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<\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a treat and a privilege to see the world with new eyes, learning to live in Spain as an ex-pat. Herewith, a recap (resumen<\/i>) of my life so far in Gij\u00f3n (Manuel Iglesias<\/a> pictures above), an addendum if you will to my past caracolas<\/i>, adding what I have learned from my ignorance. For example, not to wash my hands with sopa<\/i> (soup), but jab\u00f3n<\/i> (soap). Not to eat little coves (caletas<\/i>), but cookies (galletas<\/i>). And to take care with pronunciation: men\u00fa del d\u00eda <\/i>not menudo d\u00eda<\/i> (a meal not a bad day).<\/p>\n 1. <\/b>Names that may mean something<\/b><\/a>: Zaragoza comes from Agustus Caesar. Andaluc\u00eda from the Vandals who trashed the Roman empire as far as the Spanish peninsula after sacking Rome in 465 (and from whom we get the words vandal and vandalism). Calder\u00f3n, as in Iv\u00e1n Calder\u00f3n who played point guard for the Toronto Raptors for years, is a large caldera or cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption \u2013 in english as in spanish. The Canary Islands are full of calderas<\/em> and calderones<\/em>. And, as my own private source tells me, calderon is also a name one can use to describe someone with a rather large belly (see New Year\u2019s panzeta<\/i> resolution above and the need for less sidra<\/i> and more ejercicio)<\/i>.<\/p>\n 2. <\/b>Teacher, teach thyself<\/b><\/a>: I always try to learn a new word each day. Tortugas<\/i> (turtles), bomberos<\/i> (firemen), burbujas<\/i> (bubbles) were my first \u2013 they have that humorous ring which always catches my juvenile attention. Of course, the learning now is a little more sophisticated. Enga\u00f1o<\/i> (deceit, sham, rip-off) I learned in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. It wasn\u2019t a word I wanted to learn. No te preocupes<\/i> (don\u2019t worry) was the first word chunk I learned here and has helped me to chill. In computers: dot is punto<\/i>. And I am learning not to press Ctrl-Alt-Supr<\/a> as fast. Hopefully, the teacher is always learning.<\/p>\n I am still working on the smaller words, the in-between glue that binds the rest \u2013 adem\u00e1s<\/i> besides, aunque<\/i> although, a\u00fan<\/i> still\/yet, incluso<\/i> even though, seg\u00fan<\/i> according to, sin embargo<\/em> therefore.<\/p>\n 3. <\/b>Madrid, Barcelona, and other short hops from Gij\u00f3n<\/b><\/a>: There are direct flights between Gij\u00f3n and Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Palma, Paris, Seville, Tenerife, Valencia. The airport is closest to Avil\u00e9s but is called Asturias or Oviedo (OVD) in international aviation parlance. Gij\u00f3n and Oviedo are half-hour drives away. The Asturian cities Oviedo (capital), Gij\u00f3n (largest), and Avil\u00e9s (closest to the airport) form a bit of a triangle or fork and are known locally as the Y. If the world goes completely mad and continues to grow as in the past, they will eventually become one big megacity, Giovl\u00e9s. Many more international flights are available from Santander, just under two-hours drive away.<\/p>\n The Gij\u00f3n port is now open for crossings to Ireland<\/a> with car through LD Lines (Rosslare, County Wexford, south of Dublin, once a week, 39 hours) as well as Saint Nazaire, France (15 hours, three times a week) and Poole, England (25 hours, once a week). It’s a long trip, but essential if you want to bring a car and stock up on inexpensive Spanish wine<\/a> for home.<\/p>\n Check out the Gij\u00f3n City Council web pages<\/a> for lots of relevant news and cultural info (some of which is in english), including the totally cool web cam<\/a> of the central San Lorenzo playa staircase (la escalerona<\/i>). One can figure out the weather in one picture. Where is Asturias?<\/a> and Fancornio Rural<\/a> have more about life and holidays in Asturias.<\/p>\n Asturias has been hit hard by the crisis with 350 companies closing in the last three years. But since it wasn\u2019t as over-developed as the Gold Coast it hasn\u2019t been hit much by the collapse of the property bubble. In Ireland they are now knocking down unsold homes which cost more to maintain than they\u2019re worth. In Spain, there are 800,000 unsold homes, which will no doubt soon be bulldozed (mover con una excavadora, <\/i>demolerlo<\/i>).** See Do The Math: On Growth, Greed, and Strategic Thinking<\/i><\/a> for more on the perils of unsustainable Bubble Economics and \u201cGordon Brown and Economic Inequality: 10 Years Later, He Finally Does the Math<\/a>\u201d for statistics on the resulting increased inequality. Madness at any level.<\/p>\n 4. <\/b>Christmas in Spain: Feliz Navidad<\/b><\/a>: Our bank calendar lists the name of all the saints and their corresponding day of the year. I will end with this since for me it sums up the sophistication and simplicity of Spain in one fell swoop, unthinkable in North America or the U.K. and to a lesser extent Ireland.<\/p>\n With separation of church and state built into the U.S. Constitution and the desire to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, it\u2019s unthinkable for a bank to affiliate itself with a religious order. Throw in recent abuse scandals and it\u2019s just bad business. But here, Liberbank sent us their 2014 calendar, featuring 12 lovely aerial shots of Spanish landscapes, from Parque Naci\u00f3nal de Monfrag\u00fce in Extremadura to La Cimavilla in Gij\u00f3n to La Gineta and Campo de Montiel in Castile-La Mancha, both exquisite Mir\u00f3 or Chagal paintings in themselves (below).<\/p>\n But the calendar also marks every saint day from Santa Tatiana (today, January 12) to Santa Apolonia (February 9) to San Pelayo (June 26) to San Jer\u00f3nimo (September 30). The Catholic Hall of Fame of do-gooders. I won\u2019t be able to forget anyone\u2019s name day now.<\/p>\n And so, more caracolas to come in 2014, reinventing as I go, like Christopher Columbus (a.k.a. <\/i>Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n) who brought back tales of gold and riches from a new world, creating World 2.0 as he pushed further west, creating the first modern empire as he did.*** Me, I\u2019m hoping to bring back more tales of cider and wine, chorizo<\/i> and gambas,<\/i> and life and language as I check out the limits to our very own virtual village. Geronimo.<\/p>\n Now that the uvas (grapes) have been eaten and the cotill\u00f3n packed away for another year, we can begin enero in earnest. New Year\u2019s resolutions for me: more of the same with a little less sidra and a little more … Continue reading <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n* Pancita<\/i> or tummy the diminutive of panza<\/i> or belly. Thus Don Quixote\u2019s great sidekick Sancho Panza was Sancho Belly. The master had quite the sense of humour.<\/h5>\n
** \u201cCrisis wipes 80,000 Spanish households off the map<\/a>,\u201d Amanda Mars, El Pa\u00eds<\/i>, November 4, 2013.<\/h5>\n
*** According to Giovanni Arrighi, the four main capital-accumulating powers in history were\/are the Genoese-backed Spanish (1450\u20131648), the Dutch (1628\u20131784), the British (1776\u20131914), and the Americans (1917\u2013present), each of which advanced the capitalist world system through a \u201csystematic cycle of accumulation\u201d before declining as money lending replaced manufacturing as the main industry.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"