venting in Spanish about it
• Every Monday night getting montaditos and drinks with calee and tim #MyBoos

• Beautiful Thanksgiving Dinner
• Barcelonaaaaaa (read: excessive eating, endless hours of walking, meeting new humans, realizing Barcelona is just one big fierce runway, and loving every second of it)
• Going to my practica this monday for the first time in like 3 weeks lol
• Skipping my boring ass environment class just for the hell of it

• Meeting Vanessa and realizing she’s #bae
• Finishing some fellowship apps
• Accidentally meeting up with Miguel and going out with his friends to this random, but hilarious theatre show
• Bullshitting/Abriling literally all of Friday
• Bullshitting with Pati, Eva, and others yesterday and then watching anime in spanish when I got home lol
• SPHSP reunion/Despedida with Encarni earlier today

So this past month has been super fun and full of travel and great memories! But as I look at the utter lack of time I have left, I can’t help but to get a little triste. The time is not up and this weekend will only add to the memories but before that *looks at long ass list of shit to study for before Thursday* lemme just get my life first and sip some of this tea real quick lol

Festivales de Diciembre

El Día de la Constitución es un día muy especial en España porque significa un cambio muy fuerte en el sistema político. Después de la dictadora de Franco, España entró una época donde tenía que revisar su gobierno. Y la constitución de 1978 representó la transición oficial a la democracia. El Día de la Inmaculado es un día que celebra cuando María, madre de Jesús, experimentó el primer momento de concepción sin pecado. El Baile de los Seises es un baile de los niños que celebra este evento.

Reflections of Injustice; Let’s Talk Ferguson

So unless you’re oblivious AF or your zip code is beneath a rock somewhere, we’ve all at least probably seen the headline “Ferguson” either on our Facebook newsfeed, email, text, etc. And to be honest, learning about this case made this past week really hard for me. Ever since the grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson around 3AM Tuesday morning here in Spain, my sleep patterns and everyday styles of living were interrupted. Interrupted by a grand realization that I occupy a body whose composition is systemically seen as innately less worthy in the country I call home.

And let’s keep it real. It’s not like a bitch just straight up had no idea racism existed before this. But rather, this was more like that final straw that reeeeeeeeally cemented that regardless of what I do at any given time, people like me are more likely to be taken out by structural violence and not have justice seen as a result. But if I’m being honest, I don’t really want to dedicate this post to the details of the case. I could go on and on about the horrible ways this case was handled from the structure of the jury to the prosecutor or perhaps the forensic and detective protocol errors that followed Michael Brown’s death. I’ve discussed that. I’ve learned about that and have spent countless hours discussing these issues with friends and loved ones.

This case was fucked up. There’s no if, ands or buts about it. However, amidst the deep injustice that I’ve learned about this week, one redeeming factor was the response that I saw from many of my friends. This week, I had a great number of passionate, angry, intellectual and enriching discussions surrounding racism in the United States. And, in my experience, the ways in which people responded to this situation were remarkably respectful. #blacklivesmatter is meant to point out that black individuals specifically are 21 times more likely to be murdered by police officials and, in a myriad of other ways, live lives that are often times at a disadvantage compared to those of other people. However, what’s interesting is that many of the individuals with whom I shared my grief, passion, and anger with this week were not black. And, despite the racism and prejudice we are all taught to absorb in our society, these individuals and many others were able to not only recognize how wrong this case was, but also actively speak out, educate themselves, and support those in need even if the issue didn’t personally have anything to do with them from a systemic standpoint. What I witnessed this week was a beautiful and very human display of empathy that rippled across many different types of individuals.

As a black male, taking the issue and implications of Ferguson comes very easy to me. This case has everything to do with the way people who look exactly like me are treated. So, for me, to be angry makes a lot of sense. On the flip side though, as much as I wanted to cut into third the bitches saying horrrrrrible things about black people and Ferguson, in a weird way, I can kind of understand why one might come to think something so oppressive. I mean, if you grow up in a situation in which you’re fed lies and stereotypes about a group of people and never spend time with that group, I could understand why one could think certain oppressive things. Is it fucked the fuck up? Of course! But can I follow why someone could reach that conclusion? Yes.

