Word: spain
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...returned from Madrid three weeks ago and I can confidently say that the biggest differences between it and New York are that in Spain's capitol the people wear less black clothing and the subway system is a lot cleaner. I could go into any cafeteria or restaurant and ask for una hamburguesa, the people conversed in English in lieu of a shared mother tongues and Harrison Ford's "Air Force One" was the most popular movie around...
American media saturates the Spanish airwaves. During siesta time, I would watch Mr. T beat the bad guys on "The A-Team" and relive "Growing Pains" with Mike, Ben and Carol Seaver. In fact, the people of Spain have elevated cheesy American sitcoms and made-for-TV movies to the rarefied status of telenovelas. And the more crime and sex, the better: These decade-old American exports are invariably about a wife driven to infidelity by her husband's extramarital affairs; she takes a teenage lover, convinces him to murder her husband and, of course, mayhem results...
...suppose I shouldn't complain. After all, my popularity in Spain was due in large part to my California driver's license, to my ability to claim residence in the land of "Baywatch" and buxom, blond lifeguards. Store owners and custom officials would take a glance at my Los Angeles address and become chummy and friendly, eager to chat. "Harvard," on the other hand, triggered no special response and "Boston" merely elicited a blank stare...
...course, there are still countless Americans roughing it out in backpacks and blue jeans, doing the poor student's version of the Grand tour, living humbly and unobtrusively in the campgrounds and hostels of Spain as well as the rest of Europe. But it does seem a shame to come so far, only to see so much the same as it was in the land we departed...
DIED. CONLON NANCARROW, 84, eccentric and enigmatic American-born composer; in Mexico City. One of the most curious characters in modern music, he devoted his life to composing almost exclusively for the player piano. He fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade against fascist Spain in 1937. His political views led the State Department to refuse to renew his passport in 1940. He moved to Mexico, where he became a citizen...