Esta Comunidad no Quiere Propaganda

Some pics of the Maria Cristina bridge that I took while running an errand-as I understand Maria Cristina was the standing regent of Spain for like 20 years during a pretty tumultuous time, and she was a Hapsburg. She apparently liked to hang out in Donostia as a lot of stuff is named after her. There are victorious people astride sea creatures on pedestals along the course of the bridge. There are gorgeous details carved into the sides, including this coat of arms for the province of Gipuzkoa-I understand that those 3 yew trees were representative the habit of local soldiers to carry some poison with them to avoid capture during battle.

And there are cool porcelain tile dragons, and all kinds of ornate carvings of babies and stuff. If you're going to cross a river, why mess around?

So the other day I was in a class that has to do with looking for jobs and knowing your rights as a worker and it's crazy dull, usually. The instructor was discussing the points system-when you apply for a public job they give points for things like education, experience, and knowledge of languages, and whoever gets the most points gets the job. Some background: the school where I go is bilingual-sometimes our whole class is in one room, taking a class in Spanish, and sometimes the Basque speakers split off and have their own class in Euskara (the Basque language) while the rest of us have class in Spanish.-and when we're all together the Euskara speakers will often talk to the instructor in Euskara. One of the students raised his hand and very heatedly (and with some rather florid cuss words) contested the value of giving points to job candidates for their knowledge of Euskara, saying that experience is more important and implied that because everybody speaks Spanish, Euskara knowledge should not be taken into consideration for employment. A woman from the Euskara class hotly told him (in Spanish) that since we're in the Basque Country and you are serving the public, that knowledge of the local language is important for public jobs. This went on for quite a while and was loud and highly confrontational-I nearly ducked under my desk, expecting fisticuffs-until the Atmospheric Contamination teacher broke it up. But these people are all in their early 20s, some in their teens, and it was a pretty good illustration of the ehm highly emotional nature of local geopolitical issues related to language. This area has the highest concentration of native Euskara speakers anywhere, and there is still a pretty strong pressure from monolingual Spanish speakers to just make Euskara go away. It is surprising to me that someone who is so clearly outnumbered (and seriously out-muscled) still has such a strong sense of cultural privilege that they feel comfortable dissing the indigenous language. Anyhoo.

Some other cultural details:

During people's 11 a.m. break they often drink wine.

If you want to do something for which you must apply (this includes jobs, using a music facility, applying for residency, whatevs) you have to pay a fee-but you can't pay it at the same place that you apply-you have to pay at the bank. Most banks are open from 8-2. Srsly. It's tricky.

There's a guy who walks around the city playing a xylophone and yelling 'afilador!' which means 'knife grinder.' He will stop and sharpen your knives if you ask.

The letter of the law is very important-there are bilingual Royal Decrees and Orders and Laws everywhere in language so dense that even people who actually know these languages have trouble reading them-which determine who can do what in quite specific terms. It's probably not really any more restrictive than America, but it chafes, being told you're subject to a royal decree. It kinda really does.

Did I mention that the food is ridiculous? Deliciousness is everywhere.

Sunday Leisure

Friends of F. graciously took us to a nature preserve to go bird watching yesterday. It is time for the migration from Nordic countries to Africa for the winter, and the birds pass right over the Pyrenees, and they love this park, which is situated...next to an airport, of all things. The cool bird photos were taken by Igor L. at Plaiaundi. We saw egrets (garzeta), herons (garza), spoonbills (espátulas-haha!), ospreys (aguila pescador), a duck they call 'eider,' and others-total awesomeness. In the afternoon we walked around Donostia (San Sebastian), where we passed people coming out of a big film festival at the Kursall-only to happen upon a Chagall exhibition that was free to the public. The cultural life in Donostia is totally ridiculous, and at least one of you will be pleased to know that we located a Mexican restaurant. With enchiladas! Back to the weekly grind, lots of thanks for the great time.

Commerce

With a denser population living largely in apartment blocks as well as high gas prices, most people do their shopping on foot, necessitating some differences in implements...here Dr. F demonstrates how to use the wheelie carts that most grocery stores have. Can't articulate exactly why, but I think these things are hilarious. And here is Maude, the grocery carrier that we share with F's mom. You fill 'er up and wheel 'er to your building, and then you (or someone you know...) haul it up 3 flights of stairs.


