Hello
Across the channel from Tangier Morocco by ferry and I am now back in
the "real world." Not that Morocco is anything like Third World.
It is quite European in many respects. But, the overall feeling is Arabic.
Spain on the other hand is so much like Southern California it is easy to
forget I am still a half a world away from home.
If you listen carefully you may think you can hear the clicking of castanets or
the sounds of someone crunching on a Spanish taco. But you'd be wrong;
it's my teeth chattering so loudly the joyous jingle of festive Christmas
bells here in Salamanca is hard to hear. It is that cold.
Incidentally, I've seen not a single taco in Spain, probably because it is
a Mexican concoction.
My "Christmas" dinner at the Mediterranea la Cocina cafe/bar
(On most nights it reminds me of the bar in the Frazer TV series)
consisted of sopa de pescado, five fat lamb chops, vegetables, vino de
copa (lots of cheap great table wine) and Cream Caramel for desert. No dry
turkey with sour cranberry sauce for me... Perhaps another five parties
dined while I ate my meal. Yesterday a light snow blanketed the entire
area, transforming this ancient city of countless churches, high walls and
narrow walkways into a fluffy fairyland.
Worldwide, it's been a bad year for Santa Claus. In Demra Turkey old
Saint Nick's church is falling down with funds unavailable for needed
repairs. Here in Spain, they call him Noel Papa and have slowly been
making him irrelevant since the 1990's. To be fair, I have seen a few old
bewhiskered guys in red suits trying to be jolly around the shopping
areas. But for the most part, gift giving is now delayed until 6 January,
the day associated with the three legendary gift bearing "wise
men." Not a bad idea to separate the commercial aspects of the season
from the spiritual. I'm waiting to see what it does to the annual after
Christmas sales... Grandparents are likely to give the kids small gifts
for Christmas morning, I'm told, but that's it.
But, there I go again, getting ahead of myself. Crossing the Straits of
Gibraltar from Morocco took about two hours, as we had to go all the way
to Algeciras on the Spanish side. Closer by one hour, Tarifa is not an
international port of entry. My first afternoon in Spain found me in
lovely Seville. One night there and then on up to Madrid (My photos
) where I familiarized myself with the city for eight days until my baby
sister arrived. Two full days were spent riding the double decked tourists
bus around three routes, getting off occasionally to walk a museum or shop
in one of the many high fashion shopping malls.
In the middle of the Madrid is Retiro Park, large and full of
attractions, where I spent another of the days. Walking a leaf-strewn lawn
at one point I stooped to pick up a Chestnut, then discovered many hiding
under the light cover of leaves. In the old days people ground them into a
flower I read, from which they made a satisfying bread.
After my sister's arrival we spent another three days in Madrid with a
day trip over to El Escorial (My photos
) before jumping on the one hour train South to Toledo (My photos
) After two days of sightseeing in places infamous for some of
the most brutal acts committed in the name of religion during the
Inquisition, we went back to Madrid for two more days prior to her
departure for the U.S.
Throughout the parts of Spain I've visited during the Christmas
shopping frenzy, I have observed a number of rituals somewhat different
from those seen in America. Kids strap Halloween masks to their faces;
adults cover their natural hair with tinsel "wigs," rebellious
teenagers set off loud firecrackers and everyone waves lighted sparklers
around like it is the Fourth of July in Wyoming.
The main shopping districts are mobbed with happy celebrants, street
musicians, mimes, hit-and-run street hawkers playing tag with cops only
half heartedly trying to chase them away from wherever they have settled
for the moment.
The game is quite amusing, actually. African, gypsy, and South American
foreigners unfold their "table clothes" and spread out whatever
merchandise they have been carrying in them. Everyone watches for the
police who make frequent sweeps of the main shopping malls... occasionally
catching one of the illicit merchants who failed to jump fast enough,
detaining him/her and confiscating their stock of merchandise. The police
obviously don't like the job and only make theatrical attempts to stop the
illegal street selling. I watched the expressions on one policeman's face
as he first screwed it up to "look" mean for his obligatory
argument with one big black guy scrambling to get all his stock of CD's
back into a makeshift bag, and then relaxed in resignation finally
grinning as he noticed my observance of the whole farce.
