Despicable Terrorism

Contemplating What It All Means
I am forever asking you all to forgive my silence (all though it´s not really possible to shut me up completely!). The unfortunate events that took place here in Madrid on March 11th have given me, and plenty of other people, a second look at life and I wonder what it really all means. I have become a news junkie ever since marrying Ángel. I mean, current affairs were always an interest of mine, but now (over the past three years) even moreso as I struggle to feel connected to one country or another someway, somehow. When September 11th happened, I couldn´t help but feel like I was viewing the drama from high above. Connected, but yet not really connected. Connected because the USA is my country, yet disconnected once I knew that my family and friends were safe and not in any imminent danger. The same happened here for me in Madrid. I felt connected as my path crossed with many who were closely affected by the bombings, yet at the same time I felt disconnected, almost untouchable... as if the bombings would have never been able to hurt me or any of my loved ones. It was a strange out-of-body feeling.

I keep up with the news from the USA as much as possible. I read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, The Economist, scan CCN, scan Fox News, check Reuters and the BBC, not to mention the Spanish press. A healthy mix of left and right wing opinions and views. I like to think that I am fairly well versed in what is happening in my country, and around the world for that matter. However, I haven´t been able to come to a clear conclusion about what the March 11th bombings mean for Spain and the world.

Despite what is appearing in the (right wing) press in the United States, I do not believe that the Spaniards voted out of cowardice. Nor do I believe that they “voted” for Al Quaeda. However, I DO believe that what happened here, and the recent change in government (certainly not abrupt since the political race was neck and neck with the right leaning Partido Popular –PP – only slightly ahead) was a pure statement of democracy. Over the past two years there have been demonstrations against the war in Iraq, against the war in Afghanistan, the John Lennon “give peace a chance” parties, etc. While I don´t necessarily subscribe to these ways of expressing opinion, I´d be foolish not to mention that the Spanish culture is a very vocal culture. It is not one to conform or to run away in fear. It is one to demonstrate publicly about its displeasure (and it´s pleasure) of social issues. With the elections at hand, the Spanish population overall, was getting fed up with the governing party ... the attacks on March 11th were merely the straw that broke the camel´s back. People came out in record numbers to vote. The news here says that this year 75% of the eligible population voted, 2 million more than the year before. That, my friends, is a democracy, not an act of cowardiceness.

I did attend the peaceful protest against violent crime and terrorism in the streets of Madrid on Friday March 12, with Ángel, his brother and his brother´s wife... in the pouring rain with our umbrellas and candles. It was an extremely moving moment for me. Never in my life (so far as I can remember) have I ever felt such a strange mix of emotions. What moved me even more was to think that in Madrid alone, I was in a crowd of 2 MILLION people protesting. JUST IN MADRID! The Spaniards, after the horrific bombing which, when you compare the size of Spain --40 million -- to the USA --almost 300 million and damage –200+ deaths to 2000(?) deaths, can be considered Spain´s “September 11th” did not run and hide in their homes for fear of another attack. They took to the streets in angry defiance at the thought that someone(s) would so as dare attack the country. Overall, on that fated March 12th, an estimated 11 million people in Spain, ONE QUARTER OF THE POPULATION, took to the streets in peaceful, yet visibly angry defiance of such violence.

I have never been fond of the idea that the USA was taking a pre-emptive strike against Iraq...nor have I ever been really fond of José Luis Zapatero the new Prime Minister-elect of Spain. José María Áznar, Spain´s outgoing Prime Minister, ... I had learned to deal with although not necessarily agree with.

I suppose I am in a wait and see mode to see how these elections will affect, if at all, world politics and particularly the November elections in the States.

Perhaps I have bored a number of you with my political rants...but I would certainly welcome responses, feedback, and/or debate on the issue.

OK...off my soap box and onto lighter dribble.

An Expat´s Life
It is said that it takes an expat (expatriate...such as yours truly) anywhere from 3-5 years to fully adjust and feel at home in their new country. I am trusting that my familiarity with Spain and ability with the Spanish language has reduced my learning curve to the minimum 3 years. That being the case, next month, April 16th to be precise, marks my 3 year anniversary living here in Spain. Hard to believe that it has been that long already. My memories of life in the USA...particularly the last moments, will be forever crystal clear in my mind... and they almost always bring a smile to my face. According to those 3-5 year statistics...everything from here on out should be cake for me. It has definitely been an interesting ride and time in my life, these last 3 years...I can´t help but wonder if they would have been as varied and “drama filled” had I stayed in the States. Then again, I never really did have a boring life in the USA either. My favorite motto... better busy than bored!

