Posted 4 years, 8 months ago in the early afternoon by oso
I want my chica de Catalunya. I want her to live in a cramped, cluttered cuarto above a Barcelona bar. An Iberian Amelie, we will make love the first night of my unannounced arrival atop her scattered laundry and unmade bed. Slender and full hips in synchronized motion. She will tickle me, pinch me, giggle and call me flaco. She will have her boyfriends, her books, her work, which I will only interrupt at the most accommodating times. My Sabina.
This trip I see more Latin American immigrants than the last time I was here. Sitting in cafe corners or walking down La Rambla – a full foot shorter than the steady stream of passing Catalonians and tourists – I hear their chirpy Spanish, just like my own. Below their hooked noses and almond eyes they smile wide flashing brilliant, white teeth. And an absurd thought comes to me: these are my people, I yearn to chat with them, to laugh with them, to dance with them.
Every region has its own overused words. In California we say “like” and “dude” too much. In Boston it is “wicked.” Most Mexicans overuse “pues,” “sale,” and “guey”. In Argentina: “boludo” and “dale”. Here in Spain – at least in Barcelona – it is “tio” and “vale”. The other night Jennifer and I were waiting for a bus when a woman told off a young man who bumped into her baby’s carriage. He replied, “no fue a proposito, vale?” (It wasn’t on purpose, ok?) She then said: “no, no me vale, vale?” which could either mean “don’t ok me, ok?” or “I don’t care, ok?” It was a clever play on words even though I don’t think it was meant to be.
The quote of the day Thursday on the Spanish version of Google’s customizable web portal was from Ralph Nader. It was along the lines of: “addiction should never be seen as a crime, but always a health condition to be cured.” For google, it seemed like an overtly political statement given the upcoming smoking ban here in Spain and the controversy it is causing. Last night, before heading to La Paloma with some fellow travelers, I got into a conversation with an Venetian professor of contemporary Italian literature and a local self-described communist, graduate student whose thesis focuses on feminist-anarchist Spanish writers of the 19th century. They were beautiful, both of them, full of their own contradictions, and well-versed in the art of living. While the professor was in the restroom the gorgeous communist and I started talking about the smoking ban. In two weeks Spaniards (and Irish, Italians, and Norwegians) will no longer be able to smoke in the workplace, restaurants, bars, or inside public buildings. Surprisingly, a new survey by the Center of Sociological Investigations reported that 77% of Spaniards are in favor of the ban and that six of every seven smokers surveyed will try to quit as soon as the ban comes into effect. My communist bonbón was not one of them. “I think this sort of thing comes down to Neoliberal Fascism,” she said with a straight face. Normally, I’d laugh out loud at such a statement, but for whatever reason, I just kept staring dreamily into her big brown eyes and asked why. She went on about the new world order, the riots in Hong Kong, the police everywhere you look, the neoliberal governments of the world trying to regulate our personal lives. Finally, cognition overcame a very big crush, and I had to give my spiel: “I really don’t see how a smoking ban can be seen as one bit Neoliberal. I mean, it’s the multinational tobacco companies that are losing out here and I’m sure they spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying to prevent this from passing throughout Europe. Not only that, but the whole point of Communism is that we sacrifice certain individual liberties with the confidence that the government will lead us to become better individuals and a better society. It’s pretty tough to argue that smoking is good for anyone. I mean, smoking harms those who do it and those around them.”
And with that, the enchantingly glib Italian professor of contemporary literature returned and ran his fingers down her porcelain skin. Five minutes later and they were tongueing furiously. Stupid, stupid cognition.
My fourth time in Barcelona; I have plenty of experience being told of the constant antagonism between “Spain proper” and Catalonia. “They hate each other,” I’m told. “They’ll hate you if you don’t speak Catalan. They are proud, culturally snub, and never friendly.” I had heard it all, but never shared their experiences and started to wonder if the whole thing wasn’t just hostel-talk folklore.
