Samba, Bossa Nova, Gothic Art, and Mel Gibson

Woke up Saturday morning at around 11:30 to a hot morning. Damn, the heat had returned. I bummed around, blogged, hung out with Maruja's granddaughters who were visiting a bit (which was hard since my voice was hoarse from all of the singing the night before), until lunch at 2:30. Once again, lunch was half good, half not so good...I'm sensing a trend. We started with what is called ensaladilla rusa which is what I consider the Spanish potato salad (hence why I love it). It consists of potatoes, tuna, peas, carrots, pepper, pickle, and lots o mayo. Then we had plain cooked fish which was fine, but nothing special. For dessert we had fresh-squeezed orange juice. After dinner Stacey and I got ready and walked over to the Starbucks next to the Cathedral because it's supposed to have a nice, secluded upstairs area. The 30-minute walk was brutal because not only was it hot, but also very muggy. Yuck. We arrived and headed upstairs which is so nice! It's got nice, soft, couches and chairs situated next to velvet-curtained traditional Spanish windows. The lighting's really nice, and it was nice and cold up there (the air conditioning was blasting). The only downfall was that they played the music up there really loudly...I consequently was quite aware of the Starbucks CD mixes...I heard the line-up 3 times. They have 4 mixes they play: a samba/bossa nova remix CD that was good at first, but near the end I swore if I heard another rendition of "Mas que nada" I would slit my wrists, a blues mix which is really good (lots of Ella and Louis), an amazing accoustic mix that just happens to have a kids' song on it called, "It's always more fun to Share with Everyone" (I don't think Starbucks Spain was aware since the song has a good beat), and a barroque/classical mix. Melissa showed up to study with us for awhile. I spent the first half of my time there reading "El castigo sin verganza", the first required reading for Lope de Vega (yeah, I've got a ways to go). I spent the other half studying the chapter on Gothic Art in my art history book. At around 9 we went to Cien Montaditos for dinner (I'm kind of obsessed with that restaurant now). We ate so much, we were inexplicably hungry. Once back at Starbucks I had such a hard time concentrating, so I got some tea and got back in the zone. By 11:30 they started playing that samba CD and I felt like I was going to pop a vain. So we left. We walked home, made an OpenCor stop where we ran into Alissa and Sarah who were on their way to go out. Sarah is all done with her exams except for a paper...damn, that's crazy. People are starting to leave so soon! Then we walked home. Stacey and I got back and decided to watch Braveheart. Marta has kept quite a nice DVD collection here, but unfortunately the DVD player's been broken...until that morning! So we broke in the newly-repaired DVD player with what I would soon find out to be one of the greatest movies ever. We were able to watch it in English, too, thankfully. So yeah, Braveheart. Most amazingly intense 2.5 hours of my life. Honestly, I've never been so captivated by a movie. It's just INCREDIBLE. Mel Gibson...his acting, his directing...fucking BRILLIANT. I wanted to cry so many times during the movie, not solely due to its content, but also the beauty of its scenes. Seriously, that movie is a work of art...a masterpiece. As much as I dislike Mel Gibson, I have a newfound respect for that man. I mean, he's truly an artist. After the film I was speechless...the movie had moved me. I'm not kidding, I was moved. Movies, or art at that, rarely have such a profound effect on me. It's crazy! It's seriously one of the best movies that I have ever seen. Ever. After the movie I think Stacey was kind of weirded out because I just sat there in silence, unable to describe the experience. I dunno, sometimes art really gets me...I guess I'm just the ideal arts & ideas major. But I seriously didn't know what to do with myself. Art sometimes has a very profound effect, and this was evidence of its power. I was moved, man, moved. It was 3:30 am and I was not tired at all. I forced myself into bed with lack of anything else to do and took forever to fall asleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about Braveheart. Amazing movie. Amazing.
Oh yeah, and I also had Brazilian music running non-stop through my head. Thanks, Starbucks.