So this summer I've been reading a bunch of books, trying to read a list I've compiled, almost a mile long. One in particular by one of my favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway,
For Whom the Bells Toll was quite enjoyable. After an entire semester studying Spanish history and specifically the Guerra civil (civil war) and the Franco era, I appreciated the historical elements of the novel much more. Also many cultural and regional nuggets were disposed throughout the text. But, I think the thing I loved the most about it though was the style that Hemingway writes in. He is a minimalist, but the fact that his main character was in the mountainous Spanish countryside speaking formal Spanish, the fact that Hemingway used choppy phrases and translations that a translator would get fired for, made the language all that more richer as a representation of the Spanish language structure in English.
An example in case I'm confusing you:
Que pasó? in Spanish should be idiomatically translated to
what happened? in English. For
Whom the Bells Toll would phrase it
what passed? How beautiful the language subtleties!
No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
as well as if promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were.
Any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.
-Donne
On Tuesday we went to the big apple, NYC, for some television tapings, but we didn't leave early enough to use the Good Morning America tickets we had. We did however make it to Who wants to be a Millionaire starring Meredith Veira. The atmosphere was very cool with the blue lights, fog machines, and dah dah music. We all tried out to be a contestant but none of us passed the test. Unfortunately about 2.5 hours into the drive on the way there I got violently ill all of the sudden. I was puking into a plastic bag in the car and we had to roll down the windows on the middle of the highway. I had to stop in a hotel to recoup and encouraged everyone else just to leave me there but luckily I got better very quickly. Not helping, we did pick to go to New York City on the freaking hottest day of the summer during a stupid heat wave. Are we crazy? Yes. Even still, it was fun. I love the city life. I'm afraid I'm tuning into a city girl.
I hate squirrels. 
This is what we did with the squirrels after we caught them, barbequed them. Ha, ha ha, no just kidding. I wouldn't eat them even if they tasted like thanksgiving turkey.
Bah ha ha hah, I made away with a nice big check from the Shippensburg fair from the jewelry and photos (and angel food cake) I entered. Actually the cost of the prints, frames, mats, beads, wire and such didn't even break me even, but oh well. That can't be why you make stuff. You gotta do it for the love. All for the love.
The photo on the left is from Cadiz. It reminds me of Halloween. My favorite artistic-y one that I took in Spain. Then the one on the right is from Morocco. It only got second place but I think it's my best that I took in the whole year. Come on, he has missing teeth and is guiding his camel across the sweltering desert, what more could you ask for?
So this summer I've been reading a bunch of books, trying to read a list I've compiled, almost a mile long. One in particular by one of my favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bells Toll was quite enjoyable. After an entire semester studying Spanish history and specifically the Guerra civil (civil war) and the Franco era, I appreciated the historical elements of the novel much more. Also many cultural and regional nuggets were disposed throughout the text. But, I think the thing I loved the most about it though was the style that Hemingway writes in. He is a minimalist, but the fact that his main character was in the mountainous Spanish countryside speaking formal Spanish, the fact that Hemingway used choppy phrases and translations that a translator would get fired for, made the language all that more richer as a representation of the Spanish language structure in English. 
