Blog Birthday 3: So Long and Thanks for All the Fish... On Hiatus in South Korea for 2014-2015

Valencia from above: Volando voy, volando vengo, vengo!

It's my blog's 3-year anniversary! I made it. I made it to three years! Who would have predicted that? It all started in September of 2011. A year passed, and I was still going. But by last year's birthday, life had caught up with me, and since then I've been barely managing my modest personal goal of one post per month. Which brings me to the big news... I'M GOING TO SOUTH KOREA!!!

As you read this, I am already there (here?) settling into my new home for 2014-2015 in Daejeon, South Korea. For the last few months I've been reading up on my host country, taking private Korean language classes (the modern Korean alphabet has an amazing history, invented in the 15th century to improve literacy!), and getting involved with the Asociación Hangul Hakyo Valencia... Yes, there is a South Korean cultural association in Valencia! Who knew!?!

I'd wager that the most famous (even iconic) Korean thing is its flag, the 'Tae-guk'.
But you probably didn't know all the complex symbolism behind it,
not just the yen and the yang, but also Daoist principles encoded in the four trigrams.

Now, don't take it personally, Writers and Bloggers About Spain lovers of Spain, but there's _no way_ I'm going to keep posting here on Spain while I'm busy exploring South Korea, Korean food (!!!), and (if time permits) the Asian continent more broadly. (And, no, I have no plans to start a blog on Korea.) You can follow my exploits abroad through my Instagram and Twitter accounts, where I'll continue to post my life like a good 21st-century exhibitionist.

So I wanted to take this opportunity to say so long and thanks for all the fish, and to direct any new passerbyers to my blog to these five highlights from the blog on Valencia and Spain, which should hopefully be relevant and useful to you over the next year while I'm away...

(1) Valencia, the Land of Flowers, Light, and of Love (1)

For those of you coming to Valencia with questions about what to do and where to stay, I direct you to this page I created, "Valencia and Fallas in a Nutshell", which lists links to all the blog entries I've written about my beloved adopted city. You might also want to "Like" my Facebook Page, where I post or repost stories related to Valencia and Spain, and where you can see my many photos posted over the last year. It is an amazing city. Many of you have written emails to me about Valencia, often with the same

FAQs: 

• If I'm in Spain for only a short time, would you recommend I visit Valencia? And for how long?
Yes! You will love it here. I'd recommend 2 days at the bare minimum. (I don't know how these cruise ships visitors do it.) 3-5 days is probably the ideal length of stay... Or a lifetime should you happen to fall in love with it. (Oh, and please consider Valencia during Fallas to be an entirely different visit. You have to see the city outside of Fallas, too.) 

• If I want to learn Spanish, is Valencia a good place to do so?
It is a great place to learn Spanish! While you will see and hear Valencian (i.e. a dialect of Catalan), Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in the city, and everyone speaks it and is happy to speak it with you. 

• What neighborhood(s) should I look at to live in?
I tend to recommend that newbies look in the city centre (esp. El Carmen, but also Sant Francesc if you can afford it), Russafa, or Benimaclet, depending on their spending money, tolerance of noise/excitement, etc. For a more fine-honed recommendation, take a look at this neighborhood map:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Valencia-Barris-Clau-Sant_Francesc.png
Be aware that parts of El Mercat, with its infamous “barrio chino”, 2-3 streets of prostitution (an area labeled “Velluters” on some maps), is a rough exception. (On the other hand, if you avoid those 2-3 streets, El Mercat, particularly on the big avenues, is also a nice area.) Oh, and I'd avoid living near the Valencia city beach (a.k.a. Cabanyal) no matter how much you love fun in the sun – it's a bit dodgy at night and is far from the city center and most other attractions. 

