Normal things

Yesterday I was pushing my cart through the men's silk tie section and I got tickled. I went on through shoes and out of the store realizing that it has become normal to push a grocery cart through the equivalent of Macy's or through a mall. It's normal and most the time I don't think about it.

Today it got really warm, 82 in fact and the rest the week is suppose to be in the 70s, after two weeks of cold rain. So of course we have the windows open again. I don't know if it's the rain or what, but the bugs are out in force. We have no screens on our windows. I guess you can have them custom built and a few homes do that, but most places don't have them. So bugs flying in and out of the windows is pretty normal. When it gets to dusk, we plug in these little things that look like air fresheners, they repel mosquitoes and don't smell like anything. I don't like bugs being in and out of the house but I'm used to it. This is a likely cause for why we had a bat in our bedroom one night. We forgot to plug in the bug repellent and I think he probably followed something in the window. We won't make that mistake again, hopefully.

Hola. Everyone says it. When you're out walking or a neighbor is in their yard or in stores, it's very normal to say hola and have it said to you very often. So without thinking now, I say hola when I'm out walking and I pass someone. I wonder does my hola sound normal or is it a little off, and they thing, "where is she from?"

All the tourist shops sell them, but then so do all kinds of shops. Abanicos are the pretty fans that are often a souvenir from Spain. The thing is the abanico is alive and well. In the summer, nearly every woman has one in her purse. I in fact carried one this summer. Without air conditioning, you are often in places that are stifling hot. When you hit that maximum capacity on heat, out come the fans. It's amazing the relief a little stirring of the air can bring. Lots of people use them in church too. You can spend a lot of money on hand painted ones, more suited to hanging on the wall or you can drop a Euro and have one that you don't care if you lose. It's interesting what has become normal.

Worried, Happy

I've noticed the use of a couple Spanish words that are near synonyms for English words but they are used differently here. One is preocupada (preocupado if you're a boy). It looks and sounds a bit like preoccupied. This is the word for worry. I know this because I worry and I was trying to say something I was concerned about. Estoy preocupada de...whatever. I like this word for worry, because really when I'm "worried" I'm allowing myself to be preoccupied with something that most likely I cannot control or change.

Another word that I find interesting is contenta (again change the end to and o if you're male). While if you look it up you will find it is a synonym for English's content, however, the use of it here is wider than that. It is used for content, but it's also used for sort of glad or happy. This situation was good, or I got this new scarf and -- estoy contenta. I'm happy, I'm content. I like the two ideas rolled together. Paul (as in the apostle) wrote the famous line about being content in whatever state you find yourself. In English, the idea of content, which could connote just dealing with something without complaining, all the way to pleasantly at ease with the situation, with happy, I don't associate it with happy.

So "contenta" inspires me to ask what in my life can I be content with (meaning my old perception of content) and which of those things in my life could I move into the Spanish idea of being pleased or happy with it. I am absolutely not saying we have to be happy with everything in life, but maybe we just squeeze our emotions around something that we could open up and be more content and happy with if we would stretch ourselves.

Things are not perfect. But, preoccupation may be robbing me of being contenta with more aspects of my life. What about you?

Sometimes real life is just surreal

Sorry to be so long between posts. The odd thing is often if I'm having a hard time I can't post...this time I have tons to post about and haven't had the opportunity. Now I don't know where to start.

We have been going to the fiesta activities in the town near us each night this week, so a few excerpts from a very interesting, cultural, bizarre, bunch of activities.

Wednesday night had a totally surreal evening, maybe a strange day over all. The new regional boss from the US was here. She seems very nice and approachable, we just tried to make a good impression since it was our first meeting of her, but feel like we could speak to her if we needed to. Went to lunch at a nice restaurant (her treat) for paella. Our neighbor was on duty - I think his parents own the restaurant. So I'm Spanish kissing the staff...

At 8 pm, we went to hear a music group, Toom-Pak, at the fiesta (all percussion on industrial drums and tire rims and stuff) very interesting, like Stomp. They didn't start at 8 of course. There were no chairs set up and Dar saw an old guy sneak around a stack and get some chairs, so Dar got some for the 5 of us. Pretty soon, in Spanish fashion lots of people were sneaking chairs out. It was almost a funny social experiment.

