a matter of timing

The pictures are:
*Two samplings of the graffiti in Granads (Both of them are on the lower end of what I have seen as far as skill, interest, and beauty is concerned. But why is the face so distraught one might ask.)
*Two pictures from my walk in the mountains yesterday. In one it is fairly easy to see two levels in the hillside. Those are two paths, I started out on the bottom one, and then climbed up to the higher one, and ended my walk on the top. Quite difficult but very rewarding. The other one is a picture up a valley to a little town on the other side of the main valley that I was climbing out of.
I took a fairly long walk today all over the city and when I got back I was in a good mood for posting, but my internet connection was being very sketchy and I was pretty tired so I took a nap instead. Now it is four hours later and I'm sitting here attempting to recover some of my ealier mood. It's all a question of timing. So I'll start with a few random things to get myself started.
My apartment is now at capacity. Living there are:
*Myself
*Julie: The German girl from some of my pictures.
*Silvia: An Italian girl that is working as a translator and web developer for the school.
*Kerstin and Garik: A German couple who are in their late 40's to early 50's
It's a pretty interesting dynamic to say the least. Silvia, Julie and I all speak decent english and it is the easiest language for us to communicate in so more often than not it is our language of choice. This has its ups and downs of course. As a matter of developing friendships it is by far the easiest for me in english (obviously), and it is very interesting being able to connect with someone who has grown up in a different country and culture. However as a matter of developing my ability to speak in Spanish, well... it's not the best thing on the planet to say the least.
It does allow me to learn some interesting things. For instance, I'm washing my clothes today and asked Silvia if they have dryers in Italy (we do not have one in our pisa), she replied that it was a very american thing to have. That her brother had one in his house but he never used it because their culture is very much one of letting the clothes dry in the fresh air. For me its an indicator in the difference in our cultures perception of time. In the US it is unacceptable having to wait an entire afternoon for clothes to dry where as it it silly not to in Spain and Italy.
The dynamic in the apartment is also a little strange because Garik and Kerstin are both successful working class adults where Silvia, Julie and I are all untested university kids. Some of us with a healthy dose of idealism :-p.
None of the windows have screens on them, and because of this many insects manage to get into our apartment. This is something that Julie can not handle and I am asked on a daily basis to shoo a moth or butterfly back out her window. Quite amusing for me, as well as enlightening because I am quite reluctant to kill them and much prefer escorting them back into the calle where they can find a more peaceful life without the frantic screams of a German girl.
I went to another book store today with the hopes of finding books in Spanish that I might have half a hope of being able to read. I bought "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Matilda" two of my favorites by Roald Dahl, and if you don't know these books you should go to the library and borrow them. They say that they are for children of age 12, and from the first few pages it appears that in Spanish, I am a child of approximately 12 years. They are neither easy nor difficult for me to read, but just right. Also, they have something of a plot, and an interesting story, unlike the pamphlets that I checked out from the library in my school....
A note on my continuing acquision of the Spanish language. I have never been more aware in my life that I have spent 23 YEARS building my vocabulary and understanding of the English language, and how pretentious and preposterous it is for me to think that in three MONTHS I can have anything but a very rudimentary grasp on the grammar and complexity of Spanish.
While I was walking around Granada this afternoon I couldn't help but think that there is so much beauty in the world. The roads are always curving and climbing. Any walk is a continual reward as each new hill provides an ever changing view of the city. The graffiti is beautiful. It is easy to wonder whether or not the people who are producing such amazing pictures, with spray paint on walls in the street, have galleries full of canvas around the corner. And the People! They are as varied as a lifetime of sunsets over Lake Michigan, and everyone just as beautiful as the next.