Monday 22nd of August 2005
Jubilant times
Smile!: Bonnie and Sandra at Vips.
The incoming Bonnie arrived last friday. I got the day off and Jorge and I went to pick her up at the airport. I must say, the concentration of hot women in the airport was staggering. Add to that the fact that languages are sexy and damn. We basically sat there and oogled left at right while waiting for Bonnie´s arrival. I can’t quite describe the “feeling” you get after seeing someone you know after such a long time. It goes by so fast I’ve never had the chance to study it properly, it seems to be like when you wake up and realize you just had a dream. You know you just had one, but you can’t remember what happened in it.
Sandra’s parents are out of town, so we basically took over her house for the weekend. After dropping off bags and other crap at Sandra’s, we went to Mercadona and bought food. After getting back home and eating a nice big meal, we indulged ourselves in the Spanish experience and took a siesta. After waking up 45 minutes later, we proceeded to walk around Madrid. Went to Callao, Puerta del Sol, walked around Gran Via, visited Plaza Mayor, saw the Almudena and the Royal Palace, saw the Palacio de Comunicaciones and god knows what else. We met up with Estefania and Rebeca at this point, and as it was getting dark and the hunger started to strike we went to Plaza España and found an Asturian restaurant that Jorge seemed to know about. We proceeded to try our skills at escanciar the sidra into our glasses. You basically hold the glass tilted sideways, streching your hand out, then hold the bootle with your other hand and pour it from as far up and away as you can, aiming for the rim of the glass. Much fun was to be had.
After that we started looking for a suitable garito (bar). I have no idea where Jorge took us, but after maybe 15-20 minutes of “alright” songs, they started a stream of excellent songs, one after another. We sang. We screamed. Did the sprinkler. Tried on ice cream cone wrappers on our nose. We jumped. Drank Calimochos with blackberry. We smiled. Amazing time.
The place started closing doors at 3am, announcing this by playing really shitty and silly music as to scare people away. Ha. We met up with Cat at this point, who is also in Madrid, staying for a month. Saw some chinese girls playing hide and seek in a little kid’s park. Taped them. They they waved at us to join them. Er. After that we went to get some hot chocolate in the Chocolatería San Gines. After which we all went back home to sleep it all off. Whew.
A fun friday indeed.
Tuesday 16th of August 2005
The O-bon days
Lanterns: In some park in tokyo I sadly forgot the name of.
Through the 13th to the 16th August O-bon is celebrated in Japan. It is a Buddhist event in which you pray for the repose of one’s ancestors who are thought to visit our homes during O-bon.
I remember when they thought us about O-bon in Japanese class back in 2001 or so. Yes, I remember something. Thank you Sagae sensei. :o -So, these fires called mukaebi are lit in the entrances of homes to guide the ancestor’s spirits, they also offer food such as fruits to the spirits in front of the family abutsudan which in turn is decorated with paper lanterns and flowers.
The best part, are the dances. bon odori (folk dances) are held around Japan. The type of dance varies from area to area, and people will wear yukatas (summer kimonos) go to their closest shrine, temple or park and dance. I remember Daisuke played music from gozilla in class, and we danced to it. Yes, we were crazy. We still are.
Toro Nagashi (floating paper lanterns) are sent off down a river and onto the ocean on the evening of the 15th, representing the ancestor’s spirits with a paper lantern, lit by a candle inside. Fireworks displays (Hanabi-taikai) are often held during O-bon.
I miss Japan.