Quick Update

It's been a few months since I posted. Here's the gist of what's transpired over the course of this semester:

I'm learning arpeggio guitar. My hands hurt from playing. Very fun. When I get a song down (I'm sure you'll recognize it), I'll post a video. But that's probably a month away, at least.

Flamenco dance lessons are going well, though it continues to be difficult. We have a show at the end of this month, so here's hoping I can pull it off with some degree of grace.

Last minute, the director of the play (who knows my love of theater from previous performances) contacted me because one of the cast had to quit. So I'm taking over as Fabian from Twelfth Night. I've got three weeks before the show goes on to have the role down. So far it's been like a boat on water; my co-actors are hilarious and the lines are almost memorized.

I'm teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) as a volunteer at the school, which in turn brought me some English tutoring work. Extra pocket money and my future career is looking good.

Classes are decent. Interestingly, some classes I originally liked are now not as interesting, while other classes I didn't like as much are becoming fascinating. There are, of course, those classes that haven't changed a bit, and are still as uninformative or frustrating as ever. Case in point is my Islam class, where the teacher, who is a native Spaniard, doesn't understand the meaning of tact, and so while encouraging us to state our opinions, he will listen and then tell us we are wrong, or laugh at us if we haven't heard of some obscure Qu'Ranic reference (I thought that was why we were taking a class?). Or my Latin American Politics class, where the teacher speaks as if he is writing an essay, and consequently it is impossible to make sense of the slew of dates, names, and countries that are thrown at us.

I totally shut down my Islam class when the teacher asked if Islam was compatible with democracy. Pretty much everyone minus a couple people had really orientalist answers, and people kind of parroted the teacher's BS idea of a secular society being necessary for democracy. I'm not saying I don't enjoy having a (more or less) secular society, but it isn't a fundamental part of democracy. So I basically railed on the class for being culturally insensitive americans who want to export their "version" of democracy wholesale to a completely different society. Besides relieving my frustration at the apparent lack of critical thinking skills in the class, I think I earned the respect of the Muslim kids in the room, which was cool. Something about cultural understanding, and we humans all have more or less the same values, yadda yadda. It's funny that it is my Islam class where I have consistently been insightful; I think it's because the teacher is so incredibly provocative that I can't help but say something.

I have an idea for a graphic novel (comic). It's kind of a political/philosophical comic influenced by film noir movies, and picaresque literature: everything is pretty grim, and even the hero is more of an antihero; unlike the typical comic, there are no real sharp divides between "good" and "evil." I've got a handful of characters at the moment, and perhaps I'll practice drawing them since I'm not the best artist while I think up a plotline.

Halloweeen was AWESOME. Went to a couple parties dressed as a pijo (Spanish for snob). I found it very amusing. Here half the people in the room are hippies or goths or whatever they really want to be but don't have the balls to, and I'm mocking them to their face by wearing the crap they wear every day of their lives. It's all costumes; you dress up for work and down for your friends. So why not wear a costume YOU enjoy? That's right, because you are afraid of societal repercussions, so you wait until the one day a year when it's socially acceptable to dress like a slutty businesswoman to do it. Lame. Or maybe you're just not into expressing yourself trough your clothes, or couldn't really give a shit. That's cool. But then why did you dress up for Halloween in the first place? Because you felt it was socially required of you? Stop being societal plankton. When it comes to life, it's sink or swim; floating by is a pitiful option.

I'm uploading photos for a couple of trips I have gone on. Once that's done, I'll blog about 'em. You have been warned.

Manson is coming mid-November! I'm going with a group of friends to see him. It's going to kick holy ass.