Half-Done

The last few days have been very significant for me. Wednesday, October 28th, was the exact middle day of my stay here in Barcelona. I got here on August 28th and I leave on December 28th. So, yes, October 28th was an important day. Completely by chance, Wednesday was also the day that I got to see Wayne Shorter, my all-time favorite jazz saxophone player. I couldn't find anyone to go with me (nobody knew who he was!) so I splurged and got 50-euro, SECOND ROW seats. The view was incredible. I was literally 30 feet from my jazz idol for an hour and a half.



Before the concert started I had taken out my camera to take some pictures of the venue, and the Spanish guy sitting next to me asked me if I'd email the pictures I took of the concert to him. I was more than happy to do so, and we struck up a conversation about Wayne Shorter and jazz in general. He, like me, had come alone to the concert because none of his friends liked jazz. By chance we had both paid the extra euros and gotten seats next to each other. I considered meeting Miki a significant event for October 28th because it was the first time I'd just started talking to a Spaniard and received such friendliness in return. We were able to maintain a decent conversation, despite my sub-par Spanish and his probable preference to speak in Catalan. The concert itself was incredible. Wayne Shorter has still got it going on even though he's like 75 years old or something. His band was really tight and they had the whole place groovin’. I’m still in shock that I actually got to see him. He has been my favorite jazz artist for years.




Significant event number two came on Thursday morning (the 29th). I had to give a presentation in my Medieval History class completely in Spanish. Now, I’d been worried about this presentation since the start of class and, honestly, if I had had to give the presentation three weeks earlier I would have been screwed. But my group and I (all Americans) managed to pull off a decent presentation, if I say so myself. I felt really good about it.

And the third yet very significant event took place the very next day on Friday. I finally made myself do some work on my research project (electronic music scene in Barcelona) and sent out a few emails, asking for interviews/ info. One of the two emails I spent half an hour writing and was directed to la orquesta del caos, or the Orchestra of Chaos. It’s an experimental music orchestra, headed by one José Manuel Berenger and in addition to creating music, hosts workshops and works with the cultural center of Barcelona to put on events. So I’ve gathered that it’s a pretty big deal. Crazily enough, José Manuel Berenger himself emailed me back within 2 hours enthusiastically suggesting that we meet sometime in the next few weeks!! So now I’ve accomplished something with the project (sort of) but that means I actually have to start thinking of questions to ask, which is sort of freaking me out. I’ve never even interviewed anyone in English before! But I’m really excited that I’m making headway.
So yes, three significant events right around the middle of my stay here. Overall I’m beginning to feel more comfortable in my day to day interactions, so I hope these events are just a hint of what’s to come in my last two months!

Oh yea, and I met a shepherd