This weekend there is a Renaissance Fair in Lasarte. Among the faux Robin Hoods we saw a vendor in traditional Touareg robes-like those guys on the right. He was possibly for reals-there are a lot of North African folks around here, though I doubt he commutes to work like that.

Circled here in red: Biggest. Nutella. Jar. Evah. I didn't succumb to the baked goods yesterday, but there's still today...and on the right, we thought we left California?

Extreme Schoolers R Us

These kids give me hope. Big excitement for the day: I deduced how Spanish speakers say 'uppercase' and 'lowercase.' I honestly did not know. Ha ha! Triumph of the corroding old person brain.

And you can't get more satirical than the news.

Domestic Life

I'm going to be indelicate and just go ahead and tell you that we have a bidet in our bathroom-yeah, that thing on the right. Apparently some folks use it as a foot bath, some people use it as a beer cooler. Not sure how extensive its alternative uses are, but leave your ideas in comments...





Apartments all come with washing machines (it's nearly impossible to find a laundromat anywhere), but nobody has dryers-the voltage in these places is too low for one (we blew out our electricity once with a combo of microwave, 2 laptops, and the oven) and people don't use electricity for that purpose (no air conditioning for the most part either-but heavy shades on the windows do the trick). Since it rains pretty frequently, some places have an indoor patio where you can hang your clothes even when it's wet.



We also have a balcony where we can hang more clothes and grow plants. I tell myself that funny sensation is NOT vertigo when I go out there. Yes, we're on the 3rd floor (considered the 2nd here) and yes, I am a sissy. You can see that we live in a concentrated downtown area, but it only takes a few minutes to walk to the countryside.







There was all manner of concern about being a vegetarian here. It's not easy to get a complete meal when you're eating out, but there are tons of these dietéticos (read 'hippie stores') where they sell faux meat products, including such traditional favorites as hamburguesas de tofu vasca (what makes it 'vasca' I couldn't tell you), and filetes de tofu en estilo japones. Also that little jar of peanut butter cost 4 euro (like $5.50) coz people don't eat it much here-they eat a lot of nutella-like chocolate spreads. Also F's uncle grows walnuts and hazelnuts, and there is an abundance of beans all sizes. I try not to eat cheese every day, but well, that's an eternal struggle.

Week One

So the people here put mayo (not light Miracle Whip, but the real deal) on everything. I knew this, but yesterday I was gobsmacked to go out for dinner with friends of F and be served fried potatoes drowning in hot sauce and mayonnaise. Followed by pizza topped with rocquefort, sunflower seeds, and more-actually it was really good. But I'll save the extensive culinary scene for another time.

The countryside is lovely. They get more rain here than Manchester so it's pretty green. The horticulture, it must be said, is spectacular-a partial catalog includes not just the corn, green beans, tomatoes, and peppers in people's gardens, but occasional oranges, lemons, passionfruit, olives, chestnuts, and walnuts.

The tough thing, though, is the language(s). I want to be like the people on The Matrix who just plug into the system and bing! they know jujitsu. I go to class for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, and will (bureaucracy have mercy) start teaching in the evenings. The classes I take now are in Spanish, and a lot of people speak Euskara (Basque). It's hideously difficult to speak at all, even *just* Spanish. Persistence is required, or maybe magic.



For solace I can walk up into the hills and hang out with the dwarf Emo cows. They're some kind of unusual variety from Scotland with long Bieber-like hairdos. It's been pretty warm. I don't know how they do it. But it makes me feel less like a putz for my lack of communication skills to wander up into the hills by Santa Barbara, where people also do rock climbing in addition to ranching tiny cows.
There's also great people-watching. This is an approximation of my favorite Basque hairdo, the Dread Pirate Mullock. Business (read 'short and inexplicable jheri curl') in the front, dreadlocks in the back. Obligatory piercings. Very serious punk/anarchy/leftist political scene here, it's not just dress-up like in California. I'm not sure if you can see this, but the graffiti below reads "Benedict [the pope]=inquisition! Terrorist! Pederast!" There are others that say "Hail the Third Intifada!" It's interesting. Anyway, I'm exceeding my word count-more for another day.