Lights Out

I forgot to tell you a story from last weekend. I believe it was Saturday night; my roommates, some friends, and I decided to go to a bar just down the street. We went around 1:30. About 20 minutes later all of the lights in the bar went out ; it was so dark I couldn't even see the face of the person with whom I was having a conversation. The lights did not turn back on and, after a few minutes, one of my friends went to ask what was happening. Apparently the entire street, including the bar, lost power. In this situation in the United States I would predict the bar to close and ask everyone to leave; this is what I thought they were going to do. Instead, however, they brought out about 100 little candles- the candles they put in the candle holders at their tables when they are a restaurant- and lined the bar and the stairs. My friends and I decided it was a nice, quiet atmosphere, so we stayed. A little while later I went up to ask the bar tender where the restroom was located. She answered, but told me that there was no light in there; I took a candle. She then explained to me that even the cash register wouldn't open. I laughed as I went to the bathroom holding a candle. This instance provided a great microcosm to explain the lifestyle and societal differences between here and the U.S. Everyone was calm, relaxed, and just went with the flow instead of freaking out and scrambling to find a solution.

I'll also take this opportunity to tell you about my Tuesday/ Thursday class (yes, I only have one due to my marathon Mon/Wed schedule). It is entitled Mediterranean History and Heritage. I know it sounds like a joke, a blow-off course, but I think it might end up being the most interesting class I am taking here; the instructor seems awesome. He is an archaeologist who specializes in the presentation of archaeological findings to the public. In talking about himself and his work at the beginning of class he discussed the paradox and difficulty in this relatively new, rapidly expanding field. He explained the necessity to make archaeological research and findings interesting and meaningful enough for tourists to come see them and make people want to learn about them, but still boring enough that the sites are not overrun by visitors, which would ruin possible findings. He also discussed his passion for the classics and a truly liberal education, which I took to heart. Especially interesting, however, was the following. About five minutes into class he stated, "if you are debating whether or not you wish to remain in this class I'll state this very plain and clearly now..." I was expecting him to divulge workload or difficult of the course. He then continued in his Scottish accent, "We are going to start off the term discussing the beginnings of humanity and then explore the evolution of both humans and civilization. If you do not agree with that sort of thing you may not want to remain here." I'm not sure if everyone in the class knew what he was saying, but I definitely had a huge smile across my face and had to withhold my laughter, which resulted from a combination of shock and excitement. Coincidentally I started a chapter called 'Faith' this morning in the book I am reading. You may have heard of it: "The Audacity of Hope"; apparently the author, this Barack Obama guy, is kind of famous. Anyway, I found this quote incredibly fitting after my experience in class on Tuesday: "According to the most recent surveys, 95 percent of Americans believe in God, more than two-thirds belong to a church, 37 percent call themselves committed Christians, and substantially more people believe in angels than believe in evolution" (235). Ironic? Kudos to my instructor for not allowing those statistics to prevent him from speaking his mind in class.

I booked my plane ticket and a hostel in Amsterdam for the first weekend in February and am working out details of a trip to Seville to visit Dena the following weekend. More pictures on facebook. (Email me if you would like to see them and do not have access- I can easily send them to you.) Time to watch LOST!