1.) Nicolas Sarkozy, son of Hungarian and Greek immigrants, at the right end of the political spectrum in France and recent President elect vows to strengthen immigration restrictions.
2.) With all the debate about how dangerous mobile phone raditation is and whether they should be stored away from the body when not in use, here is an incident that takes the cake!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Purposeful verborrea ?
Each day I come across instances that occur around me that if you think about it, are deeply rooted in history. The defensive nature of people with regards to this region as compared to the rest of Spain. The desire to stand out and be considered different from the rest of Spain, and the more extreme independentistas. However, behind each stand in the Catalan region, there is a reason.
Under the Fascist regime of Franco everything was prohibited. Any artistic or liberal minded person that tried to influence others was immediately executed. Homosexuals were executed. Anyone disrespecting the institution of marriage as established by the Catholic Church was arrested and possibly executed (separation and divorce were illegal). Women did not work outside their homes, or at most in family-run businesses. It was a chauvinistic, male dominated society (hmm, maybe the expression “macho ibérico” was born in this period?). People in the autonomous regions of Galicia, Euskadi, Catalunya, Valencia etc were not allowed to speak their native languages. The country was controlled from the centre, and the language of the centre was Castellano, and everybody had to speak it.
It may not sound so extreme or harsh from the outside but the only equivalent I can imagine given my background (coming from what I believe is the most culturally diverse country on the planet) is the following: Imagine a region in South Asia that has a lot of different states and each has its own unique language and culture. All the states are more or less autonomous and there is a liberal and open minded government in place smoothly running these states with the central government allowing reasonable autonomy to these states. Suddenly one fine day, a violent group of people throw off the central government and take over. They bring all these states under one umbrella and call the country Dodo-land. Tamilians are now prohibited from speaking Tamil, Kerelites from speaking Malayalam, Bengalis from speaking Bengali, Gujratis from speaking Gujrati, Pubjabis from speaking Punjabi and so on. The only accepted language, pertaining to the central government is Dodo-language and everybody has to speak it. Apart from not being able to speak their languages, the rest of the regions have to believe in the religious ideology of the centre, lets say the religion of the central government is Dodo-ism. So, they cannot speak their languages, practice their regional traditions, and are forced to speak the Dodo language, go to Dodo-Churches and believe solely in Dodo-ism. Anyone going against this is categorised as liberal and therefore revolutionary, goes straight to jail for “provoking anti-government sentiments” and most probably gets executed, the decision depends on the whim of the officials.
The English performed many atrocities in India, but atleast didn't interfere with the culture or religions - Can you even imagine something like this in India? I can picture massive country-wide revolutions, protests and consequently a lot of blood-shed and war. Which is what happened in Spain. For three years, the national civil war ensued which finally ended with the Fascist dictators taking power with Franco at the top.
In spite of religious beliefs being the same, there was a lot of repression. Journalists, painters, sculptors, writers, artists, poets, musicians and anyone practicing any form of artistic expression was randomly jailed and often executed. The prevailing fear made a lot of people passionate about their liberty flee the oppression and move to France, South America and other countries. During those 40 years, Spain was closed off to the rest of the world, and no outside influence was tolerated. The state sided with the influential upper class, the Church and the royal family. It was a sort of caste system with the royalty on top, hand in hand with the dictators, the Church next, the burgouis following them and then the common peasants. Could this also be a reason why modern Spanish is so full of double meanings!? Qué piensan los españoles?
When Franco died in 1975, it was almost as though the entire country took its first “free breath” in forty years. All those decades of restrain suddenly gave way and people started to experiment with everything. Be it cinema, art, music, photography, literature, poetry – freedom was in the air and it reflected in every aspect of life. The woman was released from her role of “ama de casa” or housekeeper, and started to venture out into the business world and demanded a respect that she never had before.
In Catalunya, Galicia, Euskadi etc the repression was two-faceted. These people faced both overall general and cultural repression. Unable to speak their languages and practice their cultures openly, these regions are now reinforcing their identities with a vengeance, with Catalunya leading the way. I'm not too fond of politics and don't really know whats going. But the feeling I get being here is that there is a soft-revolution going on as far as negotiating with the Center, with regards to autonomy of the region. I suppose the trick is to accept the present and go along. Although personally I believe in "united we stand, divided we fall," this is clearly more complex than just a black and white scenario.
