The Weekend
I had a very interesting weekend, despite never leaving Madrid. On Saturday, my little brother Gaspar invited about a dozen friends over for his birthday party. This, in itself, was not that unusual. However, parents and relatives were continually dropping by to chat or have a drink with María José, and as a result she spent the better part of the day mildly inebriated. The greatest part about Saturday, however, was Manuel, the older brother.
Manuel attends boarding school during the week, and only returns for weekends. On this particular weekend, Manuel´s friends had decided to celebrate his return on Friday by having a get together. Manuel had never drank alchohol before, which was very apparent the next day.
Manuel had an epic hangover, the kind of hangover with trips to the underworld and divine intervention. And it was his little brother´s birthday.
So imagine, if you will, the combination of:
1) The worst hangover you´ve ever had
2) The incessant screams of your brother and his twelve best friends
3) relatives constantly stopping by to offer advice on how to deal with your hangover, or telling you why you feel like shit.
Overall, it was pretty funny to watch Manuel shuffle between the bathroom, bedroom and the nagging relatives. Also I felt a little sorry for him.
On sunday, I had a unique experience in the park Buen Retiro. I like to run in Buen Retiro because the run is usually about the perfect distance, and there´s a jungle gym in the center of the park that´s very convenient for pullups and abs. This Sunday, the Buen Retiro had an atmosphere totaly different from anything I´d ever seen before; The air was thick, like the whole park was filled with clouds, or there was a storm that only existed inside the park gates. Sundays are busier days in El Buen Retiro, and I eventually decided the air was thicker because of dust. So many people had been walking through the park that the air had filled with dust. It was a little surreal to change from day to dusk just by entering the park.
Once I reached the pullup bars, I went through my routine, which includes some ab excercises on the pullup bars. I shared the bars with the other runners and rugby players. A huge man approached me, a man who shook the whole set of bars when he did pullups, and asked me which muscles my ab excercises worked.
"The Stomach," I replied akwardly, "but I don´t know if the excercise actually works." He immediately recognized me as a foreigner, and asked where I was from. It turns out he was from the Dominican Republic, and is studying in Madrid to be a cook. He told me he hopes to work in Miami, because they pay well, and speak Spanish.
Not sure why, but the whole encounter was really interesting. It has a lot to do with accidental encounters, which is what we´re discussing with Huergo. A lot of our readings say the only true way to know a person is by accident.
Sean OUT
Manuel attends boarding school during the week, and only returns for weekends. On this particular weekend, Manuel´s friends had decided to celebrate his return on Friday by having a get together. Manuel had never drank alchohol before, which was very apparent the next day.
Manuel had an epic hangover, the kind of hangover with trips to the underworld and divine intervention. And it was his little brother´s birthday.
So imagine, if you will, the combination of:
1) The worst hangover you´ve ever had
2) The incessant screams of your brother and his twelve best friends
3) relatives constantly stopping by to offer advice on how to deal with your hangover, or telling you why you feel like shit.
Overall, it was pretty funny to watch Manuel shuffle between the bathroom, bedroom and the nagging relatives. Also I felt a little sorry for him.
On sunday, I had a unique experience in the park Buen Retiro. I like to run in Buen Retiro because the run is usually about the perfect distance, and there´s a jungle gym in the center of the park that´s very convenient for pullups and abs. This Sunday, the Buen Retiro had an atmosphere totaly different from anything I´d ever seen before; The air was thick, like the whole park was filled with clouds, or there was a storm that only existed inside the park gates. Sundays are busier days in El Buen Retiro, and I eventually decided the air was thicker because of dust. So many people had been walking through the park that the air had filled with dust. It was a little surreal to change from day to dusk just by entering the park.
Once I reached the pullup bars, I went through my routine, which includes some ab excercises on the pullup bars. I shared the bars with the other runners and rugby players. A huge man approached me, a man who shook the whole set of bars when he did pullups, and asked me which muscles my ab excercises worked.
"The Stomach," I replied akwardly, "but I don´t know if the excercise actually works." He immediately recognized me as a foreigner, and asked where I was from. It turns out he was from the Dominican Republic, and is studying in Madrid to be a cook. He told me he hopes to work in Miami, because they pay well, and speak Spanish.
Not sure why, but the whole encounter was really interesting. It has a lot to do with accidental encounters, which is what we´re discussing with Huergo. A lot of our readings say the only true way to know a person is by accident.
Sean OUT
posted by Sean at 7:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home