During the Christmas shopping season downtown Madrid is mobbed. The
festive frenzy is not unpleasant. The stores are full of (American!)
Christmas music and the malls host street musicians featuring familiar
carols. People wear Santa caps, some with flashing red lights. Most women
wear the furs of dead animals and men commonly wear black leather jackets
(also of dead animals, as I recall). Young lovers passionately kiss
anywhere a hormone flood strikes until they must be starved for air,
oblivious to the throngs of people bumping their way around them. On the
mall smells of cotton candy mingles with those of popcorn and other
sweets.
Twice I witnessed police checking the papers of young black men, once
while his (white) companions watched on in obvious disgust. When the cops had
distanced themselves the irate college age group yelled obscenities at the
retreating policemen. Another time I saw police chase and arrest a black
man. Spain has a severe illegal alien problem: TV news reports cover
successful and unsuccessful attempts by boatloads of Africans to sneak
into Spain across the narrow Straits of Gibraltar every single day! Those
who don't make it wash up on the shores of southern Spain creating a
continuing daily health and corpse disposal problem.
A lot has changed in the year I have been away from western
civilization. Most of the computer displays on sale here are flat and a
lot cheaper than they were a year ago. Cyber cafes in Madrid are
extraordinary: super fast, cheap ($1.10/hr) and offering large flat
displays. Several have opened with nearly a hundred terminal and their own
gateways to the Internet. High definition TV's with wide screens are
featured in the entertainment sections of all department stores.
Twenty-five years ago during my previous visit to Madrid, gypsy kids in
traditional dress buzzed around tourists creating confusion accompanied by
some rather blatant pick-pocketing attempts. The colorful costumes and
harassment are gone, but I did witness the new version of the old game.
This time a well-dressed young woman of dark non-Castilian ethnicity
approached an obvious camera toting tourist, waving a map and jabbering
Spanish at the confused young Japanese girl. Eventually the two were
standing so that the map covered the tourist's large handbag. After some
jostling, the "gypsy" girl abruptly turned and dashed off
leaving the victim checking her bag.
The gypsy moved quickly in the same direction I had been walking and
dashed into a cafe. I lingered and now curious, followed her into the
cafe. There she sat at the cleared table closest to the door with another
girl about the same age and ethnicity, talking and examining something at
the edge of the table. As I ordered my coffee I noticed the two furtively
glancing in my direction. In the 60 seconds during which I became
distracted with paying my bill, the pair vanished... no doubt along with
what ever the tourist missed from her bag.
A fine commercial site covering all of Spain is here.
...worth a look.
After my sister left I bused up to Salamanca (My photos
) to wait out the holiday lull. Dead week here in this university town is
invigorating as well as entertaining. The city hosts throngs of tourists
even in the cold winter months, so plenty of the stores and cafes are
open... even on Christmas day. When I leave here in a few days I'll be
heading on over to the seaside city of Porto in Portugal.
Being in Morocco during the Muslim lunar month of Ramadan, gave me time
to think a lot about the Prophet of Islam and how the period commemorates Mohammed's fasting while he repeated the words Allah
announced to the angle Gabriel who then transferred them silently to him, words which were to become the text of the
Koran.
Presumably the fasting encourages devout Muslims to do the same, thus
reinforcing their faith.
Here in Catholic Spain this month there is a preoccupation with the
symbols of Christ's birth, of course. Displaying a multitude of crèches,
organizations from banks to museums keep the legends of Christianity's
origin in front of the faithful here. As I did while the Muslims
celebrated the birth of their religion, I am again doing while the
Christians commemorate the dawning of their faith. Both experiences warm
my soul and provide insights into the kind of brain Evolution has selected
for us.
