Two months into my adventure in Spain and I feel like I’m inching into the deep end, living the life I had dreamed of. As the weeks pass I feel like I am moving away from my weekday friends (school buddies) and growing closer with my weekend friends (climbing buddies). Many of my fellow students spend their weekends traveling, experiencing Italy, Amsterdam, Oktoberfest. I spend my weekends sleeping under tables, speaking Spanish, drinking expensive wine for cheap, being inspired by incredible cliffs and climber camaraderie, living simply and enjoying the quiet Spanish countryside. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Two months in and I’m not getting lost, well at least not regularly. I have a favorite kebab place where they know me (not sure that’s a good sign). They kindly shake my hand and offer me a free beer every time I show up at their door tired, hungry, and covered in chalk after the climbing gym. I know the metro short-cuts to get to class “on-time” by Spanish standards, which is ten minutes later than the rest of the world. Everyday life has become an exciting routine.
I had a great weekend in Margalef. I felt weak and surprisingly unmotivated, and with no anticipation or expectation I onsighted my first 12c. It was Sunday and I was tired from a long, but not particularly difficult Saturday. I was going to take it easy, maybe do a 12a or two, but my friend Hans wanted to try a long 12c. “Is that ok for your easy day?” he asked, it wasn’t what I had in mind but “sure” I said, “I’ll give it a go.” Not caring about the onsight, I simply climbed. Perhaps because I was tired, at least I thought I was, I climbed efficiently, resting at every opportunity, climbing the line of least resistance. After about 60 feet I hit the steep overhang, and with a relaxing breath I flowed through the moves effortlessly. A few clips later and I was at the anchors, wondering where the crux was. After several dedicated efforts to onsight a 12c, focusing on every move, climbing conservatively, I finally succeeded by breathing, moving, and not caring. I suppose the lesson is to hang on by letting go. Immediately afterward, I proceeded to onsight my 3rd 12b, which earned me my hardest day of onsight climbing to date. Not bad for feeling tired and unmotivated.
Clouds and Sector Cabernet. The dark figure at the top is Ela, finishing the 12c I onsighted. She is belayed by Toni, far below at the ledge.
Cold day!
Thanks for the jacket mom and dad!
In other and unrelated news, the democrats suffered a bit in the recent elections in the USA. After studying political science for the last couple years, the elections have given me a few things to think about. I remember in my American Political System class discussing reasons for party change over the years. It was clear that more than any other factor economic performance was the indicator of party change. When the economy is bad and unemployment is high, the discontentment is seen in the ballot box at the expense of the party in power. I can’t help but feel that the recent elections are further evidence of that tendency. That is why I think Boehner and party might be over-assuming their mandate when, speaking of the health care bill, he says something like “we need to begin the process of repealing that monstrosity” (not a direct quote, I had to re-translate the translated quote). I’m not sure unhappy, unemployed Americans are in favor of a private health care system that is usually tied to employment. Anyway, the other curiosity of the elections was the emergence of the Tea Party. After writing a final paper in my Political Parties and Interest Groups class on why the Tea Party would never emerge as a legitimate party, and exacerbated by an implicit attitude of “of course not, what are you stupid?” I seem to have been proven wrong. Perhaps my B+ in the class suggests my professor was incredibly prescient, but I’ll maintain that it was because our TA (he graded our papers) was a jerk and a hard-ass. I will say that I think that the recent Tea Party candidates are more “tea party certified” Republicans than they are new blood. More than anything, I would argue that the Tea Party is an expression of discontentment than it is a legitimate endorsement of new ideas, probably by people that are unhappy with recent democratic performance but who have enough of a short-term memory to remember a time when republicans screwed up. Recently in my Spanish society and politics class we discussed the differences between the parliamentary system of government and the presidential system, and, thinking about the elections, I am finally grateful to have a presidential system. Usually I am a proponent of parliamentary systems, which unify the executive and legislative branches, and I admire their efficacy in implementing change (provided an electoral system that produces few or two parties, but that’s a whole other discussion). However with the new Republican house majority and the stated goals of the presumed next Speaker of the House, I am happy to have the stubborn and deliberative presidential system. Change is hard won and slow, but equally hard to undo. I’m hoping I’ll be wrong in my prediction that the next few years will bring nothing but stagnation. We’ll see.
“Shit happens, cough it up”
-Captain Ron (or maybe Boehner?)
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