Pero...es tu novio!?

Qué tal chic@s?!

I loved reading your responses to my previous post. Pretty funny stuff huh? I think I gave some of you the impression that Spaniards are antisocial. This is DEFINITELY not the case. People are constantly littering the streets sitting outside cafes, walking the boardwalk, shopping, or just hanging out in parks. While the sexes remain fairly segregated, everyone is out and about.

The other night I was skyping with my bestfriend Mark. My sister came in my room to borrow some clothes and decided to say hi. He jokingly referred to himself as my "novio", using one of the very few spanish words he knows. She giggled and went on her way. Later she started asking me about my "novio" and I explained to her that he was my bestfriend and definitely not my boyfriend. She didn't understand. She insisted that I had feelings for him, why else would I be skyping with some boy? After explaining again that we had always been just friends she started asking questions about our relationship. She still had it set in her mind that one day we were going to get married. Finally I had to break it to her, Mark is gay. While this opened up a whole other set of questions, I think she understood that it is possible for the two sexes to share meaningful, loving, platonic relationships.

Lili, you bring up a very good point. Living in Portland we see the LGBTQ population represented publically. That is not the case here. I have met a lot of people here but I haven't met any homosexuals. The only reference to homosexuality I've seen has had a very negative connotation. Sometimes, when definding their masculinity, boys will call eachother deragatory names meaning homosexual. Even on TV you can see jokes being made about homosexuality. It is interesting to me because Spain, especially with the upcoming election, is very involved and vocal in various social movements that bring "power to the voiceless." However, none of these movements pertains to homosexuality. This is a huge difference between Portland and Alicante.

I'm off to Valencia this weekend! I'm excited to travel a bit because its been a while since I've been out of Alicante. I'll be visiting some great museums and even an aquarium! I'll be interested to see how different it is from the Oregon coast aquarium. Vamos a ver!

Hasta Luego!