This trip has been somewhat of an eye-opener then. Hay de todos en todos lados, but still, a Manhattan-like lack of warmth really does permeate this city. Or maybe, it’s not so much a lack of warmth as much as its inaccessibility and exclusivity. Which is even more frustrating. In the cafes and bars you see the clad-in-black beautiful people of this city smiling, laughing, and gesticulating wildly. And you know that you will not be part of it. Worse they are proud and happy to let you know that you are not welcome inside. They flaunt the fun that you will not be having. In a way, Barcelona is the beautiful girl sitting by herself at the bar – there for a reason – who is set in her decision to ignore any well-intentioned person who tries to talk to her.
It’s also become more evident to me just how much many Catalonians still want their independence from Spain. In fact, the Catalonian food industry, is setting off on a major public relations tour throughout the rest of Spain as more and more Spaniards are boycotting cuisine and food products from the region in protest of their snobbery and calls for autonomy. Last year, a countrywide unofficial boycott was called on the purchase of cava – a traditional christmas white wine from Catalonia – when Catalan Republic Left leader, Josep Lluis Carod-Rovira said he hoped Madrid wasn’t chosen to host the 2012 Olympics (Barcelona hosted the Olympics not so long ago). And it’s not just in Catalonia where regionalism is strong in this country. Renewed cooperation between the Basque Socialists and the Basque Nationalist Party means a stronger voice for pushing further autonomy in the region. Meanwhile, former-president Aznar, criticizing the peace efforts by the current socialist government, said yesterday that “the only real and true end is the political, hierarchical, operational, and social defeat of the ETA and its entire structure.” In another example of Spanish regionalism, prizewinning Kayaker, Beatriz Manchon, has filed a complaint against her coach who she says is trying to give the national team a Galician profile. I can’t help but think of this buzzword, Glocalizatioon referring to the simultaneous rising patterns of global integration, Balkanization, federalism, and nativism.
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You just wrote about my senior college thesis topic. Back then the paradox was why the Catalans wanted to become independent at a time when Europe was on the path towards unification.
Fastforward twelve years and things and attitudes in Catalonia seem the same, yet Europe is a pseudo-united mess and encountering much self-doubt.
As to Catalan women, I had friends who have dated them. Beautiful yes, but I have never encountered such high maintenance women. Never mind their tempers.
The key to making a Catalan smile is learning a few phrases in Catalan. The fact that you made an effort and are “legitimizing” their language will endear yourself to them. At least that has been my experience.
Have some tapas for me!
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I would add to vale – venga and claro?. Hombre mira, proxima vez ven aqui a andalucia. Tapas son gratis – mas mejor vale! and u dont even have to pronounce your “s” in fact you can cut whole words in half and save yourself so much energy which can then be directed into more interesting activities – sorry my spanish cannot translate that!
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Cold, yes I am cold. And nearby. I must say though, my assessment stands, California weather may be 10/15 degrees warmer but I find myself in way colder situations in San Diego. We simply do not dress up, heat up or plan enough for cold weather in San Diego. In fact things and places are not simply not organized around keeping us warm at all, more like keeping us cool.
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damn bro, that was pretty well written. i had no idea there was a smoking ban coming up in spain…honestly that seems more ludicrous to me than the USA invading vietnam. the spaniards love their thinking-sticks…how could this possibly happen? first new york falls and now spain. what a joke. i’m gonna go have a cig
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I love how you can be such a non-judgmental observer. I, on the other hand, can think of no worse turn-off than an ideology (OK I exaggerate, there may be something worse). The Catalans (just because you are there, but you can fill in the blank) and their persistence on these historic and insular (there is that word again) struggles made me think of 2 things: 1: the borg (resistance is futile), and 2: humans love entropy.
“entropy is a measure of the amount of energy in a closed system that is no longer available to effect changes in that system”
I mean, there is still hunger and oppression and cancer, right? Or are those being banned too? (apparently I need a little help getting off my high horse; espero que lo estés pasando muy lindo
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In the cafes and bars you see the clad-in-black beautiful people of this city smiling, laughing, and gesticulating wildly. And you know that you will not be part of it. Worse they are proud and happy to let you know that you are not welcome inside. They flaunt the fun that you will not be having.