In going forward, I want to continue advocating and working towards creating more human equity, understanding, and opportunities for all individuals. And, in doing so, I want to reflect the immense amount of empathy that many of my friends showed me this week. As someone in the majority/dominant group, it’s entirely too easy to be complacent and not force yourself to ever feel uncomfortable in situations like this. While I would argue that it’s a human duty to respond to situations of injustice, I do think that the efforts of those not necessarily systemically affected by the issue deserve recognition (assuming of course that they were respectful and not awful AF). So, for those who voiced their opinions and did something, I’m proud of you and would like to replicate your empathy and understanding as I move forward and advocate in my own life. Thank you for understanding the struggle. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for putting yourselves out there.

This post won’t eliminate the injustices brought to light this week or bring back Michael Brown and the hordes of unarmed black individuals killed by racism. However, we can all afford to be a little braver in this life and looking at those around me this week served as a healthy reminder of that. My heart still weighs heavy, but hopefully this realization will make it just a little bit stronger.

Medio Ambiente en España

Por lo general, España ha tenido una relación buena con la energía solar y eólica. Desde 2004, España ha sacado muchas de las fronteras económicas que normalmente acompañan a los esfuerzos de medio ambiente. En el mundo, España es el cuarto productor más grande de poder solar y exporta la mayoría de su energía a Alemania. Pero desde la crisis económica, España ha sufrido un poco y no produce tanto como producía en el pasado. Los EEUU ha mejorado recientemente en este sentido y tiene uno de las fabricas más grande del poder eólico del mundo.

It’s the Little Things

So since I only have exactly 4 weeks left in Sevilla, I feel like a fun post is in order! I’ve had almost three months in this crazy city and so, to commemorate all that I’ve learned, I think now would be a good time to talk about the little things that make me happy AND the shit that annoys me SO MUCH in Sevilla. Since buzzfeed is bae, it shall be in that style. So to start off, here are some of the bomb/great elements of being here:

1. When you come home for lunch and the pan game is TOO strong

2. When you slay a bitch with that yung subjunctive tense without even thinking

3. That moment right before your best friend answers the Skype call

4. When you can ACTUALLY pull off a joke in Spanish

I mean sure it’s probably due to the fact that I’m awkward AF but I like to think it’s because I’m charming

5. When your Intercambio buddy texts YOU first to link up

6. When you buy a caña at the university and that shit JUST came out the oven

7. Successful nights out

8. When you leave that one class that always just leaves you speechless

9. Getting the chance to see incredible sights and beauties throughout your travels

10. Tortilla española. That’s all I gotta say

11. The occasional siesta

12. When you’re walking down the street and make eyes with Spanish bae and all feels great in the world.

And now for the shit I can’t stand

13. When you see Spanish bae, de repente, start kissing some biddy that ain’t you

14. And then you’re like

15. But then you remember you’re having tortilla española tonight and you’re like

16. When you’re on your sevicii and bitches be walking as if the bike lane were theirs

17. When you passive aggressively ring your bell at the same bitches, make eye contact with them, and they just CONTINUE walking and blatantly ignore you!!

18. And, de repente, when you realize that dismounting your bike and cutting a bitch is both unclassy and probably illegal.

19. When your wifi at home ain’t shit.

20. When you live in Nervion and wake up at 8:20 for your 9:00 class at the university

21. When you finally get to your class at 9:25 because sevicii had no parking spots and you’re outside the door feeling awkward AF about walking in this late

22. When you walk into the class anyway feeling super awkward but try to hide it by being like

23. But then your professor is like

24. And then, de repente, you’re like

25. When 5 minutes after sitting down you realize you have to pee all while being the same bitch that just walked in hella late and literally disrupted everything

21. When you try to hold it

26. When you realize the descanso is in 40 minutes

27. So you’re just like

28. And then your class is like

29. But you’re just like

30. And then you finally get to the bathroom and are like

31. When you’re walking in Sevilla while black and hoes stop their conversations to stare at you and all you want to do is be like

32. When your host mom complains about the way you sit at the dinner table and you’re just like

33. When people ask you hard ass questions about the US and you’re like

34. When biddies from home ask you if you’re fluent yet and you’re just like

So as you can see, my time in Sevilla has just been very educational, professional, and simple lol. Hopefully these next few weeks will entail me being slightly less of a hot mess, but only time will tell!!

