Happy Endings

At the book arts conservatory we ended the semester with friends, food, and books (big surprise there). Corks flew in the intaglio studio on Thursday night and large amounts of tortilla, chorizo, and empanada were consumed.

The Spanish are big on what they call the "sobremesa" ... lingering over a meal long after the food is gone.

Bookbinders can be shy (they do, after all, spend more time with paper than with people). But they're definitely not cold! I feel so grateful to have found this corner of the book arts world.

What I'm most grateful for this holiday season: my parents and my brother, my grandparents, and the great Seogvian family I'm going to spend Christmas with. I'm getting a shot at living all my bookish dreams, but I know I wouldn't be here without the support from my family, and all the mentoring that goes on in the book arts community.

Internationally nerdy: we've got paper people from Russia, Peru, Chile, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, and the US.

Homemade sushi from one of the other exchange students

How bookbinders catch the metro: with big rolls of paper.

My first batch of nice books :)

"Holandés" binding

Hand-painted endpapers (by me!) with a softcover binding

More snazzy end papers. 

 This red book has a textured cover and more striped paper inside.

An envelope. 

Also on the note of mentoring, I was thrilled to listen to this story on MPR. John mentored me at Leg Up Studio. The article captures John's generosity, and the great things that are going on at Leg Up, which is a community printmaking studio in NE Minneapolis.

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz navidad! Or, even more Spanish: ¡Felices fiestas!

Older is better

It takes a loooooooong time to make good books. In the two months of class I've had, I've only turned out a dozen finished books (but there are more in the works, so stay tuned).

Here are some photos of sewing some textblocks .... very slowly:

The books are sewn on hemp cords. You get all the holes in line by using a saw on the spine. (TOOLS).

The nerve is level with the pages (not above or too deep).

Even though it takes forever, it's super satisfying to finish sewing textblocks and for them to turn out well. I guess that's what the handmade book still has going for it!

This is BCN: I met Elvis.

In the Estación de Francia. He was happy to pose for a photo. Missing a dobro, though ... :)

Serendipity

I was talking with my dad on the phone on Friday. I needed to get on the metro but I didn't want to lose the signal, so I just walked around the Plaza España for a bit while we talked (FAMILY IS THE BEST).

Then serendipitously the light/music/color show started at Montjuic and I all I could say on the phone was "ooooooooo dad it's soooo gorgeous."

Here are some photos! Eventually I tore myself away and actually got on the metro. But I am so going back another weekend!

photo credit to some friendly polish people :)

the blue lights!

city lights & rain

Teaching English in Spain

Is superfun and I really like it.

Here kids start taking English really early in grade school, but almost nobody speaks English well. So there is a market for private "language schools."

Right now, I teach an "early" morning class at a language school.

Class is supposed to start at 9am. Here's how that went down today:

8:50 am ... waiting for the bus, which arrives 10 minutes late.

9:10 am ... I arrive to teach but the school isn't open.

9:30 am ... My students get here.

9:40 am ... The students are freezing cold (it's about 60 degrees outside) and DYING of hunger so we argue about which of the four closest bars to go.

9:50 am ... We invade the closest bar. My students proceed to order nine cafe-con-leches, a beer, and a dozen doughnuts. They seem much happier and tell me how much they like English class.

10:00 am ... My boss calls to tell me he's sorry, he slept in because he really needed the sleep after partying all weekend, and that he'll be there right away to open the building. None of the students seems to think this is odd.

10:10 ... we talk about our weekends in English. My students enthusiastically tell me about how much time they spent sleeping and partying! Oh, and eating ... "I ate a really good paella ... how do you say paella in English?"

10:25 ... my boss shows up to let us into the school (about an hour and a half after the official start of class). He mentions that the key has actually been in the mailbox the whole time.

10:30 ... we listen to music. My students argue loudly about what the right answers are, and who the father of Adele's baby is. I attempt to get them to argue loudly in English.

10:45 ... I cram some past participles into the last 15 minutes of class.

10:55 ... The students are exhausted from ALL THAT ENGLISH so we end class five minutes early. I pack up my (largely unused) lesson plan and think "I can't believe they pay me for this!"

11:00 ... I go home via Plaza España and Plaza Cataluña. Best commute ever!!!

New Neighborhood!

A few photos of my new neighborhood! (Gracia)

Fresh quail and chicken eggs at the market ... complete with dirt.

Veggie stand at the market. Most neighborhoods in the center have covered markets.
 They actually represent about 8% of the city's economy. 

Palm trees and Christmas lights.

A church near the new apartment.