During one of my walks to the swimming pool, a car pulled on the side of the road and the flames began to spring from its front. The people inside immediately got out and within minutes the fire was engulfing the car in the accompaniment of popping tires. In no more than 10 minutes, the police and fire trucks were there and in half an hour the whole carcass was removed and area was cleaned - pretty impressive swiftness for a laidback Mediterranean culture, don’t you think?
Our Bike Path (yellow bus is our Linea 2 bus, orange grove and banana plants in the back ground)On BBC, I watched an interview with the Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus on his recent comments about the realities of global warming. He seemed to be very articulate and knowledgeable person. The interviewer overtly called him "arrogant;" and he responded as "how come no one is calling Al Gore arrogant!" He argued that the global warming might be happening, but that does not mean it is man-made and throughout the earth history, these climatic changes happened without human interference. His response to overwhelming majority of scientists' agreement on human contribution was people’s disinterest to hear other points of view because environmentalism is the trend – he also added that soon another fad will come along and everyone will forget about this one. He hinted that the environmentalism is like the new communism: other points of views are suppressed - watch where the right will go with this! The interviewer kind of dismissed him as he is against the EU's regulations to reduce carbon emissions because it is costly to implement them and he does not want his country make the economic sacrifices. He insisted that EU's demands were unreasonable and the reasons for regulations were unsupported by the scientific evidence. I think economic sacrifice is too much of a burden for even counties like England, which is backing out on their commitment to fulfill the set goals. For the developing countries, the regulations for clean air are too costly to implement and gets in the way of their rapid succession to welfare - thanks to globalization and information age, their citizens see how the wealthy nations live. These developed countries got there without any restrictions, why should they constrain and delay their access to higher standards of living? For us the developed nations, the story is different of course; once there, it is hard to give up our lavish habits. Once you have the control, you have the privilege to tell others how they should run their country!
I can only tell from my observations in Catalonia and Valencia provinces, but there seems to be a rapid economic growth in this country. The constructions and landmarks of technological advancement in every large to mid-sized city are prominent – but when you go to small towns, they look like well-preserved historical treasures. Apparently, Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of European Union – along with Ireland. The country invests tremendously in infrastructure. I don’t know what they plan for the care of their rapidly aging population though, because their birth rate will definitely not sustain it. By 2005 World Health Organization report, the life expectancy at birth for Spain is 77 for men and 84 for women (by the account of smoking frequency, women might catch up to men soon!). According to CIA website for the year 2007, Spain is estimated to rank 19th in life expectancy at birth and US 45th among 222 countries listed. Well, with a decrease in birth rate and child mortality, and increase in health interventions, this rate will probably continue to go up. By the way, Andorra, France, Italy, Monaco and Greece are all up there in the ranking: is it Mediterranean diet or low rate of population growth? Turkey is not there so it cannot be only the diet, ?verdad?
On my way to my Spanish class, I see large groups of elderly going to social gatherings everyday. Men and women all have pretty short statue and they look very healthy and giggly. It must be quite comforting for the Spanish citizens to know that their government will take care of them when they retire – without worrying about the child health care, what do you have to care for: lavish on elderly? Apparently in addition to their pension, each retiree gets to choose 8 places to travel within a year and government pays 70% of their expenses. The Spanish government regardless of the retiree’s work place offers this benefit. So you see many travel buses on the highways taking elderly travelers to different sites in the country and I believe to other countries, too.
Hallelujah! I can finally continue with my drinking-on-the-go habit here, too. Since a package arrived from home (takes about 10 days), I have been walking around with my coffee in my travel tumbier! I had asked Haluk to send me the travel mug because they don’t have such thing here. They consume coffee in tiny cups. Even Americano comes in small cups, which is a whole twice bigger than the one they use for normal coffee. I don’t know if I will start a trend (I doubt), but my friends get a kick out of the sight of me walking with a coffee cup! I guess it is no different than elegantly dressed and beautifully groomed ladies walking around with their cigarettes – “you’ve come a long way, baby” jingle fits perfect with the picture. I noticed a very high number of women smokers here – maybe even more than men. They lit up just next to you and don’t even ask if the smoke bothers. They sit at the cafes with their babies in their carriages fogged out while the moms are chatting away! There also seem to be more women working at all the visible occupations, which gives you a feeling of women work while men sit around.
People here seem to care how they dress - without a need for a special occasion, old and young people parade in their chic attires throughout the day. The stores, small and big, display elegant and tasteful outfits. One day an old lady (with a cat following) complimented my matching outfit and an old gentleman commented on my checkered golf pants in words that I did not understand whether it was a good or bad remark. The men, especially the senior ones, like to flirt with the ladies. There is this guy, who sells lottery tickets around my Spanish school; he began talking to me in Spanish the first time I saw him. Since he found out that I speak English, now each time he sees me, he shouts “Beautiful English lady!” He also calls other passerby ladies with some form of epithet such as beautiful mother, tall lady and some in Spanish. Most striking thing about him that he can speak English! He said he learned it in school, but lots of people take English in school and cannot speak it as fluently as he – even a travel agent I talked with was not as articulate. He maybe had more chance to practice with tourists (what treasures you may discover at the most unexpected places when you look with an open-mind) – pretty impressive!