Before the real group began, one of the local clubs came around with their drum core and threw confetti and streamers. Then sang a club song. Then the real group began but another club came in and were drunk and kept singing and blowing a squeeky horn. The official band was louder, so it was still fun.

One it was over so we went and got churros from a stand they had set up frying them fresh. Little kids are lighting off M80s right next to us and loud stuff that Dar said isn't legal in the US. We decided this wasn't safe, so we walked down to the real fireworks area...fireworks again yes, third or fourth time this year.

We sat on the roundabout; there must have been 100 of us sitting on the median. Tons of people were gathered, kids were jumping over us and knocking into us wrestling. The fireworks started a half hour late 10:30. It was set to music which was very cool. Once again we were so close that chunks of the fireworks were raining down on us. I plucked a chunk the size of the tip of my thumb out of my hair. (Not burning thankfully.) This was a huge orchestrated show. You felt like you were inside the fireworks and the music. I noticed a piece that fell that stayed firey all the way down to the ground, off kind a behind us and had the thought that in a dry country with a 40 year drought I'm surprised they do so many fireworks.

A few minutes later a bunch of kids all get freaked out and are pointing behind us away from the fireworks. A small brush fire had started on the hill from the fireworks. The firetruck drives through our roundabout (without lights or sirens) the fireworks keep going... you don't know what to watch the fire or the fireworks. A heavy metal song came on in English for the fireworks...I want it all, I want it all, I want it now...it felt like a rock concert. Loud people, loud music, people everywhere. Then there's the fire behind us (not near, but up on a hill) with firemen going up to it. It was spreading quickly, but they had it out by the time we walked to the car and drove out. The fireworks were so large and so close that you felt like you needed to duck during the finale. Tiffany said she felt like she was on a tv show that it couldn't be her real life. Cooper pointed out that we had fireworks (fuegos artificiales) and we had real fire (fuego real). It was odd and funny. Home by midnight.

Went to a dancing horses show another night. Cooper and Dar stayed home and played video games while three of us girls watched the show. It turned out to be dancing Spanish horses couched in the form of a legend being acted out. Sword fights, jousting, fire, smoke, loud music ranging from rock to classical. The horses were cool. The show was long and it was getting cold at 11:30pm. Still glad I went.

Friday night at 6 there was a running of the bulls. Granted it was less than 3 blocks and there were only 3 bulls, each released one at a time. Kerry and our co-worker Tiffany decided to run...before we knew there were only 3 bulls one at a time. I was trying to record on the video camera. It was a hoot. Can I just say the bulls are really, really fast? Mostly people don't run they mill around then climb the fences, in a frenzy, which is what Dar & Tiff did too. I think I was jumping away from the fence with all the commotion, maybe with more enthusiasm than Dar, and I was on the outside. Very funny.

Then everyone went to the bull ring, so we followed. Anyone who wanted to could go in the ring and they released one bull at a time and it chased people til it tired out then they'd corral it out again and let another one out. The same 3 bulls. This would never fly in the US, too dangerous and random. This was not a real bullfight with matadors etc. and they didn't kill them. Very interesting, but I felt sorry for the bulls. They seemed confused and disoriented. It was noisy and people tormenting them and then running behind walls so they'd hit their heads. Glad it wasn't a bull fight.

Saturday we went to an bull-dodging demonstration. They dodged the horns - very close calls. A couple guys did flips over the bulls. They picked the bulls and they were bleeding a little from their shoulders, not too much. I know I eat meat...but I still find the tormenting type of killing disturbing. They did not kill them they just jumped around them. As a team they were very skilled at maneuvering the bulls to the right place in the ring for what they wanted to do. It seemed like the guys could dodge them better if the bulls were running faster. The bulls did not seem as tormented this time though they were bleeding this time. Maybe Dar will blog about this, we got some photos, nothing great but interesting.

I feel like I keep taking a deeper drink of Spanish or at least Madrileno culture. Sometimes it is overwhelming in a pleasant way, like a roller coaster or something but more like slow motion. There's just so much to tell you guys about lately! I never even got to the bat in our bedroom!

Paper weights

I thought paper weights were sort of goofy. You know at Christmas you see them in catalogs. Who's going to be excited about getting a big chunk of glass to sit around? I mean some of them are interesting to look at, but it's just something that sits there...until now.

