Spanish Friends: Where English is the talk of the town
Conversation for 15 hours a day with a group of Spaniards puts Orietta Guerrera to the test. A couple of days into the "Englishtown" experience, while surveying the lunchtime menu, my new Spanish friends ask "What's artichoke?"I respond, complete with hand gestures, ''it's a vegetable, it's green. It looks like a flower with a stem''.They stare at me...
Spanish Friends: A LITTLE BIT OF SPAIN AT YOUR TABLE
When Carmina Abramson is invited to someone's home, she usually brings some form of tapa she grew up eating in Spain. Now married to an American, Abramson thinks that tapas are a way to introduce friends to her native culture. She does the same when she entertains Spanish friends. "When we get together, it makes us feel closer, more connected," says the Newton resident, who moved from Madrid seven years ago.Tapas were first introduced here in the 1980s,...
Spanish Friends: ALL CULTURES NEED A SOCIAL GLUE
Not long ago, my youngest brother spent a year of college in Spain. Over the Christmas break he and some of his Spanish friends took a trip to Germany.When they entered the Berlin subway, they were startled to discover that the payment of fares was handled by an honor system. To the Spaniards, the practical significance of this was clear: Riding the subway was free. My aunt is a classical guitarist, and a lifelong resident of Mexico City.While on a concert tour of Europe she got off a...
Spanish Friends: THE ROAD TO EL DORADO'
Critic's rating: * * * With the voices of: Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante and Edward James Olmos Details: Rated PG. About 83 minutes Web site: www.roadtoeldorado.com Plot: Miguel and Tulio are Spanish friends who con their way in and out of situations. One of those involves finding a map to El Dorado (a city filled with gold). After many misadventures, they find themselves in the city, where the natives there think they are gods. They use...