Spanish views from a small town

Why did the United States enter World War II? Name one thing the Constitution does. What is the rule of law? Many documents influenced the U.S. Constitution. Name one . Why do U.S. representatives serve shorter terms than U.S. senators? What is one part of the judicial branch? There are four amendments to the U.S. Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers. Could you answer them all correctly? Congratulations, if you meet all the other criteria, you can now become a United States citizen. You will probably also know more about your adoptive country than many native-born Americans. Thanks to the present incumbent's hatred of people like his parents and grandparents, who came from other countries, it has become even more difficult to become a citizen.  To become a citizen, you must: be of good moral character (I assume this means you haven't been arrested), have been a pe...

This morning, my daughter and her cousin-best friend went to the Sunday market in Padrón. When they arrived, since there weren't many people, they decided to eat a café breakfast at a small establishment. They were both wearing their masks, and the woman who welcomed them, too. When she saw them, she commented to the cousin, "Hello! It's been so long, hasn't it? What will you have?" The two gave their order, acknowledging that, yes, it had been a long time. After the woman had served them, the two asked each other, "Do you know her?" "No, do you?" "No." When they got up to pay and leave, the woman asked the cousin about her brother, "He must be quite the man by now, isn't he?" The cousin nodded, "Yes, he is." They exchanged further pleasantries and left. The cousin mentioned, once outside and walking away, "My sister is now a boy, it seems." The two didn't know who the woman was, and since they we...

Yesterday evening, the news showed legions of fans expressing their mourning for Diego Armando Maradona, the Argentine football legend. It looked like a human wave washing against the Casa Rosada, the seat of Argentine government, where the casket was laid for viewing before the funeral. There were riots when the viewing hours finished, and the time for the funeral had come. There were so many people, that many of them, waiting for hours in the streets, hadn't had an opportunity to say goodbye. They tried to assault the Casa Rosada, and were repelled by riot police. The news finished before the casket was able to leave for the cemetery, so I don't know just how events in Buenos Aires finished. Maradona was a legend until drink, drugs, and too many women left him a burnt-out soccer player. Fame sat heavily on him, and helped to destroy a great career, one that rivalled Pelé's of Brazil. That fame helped him gather a following that, yesterday, was frightening. Hundreds of tho...

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. If I had still been living there, I would have had a turkey on the table, most likely. As it is, today I'm making a stew for lunch because it's a cool, grey day, and it's a work day. The meaning of the day has held up pretty much in a world where the meaning of Christmas is lost to most. In fact, in the U.S., its meaning has been moved to Thanksgiving. This holiday has become one of family reunions, get-togethers, and appreciating the good things we have and share. Today, Americans give thanks for the love in their lives. I give thanks for many things. For my husband, for my daughter. For family, near and far that share my genes and family quirks, and that are simply there. For love that folds over me like a warm blanket. For friends and acquaintances, old and new. For my house, however decrepit it may be, and for the car that takes me places. For the food that gives me strength. For a regular income, however small and insufficien...

We've had rainy weather yesterday and today, with thunderstorms yesterday evening; typical fall weather here. Temperatures have dropped, and become more normal. It's weather to curl up by the wood stove. The government has been thinking about the coming holidays, and has proposed that some gatherings might be permitted. Contagion is not going down as quickly as it should for a Christmas without any restrictions. Indoor living and cooler weather are allying themselves with the virus. So, the proposal is for gatherings of a maximum of six people who don't usually live together. And, to facilitate movement between households for the traditional late night suppers on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, the curfew would be pushed back to 1AM. That's fine for those who live on their own and want to get together with parents or siblings, but not the usual gatherings of grandparents, children, and grandchildren, so Christmas will still be much of a one household experience fo...

Thinking about what to make for lunch, for some reason, the stuffing my mother used to make for our turkey popped into mind.  My father was given a turkey for Thanksgiving, and another at Christmas, at the first company he worked at in Boston. He found a job there in 1964, when he was illegally in the U.S., and then he was re-hired when we moved there, legally, in 1969. He worked for that family-owned construction company until it closed, in the 1980's.  The turkey was always enormous, enough to feed a family of ten. We were only three people, and there was always turkey in the fridge for at least a week. The good parts, the legs and the wings, quickly disappeared. The breast and the back would linger, strings of meat pulled off in an idle moment of "what's there to chew on?" The neck, my favorite, somehow, also disappeared quickly, as would the giblets. What barely made it into the fridge was the stuffing. My mother, when first presented with the conundrum of roastin...

Just when we thought the circus surrounding Trump couldn't get any more world-class comedy acts, we see Rudy Giuliani give another press conference. It was so much out of the Twilight Zone, that even the Spanish news carried it. It looked like his brain was melting. Honestly, who is running that show? First, we see him standing in front of an entrance to a garage of sorts at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, emphatically bellowing that there was fraud in the Pennsylvania vote count. It turns out someone made a boo-boo, and scheduled the press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping, next to a sex shop and a crematorium, rather fittingly. Looks like someone wasn't wearing their glasses when they looked up a phone number. Now, at a more common spot for giving a press conference, he stands bellowing that, it doesn't matter if there's evidence or not of fraud, they are going to impugn every single vote that went against Trump. And, while he bellows, rivulets of bro...

