It’s been a busy week for everyone here.
If you’ve been on the Internet at all, you’ve seen news or photos of the bull’s horn in the bullfighter’s throat. Matador Julio Aparicio took the blow after tripping in a fight on Friday, during the third weekend of the Feria de San Isidro in Madrid. The horn went through Aparicio’s tongue, jawbone and roof of the mouth, but surgeon Maximo Garcia Pedros was able to save him after he was rushed to the hospital.
On Monday, judge Baltasar Garzon moved into his new office in The Hague to work with the International Criminal Court. Garzon has been under investigation in Spanish courts for supposedly overstepping his bounds in opening cases against crimes committed under former dictator Francisco Franco. His recent summoning to The Hague resulted in a call from some right-wing groups and judges in his own court, the Audiencia Nacional, that he not be allowed to go. He was cleared, however, and will advise the international body for the next seven months.
Also on Monday, four large Spanish banks fused to create the fourth largest banking firm (“caja”) in the country. Caja Mediterraneo, Cajasur, Caja Cantabria and Caja Extremadura joined forces after Cajasur rejected a deal with Unicaja and asked for direct help from the Spanish national bank, the Banco de España. The agreement has received conditional approval from the European Commission, pending a restructure plan to be presented within six months that guarantees the firm’s long-term success without more public aid.
And over the weekend, the group organizing Nelson Mandela Day in Madrid announced that bluesman B.B. King will play for free at Teatro Circo Price the night of June 2. The concert is part of the run-up to a large concert scheduled for July 16 in the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid, which will celebrate Mandela’s 92nd birthday.
In the midst of all this excitement, I’ve been writing essays and studying for this week’s finals. Spain’s school calendar works about a month behind the U.S. school year, so all the cramming that IU students were doing in the first week of May, I’m doing now.
True to the attitude here of “work to live, don’t live to work,” I’ve allowed myself a few breaks. Last weekend was the citywide festival of San Isidro, so I saw some shows and a bullfight. (A week early, it seems.) This weekend I watched an epically bad horror movie (One Missed Call) and studied for an exam at a hookah bar.
It’s quite a change from schoolwork in Bloomington, and in some ways I’ve been procrastinating less because of the lower amount of stress. Unlike almost every paper I’ve written back home, I started writing my six essays more than three weeks before the due date. (They aren’t done yet, but it’s still progress.)
The work continues, and the exciting Spanish rhythm keeps flowing. Next week’s break: some rhythm and blues from the King.
If you’ve been on the Internet at all, you’ve seen news or photos of the bull’s horn in the bullfighter’s throat. Matador Julio Aparicio took the blow after tripping in a fight on Friday, during the third weekend of the Feria de San Isidro in Madrid. The horn went through Aparicio’s tongue, jawbone and roof of the mouth, but surgeon Maximo Garcia Pedros was able to save him after he was rushed to the hospital.
On Monday, judge Baltasar Garzon moved into his new office in The Hague to work with the International Criminal Court. Garzon has been under investigation in Spanish courts for supposedly overstepping his bounds in opening cases against crimes committed under former dictator Francisco Franco. His recent summoning to The Hague resulted in a call from some right-wing groups and judges in his own court, the Audiencia Nacional, that he not be allowed to go. He was cleared, however, and will advise the international body for the next seven months.
Also on Monday, four large Spanish banks fused to create the fourth largest banking firm (“caja”) in the country. Caja Mediterraneo, Cajasur, Caja Cantabria and Caja Extremadura joined forces after Cajasur rejected a deal with Unicaja and asked for direct help from the Spanish national bank, the Banco de España. The agreement has received conditional approval from the European Commission, pending a restructure plan to be presented within six months that guarantees the firm’s long-term success without more public aid.
And over the weekend, the group organizing Nelson Mandela Day in Madrid announced that bluesman B.B. King will play for free at Teatro Circo Price the night of June 2. The concert is part of the run-up to a large concert scheduled for July 16 in the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid, which will celebrate Mandela’s 92nd birthday.
In the midst of all this excitement, I’ve been writing essays and studying for this week’s finals. Spain’s school calendar works about a month behind the U.S. school year, so all the cramming that IU students were doing in the first week of May, I’m doing now.
True to the attitude here of “work to live, don’t live to work,” I’ve allowed myself a few breaks. Last weekend was the citywide festival of San Isidro, so I saw some shows and a bullfight. (A week early, it seems.) This weekend I watched an epically bad horror movie (One Missed Call) and studied for an exam at a hookah bar.
It’s quite a change from schoolwork in Bloomington, and in some ways I’ve been procrastinating less because of the lower amount of stress. Unlike almost every paper I’ve written back home, I started writing my six essays more than three weeks before the due date. (They aren’t done yet, but it’s still progress.)
The work continues, and the exciting Spanish rhythm keeps flowing. Next week’s break: some rhythm and blues from the King.
