One month

Today is January 26th, and exactly on February 26th I am scheduled to fly back to Barcelona. So I have a month left in Harlem. I will try to make the most of it. For now, tomorrow I am driving to Boston for a five-day trip, together with a quick swing by Maine on Monday and Tuesday. I will post pictures, hope to see some snow, since I haven't seen any so far in the city.

Guitar Hero

Today I went with Albert to MicroCenter in New Jersey. As you know, if you have followed me for some time, MicroCenter is one of my favorites stores. Today they had an Xbox360 ready to play Guitar Hero, and we have made our first hesitant steps in playing this game. I had never played before, so I can understand now why it's so addictive and people get hooked up on it so much.

Not allowed in the subway

Today I found out that there are several things that are not allowed in the subway. For instance:

• Consume alcoholic beverages of any type.


• Take any kind of drink into the train if they are in an open container (you could be so stupid with all the shaking the train does).


• Lie down (Huh? Why? And if you feel bad? You get a fine on top of feeling sick?)

German plates

The other morning I was going to work and I saw a car with a front German plate. This is not as surprising as it seems, because as you know, many states only require the back plate to be official, and there's a large number of cars with flags, sports teams logos, or foreign plates (especially French and German) up front. As the car was parking, I walk to its back and I see, to my surprise, that in the back it also has a German plate, and a different one to boot.

This is now quite surprising, so since the guy (a uniformed soldier, Hispanic, last name Quiñones displayed in his breast) was walking towards me, I tell him: "We don't see too many cars with German plates around here." Very friendly he answers: "Yes, I just got back from being stationed in Germany for two years." So I ask him the 64-million-dollar question: "So why are the front and back plates different?" He laughs and explains to me that since in his home state of Connecticut only the back plate was required, he had bought in Germany an old plate and put it up front just for display, but that having just arrived to the US he still had not had time to change the back German plate for the Conn. one. We keep walking together and talking in Spanish, me and soldier Quiñones, he was very nice and friendly. And not stupid at all, since he had taken advantage of his post in Germany to bring back a nice BMW with him.

Shattered Dreams

I've just finished a book that has left a big impression on me. It's called Shattered Dreams, My Life As A Polygamist's Wife, by Irene Spencer. It's the autobiography of a woman who was the second wife (out of a total of ten) of a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist.

The book explains how supporters of plural marriage convince and trick young girls (who grew up in polygamist families themselves and don't know better) to marry them to be their wives, many times under age, telling them that this is the real mormonism and that they will go to heaven. That if they have doubts is because their faith is not strong enough. And everything to fulfill the lust of some pitiful disgusting idiots who take advantage of the gullibility of fourteen-year-olds. And then, the big problem is that the husband many times cannot provide for all his wives and children. Since legally he can only marry one, the other wives appear to be single mothers, who keep whelping a baby every year, so they go on welfare, becoming a fraud to the state. A real scandal.

It is estimated that 40,000 people remain living in polygamist families in the state of Utah.

The great channel HBO has a series called Big Love, which is about a polygamist with three wives in current day Salt Lake City, and his relationship with a fundamentalist polygamist clan (whose leader is played by the great Harry Dean Stanton). It's a great series, I am so sorry it hasn't made it to Spain yet.

Prices

I continue with prices. In the corner convenience store, the 2-liter Pepsi bottle costs $1.99, while the 1.5-liter costs only $1.39. Huh? How come? Well, every time I go I buy several 1.5-liter bottles...

Jamón ibérico

Today I went to buy some chorizo at Formaggio Essex. For the first time, they had jamón ibérico in stock [a special type of Spanish ham, supposed to be the best], which has recently been approved by the FDA for its sale in the US. But the ham cost $99.95 a pound, which translates to more than 150 euro per kilo. I understand it's the best, but I believe they have gone a bit overboard.

Back in Harlem

As it happened my first day in Harlem, I got up today very very early, and again I saw the Sun rising from my window. Although this time it wasn't very spectacular, since it's pouring buckets. I am back in Harlem, after a flight with no incidents and a very pleasant holidays with my family.

I have two more months in Harlem, until February 26th, and I will keep posting here my impressions, trips and ideas about Harlem, New York, the USA and life in general.