Technology

In this article it talks about how Spanish households are the most reluctant in Europe to use new technologies. It turns out 45 % of Spanish homes are against using the latest technology in their lives. Their study was based on the four main communication technology services: Internet, mobile phones, landline phones, and digital/ satellite tv. The results showed that 23% of the Spanish household are on the edge of the digital age and have an "emotional barrier" to new technologies. On average each house has 1.3 services in their homes and they dont like services such as Internet because the believe they are a waste of time. Overall only 5% of the population show real interest towards switching to newer technology services in their home.

I think this news is very sad. Here in the United States I think we are very modern. I mean if you think about it,  new cell phones are being released every month. Apple is also continuing to make new products like the iPhone and iPad. These are very popular and top sellers in the United States. It's surprising to me that Spain is not into new technology since they are known for their Tourism. People are always coming in and leaving, so why aren't more new products being discovered?

http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2005/03/domestic-use-of-new-technology-in.htm

Spanish Wedding Customs

In a tradional Spanish Wedding the groom groom gives a watch to the bride's father when hes proposal is accepted. In earlier times brides would wear black dresses but now they returned to while just like we wear here in the United States. Because dining late is a Mediterranean custom, wedding ceremonies often aren't scheduled until the evening. Usually the bride's father escorts his daughter to the church after having ensured that the groom hasn't seen her the night before the ceremony. The groom's mother walks down the aisle with her son.

Even though I've never been to a real wedding I know of the American Customs. I've never heard of the groom walking down the aisle, let alone with his mom! The brides only have this honor and they get escorted by their fathers. The Spanish traditions also suggest that the bride's father stays with her the night before her wedding making sure the groom is no where to be found. I thought the bachelorette party takes place that night! I also learned that weddings in Spain take place in the evening. Here in the United States most weddings take place in the afternoon and the receptions occur at night. I found it interesting to learn about tradional Spanish Weddings because someday I think it would be fun to attend one!

http://www.worldweddingcustoms.com/wedding_customs/wedding_traditions/spanish_wedding_customs.html

Shopping in Spain's Barcelona

In Barcelona there are around 35,000 shops! Most shops are close to eachother so it's very easy to wander from store to store. There is a very well known 5 KM line of shops. This shop is home to the Ramblas, through Placa de Catalunya along Passeig de Gràcia and up Avenue Diagonal. Some of the big names in Spanish styles include Versace, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Bally, Cartier and Calvin Klein. The popular European style is called "chic."
I absolutley love shopping! It would be such a fun experiene to shop in Barcelona. 5 KM filled with clothes, jewelry, and shoes is every girl's dream. I bet some of these stores could be compared to the stores on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I wonder how many people travel to Barcelona each year to go shopping at such fine stores.I also wonder if the popular styles in Spain are similar to the ones here in the United States. I know I've heard of Calvin Klein before and Burberry but I haven't heard about any of the others. Out of all the shopping stores in Barcelona I bet there is one that's the most popular. Here in the U.S I'de say stores like Dash ( Kim and Courtney Kardashian's store) are very well know.

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/shopping/barcelona-spain-shopping.html

President of Spain?

It turns our the President of the Government of Spain is as known to us English as the Prime Minester of Spain. The office is established under the Constitution of 1978. The King of Spain most nominate a candidate for the presidency who stands before the Congress of Deputies for a Vote of Confidence in a process known as a Congressional Investure. The current prime minister since December 21, 2011 is Mariano Rajoy Brey. As for term lengths, there are no limits. Presidents are by conventions, the leader of the victorious party. So no terms are imposed on the office.

Im sure there are many differences with the way America and Spain are run. I mean they are whole different countries. Although the nomination process seems very long and difficult I'm sure it's a very precise system. I found it surprising that there are no term lengths for Spanish Presidents. Here in America we have elections for new presidents every 4 years. I wonder how strict the Spanish democracy is. I know there are many tourists coming in and out of that country so I bet they have to keep a close eye on them. I'm also curious as to if any women have ever ran for presidency in Spain. There have been women who have ran here in the U.S but they never made it the whole way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Spain

Bull Fighting History

Bull fighting can be traces back to 711 A.D. That was when the very first bullfight took place in the celebration of the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. Now a days it is said that the total number of people watching bullfights in Spain reaches one million every year. Originally bullfighting was a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback. But King Felipe the fifth took charge and banned the aristocracy from taking part, believing in to be a bad example to the public. After the ban players accepted the sport as their own and since they could not afford horses, developed the practice of dodging the bulls on foot, unarmed. This transformation took place around 1724.

