I just got bigger and whiter.

Recently, while shopping for clothes, I have set some strict guidelines:

1. Can I wear this while teaching?
2. Can I wear this in a Spanish summer without getting heatstroke?

Two nights ago, I had this terrible thought: what if all of my American clothes are terribly out-of-date or ugly or just plain laughable in Spain? It's not that I've ever been a particularly fashion-conscious person, but the truth of the matter is that I'm already rather big and white, and I don't need to add more to the list of things that make me conspicuous.

So now there's Guideline #3: Can I wear this without enabling people to instantly pinpoint my clothing as distinctly American?

The internet has provided some consolation, informing me that my current wardrobe probably won't leave me ostracized, at least not right off the plane.

I have also learned that in Europe, my shoe size is 44 and my dress size is 40/42. One plane ride, and I will have swollen 3 to 4 times my American size. It's amazing what thirteen hours in the sky will do!

Practical Math

The only kind of math I need to know to make it in this world:

TV < Books

Euro > Dollar

Me + 0 food($0) = Walmart

Checking account/bookstore = monthly net income + ($ saved on groceries by buying books instead) = healthy brain, sad body

°C x 9/5 + 32 = °F

(°F - 32) x 5/9 = °C

My new weather box tells me that Madrid's temperatures are in the 60's this week. This serves to remind me that, in preparation, I should perhaps be spending less time with my high school Spanish notes and more time in a sauna.

Weather!

I found a weather widget! The picture in the right sidebar gives you Madrid's current temps and weather conditions. Click the image for the full-size version, which allows you to scope out the weekly forecast, humidity, wind speed, and all manner of meteorological geekery! It's kind of enchanting (she said as she hummed the Super Mario Bros. theme to herself while adjusting the HTML).

Am I what I say I am?

Yesterday, Katie got me hooked on What Would You Do?, a show which sets up controversial or difficult situations, then films actual people reacting to them. In the first scenario, an actor with Down's Syndrome poses as a bagger at a grocery store, while another actor coming through checkout urges him to hurry up. She also asks those around her if "these people" should really be allowed to work here:



In this one, a restaurant worker tells migrant workers that he will not serve them:





We are all capable of discussing and overdiscussing the political implications, the real-ness of these scenarios, the social backgrounds, everything. That's not what I'm trying to get at here. The point is that no matter what I think about illegal immigration or how much I dislike getting involved in random people's business, I am responsible, above all, not for changing the world but for how I act and how I love people, whether I agree with them or not.

Would I stand up for someone whose dignity is being insulted? Would the words leave my mouth with fire or with compassion, with pride, with spite? Would I hide my face, tell myself that I just shouldn't bother people? Would I treat a person like a person, even if I didn't particularly like that person or what they stood for? Would I confront another person on behalf of someone I don't even know?

I guess the root question here is this: Would I (and do I) do what is right when I know I should, or do I shy away from what is right because it is hard and I am not that bold?

Do I?