So now, finally coming to the point - as of the 21st century, in my opinion the pendulum has swung the other way - the country has gone from one extreme to the other! If you watch the really successful internationally acclaimed films of Almodovar for example, you’ll note the excessive and rampant exhibitionism, experimentation with previously outlawed themes such as homosexuality, transexuality, prostitution etc. I recently watched a movie called “Amor Idiota” (idiot love) and I was totally shocked. A seemingly innocent title, my flatmate and I were looking to rent a romantic comedy. The movie turned out to be almost too embarrassing to watch. Today more Spanish women smoke as compared to men, gay marriages are legal, men are allowed “paternity leave” and the workforce constitutes of almost an equal number of young women as men. Sex is openly discussed. After the imposition of Catholicism for so long the generations born after the dictatorship ended are exploring other religions and spirituality. In certain ways, Spain has overtaken traditionally liberal countries.
Back to the comparison with India, all people in India don't even speak Hindi. We often have to use English to communicate between the North and South. But no matter what the language or culture, everyone from Kashmir to Kerala is Indian at the end of the day. Obviously someone in Spain back in 1935 didn't realize that its not the language that makes one feel from a certain region, its much more than that.
I would have liked to be a bird sitting on a tree one fine day in 1970 somewhere in Madrid just to observe things. As of the 21st century however, Spain has come a long way - and it shows.
Under the Fascist regime of Franco everything was prohibited. Any artistic or liberal minded person that tried to influence others was immediately executed. Homosexuals were executed. Anyone disrespecting the institution of marriage as established by the Catholic Church was arrested and possibly executed (separation and divorce were illegal). Women did not work outside their homes, or at most in family-run businesses. It was a chauvinistic, male dominated society (hmm, maybe the expression “macho ibérico” was born in this period?). People in the autonomous regions of Galicia, Euskadi, Catalunya, Valencia etc were not allowed to speak their native languages. The country was controlled from the centre, and the language of the centre was Castellano, and everybody had to speak it.
It may not sound so extreme or harsh from the outside but the only equivalent I can imagine given my background (coming from what I believe is the most culturally diverse country on the planet) is the following: Imagine a region in South Asia that has a lot of different states and each has its own unique language and culture. All the states are more or less autonomous and there is a liberal and open minded government in place smoothly running these states with the central government allowing reasonable autonomy to these states. Suddenly one fine day, a violent group of people throw off the central government and take over. They bring all these states under one umbrella and call the country Dodo-land. Tamilians are now prohibited from speaking Tamil, Kerelites from speaking Malayalam, Bengalis from speaking Bengali, Gujratis from speaking Gujrati, Pubjabis from speaking Punjabi and so on. The only accepted language, pertaining to the central government is Dodo-language and everybody has to speak it. Apart from not being able to speak their languages, the rest of the regions have to believe in the religious ideology of the centre, lets say the religion of the central government is Dodo-ism. So, they cannot speak their languages, practice their regional traditions, and are forced to speak the Dodo language, go to Dodo-Churches and believe solely in Dodo-ism. Anyone going against this is categorised as liberal and therefore revolutionary, goes straight to jail for “provoking anti-government sentiments” and most probably gets executed, the decision depends on the whim of the officials.
The English performed many atrocities in India, but atleast didn't interfere with the culture or religions - Can you even imagine something like this in India? I can picture massive country-wide revolutions, protests and consequently a lot of blood-shed and war. Which is what happened in Spain. For three years, the national civil war ensued which finally ended with the Fascist dictators taking power with Franco at the top.
In spite of religious beliefs being the same, there was a lot of repression. Journalists, painters, sculptors, writers, artists, poets, musicians and anyone practicing any form of artistic expression was randomly jailed and often executed. The prevailing fear made a lot of people passionate about their liberty flee the oppression and move to France, South America and other countries. During those 40 years, Spain was closed off to the rest of the world, and no outside influence was tolerated. The state sided with the influential upper class, the Church and the royal family. It was a sort of caste system with the royalty on top, hand in hand with the dictators, the Church next, the burgouis following them and then the common peasants. Could this also be a reason why modern Spanish is so full of double meanings!? Qué piensan los españoles?
