There are many times in class when our professor relates situations or stories concerning Muhammad and Islam to Biblical events. He will do things like ask us “Who followed Jesus after the crucifixion? Who were his successors?”
He expects us to know the answers. We all look around confused. No one knows. He is shocked. We all feel like fools.
This leads to conversations like “you know what the bible is right?” Awkward.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Misogyny Part 1
Spain is a misogynistic country. Feminism only kind of happened here. While I have not truly studied the specifics of the feminist movement in Spain, I know that things happened very differently here. What I notice most are the attitudes that influence social behavior and the little ways they creep up in daily life.
I had mentioned while back that the Spanish girls don’t really understand exercise. This still holds true. Emmalie told me that a few weeks ago, she was in the living room with Maria and Maria’s boyfriend. Maria asked Emmalie where I was. I was exercising in the park. Maria then told her boyfriend that I go to the park an hour after I eat. He proceeded to explain to Maria and Emmalie that this is very dangerous because all of your blood is in your stomach after you eat and not enough is in your limbs. Maria says that she is surprised that nothing has happened to me yet. Her boyfriend says “yea she could die”. I COULD DIE! FROM EXERCISE!!!!!!!
Clearly this is a ridiculously dramatic bunch of bull. But Maria buys it because her boyfriend told her it’s true. Anything he says is true and everything he says is right. Always. If a woman says something that contradicts what a man has said, they Spanish girls will believe the man. Always. Men’s opinions are valued over those of women.
Whenever we say something that doesn’t fit with what her boyfriend thinks is true, Maria will point out that he boyfriend said blahblahblahblah and it MUST be true. Apparently, we are supposed to forfeit our own opinions and thoughts to conform to his. We are clearly ignorant fools because we have vaginas.
I had mentioned while back that the Spanish girls don’t really understand exercise. This still holds true. Emmalie told me that a few weeks ago, she was in the living room with Maria and Maria’s boyfriend. Maria asked Emmalie where I was. I was exercising in the park. Maria then told her boyfriend that I go to the park an hour after I eat. He proceeded to explain to Maria and Emmalie that this is very dangerous because all of your blood is in your stomach after you eat and not enough is in your limbs. Maria says that she is surprised that nothing has happened to me yet. Her boyfriend says “yea she could die”. I COULD DIE! FROM EXERCISE!!!!!!!
Clearly this is a ridiculously dramatic bunch of bull. But Maria buys it because her boyfriend told her it’s true. Anything he says is true and everything he says is right. Always. If a woman says something that contradicts what a man has said, they Spanish girls will believe the man. Always. Men’s opinions are valued over those of women.
Whenever we say something that doesn’t fit with what her boyfriend thinks is true, Maria will point out that he boyfriend said blahblahblahblah and it MUST be true. Apparently, we are supposed to forfeit our own opinions and thoughts to conform to his. We are clearly ignorant fools because we have vaginas.
Hot dogs and fries
Before I went to Spain, I thought hot dogs and fries were really American things. Apparently not. We had fries all the time in Juyca. They are obsessed with fries. The Spanish girls sometimes make fries when they are hungry. It's one of the few things they know how to do in the kitchen. They were also obsessed with this super thin hot dogs. They were a staple of our diet. That green thing on the side is a pepper filled with other mashed vegetable. It may look weird but I enjoyed it. Overall, this was a pretty good meal.
Food again
This was some sort of potato soup thing. It was delicious. I think I liked it mostly because when I was little my grandmother used to make super soupy mashed potatos. It was my favorite thing ever when I was like 5.
Home
I've been home for a little over a week and I had my computer fixed. Even though my semester in Spain is over, I'm going to put up all the things I wanted to put up before my computer broke. It feels weird to leave this unfinished so I will continue.
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