to the junior member MATADOR: I think you may have missed the point.

Leche

Bunny,

Yes, my daughter also misses some of the "creature comforts" that she is used to "like long hot showers". I am glad that your parents had the opportunity to visit you in Spain and experience new things with you. I am so excited to experience Spain. My daughter recently called to let me know that my calendar for Madrid is already booked. Let us know of your Canary Island Experience.

Cheers!

MATADOR, give me a break. What I've done to you?

[This message has been edited by Nuria (edited 12-28-2000).]

Bunny- Receiving the compliment "You speak Spanish well for an American" should be treated as a great compliment. This is especially so since they've heard Leche and I speak Spanish so well, and therefore have such a great meter-stick against which they measure.


Does anyone else smell something "raro"?

Wow! what a very interesting topic, it took me a while to read through many of the comments. I am a Black female. I traveled to Spain in July and also was a victim of the staring game. For a while all of the stares annoyed me, but after a while I was used to it. I never really felt that people stared at me in a negative sense, but more so in fascination. Everywhere that we traveled, men always commented us on our beauty. It was amazing to me. At times I even wondered if I was famous. When we rode the metro, all of the people on the train would stop what they were doing to stare at us. It was unbelivable! Of couse, the reception that we received from the men was always "Guapa.. Bonita, etc", the women on the other hand, just stared. as i mentioned earlier, i just became accustomed to it. I enjoyed my visit in Madrid. I had the best time ever! I am looking forward to my next trip in July.

Sheba,

Greetings, this is mclarke. I am in Madrid now. Blacks are all over Madrid. I was surprised to see diversity in Madrid.
Wherever my daughter and I went, there always black people. You will be comfortable in Madrid. There is a Dominican enclave in Madrid. It is so fun to visit.

Even in Escorial, the mountain town, we saw blacks. Being black in Madrid is nothing new. We saw mixed couple - black/spaniard.
Take care!

Hello MCClarke

I'm so glad to hear that you are finally in Madrid. I'm so excited for you! And thank you for your kind words of encouragement. You are so funny--I couldn't help smiling at your innocent, blunt way of speaking. Have a good time MC and let us all know what you have experienced in Spain.

Hey Sheba... good to have you back. When do you leave for Spain?

Hello Bunny,

I leave for Spain sometime in June or July. It's been a long time planning because of money issues and trying to get my school to pay for it (which they don't want to) and trying to get time off from work (you'd think the place would crash without me). But I've decided that even if all those other things don't fall in line, I'm going to go to Spain no matter what. Are you going back soon, yourself?

This is going to be a bit of a superficial post...but on the topic of how black people are perceived in Spain as per my perception is this:
A very good, artist friend of mine from NYC (who is also black) stayed with me in Spain for 2 weeks. When we'd walk down the street together men would stare (of course)and they'd also shout "Hola Bella Negra!" or something to that effect, but in a friendly way. She got a big kick out of it. When she traveled alone, down to Sevilla she said the reception she received was incredible. They loved her and people were constantly coming up to her and talking to her and welcoming her to SPain. Overall, she said she had an incredible experience in SPain.

tracy