Speaking of open-mind, I realize how superficial our first impressions can be. When we visit a different culture for a brief time, it is difficult to obtain all the information regarding the intricacies of its daily life. In these instances, it may be best not to form opinions about the culture and national outlook immediately. Even the local people, with whom I converse, have differences of opinions about their own country. The more people I meet and talk, the more disparities I hear in their view of cultural, political and historical aspects of their own nation - a universal phenomenon!
Not knowing the language is a big obstacle to understanding regional complexities of the culture as well. Apparently, there is a recent nationalistic movement by young Valencians. Spoken mostly by elderly or rural Valencians in the past, Valenciano has recently become the language of choice by the young generation. Similar to the strong sense of Catalonian in Catalonia, the province of Valencia has been busy reviving their language and heritage (to hold jobs in government institutions, one needs to speak Valenciano). As with French and English in Canada, the signs around the city and the public buildings are bilingual in the Provinces of Valencia and Catalonia. I heard that the higher level of classes in elementary through high schools are offered in Valenciano in most Gandia public schools. My German friend does not understand Valenciano very well (Denia, where she lives, is a part of Alicante district and Valenciano is not practiced) even though her husband Pedro is Valencian (who knows but refuses to speak it). During the swim dinner and gathering, all the announcements were made in Valenciano without any regard for those who do not speak it.
Susan and Pedro in DeniaOn November 9th, Haluk made a surprise appearance by one day earlier than scheduled – we were extremely delighted for even just one extra day. The next day, kids had a swim meet in another city called Almansa in the province of Castilla-La Mancha (where famous Don Quijote is from). In Spain, the swim league events are generally held in 25-meter pools. Yunus swam 100-meter backstroke in 1:14.15. He also swam 100-meter back for the team 400-medley relay and their team got 3rd place. Dilara swam 100-meter breaststroke in 1:40 (thanks to a big stop she did because she thought they stopped the race for false start!) and 100-meter free in 1:22. In all, it was a great experience for all of us because this was our first swim meet in a foreign country.
Almansa Swim Meet Opening Ceremony (Yunus's coach Eduardo in the back with with t-shirt and jeans next to girl in green shirt)
and the meet was pretty well organized. There were no parent volunteers and all the timers and officials seemed very serious. At a meet where all age-group swimmers participate, the kids get to swim only 1 or 2 events per day because otherwise it becomes a very long day; hence, most meets usually include 1 or 2 age groups. At this meet there were 12 teams and each event had more than 5 heats. The meet started at 10 am with an opening ceremony where two representatives from each team carrying their team-banner (no national anthem!). The coaches were not provided a place to sit and were involved in kids’ getting ready to swim for their events (because no parent was allowed in the pool deck). There was a break at 2 pm when the swimmers went to lunch at nearby restaurants. The bus fare from Gandia to Almansa (about 100 km) and the lunches for the swimmers were covered by the club! Your fees go long way in this country…While the kids were eating, we walked up to a massive Moorish castle – built on a limestone cliff overlooking the town;
we could not visit it because it was closed after 1 pm – no surprises! Apparently, this town was also historically important. The last battle in the War of the Spanish Succession (April 25, 1707), between Philip V's troops under the command of the Duke of Berwick and the army of Archduke Charles of Austria was fought at this castle. On a website http://wais.stanford.edu/Spain/spain_almansabattlevirgin6102.htm, Ronald Hilton (who also taught at UBC in 1940s in addition to Stanford) gives this account on Almansa's role in history:I was evacuated from Madrid in 1936 after the first siege of the Spanish capital was broken when the Loyalists recaptured Albacete. It was the first train from Madrid to Valencia, and we were lucky not to be attacked by Franco forces. Just after leaving Albacete province, I saw on a mountain the castle of Almansa, the scene of a historic battle. Few Americans have heard of it, but it was the decisive battle in the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1714), which has been described as "the first world war". It was triggered by a personal decision by Charles II, who had no more idea of the consequences than Truman did when he recognized the state of Israel. So many major events are the unforeseen consequences of personal decisions. Charles II, the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, had no children, and his last act was to leave Spain to the Bourbon Philip of Anjou. Britain and Austria did not want France to add Spain and the Spanish Empire to its possessions, so they declared war. Almansa was the scene of the decisive defeat of the Austrian Army. By the Treaty of Utrecht Philip was allowed to start the Bourbon dynasty of Spain, but it was never to be united with France. Great Britain won Gibraltar. However, it was also a civil war, as the Catalans fought on, using guerrilla tactics. It sounds like the Middle East today. The legacy was Catalan resentment which survives to this day.
Castillo Almansa
Almansa is about 712m/2,336ft above the sea level, so it was much colder than Gandia and reminded us of the weather and landscape in Coeur d’Alene at this time of the year. Behind the Polideportivo, there was a brand new big hospital- for population of 30,000! Almansa’s main source of income is the shoe-making industry, so next time you buy a pair made in Spain, there is a high chance that it might be made in Almansa. Haluk and I had driven there while the kids took the bus, so after the lunch we drove back home and the kids took the bus arriving at nearly 11 pm.