I really believe bullfighting is a dangerous sport. I cant believe people would want to involve themselves in such a harmful sport. Everytime they walk out into the arena they are putting their lives at risk. If something were to go wrong and the bull starting attacking the fighter, they would be toast. I wonder how much money these professionals get payed compared to an NBA basketball player here in the United States. I bet it would be a lot since the risk factor is so high.

http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/bullfighting.htm

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias was born on May 8, 1975. He is a Spanish-Filipino-American pop music singer. He was 8 years old when he moved to the US. When he turned 15 he secretly began writing music. On September 25th, 1995 he released his first album. His second album, which was recorded in Spanish was released on January 29th, 1997. Other albums include: "Vivir", "Cosas Del Amor", "Enrique", "Escape" and "Quizas" All together, Enrique has sold over 15 million albums worldwide!

Here is a video of Enrique's hit song "I like it."

I'm very glad Enrique came to America or else we wouldn't have been able to hear any of his songs. His music has impacted many people's lives. He also has many fans. I am sure they are grateful that he began secretly writing music or else he wouldn't be the musician he is today. I wonder what made him and his family move to the United States from Spain. I believe he is the most inspiring Spanish musician to move to America from Spain, because I think that he has such a wide range of musical talents. I hope I can keep learning more about Español so that I can understand more of his songs that are written in spanish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_iglesias

Spanish Fairy Tale... The Wounded Lion

I read an old Spanish fairy tale. It was about a poor girl who herded cows. One day, she heard a moan, and found a lion with a thorn in its paw. She decided to tend to it and the lion was very thankful. But she couldn't find her cows. Her master beat her and made her herd donkeys instead. A year later, she found the same lion wounded again. As soon as she healed the lion, the donkeys vanished. Her master beat her again and forced her to herd pigs. Of course the lion appeared for a third time. She healed him again and the pigs vanished. But this time she decided to wait and see if she could find them. She climbed a tree and saw a man coming down a path and vanished behind a rock at sunset. She stayed until she saw him come out. At dawn, a lion came out. She went down and behind the rock a beautiful house stood there. She tidied it up and ate a meal before coming out to climb the same tree. The man came at the same time, and the next morning, the lion looked about before going on. After three days of this, she could not discover his secret, so she left her tree and asked him. He told her that he was cursed by a giant into that form by day and was the lion she had helped; furthermore, the giant had stolen the cows, donkeys, and pigs in revenge for her aid. She wanted to free him. He told her that the only way was to get a lock of hair from the king's daughter and make a cloak from it for the giant. So she did just that and was hired as a scullion for the princess. Once she earned the princess's trust she received a lock of her hair, but only if the girl promised to find the princess someone to marry. The girl went to the giant and gave him the cloak. He told her in order to turn the lion back into a man she had to kill the lion, cut him into pieces, burn them, and throw the ash into water. Then the prince would arise from it a man. She went away crying, afraid that the giant had lied and she would kill the prince. The prince comforted her and told her to do it, and it worked. He said he would marry her. The girl told him she had promised the princess that she had found her a husband. They went back to the princess, and her parents, the king and queen, knew him for their own son. So he married the girl who had saved him. And they lived happily ever after. The End!

I think the girl in this story deserved to marry the prince. When she tended to the lion she had no idea that it was really the prince in disguise. She is also very tough. Her master beat her several times, but everytime the lion showed up she put her own problems aside and cared for him. The moral of this tale is that good things come to good people!

