Commencement

Graduations are for the most part joyous events, but typically involve conflicting emotions, especially for the protagonists, the graduates. For Asun and I the emotions (joy, pride, etc.) were fairly uncomplicated. It was also, for us, another first: attending a college graduation as parents. Not surprisingly, the weekend offered a rich supply of clichés, and it requires effort to stay free of them in reflecting back on the festivities and ceremonies. It was certainly a lot of fun celebrating one of these big milestones with the family all together, including brother Stephen (!), accompanied by beautiful weather and lots of happy young people. The Ohlstens were again our superhosts and that really made it possible for us to enjoy everything in a relaxed and stress-free fashion. Thank you Jay and Karen! And kudos again to Jay, my culinary assistant extraordinaire!

More than once over the course of the weekend I found myself comparing what I was observing and experiencing to my own college graduation. The differences are stark on every level. At my own graduation, I had not a single event to attend that involved me being recognized in any way for any kind of achievement. Alma had several. Looking back now, I can only conclude that what was most characteristic of my college experience was its perfect combination of mediocrity and disengagement. I did learn a lot and made significant progress in terms of understanding some of the basic goals of a liberal arts education, advances that I believe have served me well in the long run. But my experiences then were perhaps inwardly directed in excessive fashion. I imagine that someone tried to communicate the same lesson Cornell's president, David Skorton, insisted on in his commencement address to the graduates: stay connected! I may have been listening, but not closely. While listening to Skorton (I am now, thirty years down the line, a better listener), I found myself nodding in agreement, but also thinking, surely you get more than this for $200,000! Of course! (Of course? The cost of higher education and its relative worth will be endlessly debated, but I'm not going to return to that one today. Suffice to say, I'm confident that the resources we dedicate to private higher education are a good investment.) As for the particular case of our oldest daughter, I'm most confident. As we like to say here at Dickinson, this student is "fully engaged." And very accomplished, if I do say so myself.

In her marvelous address to her classmates, Alma alluded to the irony of calling graduation "commencement": there is no question that students are celebrating the end of something. But maybe that's how we justify such a heavy investment in education: feeling like maybe you haven't learned so much? Hey, not to worry, it's just the beginning. You'll see the benefits later. Without this education you may be at greater risk of false starts. Maybe, maybe not. I really don't know; I, too, feel like I'm just getting started.

Well, who knows what is about to commence. It looks like West Africa for the graduate. Another story for another day. In the photo: why I get up every morning.

Some Family Pictures

Here a few recent photos from the holidays. It's too bad I have to crop them so much in order to get the file size small enough to upload to this site. 

Last night in front of the cathedral, after a light dinner right there in the Plaza del Obispo. Warm enough to eat outside.

December 30th. A short break as we drive through Despeñaperros, the mountain pass that brings you into Andalucía from Castilla.

In Bilbao, in front of the Guggenheim, December 28th. 

Cristina on her birthday, December 29th. At Barkaistegui.

At San Ginés, the famous chocolataría in Madrid. December 21st.

With abuelo, in San Sebastián.

This and That

There are four big cruise ships in the port this morning and it looks like they've got a little traffic jam going on, but they're working it out. It's an amusing sight because they seem to move in slow motion. The sun is coming up these days right by the tower of the cement factory. Strange contrast. In two or three weeks it will be coming up over the water. Zapatero was in NY yesterday and he said Spain has the world's most solid financial system. I had no idea. Also in NY: in Brooklyn a cop murdered a mentally deranged man with a taser gun. The poor man had lost his marbles and was on a roof above a store, completely naked. Big deal. The guy wasn't responding to the cops' orders to get down. How the hell can he get down from there, especially when it's quite obvious he's gone psycho? All of a sudden one of the cops, one supposes because the guy started swinging some kind of a stick, tasers the poor soul and he falls to the street on his head. And he's dead. That's murder. The video is on the web. Here in Spain more awful cases of domestic violence making the news. Horrible. This week Asun is in Croatia, but we can't communicate too much, so news will have to wait. Asun in Croatia, Daniela in Madrid, Alma and Cristina in Ithaca... Waldo and I are a little decentered. Last year Daniela got to school by walking down Walnut St. Or, more frequently, she would just step out the door and her friend from down the street would come by in a big SUV driven by her mom. Now she walks five minutes to the subway, then switches to a bus that takes her to ballet. After ballet a commuter train takes her to school. After school gets out at 9 pm, it's the subway back to the little apartment. That's a big change for anyone! 

Daniela

It's a nice Sunday in San Sebastián and I'm sitting in Daniel's living room with the laptop in my lap and Daniela at my side. She wants me to write about her today. OK-Daniela is a lovely knucklehead. We are watching the Olympics-tennis. Waldo is lying at our feet. Daniel and Isita are also here. Daniela ate 17 donuts this morning and Waldo ate a $400 ham! Asun got into a huge fistfight with the neighbor and the police are trying to question her, but Waldo is now vomiting the ham all over the cop's shiny red trousers. Back to Daniela–she is explaining something to abuelo, but it's too complicated for me to follow. Daniela went shopping yesterday morning; last night she got soaked after the fireworks when a big downpour hit us while we were still on the beach. It was great fun.

Semana Grande

Here we are in San Sebastián, having a great time with Daniel and family. Yesterday we celebrated Asun´s feast day with an incredible meal at Saltxipi, a restaurant about ten miles from San Sebastián. The Arnedo's have been coming here to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions for over thirty years. We had creamy clam soup, cod tortilla, more crab, incredible Jabugo ham, fish, and lots more. It was all we could do to get ourselves downtown by 9 pm. We met up with Ana and saw the fireworks from her apartment, with a front row view. The show was done by the Marti firm from Valencia and had the classic Valencian characteristic: big, big, huge noise! It was quite chilly. Today it's nicer. It's a pleasure to disconnect from work for a few days. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my good luck.