When Franco died in 1975, it was almost as though the entire country took its first “free breath” in forty years. All those decades of restrain suddenly gave way and people started to experiment with everything. Be it cinema, art, music, photography, literature, poetry – freedom was in the air and it reflected in every aspect of life. The woman was released from her role of “ama de casa” or housekeeper, and started to venture out into the business world and demanded a respect that she never had before.
In Catalunya, Galicia, Euskadi etc the repression was two-faceted. These people faced both overall general and cultural repression. Unable to speak their languages and practice their cultures openly, these regions are now reinforcing their identities with a vengeance, with Catalunya leading the way. I'm not too fond of politics and don't really know whats going. But the feeling I get being here is that there is a soft-revolution going on as far as negotiating with the Center, with regards to autonomy of the region. I suppose the trick is to accept the present and go along. Although personally I believe in "united we stand, divided we fall," this is clearly more complex than just a black and white scenario.
So now, finally coming to the point - as of the 21st century, in my opinion the pendulum has swung the other way - the country has gone from one extreme to the other! If you watch the really successful internationally acclaimed films of Almodovar for example, you’ll note the excessive and rampant exhibitionism, experimentation with previously outlawed themes such as homosexuality, transexuality, prostitution etc. I recently watched a movie called “Amor Idiota” (idiot love) and I was totally shocked. A seemingly innocent title, my flatmate and I were looking to rent a romantic comedy. The movie turned out to be almost too embarrassing to watch. Today more Spanish women smoke as compared to men, gay marriages are legal, men are allowed “paternity leave” and the workforce constitutes of almost an equal number of young women as men. Sex is openly discussed. After the imposition of Catholicism for so long the generations born after the dictatorship ended are exploring other religions and spirituality. In certain ways, Spain has overtaken traditionally liberal countries.
Back to the comparison with India, all people in India don't even speak Hindi. We often have to use English to communicate between the North and South. But no matter what the language or culture, everyone from Kashmir to Kerala is Indian at the end of the day. Obviously someone in Spain back in 1935 didn't realize that its not the language that makes one feel from a certain region, its much more than that.
I would have liked to be a bird sitting on a tree one fine day in 1970 somewhere in Madrid just to observe things. As of the 21st century however, Spain has come a long way - and it shows.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Aspects of my vida laboral
Between working 10-12 hours a day, dancing flamenco, studying for the CIA, having long nights out in town, and a totally unreliable internet connection, I haven't really been able to blog much lately. The "Catalan experience" is turning out to be interesting. After having lived for over a year in Madrid, I can say that Barcelona is different. The Catalan are special people, and their eccentricities I think are mainly rooted in history. In any case, living here you learn that Spain is not just Spanish and Spanish speaking (but I will get into that in further detail some other day).
At work I've been reviewing documentation of a Spanish company which originated in France. The documents are in Castellano (Spanish) mainly, which is difficult already but few are in Catalan and Euskera as well. Needless to say, its a lot of fun disciphering all of this legal documentation in various non-english languages (managing with catalan is still alright, but euskera, no way).
Working in a foreign language (spanish) and continuous additional exposure to another foreign language (catalan) is pretty challenging, but I'm staying positive. People take their work seriously, but at the same time are light-hearted about things. With complete disregard to our "official timings," most days we allow ourselves a 20 minute breakfast break, a 1,5 hour lunch break, lunch taken in three courses (primero, segundo and postre or dessert), about 3-4 coffee breaks of varying lengths depending on workload, and yes I've started writing the decimal as a comma :) Thursdays are caña days, we go to a nearby bar after work, down some beers and spend a few hours laughing. My colleagues are a blast!
At work I've been reviewing documentation of a Spanish company which originated in France. The documents are in Castellano (Spanish) mainly, which is difficult already but few are in Catalan and Euskera as well. Needless to say, its a lot of fun disciphering all of this legal documentation in various non-english languages (managing with catalan is still alright, but euskera, no way).