Because we live and work in an environment with the windows wide open, I have come to appreciate heavy objects which can keep my papers from blowing all over the place. I never realized the practical applications paper weights could have. I suppose it comes from not having to live with the windows wide open in the office before now. On days the wind picks up, I'm scrambling for books and glasses and whatever to hold my stuff in place. Today I used a book, an actual paper weight, a pen made from silverware, a scotch tape dispenser, and a thick file folder.

I tend to work in stacks: these are done, these I'm working on, these need to go to a coworker, etc. Also at home I keep to-do things on the desk, like papers from ATMs that remind me to check the online banking. So I need lots of paperweights for summer. What an odd discovery, but please, no paperweights as gifts. I'll make do.

A normal day

I realized I tend to post about the things I do that are dramatic, to me anyway. A whole lot more of life is "normal." I suppose I should add the caveat, normal but harder, or normal but stranger. We still do things that are tedious, like grocery shopping, but I can't read the labels as well as at home. I can't understand the fat grams and calories, since it's all in grams and mililiters. Sometimes the differences in food make a trip to the store interesting. Sometimes it just becomes a flat out challenge and you're thinking, I just wanted 3 things...

Like many of you I sit at a computer most of the day, only I'm in a "Christian" environment. Oddly, I recently remembered swearing to myself as a Christian high school attendee that I would never work in a Christian environment because of challenges I had with the administration back then. In the Christian work world or school administrative world, they can be completely unreasonable and smile and say God bless. It's an odd combo.

Another oddity to the work day I've noticed is that people often think - wow what you guys are doing is amazing. In reality there are many days where you're just moving things around on a computer screen wondering, "Does this have anything to do with the big picture? Is this why I came here?" Not to say that there aren't amazing moments of being part of something bigger than yourself, but there are a lot of slogging through work moments too.

We bring our lunch every day. It's a different lunch than at home because of ingredients, but it's mostly a sandwich and some fruit. Often, one of us walks to the store, not far, and buys "una barra de pan" literally a bar of bread and we use this for lunch. It goes stale by the next day, so this buying fresh bread happens frequently, sometimes we eat it stale.

Lately the afternoons in the office are unbearably hot and it's very hard to think. Especially when I've been trying to solve the same website problem for two work weeks. Yes, the same problem all day for two weeks. ahhhhh. Not done yet.

We walk home, right now, this is a hot sweaty bit of the day that you can't wait to get over. When it was nicer, it was a pleasant wind down. It's only 1/3 of a mile, so a very short walk.

When dinner occurs depends on what's going on and how hot it is. Sometimes we eat at a more Spanish time, either through accident or waiting for the heat to die down. I've been using a lot of recipes from magazines, for some reason this has made dinner easier to deal with - I know I have the ingredients and what I can do. In the states, I just threw things together, but it doesn't work as well here for some reason.

I usually try to take a walk or a bike ride in the evenings, try to get to the computer but don't always make it, try to read a little before bed. Having a new dog has complicated the walk schedule. I can't go as far with her. Her leash manners are lacking at the moment, but she needs the outlet of energy, so we go.

Just mix a bunch of Spanish into all these activities, except work, and there you have it. A normal day.

Night of Contrasts

I went down to the feria Saturday night with some people from work. I accidentally ordered two sandwiches, somehow, at a grilled meat booth and had to shout to be heard by the guy. At first he shrugged and pointed at the cashier. I must have looked pitiful because he went and intervened for me. I had grilled pork loin on a fresh chunk of bagette bread. Good eats.

Our pre-25 years workmate wanted me to do a ride in the carnival. We ended up on two different ones. The first was a scrambler type thing only it went in circles and hopped up and down. It was vigorous, fast, and fun. Nearly lost the coat I was sitting on - worked it's way up and almost out the back of the car from all the bouncing. The operator had a microphone and shouted at us, in addition to playing loud music and blowing smoke on us during the ride. He'd yell things like, "You want some more of that? Raise your hands!" in Spanish of course. Then he'd drop the cars and you'd fly out of your seat and hit the security bar. I'd never been taunted by the operator of a ride. It was funny.

