Book and Bars

As I get back into studying French I insist on using the formal pronoun “vous” with my teacher even though she is younger than I. I told her that I need the practice because we almost never use the formal pronoun “usted” here in Spain. You might use it when addressing very old people but even then you risk having them telling you to lighten up. I am still reading La Plage by Alex Garland. It’s taking me a while but I am enjoying the book and I have found little difficulty with the French apart from having to look up a lot of words. I have found almost no grammar mysteries in the book.  I underline every word I don’t know and then later look it up on www.wordreference.com.  I write the definition in the margin (sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish if that is clearer for me) and then I go back and reread the passage.

I picked up a couple of used book at Ubik Café last night. I can’t say that I am a big James Elroy fan but I bought Réquiem por Brown for 2€. I hate to admit it but I liked the font size in the book which was probably the biggest determining factor in my purchase. I hate how a lot of paperbacks here in Europe are in some sort of ultra-micro print. Anyway, it should be an easy read in Spanish. I also bought Je M’en Vais by Jean Echenoz who won the Prix Gouncourt for this novel in 1999 (my grand-uncle won it in 1942 as you can read in the link).  I have a lot of books in the queue.  I love Ubik Café, besides being a great place for finding cheap reads they also have good wine by the glass and great tapas.

I also stopped in for a quick visit at a new bar in the neighborhood called La Bicicleta. How could I now go to a bar named La Bicicleta?