On the wild rollercoaster of life!
So, we have finally launched our on-the-street marketing campaign for IberEnglish Language Partners. As I said in one of my classes, and had the students in stitches ... it has been a long pregnancy (2 years)! Our soft marketing campaign has consisted of papering our neighborhood walls and parked cars, within a walkable distance to our offices, with small posters and flyers about the business. It has been a great way to know first hand the demographics of our neighborhood. We have been in campaign mode for a month and so far have pulled in five new students. Plus, a couple of drop-ins and other callers to gather information about what we offer. All this, along with the four different corporate classes (in-company) I teach. We have worked our numbers and calculated that our maximum capacity, operating two classrooms simultaneously is 100 students. It will be a while before we reach that number, but we are well on our way. We are also technologically official now that we have registered our domain: IberEnglish Language Partners. Ángel, man-of-many-talents, is the webmaster and as you will see, the site is in plena desarrollo (development) as we speak. Be sure to check back often to see our progress! The “Iber” part of our name stands for the Iberian Penninsula which is comprised of Spain, Portugal and Andorra. There are lots of businesses here that start with Iber and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that no one had registered “IberEnglish”. Don´t let anyone kid you....running your own business is more difficult than working for others! I start my first class at 8am and teach back to back classes, occasionally with little more than an hour in between straight through until 9:30pm. Then, if I have any translation work... that gets added on at the end or between classes.

It´s a Pig´s Life
In one of my previous editions of “life in Spain” many moons ago, I mentioned the tradition of “La Matanza”. Those of you who understand Spanish might understand that that loosely translates to “the killing” or better yet, “the slaughter”. Well this year, between Ángel and his brother (and of course with the blessing of their respective spouses), decided to buy a pig to slaughter and have a traditional “matanza”. This tradition is usually carried out in families and takes place over several days (or in our case, a couple of weekends). We bought a nice big fat pig and took it to a vet to have it inspected and approved and then slaughtered. From there, we brought it to Ángel Sr.´s workshop where he proceeded to butcher it...saving the ham hocks for cured ham... cutting out choice pork loins, separating the brains, etc ... you get the picture. We took some of the meat and ran it through a hand operated meat grinder to make my favorite Spanish sausage, chorizo. Added the seasonings and stuffed the intestines to make more chorizo than I dare dream about. We then cooked the blood with onion and added cooked rice and pine nuts to make morcilla, or blood sausage/blood pudding. Yum yum! Once I got over the initial queasiness of seeing a slaughtered pig on the floor with various parts lying about, the sausage making was actually quite fun!

What did make me a bit queasy was one of the dishes my mother-in-law prepared. All I saw her do was scramble some eggs... I did not notice the ingredients that she threw in at the last moment. When we sat down to eat, she asked me if I wanted some “huevos con sesos”. I didn´t know the word sesos but, so what, I´m adventurous! When she served me the eggs, I asked her where the sesos were.. she said they were already mixed in. Still not knowing I took a mouthful and then caught everyone looking at me expectantly! Of course, Ángel had to be the one to rain on the parade and oh-so-lovingly explained that sesos was another word for materia gris or cerebro or, in English... BRAINS! I felt my stomach turn literally in knots and couldn´t take another bite! The other lovely dish that she prepared were pig jowls in tomato sauce. It actually wasn´t that bad... it was just the thought that made me a little nauseous.

Life Goes On
Life goes on... I´m enjoying contact with lots of interesting people and am anxiously awaiting Semana Santa (Holy Week)since Ángel has promised to take me camping in the mountains of central northwestern Spain. That will be fun! Please keep me up to date with what is going on in your lives! I love getting emails about the babies, the marriages, new connections, old friendships. So do stay in touch... and if you are ever thinking of heading our way...don´t hesitate to look us up! Even if it´s only to meet for cerveza and tapas! We´d love to see you!