With this postcard I send my wishes for a joyful, meaningful and
spiritual holiday season where ever you are. Merry Christmas, Happy
Hanukkah (a little late, I know), happy dieting for all my Muslim friends
who gained weight from all that recent "fasting!" during
Ramadan, and a prosperous new year for all the rest of you enjoying the
secularity of it all.
Peace,
Fred Bellomy 25 December 2001
PS: Friends in Colorado sent me the following link
showing a picture of the earth at night from the space station. Compare
the African continent with most of the areas in the northern hemisphere to
see the disparity between energy usage north and south. It's a fascinating
picture. F
PPS: The little PenCam I have been using on this trip is now obsolete!
The company has developed several new models in similar packages, the best
of which is the PenCam 400. This little devil boasts 400 VGA resolution
images compressed with the JPEG technology all in the camera. However, I
now spend about an hour processing 50-80 photos, so 400 may take all day!
Hmm... Never the less, I can hardly wait to get my hands on the new
version. Read about it here.
PPPS: A few more lessons learned during my year of unorthodox travel.
Reliable scheduled transportation by and large is a luxury reserved for
developed countries in the northern hemisphere. One can always get from
one place to another anywhere in Africa with enough patience and
perseverance, discovering the secrets of it is often daunting. Much travel
negotiation is not for the faint of heart outside the major capital
cities.
A full sized bar of bath soap is a sensible investment for hotel stays
of more than a single night. Such a cheap investment increases the joy of
a shower even in most first class hotels and makes washing clothes each
evening practical. The laundry services of many hotels are outrageously
expensive and waiting for clothes to be returned can complicate departure
planning.
Traveling in the developing world with contact lenses presents
occasional problems, but all are easily solvable. Sealed bottled water
makes absolute cleanliness possible and cleaning/storage solutions can be
obtained with delays of a few days at most anywhere in the bush.
Away from the major cities in east/west/central Africa white skin
actually does denote wealth. The poorest white person is almost always far
richer than the wealthiest black person in a village. The range of
reaction to this reality runs the spectrum from awe to envy. Perhaps more
important, poverty does not equate with lives devoid of abundant joy;
preoccupation with those in more affluent circumstances does.
PPPPS: More thoughts about smokers in Spain:
I have been a militant anti-smoking advocate for decades. A smoker
recently castigated me for my fanatical attitudes on the subject:
"You are as bad as those religious fanatics you are always
condemning." She is right, of course... just can't help myself.
About one in three adults in Spain smokes,
but that third must all be on the streets of Madrid. In that city everyone
smokes in public places. The lack of concern for the adverse health
effects on others is quite severe there. These "suicide
smokers," like their terrorist counterparts, unleash their stealthy
toxins in crowded places... including all the posted NO FUMAR (No
smoking!) areas... apparently oblivious to the ultimately lethal effects
on innocent civilians around them. While their actions result in hastened
death for some of those innocents, we would never brand them killers,
would we? Why not? Are they innocent by reason of insanity?
Ignorance of the law? Or, is merely indirectly contributing to the
untimely death of another person too minor an offense to prosecute? Do we
have different criteria of culpability for suicide bombers and suicide
smokers? The smokers certainly cause infinitely more dying than the
terrorists of our world!
I met the manager of a Burger King Restaurant in Madrid and pointed out
all the smokers in his non-smoking section that day. The next time I
visited the store his security guard made it clear they now were enforcing
the posted health rules. Score one point for our side. All the now
unemployed anti-smoking activists in California might consider immigrating
to Spain. The Spanish children sure could use some help, not to mention
the minority of health conscious adults I watched quietly avoiding the
smokiest places in silence.
Ah hum... I don't seem to have any place around here to store my
soapbox. Oh well, I don't need it all that often any more. FB
On to Portugal