http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/pink25.htm

How the Spanish Celebrate Christmas

The beginning of December marks the start of the Christmas celebration for Spain. Towns and cities all over the country are decorated with Christmas trees, lights, and nativity displays (naciemento/belen). In some villages children sing Christmas carols outside their neighbor's homes or by nativity scenes. They receive sweets or a few coins for their singing. This is an old tradition known as "aguinaldo". December 22nd is the day when school children start their winter holidays, and also the day when the winning numbers in the Christmas lottery (El Gordo), one of the largest lotteries in the world, are announced. The lottery was set up in 1763 by Carlos III and has run every year since then. On New Year's Eve (Nochevieja) there are street parties and firework displays, and at midnight people gather in plazas and church bells ring 12 times. One grape is eaten for each ring of the bell. The Spanish believe this brings 12 months of prosperity in the New Year. The day before Three King's Day (Los Reyes) on the 6th of January, there are steps to marking the arrival of the three kings. Before going to bed, kids leave their shoes somewhere visible in their house or balcony and fill them with straw and carrots for the king's horse. The following morning the shoes are filled with presents. A large ring-shaped cake decorated with candied fruit and known as the "Roscón de los Reyes" is eaten by many people on January 6th. Those who find a hidden charm in the cake are crowned king or queen for the rest of the day!

There are many differences between the Spanish culture and American culture when it comes to Christmas. I think it's interesting how they have a "Christmas lottery" and how big it is! It must be a big deal though, if there's a special day for it. Another difference between Spain's Christmas and our US Christmas is that they don't have a Santa. Instead of feeding Santa's reindeer like we do in America, Spanish children fill their shoes with straw and carrots for the King's horse. There's one thing that stays the same between these 2 cultures and that is presents! The people of Spain exchange presents just as we do in the US.

http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/christmas-in-spain.htm

Top 10 Most Wealthiest People of Spain

Amancio Ortega was born on March 8th, 1936. He is a Spanish fashion entrepreneur. In 2011 he was ranked by Forbes as Spain's richest man; Europe’s second richest man; and the seventh richest man in the world! He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of A Coruña, Spain. He moved here at the age of 14 due to the job of his father, a railway worker.  Starting as a gofer in multiple shirt stores in 1972 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials spelled backwards) which made bathrobes. Then in 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara. He owns 59.28% of the Inditex group (industrias de Deseño Textil Soceidad Anónima) which includes the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 92,000 employees. Ortega keeps a very low profile and there are no particular pictures of him. He refuses to wear a tie, and likes to dress in blue jeans and T-shirts. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company. In 2011 he made a public appearance in 2000 as part of the warm-up prior to placing his company on the stock market in 2001. It ended up making Spanish financial headlines, but he was never given an interview. This secrecy has led authors to publish books on him such as Amancio Ortega: De Cero a Zara ( From Zero to Zara).

http://www.famouswhy.com/List/Top_10_Spain's_Richest_People/754.html
http://www.spain-holiday.com/blog/spains-richest-people.php

La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain. The festivities begin with the first event of the Tomatina. It's called the "palo jabón", which means greasy pole. The object of this game is to be the first to climb a greased pole with a ham on top. Sounds pretty weird right? Well it gets crazier! As this game is going on people in the crowd sing and dance while being showered in water from hoses. Once someone is able to drop the ham off the pole, the tomato fight begins! Over 90,000 pounds of are tossed in the air. Participants are recommended to wear goggles and gloves. The tomatoes must also be crushed before being thrown to reduce the risk of injury. After exactly one hour the fight is over and no more tomatoes can be thrown. The whole town square is colored red. Fire trucks hose down the streets and the people use local hoses to remove the tomato paste from their bodies. Some even go to the pool of "los peñones"(rocks) to wash. After all the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are spotless and good as new since acids of the tomatoes cleaning the surfaces.

 I think it would be fun to have a huge tomato fight in Alex! We could have it on Broadway. All the little shops would be stained red until the fire trucks rolled in to reveal their former glory! I think I would have to create a new rule in addition to the wearing goggles and gloves. Everyone has to wear white t-shirts. I can just see the image of 100s of people wearing white and then all of a sudden tons of tomatoes are lobbed into the air and land on clean white canvases!

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/holidaysfeasts/a/latomatina.htm

Spanish Food

I found a Spanish Coffee Cake recipe and baked it at my house: http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/spanish_coffee_cake


 I expected it to taste like a regular English coffee cake, but it turned out very bland. This caused me to think that Spanish food lacks taste. After doing some research on the difference between Spanish food and American food I came to the conclusion that Americans actually have the bland food. The Spanish are known to use various spices which make the food spicier and have a bit of a kick. It just so happens this coffee cake recipe didn't have any spices besides cinnamon; therefore this was not an accurate example of Spanish cuisine.