Que bona sort que té aquest al·lot

Trip Start Jun 05, 2006

Trip End Aug 01, 2006

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Flag of Spain Santa María del Camí, Spain
Friday, July 28, 2006

"And that's when he realized--not only did he love paella, but probably didn't want to eat any other kind of food for the rest of his life."

So yesterday afternoon, Miguel's mom dropped me off at the library in Palma, where Juan Miguel Monterrubio picked me up to take me to his house and introduce me to his kids and hang out by the pool for a bit. Juan Miguel (the director of the Vanderbilt program in Palma, and an incredibly nice guy to boot) and I got to be pretty close over my year here, mainly because he worried about me getting depressed during my first month here alone, being the only Vanderbilt student to come, and always invited me to play soccer with his group of friends on the weekends. Turns out he lives (very happily from the looks) in a really nice apartment flat outside Palma, with his wife (who I still haven't gotten to meet) and his two kids, Marc and Pau

01-Pikachu waits for train to Palma in Sta Maria

. So we did hang out by the pool for a bit, me thrashing his kids and their friend in a cannonball contest, and talking about the state of the world in desolate tones, and, in my case, faltering Spanish. I was starting to get a little burned when Juan Miguel decided it was time to head to the paellaría he'd selected for lunch, though his wife was still on her way home from some errand.

The particular paella place we went to was located next to a youth sailing school, where the royal family had learned to sail. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and HOT, so I was glad to note that the place had aire acondicionado and provided an excellent view of the harbor, with kids sliding into it in their pint-sized sail boats. For appetizer we had some delicious calamari with parsley, which I've never had with calamari, but adds a really good flavor, and a discussion of Juan Miguel's hilarious experiences during his three month study abroad in Madison, Wisconsin. And then the paella came, with big red prawns, bits of fish, calamari, and mussels, which I then scarfed with gusto while we somehow got into a deep discussion of global warming. Probably the best paella I've had, even despite the disquieting subject matter.

After the highly-fulfilling luncheon, Juan Miguel dropped me off at, well, near Son Hugo, the exercise complex where Miguel works. We couldn't seem to find the right exit off the highway, so I told him here was fine and when he drove off I climbed through a hole in a fence and crossed some railroad tracks and another thoroughfare to get to the Son Hugo parking lot. Since I was dressed in khaki shorts and a polo, and you don't usually do those sorts of climbing-running-jumping exercises in sailing get-up, I'm pretty sure this girl loitering in the parking lot shot me the oddest look she could physically muster

02-dinner with Juan, Lluci, Carlota y Vane

. But once inside, again in the AC, I waited for Miguel to come back to work, to let me into the pool area, so I could take a nap on the concrete in the shade of the diving platforms. After some kids started dripping all over me I decided to swim some laps and get embarrassed by all the professional swimmers that haunt that place and, once exhausted, read a little bit of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is great (Jon), by the way, while waiting for Miguel to get off.

Miguel and I rolled up to Xisca's a little early for the 9 o'clock dinner, and took the elevator up to my old casa. It looked just about the same except for none of my stuff being strewn about my former bedroom, and that now a picture of me and Xisca sits on the shelf among the other "previous American students." The dinner was excelente! We had a cold zucchini soup, sangría, and I must have had three servings of that salmon dish. With Miguel there, they all kept speaking in mallorquín, and then asking why I was so serious (my face contorted in concentration from trying to follow the conversation), which I thought was pretty unfair. But, as always, we talked politics and told jokes with Rafa, who at 73, is still one of the wittiest and most knowledgeable people I know, and about the weather and girls and family and my travels with Xisca. It was a great dinner, and I really enjoyed seeing Xisca, Rafa and Lluc again

03-my boys-Miguel, me, Juan

. That house is like a physical manifestation of nostalgia for me, which may also explain some of my "seriousness" at dinner. But then we said our goodbyes and went for a quick beer at this really great bar near the canals, where there is kind of a bohemian crowd and they play a lot of great (English-speaking) music. (By the way, popular Spanish music, as a general rule, is limited in scope to love ballads, and in musical quality to "you couldn't pay me to listen to that" status.)

In any case today I really don't have anything planned, except lunch when Miguel get's back from his first shift in a little bit, and perhaps a trip to the other end of the island, to Alcudia, tonight. Tomorrow there's a big music concert at some beach that we're definitely going to. And, well, that's all for now. See you next time.

Fins sa próxima vegada,

Matt