Asun in Malaga

Kind of like a sunrise.

Finally Here!

Asun and Daniela arrived on Sunday! It's wonderful. My "exile" is over, and I survived, somehow. Crazily, after just a few days I'm back in Malaga by myself, but Asun will be here Sunday. She's staying in Madrid this week with Daniela, who started ballet less than 24 hours after the plane touched down. They are with Pili, staying at an apartment that was lent to them by one of Pili's coworkers. Daniela is taking classes at Victor Ullate's school, a very serious place which has produced some internationally renowned dancers, including Tamara Rojo, the star of the Royal Ballet in London. (I just read a funny quote. Rojo began her career with the Scottish National Ballet when she was 20. She commented that when she got there she didn't speak any English, but that it didn't matter because neither did they.) It was hot in Madrid, but very dry, so not too unbearable. Yesterday we saw the Residencia where Daniela will be staying the next couple of weeks and it seems fine. It's right in the center of Madrid and there's a bus that takes the dancers out to the school. Daniela really surprised me (but I guess I shouldn't haven been surpised) because as soon as she got here she turned the Spanish language button on in her brain and she's doing fine. She's got a great, confident attitude. I can see that she wants to immerse herself, and fast. It's a struggle, but she's already communicating in Spanish more than I had anticipated and by mid October she'll have returned to a very high level of proficiency. Within six months she'll be completely bilingual again. What a night: this morning just before six a car parked on the street almost right below went up in flames. I have no idea how that happened but I suspect it was some punks just being jerks. In any case, it was quite a fire and the bomberos took a while to get here, by which time the car was thoroughly destroyed as was the little van parked next to it. The stench from the burning tires was awful. And before that, around 3:30 in the morning, a few drunks decided to continue their "conversation" after the bar closed right below us on the Paseo. Very loud and obnoxious. I launched no less than four water balloons, but these guys were so drunk they didn't even notice. No wonder I've had a hard time getting going this morning. I guess I'm also a little tired from the drive down from Madrid. (The photo is from Cristina's graduation in June.)

"Past Blessings"

Yesterday I spent a few minutes reading texts by Epicurus and this one really stuck out: "He has become an old man on the day on which he forgot his past blessings." Remembering our past blessings seems to me to be not only a moral imperative, but, taking as truly insightful Epicurus' observation, also a great health recommendation. It's another way, perhaps, to become a little less egocentric. So I read this text, thought for a moment about some of my great good fortune and, of course, Betty and Duane came to mind. What luck! To have grown up with them as my parents was a blessing with a major capital B. I couldn't find a photo of dad on my computer, but here's one of Betty. (Not a flattering shot of her, certainly, but it's all I've got right now...) Forty-two years of blessings for me. And I suppose being always attentive to one's present blessings is not a bad idea either. I think mother was pretty good at that. I'm sure having all those kids took its toll, but it also kept her young in spirit. How about waking up in the morning, as I just did a short time ago. Pretty good, eh? Beats the alternative if you ask me. (I'm not sure I like the idea of dying in my sleep, which many people seem to find attractive. Besides, I sure as hell don't want to kick the bucket all by my lonesome.) In any case, I did wake up today. Yes! And then, coffee!! And really good coffee at that! Here in Malaga it's another foggy dawn, but these clouds burn off quickly.  Unfortunately, it feels like it's going to be a hot, sticky day.

Portraits

On our visit to Granada on Saturday I got to see once again one of my favorite paintings in the world-Bouts' portrait of Christ. Actually, it's attributed to Bouts' workshop, but I think I read somewhere an article by an art historian who thought it was by the master himself.  (Dirk Bouts was a 15th century Flemish painter and some of his works, including a beautiful triptych, ended up in the personal collection of Queen Isabel of Spain. These works are on display in the Royal Chapel of Granada, an extraordinary place.) Among all the treasures-Isabel's crown, Ferdinand's sword, etc.-, this small portrait really stands out for me because it seems so innovative and daring. Jesus here is represented just head and shoulders, and there is nothing to suggest that this is the Messiah. To me, he just seems like a rather interesting young man of uncertain stature and attitude. Somewhat mysterious, perhaps. And a tad effeminate, perhaps due to the slightly rosy cheeks and the hair parted down the middle. But that's offset by his beard. Who could have been the model for this portrait? I imagine an artisan of some kind, maybe a silversmith. In any case, I've always thought the painting represents the Humanist revolution that was changing the way learned people in Europe thought in the 15th century. It strikes me as almost heretical. The reproduction here is a photo I took from a postcard, so the quality is not good. And I decided to add a portrait Cristina did of her abuelo Daniel.  Excellent, no? Portraits really fascinate me and I'll write more about them soon.

Random photos

Last night Dan B. was here to help out with this poor performing 'old' iMac, and as I was taking a glance at the now faster computer this morning I came across some photo folders and browsed through one of them from 2005. So here's a photo from then, a dinner with the Hymans. I couldn't find a date and I'm not sure what the ocassion is, but I'm guessing it's Easter because it looks like we're eating lamb. In any case, it's a nice photo to have, as there've been so many of these great dinners with our dear friends.

Graduation!

Cristina graduated from Carlisle High School on Thursday evening. Congra- tulations, Cristina! The event was held indoors at the Kline Cemter because of the threat of showers, but of course it didn't rain. Cristina looked radiant in her white gown, Abuelo Daniel was there to mark the occasion. Daniela was rehearsing and couldn't be there. Cristina gets to relax for a week or so, then it's back to work at Piatto.