• How can I get a job teaching English in Valencia/Spain?
My road to teaching English was so unconventional, that I hesitate to give advice on this. Still, a word or two of advice, since people keep asking me about it. First, the two most desirable things employers are looking for, other than being a native speaker, are: 1) a university degree (preferably in English, though I didn't have it), and 2) classroom teaching experience (of any kind... it is no small skill to know how to stand in front of people and act confident and capable). After that, the next two useful things to have are 1) some kind of English teaching certification (this is usually a must for teaching primary or secondary school in Spain, though not so important for teaching in the private academies), and 2) a willingness to teach kids (who are often the largest and most consistent student base for most academies).
Oh, and here's the usual rub: for some academies (like mine) you will need a work visa, they won't sponsor it; and for the others that are willing to hire you 'sin papeles' be ready to be treated poorly, at least in terms that you won't have social security and the pay might not be great. Of course, that's just the sober reality. The good news is that the economic crisis has been a boon for English teaching, thank you Ana Botella, so there is employment for you here somewhere. But be prepared for chronic underemployment and only part-time income at first.

(2) Fallas, a City on Fire (2)

This year I had the privilege of going behind-the-scenes on Fallas, Valencia's main festival of fire and light. There is a lot going on in this festival – before, during, and after. Skip the bull about San Fermín and learn more about Valencia as it burns with unrivaled passion during its springtime, mid-March festival. I've written a lot about it, but here are the main stories:

     • My general page on "Valencia and Fallas in a Nutshell"
     • For my most polished, professional publication on Fallas, see this article on the festival's three main industries – pirotecnia, indumentaria, and artistas falleros.
     • For a more lived narrative of Fallas, review my 2012 Hangover and 2014 Hangover posts
     • And my interview of famed artista fallero Manolo García

(3) Teaching English as a Foreign Language, a.k.a. TEFL (3)

I've spent the last few years teaching English to Spaniards. I love teaching and pedagogy, and the result is that over the years I've come up with a bunch of activities, handouts, and guides —25 in total— for how to teach different English concepts or vocabulary sets to non-native speakers. A lot of work went into making these, I found them incredibly helpful, and I want all you current and future TEFL teachers out there to profit from that labor of love. So please check out these four blog entries (including links to additional outside resources), and please use and abuse share them widely with your TEFL friends and colleagues:

     • "Teaching English as a Second Language: Ten Ready-Made Lessons" – 1) Tongue-twisters, 2) "The History of the English Language in 10-minutes", 3) Dictation exercises, 4) Christmas handouts, 5) The Amazing Verb To Get, 6) Baseball idioms, 7) Latin and Greek expressions in English, 8) grammar of "to be" and "to get", 9) "English Pronunciation" poem, 10) "In the Jungle" kid's handout

     • "Teaching English as a Second Language, part 2: Five (More) Ready-made Lessons" – 11) Family Vocab, 12) Personality Vocab, 13) Thanksgiving handouts, 14) Cinema handout, 15) Learning the language through English language songs

     • "Teaching English as a Second Language, pt. 3: Five More Ready-made Lessons" – 16) cooking, 17) Kid's ESL games, 18) Kid's travel/geography, 19) Conditional tense practice, 20) Speaking test tips

     • "Teaching English as a Second Language, pt. 4: Five Final Ready-Made Lessons" – 21) Cursing, 22) 10 Common FCE Mistakes + Saxon Genitive, 23) New Kid's Xmas handout, 24) Adjective Word Order handout, 25) How to conjugate every verb in the English language

A photo of the blackboard from one of my classes on English curse words.

(3) Spain, the Land of Excellent Beaches Mountain Hiking (3)

Did you know that after Switzerland, Spain is the European country with the greatest percent of land that is mountainous? No? Well, neither do most Spaniards. And until recently 'la marca España' was so focused on selling its beautiful beaches to Brits and Germans, which are undeniably spectacular and wonderful to visit, that it failed to promote its other notable natural splendor: its many breathtaking sierras and mountains. (Perhaps this is why Spain always fails to win bids to host the Winter Olympics, even though it has a vibrant skiing culture. Nobody believes us when we say that it snows here in some parts and Spain is not just beautiful beaches.) Here are some entries I've written about my own past adventures with this:

