Recuerdos

My future sister-in-law and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to help perserve the Irala and Saelices families keepsakes, their recuerdos. Most of their pictures are in photo albums that are thirty-something years old and the pictures are falling out and there's no record of when they were taken nor of who is in each one.

We hope to surprise my future in-laws at Christmas with a wonderful, complete photo album and family tree. It also means we will have scanned and saved all of those pictures on a disk that can be treasured for years until technology comes up with a new format to save them on.

So far my fiance has not been very helpful at identifying people in the pictures. Which makes me all the more happy that I've taken this on now when his parents and grandparents are still around to help out if needed. My grandparents are all either gone or slipping away and all their memories and knowledge are lost forever. It would be a shame if that happened in this family too.

I couldn't tell you who is in each picture but I think each one is lovely and special.

Wedding attendants

Flamenco dresses

First communion

Gazpacho

Being the end of August, my vegetable garden is overgrown and running out of steam. However I have no shortage of home-grown tomatoes and thought I'd take advantage to make my very first gazpacho. It's a traditional Spanish cold tomato soup. Which I know makes you think of V8 but seriously it is delicious and a fantastic way to get in your raw vegetable servings everyday during the summer. Make a more watery version and you can drink it like a shake. Make a thicker version and add vegetable chunks and eat it like a soup.


Just wash, peel, chop and de-seed tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and garlic.

Blend and add olive oil, vinegar and salt.

Add and blend in day-old French bread (optional).

Guerras Cantabras

Two thousand years ago the north-central coast of Spain (Cantabria, Asturias and part of Leon) was inhabited by Celtic tribes. Roman troops were sent to conquer them in 29 BC and the war pursued until 19 BC when the barbarians finally surrendered.

Every August/September there is a reenactment of this war in Santander and surrounding Cantabrian and Asturian areas. They began last weekend with the disembarkment of "Roman" soldiers in Santander and a parade of different Roman regiments. Next weekend there will be another parade in Santander with Cantabrians too.

During the week in Los Corrales de Buelna there are Roman circuses, theater and other shows. A whole town is set up, half based on a Cantabrian town and the other half on a Roman town. People dress up according to whether they are Romans or Cantabrians for the week and spend their time socializing, eating and drinking. It really is a treat.

Farewell

In February I experienced my first "first" in a really long time. It was a hard, emotional and draining experience. The passing away of a loved one here in Spain.

My boyfriend's grandmother passed away at the age of 87. She was born in Villacañas where she got married, had three children and died. She's only left there a handful of times. She didn't have her first washing machine until she was given one by her son when she was already in her 80s. Even then she would fill it up with a bucket of water, hand wash her clothes in it and then wring her clothes out in the tub. She would help her children harvest grapes and olives until she was in her 80s. Used a wood stove to keep warm. Never went to the doctors until she had multiple-organ failure last year and slipped into a coma. And she's struggled ever since. Struggled with being lonely, with feeling useless and restless.

Her birthday was in January and we had got the whole family together to celebrate. She spent the day with her three children, six grandchildren and one great granddaughter and respective "others."

She was staying with my boyfriend's parents and we had spent the weekend with her. Sunday afternoon we said goodbye before leaving to come back home. We didn't suspect anything. But as we parked our car outside our house a little over an hour later, we received a call. She had started seizing, vomiting for about 15 minutes. And that was it. She died.

Although it shouldn't have been, it was a real shock. We had just spent the weekend with her and in one short hour she was gone.

In Spain, when someone dies, they are immediately taken to the mortuary. They didn't perform an autopsy on her, no need. She was dressed in her wedding dress which was black. She had it fitted years ago and had bought her coffin too in preparation.

Her body was layed out on a table behind a glass for the whole of the night. She was holding a bible and rosary. The family stayed there and received visitors for almost 24 hours. Local women came and chanted and prayed for her soul.

She was then taken to the church for a short service. Afterwards she was placed in a hearse that drove slowly to the cemetary. The men followed on foot and helped lower her in her grave. In Villacañas, people are not buried undergrown. Instead they are placed in cement tombs above ground. She was to be placed in the same tomb as her husband and other relatives and in order to fit that many bodies in there, the bones of the others were placed in burlap sacks and sat on top of her coffin.

You will be missed Melitona.

Platos de cuchara

So the traditional Spanish diet is in essence the Mediterranean diet. Lots of ham, lots of seafood, olive oil, garlic and parsley. In a nut shell.

So the other day my boyfriend prepared a traditional dish that falls into the category of platos de cuchara because they are all eaten with a spoon. They are all basically stews prepared by throwing into a pressure cooker: pork parts & bones, dried beans, vegetables and olive oil. They're easy to make, super healthy and quite cheap.

