"Smile With Your Eyes"

Here's a story of one of the more interesting and unusual experience I've had since I've been in Barcelona. One of my students, who I've mentioned before, is a photographer. He said that he would like to practice taking pictures (yes, outdoors, fully dressed) and asked me if I would take pictures with him. I agreed, although after taking some quick preliminary pictures after one lesson, he proudly showed me during the next how he photoshopped away the smile lines near my eyes. I'm 22! But I thought: professional pictures in pretty places and an excuse to buy a new dress. ¿Por que no? So, about a week and a half ago, we went to Park Guell to take pictures. There I found myself trekking around Gaudi's Park in heels, getting curious stares from the normal people who wear coats and boots to go to a park in November.

I didn't know what to expect, but turned out to be a really fun day (even though the bubble man wasn't there this time). There was a field trip there that afternoon, so there were a bunch of Spanish kiddies running around. A few of them came up to me, with their friends giggling in the background to ask, "Es un modelo?" to which I replied "Solo por hoy" (only for today). I'm sure at least half of the pictures have some kid in the background peering out from behind a pillar or tree.

Trying to communicate with Fredi, whose English isn't quite there yet, was a challenge. I'm sure we were quite a sight: me switching from picture-taking mode to teacher mode, posing for pictures and correcting his grammar in between shots, and us talking in a combination of the two languages while setting up for a photo shoot in this public park. The funniest thing, though, was when we made our way down to the main entrance, where this guy, the dragon fountain, lives:



There were already a lot of people there taking pictures, mostly foreign tourists, so we waited our turn and planned the method of attack. What I didn't expect what that, when I ran up there to pose for a few pictures for Fredi, the other people gathered around would seize the photo opportunity as well. I was trying so hard not to laugh or run away as I smiled for a few dozen strangers' pictures, hoping they wouldn't be disappointed when they realized I was just a girl with a dress.

Like any good model-for-an-afternoon, I immediately went to get something to eat afterwards, because all that standing and giving my best happy/pouty/enticing looks just made me hungry. This is all sort-of relevant to today, since we just went to take pictures again, this time in Villa Olimpica where the 1992 summer Olympics were held. It was, without a doubt, the windiest day since I've been here in Spain, and I got similar ("somebody give that girl a jacket!") looks, especially when we wandered down to the sea and I had my bare feet in the freezing Mediterranean water.

So the moral of the story is, if you're a private student trying to learn a new language, the best way to get free practice time is to flatter your teacher by asking if you could take pictures of him/her. Here are a few of the ones Fredi's sent me already. They're all from the same area of the park because I guess that's where he started working on them. God only knows what he's airbrushing this time.