Hombre de Piedra, María Coronel, y Rey Pedro I

Esta semana, voy a hablar un poco sobre algunas leyendas populares en España. Las leyendas se llaman “La Leyenda Del Hombre de Piedra” y “La Layenda de María Coronel y el Rey Pedro I “el cruel”. La leyenda Del Hombre de Piedra es sobre un niño de piedra que fue encontrado en una playa por una muchacha. Pero, cuando la niña puso el niño en su pecho, el niño lo comió y la muchacha se murió. Otras mujeres después hacían lo mismo y todos se murieron. El niño creció a un hombre y empezó matar, aterrorizar, y secuestrar a hombres y mujeres. Estas acciones siguieron por algún tiempo pero un día el hombre se lastimó el pie y la gente usó esta oportunidad para matarlo. La Leyenda de María Coronoel y Rey Pedro I también es un poco grave. Básicamente, lo que pasó fue que María Coronel era muy guapa en los ojos de Rey Pedro y él la perseguía hasta que María no podía encargarse más con la situación y, de repente, ella puso aceite caliente en su mismo—destruyendo su belleza y cuerpo. Después, él paró de perseguirla y sus vidas siguieron.

Responding to a Cray Weekend in Morocco

So this weekend, ya gurl went to Marrrrr-uecos!! Going in, a bitch definitely knew that the levels of touristy-ness would leave me nauseated. Butttt, since getting accepted into JYS, I knew that Morocco was a place that I HAD to go to. Los demás could keep their London and Paris, but I knew Morocco was definitely going to be a destination of mine. And overall, I had a really good time!

To provide some context, I went with a travel company, the group was about 70 humans, and we left Friday evening and got back Sunday night. The initial trip entailed a 3 hour bus ride, 1 hour ferry ride, and, upon landing, yet another bus ride lol. But by Friday night (Saturday morning?) we made it into our bougie ass hotel, had some BAE tea and cookies, and cenar-ed like it was our job. The next day, we drove to a place known as the “Blue City” cuz literally that shit was blue, it was crazy lol! Once we arrived, we had an hour and a half long walking tour of the city that mostly entailed us cramming up already cramped streets, taking masturbatory photos of doors, and making eye contact with likely confused Moroccan civilians.

Afterwards, we ate lunch and had free time to go shopping. The next few hours were uninteresting AF since we just went back to the hotel and chilled. But then we had dinner at 8 and afterwards were obligated to go to this horrrrrrifying party on the 6th floor of the hotel. At the party, they provided this super strong sangria and, de repente, everybody and they mama was playing drinking games, twerking, and trying SO hard to replicate college. Unacceptable sightings included: a guy aggressively massaging the ass of who I hope was his girlfriend, this group of girls where one girl was twerking MUCH better than the rest, a Congo line, attempted strobe lighting effects, and strategically thirsty conversations between individuals in the group and our many fine ass tour guides. That sangria was good as shit tho lol.

Anyways, the next day we woke up and went to this beach area to ride camels which was fun but mostly terrifying. My camel was like v unimpressed with us and made his discontent very apparent. I slick thought I was going to die 80% of the time but like…yolo? Anyways, then we went to this restaurant to almorzar and then we went to a town called Asilah to basically commit the same atrocities that happened in the Blue City. Then we got our shit and came home.

Truly the weekend was a fun experience. I got a lot closer to Cassie, Patricia, Alana and other humans from JYS, laughed my ass off at a number of funny conversations about youth and dreams, discussed many interesting and analytical topics, watched Ted, discovered Cartoon Network in Arabic, and saw some truly amazing and beautiful towns and landscapes.