     • "La Alberca and the Sierra de Francia"
     • "Valle de Tena and Towns in the Spanish Pyrenees"
     • "Spanish National Parks: "Parque Nacional de Ordesa," A Natural Treasure in the Spanish Pyrenees"
     • "Linares de Mora and the Sierra de Gúdar"

Don't get me wrong. Spaniards have long loved their "casas rurales", "pueblos con encanto", and there has certainly long been a tradition of hiking the 'Camino de Santiago'. But it's only really been in the last 20 years that trail maintenance has improved in many of Spain's previously unnoticed sierras, and hiking is starting to become a real industry here. For this reason, even though it is not a central focus of the blog, I'm highlighting Spain's hiking tourism here, to encourage you all to add it to your list of must-dos when visiting.

One never needs to travel far in Spain for beautiful mountain views.
El Garbí, seen here, is a classic hiking day trip from Valencia.

(5) My publications page (5)

Being one of the few English-language bloggers in Valencia with stay power (that is, here for more than a year-long study abroad), I've occassionally been invited to write articles and publish photos for various online venues. This spring I created a page where I list them:

"My publications"

Highlights would include my year-long photo collaboration with 24/7 Valencia, regular guests posts for The Spain Scoop, reposts by Expatica.com, and the article on Fallas that I got published in Roads & Kingdoms. I encourage you to check it out, read them, tell your friends about them, etc. Really, folks, I make no money off this, so the only payment you can provide me are your kind words in the comments below and by helping me to achieve immortality as a famed writer.

Don't worry Valencia! I love you! You are my home! I will be back, I promise!

Blog Birthday 2: The Underappreciated Posts

This is my most popular picture so far on Instagram.

It's my blog's 2-year anniversary! Two years ago today, my blog went live and my quest to counterbalance all the sappy sentimentalism "Hemingway paradigm" began.

Since the great slow down of March 2012, my posts have been more infrequent. (This blog, after all, is just a hobby. I make no money from it... sin ánimo de lucro, indeed.) I now have a personal commitment of posting at least one blog entry a month… which given how long my entries are is probably plenty of reading material for most of you. (Even my wife struggles to keep up!) At some point last fall I discovered Instagram, which has been my great obsession/distraction ever since. I did two more interviews: one with Expat Arrivals and the other for Young Adventuress's blog. I particularly enjoyed the odd challenge of Young Adventuress's question, to describe Spain in three words: "Please come visit!"... no wait, "Mostly harmless fun."... "Mmm. Yum. Delicious." or "What the heck?!?" Go ahead and read the interviews, you know you're curious. (¡Marujos!) That said, the most autobiographical moment on the blog this year was this past July, me getting Spanish citizenship. (Just last night my Spanish friends were oohing and aahing over my new DNI, which I whipped out right after one of them mistakenly joked about me being a guiri like all the other guiris hanging out in El Carmen on a Saturday night.)

My life is not all Spain. This last year I spent some time in Vienna,
enjoying its incredible coffee scene. Chic Soufflé wrote some excellent
entries detailing coffee culture there.

You may be wondering, what have people been reading on the blog? Well, here it is. The all-time top two posts are: "That Perfect Gift: Spanish Footwear" and "Don Ernesto: Ernest Hemingway in Spain". They are both many thousands of page hits higher than all other entries, and both neck in neck for the top entry. There is something funny about the way in which the Hemingway post has been duking it out with the shoe post for the number 1 spot… It speaks to a kind of schizophrenia people have about Spain: are they coming here for hedonistic indulging or deep, introspective self-discovery? (Or maybe it's a marketing opportunity – who wants to join me in a startup shoe company: Hemingway shoes?) I'm pleased to see that sometimes substance does drive readership. So, for example, my three Teaching English entries have performed well. I've noticed regular download traffic for my ready-made PDF lessons. It is gratifying to think that my work on those is paying off in some small way for other TEFL teachers or learners out there.

