interesting politics

apparently, the maximum prison sentence in Spain, irrespective of the crime, is 30 years. someone told me that one of the terrorists who bombed the madrid metro in 2004 (killing 180 and injuring hundreds more) got only 5 years! now, for every day you study or work in jail, two days are stricken from your sentence. this mofo could be out in a couple of years. craziness.
then again, what can you expect in a country whose cops let you go if you have under three grams of coke, because, after all, it is only for personal use. my professor is terribly disaffected with the lawlessness of Spain, and he alludes to it nearly every day. i tell him that i don´t mind lax laws, using the often preposterous legislation (esp. when it comes to narcotics) in the U.S. as my point of comparison.

being in spain and not knowing spanish perfectly can make for some amusing situations. one day in class the prof asked a girl ¨compras drogas en la calle?¨ (do you buy drugs on the street?) and she said ¨si, si¨ (yes,yes). she was confused and thought he was asking something else, maybe about buying medical drugs at the pharmacy. the prof, slightly surprised by her response, asked her once more, this time MUCH more slowly: compras drogas en la calle? -Uh… um, oh, no! No! the girl replied, finally understanding.

The same girl made another booboo later that day, in grammar class. The professor asked ¨cuantos hermanos tienes?¨ (how many siblings do you have?) and the girl replied ¨veintiseis¨(26). The teacher´s eyes nearly jumped out of her head. 26!? the teacher asked, almost yelling. The girl thought for a moment, and said, ¨si, 26.¨ the teacher knew that this could not be, so she asked the girl one last time, very very slowly and clearly. The girl finally got it, and gave not her brother´s age (26) but the amount of siblings she had (2).

I´m sure I´ve made a few booboos and committed a few bloopers myself, but when I do not understand something I tend to ask for clarification because (1) I want to avoid making dumb mistakes and (2) I want to learn new words and phrases and the only way to do that is to ask the person speaking them to repeat, repeat, repeat.

I am semi-watching Los Simpson right now. Their voices in the spanish version are not nearly as cool as the original ones (although Marge´s ain´t half-bad). I am convinced that the Spanish title should read NOT Los Simpson but Los Simpsons. Plural, goddamnit! But what do I know?

Tonight´s plans:
-find and talk (but only talk) to a hooker; prostitution is legal here, as far as I know
-go to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza for the third, but certainly not last, time
-buy train ticket for day trip to Avila, a medieval fortress north of madrid
-go to el cine (the movie(s)) and possibly tapas (snacks served at bars or restaurants) afterwards
-attend party at 23:30; I don´t know whose party it is, or what it´s about, but all the more reason to check shit out, no?