Working in a foreign language (spanish) and continuous additional exposure to another foreign language (catalan) is pretty challenging, but I'm staying positive. People take their work seriously, but at the same time are light-hearted about things. With complete disregard to our "official timings," most days we allow ourselves a 20 minute breakfast break, a 1,5 hour lunch break, lunch taken in three courses (primero, segundo and postre or dessert), about 3-4 coffee breaks of varying lengths depending on workload, and yes I've started writing the decimal as a comma :) Thursdays are caña days, we go to a nearby bar after work, down some beers and spend a few hours laughing. My colleagues are a blast!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Thought for the Day
I like this quote which I saw hanging on the wall of the IT guys' room this morning:
"No preguntes por preguntar lo que el tiempo te dirá"
"Dont ask for the sake of asking, something that time will tell you"
"No preguntes por preguntar lo que el tiempo te dirá"
"Dont ask for the sake of asking, something that time will tell you"
Friday, April 13, 2007
Un susto de la muerte
Yo solía llevar un spray de defensa personal (de pimienta), que me quitaron hace una semana en el aeropuerto de Luxumburgo (donde asistí un curso de trabajo o training) porque se me olvidó meterla en el equipaje. Bueno, ayer salí a tomar unas cañas con unos compañeros después del trabajo. Era el cumpleaños de uno de ellos y fue un ratito agradable... después volvía andando a casa como vivo cerca, y eran sobre las 23:40 cuando me pasó algo un poco raro. Yo antes no me preocupaba por la "seguridad" de nuestro edificio, iba muy tranquila, y incluso no me gustaba el hecho de que solo en nuestro edificio había que cerrar la puerta del portal con llave para asegurar que no entre gente "no authorizada". Al fin al cabo este es el Eixample, un barrio seguro. Qué va.
Estaba casi casi en casa... abriendo la puerta del portal... y se me acerca un tío con una mochila, con un aspecto absolutamente normal, empieza a susurrar... "quieres coca, ¿hacemos 'un francés?'" y cosas de este estilo que yo no entendí y ya supe que esto era algo muy raro. Le dije que no (todo el rato intentando abrir la puerta del portal de mi casa). No me hacía caso, seguramente estaba drogado, seguía intentando venderme la coca, encima sacando cosas de su mochila para enseñarmelas. Yo, nerviosa y con un susto de la muerte, al final consegui abrir la puerta, cerrarla, llamar al ascensor, y subí corriendo a mi piso. El chico se quedó fuera del edificio pero hasta que entré el ascensor él seguía intentando convencerme y hablar desde el otro lado de la puerta. Una vez en casa, cerré bien con llave la puerta y me quedé en la oscuridad para que él de abajo no supiera cual era mi piso. Pero dentro de un minuto empezó a llamar el timbre de mi casa.... Yo pensando como puede saber en qué piso vivo, y que puerta. Pues creo que estuvo llamando todas las casas del edificio... de todos los vecinos Piensa que la mayoría de la gente en mi edificio (y en el bloque) son o mayores o familias con niños y a esas horas estarán todos en la cama dormidos. Yo ya empecé a flipar.... claro. Es que encima, no está mi compañera en casa. Después de llamar durante 10 o 15 minutos en el timbre (yo ya había llamado la policía mientras) ... creo que o le llevaron, o se cansó y se fue.
Pero vaya experiencia. Yo creo que este finde me voy a acercar a Pº de Gracia con Balmes a la tienda de defensa personal y comprarme este spray que me falta. Ningún barrio esta completamente seguro, así que ten mucho cuidado.
Pero eso sí - disfrutad del finde, SEGURAMENTE!