This is the lentil stew he made:

Lentils (since they cook so quickly, we just do this in a regular pot) with water

Potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic (halved) and bay leaves

Chorizo (which is nothing like it's Mexican counter-part; it's actually more like pepperoni)

Throw it all in together with salt and olive oil

And enjoy! (Usually with a piece of bread in one hand to mop up the broth)

I know I didn't include any measurements, but Spaniards tend to measure everything in "handfuls" or "pinches" and I don't know how to translate that into the English system ;)

New Year, New Resolutions

To my delight Spain has started the year off with a post-worthy resolution that has got me all excited. Spain has finally summoned the willpower to ban smoking in public places. And I'm just thrilled :) Bravo man, it's about time.

European countries have been slowly taking action since the turn of the century and many countries (Ireland, Italy, England, etc.) have already been enjoying fresh air for years. Spain first banned smoking in January 2006 in hospitals, airports and workplaces. Restaurants, cafes and bars could choose whether to do so but if a restaurant was larger or smaller than a certain m2, then they could close off an area for those wanting to smoke. The law turned out to be quite confusing and not really enforced. In the end only about 10% of the bars and restaurants chose not to allow smoking. None of those 10% were here in Alcalá.

It has been estimated that a third of the population in Spain smokes, which I think should be taken with a grain of salt. I have many friends who claim to not be smokers but to enjoy "just one cigarette every now and then." As I have observed, those friends have up to five cigarettes every time they go out drinking or for a coffee. And if they go out several times a week... well you can do the math.

Now smoking has been banned in all restaurants, cafes and bars. Around all parks and schools. Only 30% of hotel rooms are reserved for smokers and hotel employees are not allowed to enter them while they are occupied.

And the truly amazing thing is that it is being enforced. I haven't seen a single person disobey the law. Bars and restaurants have set out little tables on the streets (in the winter!) so their clients feel less alienated at the thought of standing outside to smoke. I have encountered long lines at each place I've gone to and as far as I can tell, people are going out and consuming more than ever.

Victory is ours! The right to breathe smoke-free air is ours! Let's go out and enjoy it as much as possible and to support local businesses as they go through this transition.

My personal new year resolutions... to get out from in front of the TV and start doing again. Start reading and running and enjoying life again. Take up photography (with the great camera my bf gave me) and finally take up German again. And I could care less whether I do them frequent or well enough, just as long as I do them.

Eurovision 2010

Come every spring Spain is usually busy choosing it's contestant to the Eurovision contest and I always find myself rather fascinated with it. It was first held in Switzerland in 1956 to help pull back together Europe after so many wars and was set up by the European Broadcasting Union (like a European-wide PBS).

Now, to start with, Eurovision doesn't seem exactly confined to Europe, since participants include Russia, Israel, Turkey, Morocco, Georgia as well as most European countries. Although I guess you could dispute whether they are European or not. And other northern African countries are also welcome to join.

Each year, each country chooses its participant and song. Now of course, the song could not have been commercially or publicly broadcast beforehand other than during the selection process so you're never going to see great artists like U2 play there. Spain has chosen its participant on several occasions through Operación Triunfo, which is kind of like a mix between Big Brother and American Idol. Now popular request usually decides who is going to represent Spain.

During the contest there are semi finals and finals and this year 39 countries sang last night at the finals. You'd be amazed at all the talented people out there. And I really enjoy watching these European countries battle it out to the end, but in a peaceful and loving way. Nowadays viewers send text messages voting for their favorite songs (and obviously cannot vote for their own country) although in the past there was a panel.

Spain itself has only won once and tied another time although they have come in second place several times. Spaniards in general aren't as enthusiastic about the whole thing as, let's say, Swedes and more Eastern European countries. They claim that each country tends to vote for its neighbors or political allies, which would be a lot easier for the old Russian and Slavic states than for the Western-European ones.

However Spain has a history of choosing quacks and weirdos with whom the general public oddly enough feel identified. Such is the case with Spanish TV and movie stars who stand worlds apart from their exaggeratedly beautiful and wonderful American counterparts. But this year's artist was a really talented young man from Alcalá de Henares who frequently sings on the Gran Vía, Spain's version of Broadway. Although his song was more appropriate for a children's program, it was really well done and he dignifiedly represented Spain.

Spain's Participant

Eurovision Official Website
Eurovision on Wikipedia

No Easter bunnies here...

Holy Week celebrations in Spain have always seemed to me to be somewhat more appropriate for Halloween. I always get this eery sensation that the dead (not Jesus) are going to raise from the dead and walk the streets at night - a far cry from Easter celebrations back home full of lillies, eggs and bunnies.

Funeral processions weave through the streets every spring and although I've seen it so many times, it's just not easy to get used to. A death march is played on the drums; smokey incense fills the air; people walking in lines, sometimes barefoot, wearing chains on their feet, holding candles or large crosses or whips, and usually with their heads covered with a centries-old costume that was later copied by the KKK; carrying on their shoulders heavy statues of Holy Week protagonists dressed with real hair and clothes.

And come Easter Sunday everyone usually forgets the ending of this celebration and file back onto the freeway to return to Madrid without having gone to mass. No joyous end (actually if you get stuck in traffic you're probably cussing out God rather than praising his name). No happy children or trumpets or bunnies. Everyone is basically pooped.