Last year for my blog birthday I did a conventional anniversary post, sharing with you what were the most popular blog entries for the year. But the truth is, that just encourages you to read the posts that everyone is already reading. So this year I thought I would highlight those posts that, for whatever reason —posted before my blog was "discovered" by google the public; posted at the wrong time of day when nobody was reading; didn't have a catchy title or sexy pictures of some famous actress— didn't ever get much traffic or visitors, but are personally some of my favorites. So here it goes, here are…

10 Underappreciated Blog Posts:

I've grouped them into three genres, in no particular order... 

• Movies:

I love movies! I've written a few entries about them, but I really should write more. What a wonderful way to get to know a culture! Especially Spanish cinema! (Oh yeah, and it is also a good way to practice the language.) At some point in the near future I'm considering doing a self-taught class on Spanish cinema. There's so much more than Almodóvar, and I admit that I've only barely scratched the surface.

(1) "Film: ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall! (1953)"

Somehow this entry got skipped by my readers, which is a shame because this movie should be required viewing for all Americans coming to Spain. In my opinion, Berlanga is still possibly the greatest Spanish director in terms of capturing truly Spanish Spanishness, and this movie is specifically about cash-strapped Spaniards getting their hopes up about American investment money coming in to save the day. (Still sounds relevant today, no?)

(2) "Film: La Comunidad (2000)"

Another film entry skipped over by my readers. This movie just happens to be my favorite Spanish movie of all time. I won't presume to say that it is the definitive best, but it is my personal favorite. And there is a certain dynamic in this comunidad that just does seem to resonate with some of the quirkier characteristics and attitudes of Spaniards today. So if you haven't seen it yet, go download it rent it now.

• It's the Economy, Stupid:

Perhaps it is only fair that my posts about the economic crisis don't get a lot of traffic. If you're looking for an expert opinion, you should visit Ibex Salad, a much more thoughtful and informed blog on the market and Spain's place in it. In general, I try my best to avoid talking about the crisis on my platform, because I think it gets too much attention in a way that is repetitive and self-defeating. Still, I've written a couple of entries that I would hope my readers took a look at, which seek to cut through the bulls**t hot air that you will hear about it on even serious news outlets.

(3) "Note to Americans: PIGS is a four-letter word"

We're four years into this economic crisis and sadly this entry is just as relevant now as it was back when I wrote it. Why northern Europeans, and particularly the British, tend to generalize about the problems in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal as if they were all of one cloth, I do not understand. Suffice it to say that its not true, but also that it's flat out obnoxious and insulting, too.

(4) "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying 

and Love the Global Economic Crisis"

If I've got one complaint about Spaniards, it's that many can be really negative. This is a glass-half-empty kind of culture. Even without horrible economic statistics and the world's lamest government, Spaniards wouldn't need much to get them talking about how backward their economy can be, and how the grass is so much greener over there in America. I wrote this entry, and put some thought into it, at a moment when I was particularly fed up with all the negativity about Spain and its economic future. Recently, perhaps I've also succumbed a bit to the despair. (Rajoy, por favor, no rompas mas mi pobre corazón.) But I still think the message in this entry is sound. The self-fulfilling prophecy can be a virtuous cycle, too. Positive thinking, anyone?

(5) "Local Vocab: 'Los Funcionarios'"

The reason I like this underappreciated entry is because it's about one of the central culture battles in Spain: public servants, are you with them or are you against them? If you don't understand the funcionario system, then chances are you are not understanding half of the political battles and arm-chair political rants that you've overheard in Spain. This entry will get you started on that, though it has taken me years to appreciate all the viewpoints and contradictions in this debate.

(6) "Note to Americans: Tipping Really Is Optional"

The longer I live in Spain, a country where tipping is not necessary, the more I find tipping culture in America not only backward, but down right medieval (okay, maybe bourgeois). Let's do everyone a favor. Let's encourage systems where workers get paid for their work, and where, on the bill, what you see is what you get.