Oso, you´re being too hard on Catalonians. If you are just passing through for a week it is obviously going to be tough to be part of that inner circle. If you lived there it would be a different story, just like any other part of the world. I don´t think the people in the cafes are flaunting anything. There are so many tourists in the city they probably don´t even notice you
.
One thing that is true is that across Spain you often feel like you get cold looks from everyone. Strangers just don´t politely smile at each other as much as they do back in California. When I was living over there I told this to a Catalonian friend who had lived in the States and he confirmed it. Funniest part about it was that his first week in Northern California he thought every girl passing him in the high school halls was in love with him as so many would smile politely when they made eye contact.
Also, pretty good reply on the smoking/neo-liberal discussion. What was her reply? Smoking bans are a topic where both ´left´ and ´right´ can justify telling someone how to live their lives for the greater good. Libertarians, on the other hand, I think are the only consistent defenders of an individuals right to smoke. Take a look at http://www.theagitator.com, which always has good commentary on the topic.
Off topic, but do you still have a copy of the article from the NYT titled something like ´Being Young and Having Fun in Bangkok´. You commented that, sadly, this trend was becoming more common across the globe. I coundn´t get the link to work and only found the first 5 paragraphs on some forum. From that excerpt I didn´t see what was so sad about it. Email it over if you can. Thx in advance.
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You’ve said elsewhere that you’d like to be “a competent journalist” one day – which on the one hand is shockingly unambitious, though I do understand what you mean.
I happen to think you’re already way past the stage of mere competence, though I suspect you must already know that, and it’s too bad nobody’s paying you to do what you do. Some might say the fact that it’s pro bono accounts at least in part for the richness of what you’ve been writing lately, but I don’t subscribe to the view that money necessarily corrupts (and even if it does, one would prefer to test that thesis first-hand before throwing it out, no?). Would Alma Guillermoprieto or Jane Kramer have written even better essays for The New Yorker if they’d been doing it for free? I mention both of these writers because you possess a similar ability to move smoothly from one topic to another over the course of a piece.
All this to say – again – that I’m enjoying what you’re doing here. And I won’t tell you to “keep up the good work” because I myself hate it when people say that to me. Besides, it is clear to me that for you, writing is a compulsion, not a choice.
GAP
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Que onda osooooo, que andas en Barcelona!!
Saludos entonces!
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Good stuff, Oso.
I’m going to jump on my rickety high horse for a minute about smoking. I’m all for the bans, and it seems others eventually are as well. “What a dick, how does he dare take away my rights?” To be dramatic for a minute, I don’t want to take away someone’s “right to smoke”, I just want to keep my “right to breathe”. Most non smokers find smoking to be annoying. As an asthmatic, I find it to occasionally life threatening.
As a side note, only once (with the exception of Burning Man) in my 28 years have I ever seen a smoker properly dispose of a cigarette butt. The lucky winners were a couple outside a breakfast place in Chicago. Congratulations, Chicago!
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Since this post has somewhat changed to a smoking ban discussion, I thought I’d chime in and say that I am completely against smoking bans in restaurants, bars, or other privately run industries. The core of my objection is that these privately run industries are privately run, and if the owners want to allow smoking in their places of business – just like in their home – they should be allowed to.
If, on the other hand, smoking is bad for you, or you personally don’t like a smoking environment, I got the perfect solution, don’t shop there.
For a more detailed view of why bans on smoking are bad, see this.
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I have to chime in simply to disagree with HP. I LOVE the smoking ban.
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Welcome home! I am glad you are back home safe and sounds after your “aventuras Europeas”! Hugs,
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Well of course there are some that love the smoking ban, just as there are certainly some that hate the smoking ban, problem is, how do you resolve such disagreements? Do you let the store owners decide for themseleves, or do you force it on them? Me thinks that store owners, just like home owners, should be able to decide for themselves, and if consumers don’t like it, punish them in the most efficient way possible, don’t shop there.