But.

If I’m being honest, the weekend left a lot to be desired just in terms of consciousness and awareness. I don’t want to shame anyone in particular, but if I’m being honest, the group I was in and the shit we were doing left me very uncomfortable. I knew the trip was going to be short, I knew this wouldn’t be a realistic view of Morroco, but what I didn’t expect was for people to behave in a way that was so mindless and, often times, inconsiderate. In short, the basics came out TO PLAY!!

Let’s start with the Blue City.

Walking in, I expected for the walking tour to take place within an open and largely unoccupied space thereby allowing us to take our large asses throughout the city without interrupting a significant amount of people. False. Our tour guides took us through THE MOST cramped and crowded streets where often times people and animals deeply struggled to get past all 70 of us. Our tour guide also wasn’t really telling us anything about Morocco or the city aside from “this is where people pray, this is some art” and like other very surface level and unremarkable things. So there was no type of the context, so there were a lot of elements that didn’t make much sense. Also, people IN-SIS-TED on taking pictures of blue doorways in blatant disregard of the fact that people lived behind those doorways and we were just straight up in the way. I also witnessed people taking pictures of adults and children, all of whom covered their face, grimaced, or otherwise expressed disapproval–all the while, while people just selected their proper filters and laughed among their friends celebrating how “cultured” they were.

And, unfortunately, that was just the start. That night, the pregame we had could actually be heard 4 floors below likely disturbing the many other people staying in the hotel. But like we’re American so no pasa nada right? The next day at the camel ride, people were terrorizing and harassing the baby camels forcing picture after picture after picture — poking their hair, hovering over them and/or petting them aggressively. There was also a moment on the bus when two children jumped on the back of the bus in order to hitch a ride. And instead of like, you know, not being basic–certain individuals decided to instead take pictures of the children to document how “edgy” the country was. While in Asilah, people were screaming in these streets like they lost they GODDAMN minds and, again, shamelessly took pictures of people. And the icing on the cake was that I actually heard people express sentiments along the lines of them learning “sooo much about Morocco”.

And, *chuckles*, I’m sorry, but

Bitch WHAT?!? Y’all got me so sleep, I’ve been in hibernation for months lol.

I’m not tryna be in these streets tryna be the “holier than thou” bitch telling you how to travel. But all I ask for is a little respect. The most unfortunate thing I witnessed this weekend was people treating Moroccan culture and people as if they existed solely for their enjoyment and documentation. Everything was fair game. And what makes me sad is that this notion of biddies literally just showing up to a country, being like “guuuurl, I’m here”, and just parading around reducing the people to objects for their enjoyment and convenience has happened all too many times before #Colonialism #Diaspora

In these types of touristy trips, the ethics are iffy since often times, dumb bitches like us genuinely do help the economy of these places. So I’m not saying it shouldn’t exist. All I’m saying is to be considerate, respectful, and, overall, don’t be an asshole just cuz you’re out of the country. In the US, would you just take pictures of someone else’s child? Or just random people on the street? No. Would you scream at the top of your lungs in hotels or public spaces for no reason? No. Would you block up the WHOLE goddamn sidewalk? No.

So don’t do it there.

People are people wherever you go. And yes there are cultural and language differences, but the spirit of human nature operates all the same. Be mindful in situations like this and there shouldn’t be a problem. Additionally, try to actually learn something! I wish the program provided some history on Moroccan history, politics, art or other dimensions that help one to learn a little about the experience of living in a different country. I don’t know. The trip served it’s purpose for good food and mindless entertainment. But the respect game could have been MUCH stronger. But if anything, I’m glad I could at least recognize that that shit was kinda weird.

In short, we need to design a “How Not To Be Basic Abroad” crash course and send it to most travel companies. And, after that, I think the outcome would be very different lol.