Twenty years ago, a well-to-do couple from Santiago de Compostela adopted a Chinese girl from an orphanage. The girl was one of the first Chinese children adopted in Galicia, and her parents were interviewed various times, reporters wanting to know what led to their decision, and if her obvious origin was an impediment or not. The years passed, and the girl attended high school, a year ahead for her age. She was a gifted musician, and a brilliant student. But, one day, just after the beginning of the school year, she went missing. A search party was set in place, and she was found, just up the road from her mother's family house in nearby Teo, dumped on a shoulder of the road. Everyone was despondent that such a lovely girl had obviously been killed by a soulless person. But the police had their eye on someone, and just after the funeral, they arrested her adoptive parents, divorced just that year. Their story was contradictory with the evidence the police found, and they were e...

Every year, those who are in risk groups are encouraged to get the flu vaccine. Even in years when the vaccine doesn't exactly match the actual flu virus, it does tend to help those people from getting too sick. I'm asthmatic, and I've been getting the flu shot for years, now. This year, everyone and their cat was encouraged to get the shot, to avoid cross-infections with Covid, and to avoid the Emergency Room collapses we tend to get every year during the flu months. The campaign began about a week or two earlier in October than other years, and when I made the appointment for my shot, I was given this past Monday; about three weeks away. Normally, I get the appointment a few days to a week later.  Now, it turns out that many with chronic illnesses younger than 65 are going to miss out on the flu shot. Extra vaccines were ordered, and they are almost all used up. As soon as the campaign started, exactly everyone and their cat called for appointments, whether or not they ha...

Christmas ads on television are starting to appear, along with cities lighting up their decorations. The decorations are early, the ads not as much, still, they could have waited another couple of weeks. This year, most don't really feel the holiday cheer. In Spain, the few ads that generate (or generated) any enthusiasm heading to the Christmas season, are the ads for Freixenet and Codorniu cavas. These wines, knowing most people buy sparkling wine at Christmas, would go all out to create ads with famous people acting out a story line. They have damped down since the glory days of the end of the last century, though. They're too expensive to create, and people are drinking less and less with each passing year.  The other ads are for the Christmas lottery. These have passed from advertising magic, to, this year especially, bonds created between family and friends who share with each other the dream of winning some extra money at a very special time. These sometimes bring a tear...

As I looked at my neglected garden this morning, I realized that we are already in November. Yet, I seem to be missing a chunk of the year. It's always been cold this year, it seems, though we have gone through a kind spring, and a beautiful summer.  There have been no markers to set off any of the different months or seasons. We have been told we have to stay home, and avoid crowds. Festivals have been cancelled, and all sorts of celebrations. We have heard reports of family gatherings that have propagated the virus in communities. Few options are open to us for getting together. It's been a year of the individual. But man is a social animal. That is why there are celebrations at certain points of the year. We have always felt the need as a society to get together and celebrate markers along the year. These are communal festivities that remind us of the passing of time. Without them, the year drags along emptily; we could be in any season or month, and we only have the surroun...

I've been re-reading Agatha Christie's Come, Tell Me How You Live . It must be about twenty years since I've last read it, or any other of her books. It's been so long, that they are in for another bout of reading. I brought a few of them with me when we moved here almost thirty years ago, but I read many more than the ones I brought. At some point, I may have to buy some more online. Come, Tell Me How You Live is one of the very few non-fiction pieces she wrote. I have the Pocket Books 1977 edition, yellowed, a bit brittle, but in fairly fine condition. I don't remember when or where I bought it, or even why, since at that time in my adolescence I was very much into her detective fiction, and not at all crazy about breaking with it. I do remember, however, how much I laughed at some of the scenes, and that memory of laughter came back as I started to re-read it.  Apparently, it's been out-of-print for a few years, until about five years ago, when a new edition...

I am changing the header of my blog once again. We have been falling back since our abnormal normality of summer, and have now been run over by the second wave. This time, the rate of infection is much worse than in spring, yet we are still allowed out of the house. We are told that harsh measures, such as the closing of perimeters, or of bars and restaurants, are so that we can enjoy a more normal Christmas. But Christmas will go the way of all the other holidays this year. In Galicia, during most of the year, but especially in summer, we have a myriad of different activities and celebrations we can join in. This year, we have only been able to enjoy Carnival. By the time Holy Week, with its processions and week-long vacations, rolled around, we were locked up. We were allowed out for Saint John's Eve, and its bonfires, but only private conflagrations, and not everywhere. Those lucky ones that have summer vacation could travel, but with an eye on restrictions. The small and big mu...