Almansa Hospital (on the distant left, a belt of canyons just like in USA)During Haluk’s visit, I had decided to prepare an early Thanksgiving feast. To prevent my chickening out at the last moment, I set the date for Sunday November 11th and invited Rachel, Vicente, Merry and David. I did not realize how big challenge this was when I began the undertaking, but I was determined not to waver regardless how big the obstacles were. The easy part was to find the recipes. Thank God the technology (without it, this would have been a completely different experience and maybe a short-lived one!), I was able to find really good recipes on the internet. After that I felt pretty committed with the excitement of the idea that I could have the audacity for thinking to prepare such a feast from nothing!
First came the ingredient challenges: thanks to Vicente, I was able to prepare a shopping list. I had to visit several different stores to find all the unusual supplies that recipes asked for. Some of them I could not find, so I supplemented those with the closest relative specimens! Here I had to be pretty organized because if you miss a crucial ingredient, there is no way you will find it on a Sunday – all the main grocery stores are closed on Sundays (except some predetermined dates). On the other hand, you may shop online for your grocery needs and they will deliver them to your home! Pretty cool service for those busy professionals, ey?
On my way to the class, I pass by a store only sells the best quality fresh fruits and vegetables. You can find almost any imaginable exotic produce at that store. I call it the Gourmet Produce store! They don’t allow you pick your own but it is OK because anything you see there looks just perfect. Remember the fruits from the last entry? I got them from there and they were dates!
Yes, fresh ones. Before they prune out, they look just like that. As they ripen slowly, the sugar becomes concentrated and skin looks darker. You can choose when you want to eat it – the longer it waits, the sweeter it gets. Amazing huh? As a big dates fan, I just had to have it.Then, I ran into some major technical difficulties: pots, pans, measuring cups etc. to cook and bake and plates, glasses etc. for the table setting! Our flat is not set for long-term living arrangements so we have everything essential but nothing for a special dinner party. To minimize my investment in things that I do not have further use and cannot take back home, I had to be pretty creative. Those of you who don’t believe in the practical use for math knowledge must hear this: I used a lot of conversions and improvisations to utilize empty containers. A 250-gram butter container became my 1-cup (approximation from 1000 ml = 1kg! about 225 gr. close enough) and I applied this approximation to every recipe. I would have found the conversions on the internet, but then it would not be as fun. I had to be pretty methodical with the order of cooking as well because I only had 1 large-cooking pot with cover and 2 little ones with no cover.
So on Friday, Dilara and I prepared the pie fillings (3 apple, 2 pumpkin) one kind at a time and stored. Then we prepared the piecrusts and made the pies the same day [we gave 1 apple and 1 pumpkin pie to our German friend – to return the favor for feeding us with some delicious homemade chicken soup (best ever) and seafood paella (for me)]. We did not cook 2 of the pies completely to make it fresh on Sunday by baking further. One of the apple pies we baked for tasting to make sure it was edible – and it was exquisite. Without Dilara’s help, I don’t think this pie-making event would have turned as successful for I learned that with pie dough, you have to be pretty swift.
On Saturday evening, I prepared the stuffing and gravy base and stored them to cook further on Sunday. Currently, there is no turkey available around here; so we decided to have roast beef in place of turkey. To shop for the best part of the cow for roasting, I ended up learning the parts of cow in Spanish! Vicente found a happy cow with its parts marked with the butcher terminology. I now know that the first several ribs of the cow is the best part for making roast beef and it is called carne de ternera lomo alto (if a bit fat on top: encima con grasa and deshuesado if without bones) – lomo bajo is the lower ribs. The tenderloin is called solomillo.
To serve 8 people, I needed to get some plates, serving dishes and wine glasses but thanks to promocion at Carrefour, I was able to acquire some good quality things for great bargain prices. The kids’ convertible (to 4-people dinner table) study desks supplied the table extensions to seat 8 all together. So before the guests arrived, our table was ready and I was finalizing the cooking. Even though I would have made things easier by just buying much of this, I believe I had more fun by turning things into challenges and overcoming them than making a grand meal; in the process, I was confident that we could accomplish anything under any circumstance. At the end, our Thanksgiving menu included the following:
Appetizers
Cheese
Salami
Guacamole and Chips
Main Course
Plain Green and Fresh Pear and Fig Mixed Green Salads
Best Roast Beef by Jamie Oliver
Chives and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Tangy Almond Garlic String Beans
Baby Carrots Glazed with Balsamic Vinegar and Honey
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Chestnuts
Sausage Stuffing
Gravy with Mushroom and Hardboiled Eggs
Brown Rice
Dinner rolls
Deserts
Apple pie
Pumpkin pie
Ice-cream
Beverages
Coffee, tea
Wine
Apple juice
Feliz dia de Thanksgiving!
Estoy muy agradecida por tener a mi familia y amigos.
Saludos,
Ayse
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