Miguel de Cervantes y Sevilla

En su libro, Rinconete y Cortadillo, Miguel de Cervantes escribe sobre un mundo debajo del mundo que entendimos ahora. Sevilla sirvió como un sitio muy interesante por su libro porque, en esa época, Sevilla era la ciudad más rica del país y también tenia una relación muy fuerte con la religión. Entonces, como una ciudad caótica y religiosa, Sevilla era un sitio muy ideal.

A Month in Review — Part 2

I cannot believe this right now! I closed my eyes and suddenly I only have 5 weeks left in Spain. I’ve been here for 5 minutes like how is it even possible right now? My feelings are all over place. On one hand, I’m SO excited to see my family and friends de nuevo and finish my last year with the people I love most from home. But I can’t say that I won’t miss Spain though, this has definitely been a very telling and interesting experience for me. There were times where I found myself counting down the moments till I returned back home, but now I can say I’m finally adjusted and even more ready to slay. But in the spirit of reflection, let’s look at what I’ve done since my last month in review. Well for starters;

• Tour of the University in Escritoras class
• Getting a yung interview with Manuela for ONCE
• Feeling like the BADDEST for quedaring with AlaJandro from the intercambio and meeting his friends—one of whom was this weird girl that didn’t believe in evolution lol
• Letting the thirst convince me that Alajandro could’ve wanted a pedazo of this but later realizing he’s straight #TheStruggle #HeStillCuteDoe
• Getting tapas with Ayo, Sarah, Maria, and Natalia and accidentally going to the intercambio later lol
• Discovering llaollao
• Talking to Tomás EVERY FUCKING DAY. Like where did that boy even come from? I love him tho
• Abril por primera vez con Allysa y Diana
• Getting Lalo that stupid bracelet
• Hanging out with Isis, Kari, Genesis and their intercambio friends and realizing they’re bae lol
• Going to the practica algunas veces (ESPECIALLY this past weekend at the hospital which was rough but SO fun. José is bae)
• Getting my life and deciding to finally do my fucking eyebrows
• Gettting McDonalds at the risk of looking v basic
• ONCE orientation
• Post intercambio shenanigans in Alameda
• Meeting with Jose, Ana, and friends at Alameda
• American restaurants and Abril por la segunda vez con Natalia, Maria, Cassie, Ayo, Hope, and Sam!
• GRANADA!!!! Pizza, Schwarma, failed attempts at clubbing, ALAMBRA and racial awkwardness
• Carmona with Laura and friends!!!
• Madridddddd!!! Meeting Manny and friends and literally just having the best time! Also prado and reina Sophia were cute too I guess lol
• Suffering like a motherfucker for midterms
• BUT THEN turning up like a motherfucker when they were over at abril por la tercera vez and spoken word!
• Missing camino de Santiago since I’m ridic
• Seeing Perdida with ~humans~
• Meeting Encarni and Javi through ONCE
• Getting drinks with Calee and tim and just in general my growing friendship with them
• Intercambio en la residencia good times!
• Discovering my origins
• Having a great time in Ronda
• Meeting Antonio through intercambio
• Playing with Eva for intercambios and also meeting her lovely friends yesterday!
• Learning hella vocab and just making the most of my times here.

This second month has def been more interesting than the first and with each day, I feel a comfort previously unfelt abroad. I’m proud of myself and can’t wait to see what happens next—should be a tale for the storybooks 🙂

Los Bandoleros de Ronda

Ronda es una ciudad preciosa que está en Andalucía a dos horas de Sevilla. Montañas y valles están por alrededor y ahora y históricamente han tenido influencia en la manera en que la gente ha vivido sus vidas. Un ejemplo particular de esto es el caso de los bandoleros. Durante los guerras de Napoleón, muchos movimientos de resistencia fueron organizados en esta zona. Existía mucha injusticia social que animaba mucho bandolerismo. Porque había muchas colinas donde la gente podía esconderse, muchos esperaban allí para robar los soldados y los extranjeros ricos que pasaban por allí. Un bandolero muy famoso se llamó José María Hinojosa o “el Tempranillo” fue conocido por robar a la gente por ligar con las mujeres que andaban por Ronda y suavemente robarlas.