'Murika

It's certainly an adventure being an American in Spain.

I get asked about the election all the time. Who is going to win? Did you vote? For who? The PC American in me doesn't really want to answer but here the culture is different. You can answer honestly and not be afraid of offending anyone. Well, except maybe your fellow Americans. Maybe. When I was in France this happened too. I had a cab driver who loved Obama. But then again, the country that most approves of him is France. With Spaniards, they pay attention to US elections but it doesn't matter to them who wins. I suppose that view makes sense. They have no say in our president but he will have an effect on them, but not enough for them to worry too much about it. They have their own local elected officials to worry about.

Hurricane Sandy is also a big topic. I don't feel like I have a good sense of what happened. If I were in the US, I'm sure every news channel would have the latest updates. Here news isn't widely available so it's hard for me to tell what's really going on. But prayers for those affected.

Being from California in Europe often means you are famous or you know someone famous. Doesn't quite work that way...

Also, I had to complete this sentence in Spanish class today: "If I were president of the United States, but only for one day, I would..."  I went for the American answer. Take over the world, duh.

Took my language exchange partner to a 50s style American diner today. It was super fun. She got to see an albeit stereotypical representation of the US but we enjoyed it. They had working jukeboxes at every table and everything. I had to get a Cherry Coke. We listened to the classic array of 50s American pop and chatted in Spanish. And then when we paid, they gave us pixie stix. I brought one to my host mom's granddaughter. She was pleased.

So yeah. 'Murika!