After about a week or so of daily writing, I've stumbled against another day bereft of energy or ideas. So, yesterday I took a sabbatical. And I heard some English. I have always loved murder mysteries every since I started to read, I think. I don't know why, exactly, since every book is a mystery unless you've already read it. That love extends to shows on television. Detective shows tend to catch my eye, unless they are really badly conceived and badly written. And now, real life murder mysteries have caught me. Late at night, after everyone has gone to bed, I watch a British show that tells of real-life tragedies. But I watch it more for its Englishness than for the actual stories, which one can find in just about any newspaper. I like to see the different towns, and listen to the different accents. I was a francophile as a small child, and when I got my hands on English literature, I became an anglophile. I've already visited France; someday it will be Britain's...

Again, today I had to cross the red lines into a semi-locked township to pass inspection on my husband's car. Again, no one stopped or challenged me driving into Vilagarcía. I'm starting to think that this lockdown of various townships is more on paper than anything else.  What is locked is every bar and restaurant I passed by. No, I saw a cafeteria that was open, but had tape across the door, and some people were waiting outside. Most likely, they serve coffee and sandwiches to go, which is the only kind of service bars, cafés, and restaurants can offer in the locked townships. But it was only one of many that were shuttered.  Other businesses were mostly open. Maybe one or two, non-essential ones, were closed. There were people and cars in the streets. Even driving in, while there wasn't the usual amount of traffic, the road wasn't empty or even close to it.  Seeing those things, I understand how hosteliers are angry that they are the targeted businesses. Many have cl...

Since last night around midnight, our internet and phone service have been going off and on. When there was internet, it was so slow that nothing would load. Then, there would be no phone service. Around noon, everything finally came back. Until then, everyone who hooked up to the Orange antennas was cut off from the rest of the world.  It has reached the point at which we tend to take internet for granted. Through it, we can visit entire libraries, go to school, visit with friends, go shopping, do business. Having our service interrupted, even for a few hours, feels like walls have been set up around us, isolating us as if we were in a solitary prison cell.  Thirty years ago, being alone in the house meant being alone. There would be a landline, but that was it. A television or radio would bring us news, but we couldn't reach out through them to anyone. To speak with people, we had to leave the house and get together with others. Was it better? In some cases, yes. I find it m...

Last night was our first encounter with the hospital Emergency Room during the pandemic. Last week, my husband jumped the wrong way down from his company's truck, and his bad knee became swollen and tender. On Friday evening, since it wasn't better, we went to the local clinic after hours. He was given an anti-inflammatory medication and told to return if it didn't get better. Last night, it seemed worse, with his lower leg swollen and red, so we returned to the clinic. The same doctor was there, doing the night emergency visits, and she gave him a paper and told him to go to the E.R. at Santiago's Clinical Hospital to get it checked out. Our clinic may be new, but it has neither radiology nor blood lab. So, we drove up, paper from the doctor at the ready in case we were stopped when we reached the township of Teo, en route to Santiago and also quarantined. But there were no obvious green-blue lights, nor bright yellow reflective vests. In fact, I've never seen such...

In 1920, The United States passed the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution, allowing women to vote. In 2020, the first women vice president has been elected. A hundred years.  Not that women haven't run for the highest office before. Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984. They didn't have a snowball's chance in hell against Reagan that year, though. And Geraldine was constantly scrutinized and asked if she was "tough enough" to run for office. Women were still considered too "soft." But that was in the United States. In two nations where, through tradition, women were, and still are, considered second class citizens, women have already ruled as prime ministers. India had Indira Ghandi, until her assassination in 1984. Pakistan was ruled by Benazir Bhutto in 1988, and again in the 1990's.  Europe has already had a number of women heads of government, as well. Mary Robinson of Ireland, Angela Merkel of Germany, Margaret...

That's that for that. Joe Biden is now the President-Elect. I was at the last supermarket I visit on Saturdays, waiting at the doorway for the rain to let up enough to dash with my cart all the way out to my car. I heard a ping on my phone. Since I wasn't doing anything, I looked at it. The Guardian was bringing me the latest news. So did The New York Times. Finally, the tide turned and we have a decent man and woman in the White House.  Of course, despite the relief, the sweet relief, that sanity will once again trod those halls, there are dark shadows. Trump is still bleating that the election was rigged and that most of the votes for Biden are fraudulent. Lawsuits that he tried to bring in Michigan and other states were thrown out as frivolous, and without evidence. Yes, there will be recounts, especially in Georgia, where the difference is quite small. But, while total votes for Biden may not be in the tens or hundreds of thousands, they are enough for him to win those stat...

The votes are still being counted in states such as Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, and Alaska. As of this afternoon, Joe Biden has pulled out ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Since so many people voted by mail, there are mountains of ballots yet to be opened and counted. And who knows how many still lie in postal distribution centers without having been sent to their destinations.  Most of the mail in ballots were cast by Democrats, so as they are opened, the numbers are changing in favor of Biden. That is making Trump furious. Last night he apparently held a news conference that was so full of lies from the very beginning, that major television networks simply stopped broadcasting it, and started correcting the lies falling out of his mouth like blow flies. The man is unhinged, but unhinged are also the people behind him that keep prodding him onward in his pathetic attempt to destroy the democratic principle of voting.  In other countries, people a...