Art, Octopus and Spanish blunders

Trip Start Feb 16, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Saturday, May 10, 2008

On Saturday, May 10th we went on our second excursion outside of Barcelona, but unfortunately this time the weather was gloomy and rainy. Andy and I found a 'Meet Up' group in April that gets together every week at a little bar for intercambio/conversation exchange. There are usually about 10 - 15 English speakers and as many Spanish speakers so we can all chat and practice our 'target' language in small groups with a cerveza or two to help with flow. The organizer of the conversation group also finds the occasional weekend excursion that people can attend to have extra language practice and meet new people. The one we went to on May 10th was in Terrassa and included a visit to the Keith Haring exhibit at the art gallery followed by lunch.

It was interesting to see the exhibit and learn a bit more about Keith Haring. I didn't know much about him but I recognized his art right away. He is most famous for the dancing colourful people and hearts. Apparently he was really into social activism and used his art to convey messages about racism, AIDS, sexuality, apartheid and more. The pop art that I knew of was just a selection of his vast collection. He is well known in Barcelona for a mural he painted near MACBA in the late 80's. This exhibit marked what would have been his 50th birthday had he not died of AIDS. So in that sense it was a powerful tribute to his life. But we were all surprised that it was tucked away in Terrassa instead of being in Barcelona.

After walking through the gallery, we dashed through the rain to a nice little restaurant down a side street in Terrassa. The town seems quite nice although it was hard to tell with all our umbrellas in the way. Maybe we'll have to give it another chance on a sunny day.

At the restaurant we were treated to a four-course lunch for 11 Euros. Everything was really tasty but the seafood in my salad didn't entirely agree with me. We finished dinner and took the train back to Barcelona so I could tend to my tummy troubles. Later in the evening we were talking in Spanish to one of our roommates. I said that I had a stomachache from my salad and he asked me what was in it. I said it had 'polvo' in it and I thought that was what had made me feel sick. He looked at me funny and remarked how terrible it was that I had dirt in my salad. What I meant to say was that I had 'pulpo' (octopus) in my salad, but I used the word 'polvo' (dirt/dust) by mistake! Ahhhhh the joys of learning a new language!!
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