• Alternative Spanish tourism/geography:

For a little over a year now, when I write about places to see in Spain, I've heavily favored places in and near Valencia. What can I say, it's what I know. Many of those entries are getting traffic as my blog's ranking rises in the blogosphere as one of the few English language bloggers writing from Valencia. But there are a few hidden gems that I've written about that haven't got much traffic. (Unfortunately, people who run searches on google only find what they're looking for.) Trust me, these spots are all very much worth visiting. Maybe they are not secrets, but they're not nearly as appreciated as the Costas or big cities like Barcelona and Madrid. So take a look and consider a visit!

(7) "Penedés: Wine Country"

Everyone always talks about Rioja wine. I haven't been to La Rioja, so I can't compare, but Penedés was an incredible wine country to visit, and is easy to reach from Barcelona. It's also the place to go if you love Spanish cava. So why not add a wine/cava tour to your next visit to Cataluña? Trust me, you'll thank me.

(8) "The 44th Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic"

This is an incredibly cool film festival! Not far from Barcelona, and taking place early to mid October, I would imagine if would be easy to combine it with a package tour of Barcelona, and maybe of the Penedés wine region right around the vendimia. If you like sci-fi and horror or film festivals, do not miss an opportunity to experience this sci-fi, horror, and fantasy film festival. I loved it, and definitely plan to go back.

(9) "Pueblos con encanto: Linares de Mora and the Sierra de Gúdar"

Cute towns, nice hikes, great food, this region has it all and it's an easy day trip from Valencia. I won't pretend that Linares is better than dozens of other 'pueblos con encanto', but it is time that you foreign tourists break the Madrid-Barcelona-Sevilla mold, and do some traveling through Spain's charming smaller towns. In this entry I offer a cannot-lose formula for this highly popular kind of tourism with Spaniards.

(10) "It's the Little Things: Spain's True Wealth"

This is an uncharacteristically short entry for my blog. It's really just a couple of videos. But whoa are these videos incredible. If you missed it, take a look. I return to these nature videos highlighting Spain's true wealth from time to time whenever I need to step back and look at the big picture. The visuals this film director has created are breathtaking, and Spain's natural parklands are magnificent.

– – – Birthday Epilogue – – –

I've done my best to hide on my blog that, in reality, this last year has been a particularly difficult one for me. Several important things have not gone my way and I'd be lying if I said that I'm not disappointed, and maybe even a bit morose about them. Fortunately, I've always had a game plan for periods in life like this. One of them is to pull out my list of "Lifetime Things To Do". (I've already done a couple of them… "One Year of Travel in Europe", check; "See an Opera at the Met", check.) It's not exactly a bucket list. I feel no obligation to do them before I die. Rather, it's a list of challenging, interesting things I have on hand to tackle whenever there's a lull in life, or I feel like I'm in a rut and need some activity to distract and uplift me.

Training for long runs is all about having the right equipment,
which is why I bought this toy for my marathon training!

This year I've chosen the "Run a Marathon" item on the list. Those of you following me on Instagram will note I post a lot of #running images in the Río Turia park. Well that's why. It's not that I love running or that I think running a marathon is the be all end all of life. It's more humble than that. Running is a simple, manageable challenge, something I can accomplish right now while my spirit is low and I feel like some things are out of my control. Exercise goals are great for moments of feeling low. No matter how miserable I am, after a painful hard run and refreshing shower, it is really, truly difficult to not feel positive. I've registered for Valencia's half marathon in October, and if I manage that then I'll register for the Valencia full marathon in November.

Another uplifting distraction on the horizon is a... West Coast Road Trip with my 'huckleberry friend' Chic Soufflé!!! Very shortly you will notice me tweeting and instagramming all about a Seattle to San Diego road trip, with many cool stops along the way. I'll say more about it here on the blog in October, but I'm already loading up my e-reader with books to get me in the spirit of it: Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Bryson's The Lost Continent, and Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. (Don't worry. I read Kerouac ages ago, and got California's Central Valley covered having read The Grapes of Wrath... even read anti-road trip novels like McCormac's The Road or Nabokov's Lolita.) I'm getting ready for my Rediscovering America Tour... or Road Trip Reboot 1.0!

