Greetings to all of my readers from across the great Atlantic! I am currently situated in the lovely, richly historic city of Madrid, Spain. It has been quite a pleasure to finally be immersed in the beautiful Spanish language, and I must admit that the change of pace from the typical cadence of a semester at Tufts has been a most welcome one.

I suppose the most salient aspect of the culture shock, thus far, has been the sobering experience of discovering that Europe is not the enlightened continent that I once thought. Granted, Spain is quite different from many of Western Europe's other states, with a vastly different sociopolitical history and an economic modernization which has really only occurred (at breakneck speed, I would hasten to add) in the last thirty years or so. Notwithstanding, the wistful notion harbored by many of the progressive persuasion in the United States, namely that the United States is a languishing backwater of conservatism amidst the leftist, progressive, tolerant polities of Europe is clearly off-base, and in fact (a scary notion, I know) it seems that Europe has some deeply-embedded social issues that need to be brought more clearly to our attention if for no other reason than to add some insight into the public discourse transpiring in the U.S. That is to say, while we in the U.S. like to talk about the problem of race and tolerance and a greater consciousness of diversity issues, I would like to issue a round of applause--not because we have somehow overcome these laden social questions, but rather because we seem to be able to engage them somewhat intelligently. More than I can say for many in Spain.

My "host grandparents," as I refer to them due to their age (mid-70s or thereabouts), are lovely people. Absolutely lovely. I feel that I need to preface the following with that statement because I would not wish to give the impression that they have somehow made me feel at all uncomfortable or unwelcome--quite the opposite. I have found that most Spaniards and madrileños in particular have a certain affability. One can always feel at ease inquiring as to the location of the nearest pharmacy or the northern terminus of the Metro line, and with startlingly few exceptions the people here are always eager to help.

When it comes to issues of race and identity consciousness, though, my host grandparents exhibit prejudices and misconceptions which are astounding even for people of their generation and age. They talk nostalgically of the creation of a stable Spanish middle class under Franco, the countless deaths perpetrated by the so-called "rojos" ("reds"), the ills of South American immigrants and drug-dealing blacks, the money-hungry Chinese immigrant invaders, the "dirty" Arabs (they actually refer to them using the Medieval term "moros"). I simply listen, eyes widened and mouth partially open. At first I thought that perhaps my Spanish wasn't really as good as I thought it was after all--how could they be saying these things, after all? Such nice people, such affable people with a wonderful disposition, how could they speak with such malice and prejudice about others? Spain is a modern country, after all, with a powerful socialist governing coalition in control and gay marriage and etc. etc. etc. But, nope, I was understanding perfectly. My host grandmother actually made a reference to the Earth's five different "races," pontificating about the differences between the "yellow" race and the "whites" and the "blacks"--well you all get the point. My attempts at prodding them to see the narrow-mindedness of their views have yielded no fruit, and I highly doubt they will. As a Jew, though, I of course can feel perfectly at ease with my host grandparents, not to worry--the Jews are an industrious race, after all. Yes, we Jews apparently travel from country to country turning everything we see into mountains of money and wealth. I kid you not, this is the way many people still think in this country.

One thing that I've found to be universal, though, in my travels thus far--anti-American sentiment seems nearly non-existent in the age of Obama. I have heard more praise and veneration of American democracy here than is even fathomable. America is still seen as a land of opportunity and prosperity, a place where the people get to select their own leaders and vote for the first black head of state of any Western country in world history should they desire.

Even if it is a somewhat sanguine and distorted view, it is nonetheless one that makes me proud to be a U.S. citizen in this moment of history.

More to come--many thanks to all who will be following along as I send updates from my sojourns in Europe from time to time!