Estaba casi casi en casa... abriendo la puerta del portal... y se me acerca un tío con una mochila, con un aspecto absolutamente normal, empieza a susurrar... "quieres coca, ¿hacemos 'un francés?'" y cosas de este estilo que yo no entendí y ya supe que esto era algo muy raro. Le dije que no (todo el rato intentando abrir la puerta del portal de mi casa). No me hacía caso, seguramente estaba drogado, seguía intentando venderme la coca, encima sacando cosas de su mochila para enseñarmelas. Yo, nerviosa y con un susto de la muerte, al final consegui abrir la puerta, cerrarla, llamar al ascensor, y subí corriendo a mi piso. El chico se quedó fuera del edificio pero hasta que entré el ascensor él seguía intentando convencerme y hablar desde el otro lado de la puerta. Una vez en casa, cerré bien con llave la puerta y me quedé en la oscuridad para que él de abajo no supiera cual era mi piso. Pero dentro de un minuto empezó a llamar el timbre de mi casa.... Yo pensando como puede saber en qué piso vivo, y que puerta. Pues creo que estuvo llamando todas las casas del edificio... de todos los vecinos Piensa que la mayoría de la gente en mi edificio (y en el bloque) son o mayores o familias con niños y a esas horas estarán todos en la cama dormidos. Yo ya empecé a flipar.... claro. Es que encima, no está mi compañera en casa. Después de llamar durante 10 o 15 minutos en el timbre (yo ya había llamado la policía mientras) ... creo que o le llevaron, o se cansó y se fue.
Pero vaya experiencia. Yo creo que este finde me voy a acercar a Pº de Gracia con Balmes a la tienda de defensa personal y comprarme este spray que me falta. Ningún barrio esta completamente seguro, así que ten mucho cuidado.
Pero eso sí - disfrutad del finde, SEGURAMENTE!
Monday, April 9, 2007
Bollywood Magic
Lately I've got a good amount of Bollywood influence around me, thanks to my dear flatmate. The only movies she has are Hindi and every evening when I get home from work, I find her sitting at her laptop listening to her Bollywood course music (I work longer hours, ofcourse!). With this full-on daily immersion, I'm getting into it too. Or rather, I'm "staying with it" as almost all of the last year in Oman was spent watching Bollywood exclusively. And why not. I think Indian cinema is heading in the right direction, atleast as far as direction and scripts are concerned. And you know what? The music is not too bad either. I admit though that when songs have totally unorthodox lyrics like "batata wada" its not quite as happening.
I spent my Semana Santa holiday yesterday watching videos on youtube - from flamenco, to Nancy Ajram to Bollywood, and everything in between. For those who haven't watched Dhoom 2 yet (hehe, ofcourse I loved it!) I recommend watching the movie, if only for the Crazy Kiya Re video. Totally Bollywood, with all the jhatkas and matkas, so terribly catchy, and I can't remember seeing two Desi actors look so good before!
Ah, and who has watched Gangster? Awesome performances by Shiny Ahuja and 19 year old Kangna Ranaut. Soundtrack mostly good. Two songs worth talking about: Bangladeshi singer "James" makes an awesome debut with Bheegi bheegi and then Ya Ali isn't too bad either (who sang it?).
I could go on, but its bedtime so I'll write some more later as my Bollywood saga continues...... in Spain of all places :)
I spent my Semana Santa holiday yesterday watching videos on youtube - from flamenco, to Nancy Ajram to Bollywood, and everything in between. For those who haven't watched Dhoom 2 yet (hehe, ofcourse I loved it!) I recommend watching the movie, if only for the Crazy Kiya Re video. Totally Bollywood, with all the jhatkas and matkas, so terribly catchy, and I can't remember seeing two Desi actors look so good before!
Ah, and who has watched Gangster? Awesome performances by Shiny Ahuja and 19 year old Kangna Ranaut. Soundtrack mostly good. Two songs worth talking about: Bangladeshi singer "James" makes an awesome debut with Bheegi bheegi and then Ya Ali isn't too bad either (who sang it?).
I could go on, but its bedtime so I'll write some more later as my Bollywood saga continues...... in Spain of all places :)
Why I love Barcelona
So my real motivation to move to Barcelona was because I couldn't find any veggie food in Madrid. This used to be a big problem when my classmates and I would go out, as we'd go to typical Spanish places and that usually meant no vegetarian options. But each time I'd visited here, I'd noticed Barcelona is veggie-friendly-er than Madrid. I never had issues being vegetarian while living in Georgia but Spain has proved a little more difficult. I see a ton more options on the menu here, and the best part is, unlike in Madrid, while doing Tapas with friends, I always have something to munch on. The stomach appreciates food coming in with the wine for sure. So Barcelona, my tummy wants to thank you.
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