So stay tuned. I hope you continue to enjoy reading the blog. Please know that your replies and thank yous are greatly appreciated.

Blog Birthday: Top Ten Posts and Many Thank-Yous

Today my blog turns one year old. My first post went public on September 1, 2011. Then I was full of fire about "Hemingway Paradigm" stereotypes to debunk, and was in need of a serious distraction from seemingly insurmountable professional hurdles. A year later, and I'm still keen on seeing expats and visitors update or fine-tune their out-of-fashion anachronistic "Hispanomanía", though I confess my passions are increasingly directed away from this not-for-profit hobby to more fiscally-productive, extra-blog-icular pursuits.

Before I share with you what have been my most popular posts for the year, I wanted to say thank-yous to a few bloggers out there who were important over the course of the year in either drawing attention to the blog, or keeping me engaged in it. First thanks should go to Ibex Salad, a savvy Spanish economy blogger whose mention of my blog in its early days pretty much put it on the map so far as search engines and bot trollers were concerned. I had less than a 1,000 hits total before his mention on November 4, 2011, and averaged a 1,000 hits-a-week after. I'm eternally grateful. (So to all you power bloggers out there, don't forget the little guys. We appreciate it!)

My first blog entry was a call to arms... to puncture the Hemingway Paradigm!

Special thanks always go to Chic Soufflé, La Cuchara Curiosa and Hola Valencia / For 91 Days, bloggers who have been my direct inspiration for taking up this medium and whose blog projects continue to impress me with what blogging can contribute to the metaverse... good taste, creative commentary, exciting adventure.

And then there are you many other bloggers who, through your regular comments and constant twitter titter, have kept me tuned in to the project and the Spain expat blogging community, even as my time for blog posts has diminished in the face of an increasingly busy, fulfilling personal and professional life. Here I'll single out for mention, in no particular order... Reg and Nancy at the Spain Scoop, Nieves at Sangria, Sol y Siesta, Hamatha at Pass the Ham, Kaley... y mucho más, Tumbit's Mr. Grumpy (happy 3rd birthday to you!), Gee Cassandra, Mother Theresa at The Rain in Spain, Molly in Granada at Piccavey.com, Steve at This is Spain, Néstor at Luces eXtrañas, and Sorokin at Diario de un Aburrido. There are many, many more of you out there whose interactions I've appreciated this past year, and I try to give some recognition of it by adding you to the "Not Alone" Blog Roll on the left side of this blogsite... But if you don't see you there, please write or comment to let me know! (Spain blog newbies, feel free to comment here to let yourself be known to all of these "power Spain bloggers".)

I'd also like to thank BlogExpat.com for flattering me with an interview, and Expatica.com Spain for reposting many of my blog entries (since imitation is the highest form of flattery). And I can't resist an additional four-letter word thank you to Damian Corrigan, my Valentine, whose ludicrous, overly-trafficked About.com GoSpain site still continues to light a flame in my heart in the crusade to counterbalance trite and superficial expat commentaries about my adopted country. (Damian, yes, I still think you're wrong about Valencia.)

These thank-yous aside, here go my (thus far) all-time top ten posts:

(10) "Not Hemingway's Madrid, part 1"

It's been a while since I looked at this entry and the part 2 that I wrote on Madrid, but I continue to recommend it to those of you wanting to get a non-touristy view of Spain's capital.

(9) "That Perfect Gift: Kukuxumusu, Cartoon Cool"

Very few things cooler than Kukuxumusu. I doubt they need my help selling their image, but I'm happy to do so. Or maybe I should be thanking them for drawing traffic my way?

(8) "Valencia's Fallas 2012: The hangover post"

To the extent that blog post popularity reflects passion and local knowledge, I'm happy that this post has ranked up there among the top. It certainly was a hit the week after I posted it. I hope that next year during Fallas it gets more hits, and also encourages any of you Valencia or Fallas doubters to come here and experience the fun for yourself. Fallas, fallas, fallas!