The next ride was a giant swing of sorts. The fist that held all the people twirled and simulataneously swung back & forth. Up to that weightless bounce but not all the way upside down. The music was so entirely loud you had to scream full volume to be heard. We had to wait one round before we got on and the supervisor joking with me made the sign of the cross over the group before us. The whole carnival was loud but this was insanely loud and my throat hurt afterwards from yelling and screaming on the ride. (Both for conversation and for fun.) My ears were ringing which concerned me - the second half of the evening was to be refined and I hoped to hear it.

Three of us had a civilized "coffee" at a sidewalk cafe and went to a chamber orchestra. It was in a room that reminded me that Italian courtyard at the Nelson. The one with stone arches and the sky/ceiling feels like outside and night, you know? This was a 3 story courtyard of ancient stone, carved beautifully. Two slim cyprus trees pushed up to the open sky in one corner. Moths danced in the stage spotlights. Stars shone overhead. When the strings started on some of Mozart's most familiar stuff, it was truly magical. The venue really made it shine.

The midnight crowd for the orquestra was mostly over 60, though there was a sprinkling of young people in the mix too. I looked around several times and never saw anyone nodding off. It was such a quiet acoustical environment that you heard every cough. One lady opened her purse to put her fan away and it sounded like someone was doing the rasberries. When it got quiet between songs, you could hear the band thumping away some rock music in the main plaza nearby.

The second half had a dancer who did some flamenco style dancing with castanettas. It was interesting the way she could keep up with the classical music with the little wooden clakers. It wasn't quite tradiitonal flamenco, but it was interesting expression of the dance style with classical music.

We were headed home about 1:45 am. The streets were still hopping with people and the band in Plaza Cervantes still sang strong. It felt like a truly Spanish night. An epiphony -- of knowing that the people do this late-night thing, but here it was for real to see with my own eyes. A fun sensation to experience it and not simply know of it. Probably won't do that every weekend though!

Feria de Alcala

Since last weekend the feria of Alcala has been going on each day and every night. There's actually a huge carnival with lots of rides run by Romanians and food booths, lots of churros and waffles, bad soggie french fries and grilled meats. There are white tents of differnt clubs, some which serve food or have entertainment. But it is only a handful compared to the Seville Feria. Some of the tents are run by things like: The Communist Party of Spain, or the Socialist Party with Zapatero (the current prime minister). Some are just groups, like Elks Lodge clubs. Groups of people get together and drink and hang out and are a main feature of the feria.

People aren't dressed up like in Sevilla either. Some little girls I've seen in the pokadotted flamenco dresses, but no grown ups. Plaza Cervantes, our main square, is lit up with lights over a band stand and the streets surrounding have a light design hanging across the road. Think the Christmas decor on street lights only bigger and across little skinny roads. The Plaza Cervantes has been full of tables and chairs for summer, but now they all have people in them. A little brass band plays in the plaza after marching through the streets with a different "elks lodge" type group behind them singing each night. Then the band plays in the Plaza Cervantes. Then at 11 pm at the other end of the Plaza Cervantes another band will play and people will dance (more of the older set, not the rock and roll set) Supposedly later they play younger music. Other features are occuring in different parts of town in other plazas.

At midnight there is a main attraction each night all week. Sometimes several. One night was a flamenco ballet, one was a zarzuela - a sort of classical story/sing/dance almost opera type thing but Spanish. Those cost money. So far I haven't got anyone to stay out late to check it all out. But we've seen bits of the bands hangin out in Plaza Cervantes or passing through on the way for a walk or back to the car.

The later you're there the more crowded it gets. We could barely get out the entrance of the carnival at 11pm Saturday, so many people streaming in. We tried to eat lunch there Sunday - nothing was open at 3 pm. Nothing, like a ghost town. Definitely a night time event. Friends from church said they went to the fair to eat after a concert last weekend and it was still in full swing at 2 am when they left. It's a different world.

We took Dulce down Tuesday night. We figured it would be good socialization. She couldn't possibly growl at every stranger. She did good except when we sat still then she felt she could growl at certain people. Not sure how she picks who she's going to growl at.

This Saturday I'm going to go to the symphony concert at midnight (5E) with a couple other people. Everyone from the office is going to bring tapas and chairs and go watch the fireworks from the bosses's neighborhood Sunday night for the finale of the feria. The fireworks are, yes, you guessed it, at midnight.

What comes around, goes around

I'll tell you why I used this title. I was at the mall Friday night and I was seeing some really familiar things, sort of repurposed or different colors, but I've seen these before. I saw a lot of things from the 80s, maybe the early 90s too, I wasn't in a shopping phase then.