(7) "A Sport's Nation: Its Always Soccer Time in Spain"

There are no limits to the power of soccermania in this country. No doubt, if any of you bloggers want to increase your page hits and blog traffic, write an entry or two about soccer (a.k.a. football) here. Name drop players' names, and load some pictures of them, too. None of us ever get tired of this image of that magical moment in July 2010. Good times.

(6) "Valencia, Spain's Third Largest City: Getting Oriented and the City Center, part 1"

"Valencia, es la tierra de las flores... di-dadi-da-di-dadaa... Valencia"... Nothing makes me happier than to see this entry in the top ten. Valencia is easily one of Spain's most beautiful, under-appreciated cities. In March I added a photo link to my blog template (in the left column at top) to a page on all things Valencia and Fallas, hoping it boosts the visibility of my adopted city. Valencia is great! Come visit! You'll love it!

(5) "Movie Review: Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012)... A Moveable Flop"

I can't tell whether this post is getting traffic because people are curious about the movie and what a cranky "Not Hemingway" blogger thinks of it, or curious about the sex scene photos with Nicole Kidman. Whichever it is, I'm hoping it has the desired effect of steering audiences away from the film and towards more interesting things like books and articles about Martha Gellhorn. (Fat chance.)

(4) "Two Spains, Many Spains: The Spanish Civil War"

Okay, so I'm actually very proud of this entry. I think it's one of my best written. But can you guys _ever_ get enough about the Spanish Civil War??? I started this series, "Two Spains, Many Spains", with the idea of applying my skills as a historian to broad trends in Spain's dynamic culture. But then I got busy and burned out. But I promise to return to it... On the table: entries on immigration, the Spanish exodus (post-war and contemporary "brain drain"), and European Unification, among others. All trends transforming the country and making Hemingway's image an increasingly obsolete one.

(3) "The Hemingway Paradigm Is... Dark eyes, dark hair, thick lisp"

"Paz Vega" appears right below "Ernest Hemingway" on the list of all-time
search terms that lead people to my blog. Who knew?

Speaking of obsolete images... I only wished that the majority of visitors to this page were actually stopping to read the entry. But again, I suspect the source of traffic here is google image searches on Paz Vega and Elsa Pataky, since the volume of traffic fluctuated in sync with the gossip about these actresses' pregnancies and other shenanigans. This post is one of my every-25-entries-or-so revisits of the "Hemingway paradigm". Too bad the subsequent one on "bullfights, bandits, and black eyes" didn't rank here... but that one requires reading a lot of text to appreciate it.

(2) "Don Ernesto: Ernest Hemingway in Spain"

Well one would wonder if a site dedicated to debunking Hemingway stereotypes didn't draw traffic about Don Ernesto. So no real surprise that this entry gets a lot of visitors. If you didn't get a chance to read it, I recommend the twin entry I wrote with this on "Hemingway's Novels in Spain", which features some wordles of his works.


... and the #1 post of all time for my first year blogging is about ...

(1) "That Perfect Gift: Spanish Footwear"

SHOES! Hah! What a laugh! A subject I know relatively little about. Go figure. I suspect the popularity of this entry is partly owing to a pinterest tag on some of these shoe photos. Or maybe shoe shopping is up there with porn and cute cat photos for massive internet traffic. Who knows? Still, if this post helps to raise the profile of Spanish shoes in the world, then I'll rest happy. A big thanks to my mother-in-law, whose shopping savvy about Spanish footwear made this entry possible. And a thanks to Menorca, whose "menorquinas" sandals inspired the idea for the entry when I was visiting there.


I'll be curious to see what happens to these post rankings and the rankings of future blog entries as a new crop of exchange students, ESL teachers, and travel/adventure bloggers flood appear in Spain this fall and start perusing websites, gleaning information for their exploits.

Check back here next year to find out! And thank you to all for reading!