Argile, yes quite a bit of it. This makes me think early 80s preppy. Leggings with long shirts and short skirts, this makes me think later 80s. Shirts that have the torn up shoulder look, a la the movie Flashdance. Sweaters and shirts that are long (to the hips or past) with huge v-necks. Gathered sleeves and pull strings to scrunch up shirts, I remember those kind of sleeves were the option on one of the bridesmaids dresses I was looking at, and I discarded that one because I thought the sleeves were too trendy.

One store, Mango, had touches of 80s in their dresses and sweaters but they keep sort of a roughed up victorian touch to their clothes so not the classic 80s look. Another store, Zara, had dresses, coats and skirts straight out of the 50s or 60s. I'm not as clear on time periods here but I know these are the styles pre-me existing that I see in old movies. Some of these styles I really like. The coats with 3/4 sleeves and huge collars not so much but they are certainly striking when you see them. Not sure these flared June Cleaver dresses but with plunging necklines are really me though.

I was taking someone else to the mall that I'd been promising to go with. I didn't expect all the strange fashion stuff to strike me. All I wanted was a pair of denim crop pants. I tried on LOTS. The jeans here all seem to be low riders which are not my favorite. I noticed the new fall clothes were moving away from the low rider, ripped, dirty, faded unevenly jeans to a uniform dark denim. I may not end up with denim crop pants for fall.

What's in style at home?

The Stained Glass Ceiling

I read an interesting book a few weeks ago that a coworker loaned to me. What Paul Really Said about Women, an Apostle's liberating views on equality in marriage, leadership, and love, by John Temple Bristow. This was an amazing book. While not based on the book, the link to the following article sums it up very well: The Stained Glass Ceiling.
.

What amazed me was that basically it took all the passages of the Bible that have made me feel awkward or doubtful of my role as a female in the Christian world order, so to speak, and explained them in a way that I always wanted to be true. I always wanted to think that God was saying, you are a whole and worthy human being, I want you to participate in kingdom completely, no holds barred. I wanted that to be true, but felt guilty from my background and with my cultural reading of these "difficult" "cultural" passages that this was not the Truth.

Perhaps I have just found a liberal theologian who is saying things I want to hear, at least I can imagine someone making that criticism. However, the book is very specific and backs up the points thoroughly. Plus the coworker that loaned this to me is very conservative and intellectual both, so I feel fairly confident it's not a kook idea being thrown out there.

I'd encourage anyone to read the book. It is somewhat academic, but a short book so not a rough read. But it explains first how the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman perspective on women colored the interpretation of the Greek writings until it became accepted as the norm. Mind boggling to me that we could lose something as culturally significant as letting women learn and participate in the Gospel as full partners. Not as big an issue in our denomination, but some of those applications to Paul's awkward scriptures I've heard in my lifetime, in our churches. Fascinating.

Foreigners, not quite like me

Saw a statistic this week that 9 percent of the immigrants here are British, many escaping the socialized health care system in Britain and finding sun in retirement, and 8 percent of the immigrants are Romanians. These are the two biggest blocks of extranjeros (foreigners).

From several discussions I've had with Romanian's here, their culture is a little scary. The women I talked to assured me that the woman I saw in the attempted kidnapping was in danger of violence from these men. They said that the gypsies carry knifes and think nothing of snatching and harming someone they know or putting them to whatever purpose they choose. Also, another Romanian woman told me that she has no Romanian friends because it is too risky. There is a big Romanian mafia, here as well as in their country. She said if a woman has been a girlfriend or live-in partner and she tries to leave, the men see no probelm with dragging her back and maybe locking her up. If they know you, they feel they have license. Apparently it's much worse in Romania. Human trafficking is a big issue in Eastern bloc countries where women are brought out of Romania or wherever with the promise of a job and then forced into prostitution and treated like slaves. Amazing these things can happen in the 22nd Century.

I wonder how much generations of people being told there was no God effects the mentality of a nation. They suffered under some really harsh times in Romania. About half our church here is Romanian, they most often are cleaning people for others since those are the only jobs they can get without papers. The Romanian believers in our church have such great spirits and are very evangelistic toward their friends. They are really inspiring the more I learn.