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Oso wrote: In Boston it is “wicked.”
I like that word. ‘Wicked’.
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VISCA CATALUNYA!
It’s only been a little over a year since I was in that marvelous place… I wish I could just move there… something pretty hard for any non european.
Catalonians are a bit hard on strangers at first… but as soon as you get your first friends, they will be very welcoming, guaranteed! They won’t hate you if you don’t speak catala, but learning a few phrases will make them like you a lot more!
I once thought they were being a bit too extreme and “unforgiving” with the rest of Spain for their independence ideas, but spaniards from other regions aren’t exactly easy on them as well… I once received a huge hatemail from some guy scorning at me for spelling Catalunya without the “ñ”, amazing!!
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All those pretty little flags.
Xolo,
I’m somewhat surprised to see stereotypes coming from your keyboard. My Mexican friends always tell me the exact same thing about las norteñas.
Sokari,
I agree. But venga and claro are pretty universal words in the Spanish speaking world whereas vale and tio seem to be uniquely Spanish. Y te prometo que la próxima vez que ando en españa, daré una vuelta por Andalusia. This whole ‘buy a drink get a tapa’ phenomenon sounds too good to miss. Un abrazo.
Shimonkey,
It’s warm and sunny here in SD. At the beach this morning there was a lady swimming in the ocean in her bathing suit. I hope you’re staying warm, having fun, and taking lots of pictures.
Moreno,
Netscape on Windows 98! Incredible. You’re retro down to the OS. It’s a shame though, if you were using Firefox, Quitomzilla could constantly remind you how much you don’t want to smoke.
Swervecurve,
I was not being-judgemental. I was making the judgement that this is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing what attraction can do for patience.
Peter,
Her response was to stick her tongue far down the Italian professor’s esophagus – yet another reminder that had I been better behaved in my last lifetime, buddha would have rewarded me with the spirit-body of an Italian professor of contemporary literature in this one.
Anyway, I agree about my harshness. That’s the funny thing about traveling. You judge entire regions based on your interactions with a select few; sometimes just two or three. It’s entirely unhealthy and related to what I said in the “Killing the Ventriloquist” post. I should have emphasized the fact of just how many wonderful interactions I’ve had over the years with the people of BCN, which is probably why I keep coming back. Obviously though, based on these comments, the observations did strike a chord with some others. I really don’t know where I stand on smoking bans. Right now I’m sick and I have a hunch that the smoky cafes, bars, and clubs are largely responsible. But like you say, I chose to go in. Just to clarify though, what do you think about the ban on smoking in the work place?
Oh, and on eye contact. I’m a big eye contact person. I make eye contact with almost every passerby. As does every Catalonian it seems, which surprised me. But no, never a smile.
Georgia,
Coming from you, that’s a very meaningful compliment. Though when I was mentioning competent journalism, I wasn’t talking about New Yorker-style prose (which I love), but tough questioning, researching, number crunching, and thoroughness that I think lead to the best articles. It’s easy to write whimsically about how “Catalonians are culture snobs,” but getting a more accurate picture based on surveys, interviews, history, etc. is much more time consuming.
Candy,
Que ondix? Me hiciste LOL con tu post de dichos.
Chris,
I absolutely agree that individuals often (please, no idiotic responses about Nazi Germany) make better decisions when influenced by large groups. It’s best when this change can come about culturally, but sometimes gov’t is necessary.
HP,
Ie: “Now that the topic fits into my dimetric world view, let me explain how ‘my side’ sees things. “Methinks” is one word, Shakespeare.
Melissa,
Thank you. Though I’m not so happy about going from Spanish cuisine to American cuisine. I tried to order an espresso and croissant yesterday (not smart for a sick man), but it just wasn’t the same. Why does every food item in America have to be so damn large?
DD,
It can be used either as a verb modifier or adjective modifier – like how Mexicans use “bien.” As in, “Boston is wicked cold.” Or, “Boston esta bien frio.” Or: “No mames, eres bien buena.” “Damn girl, you are wicked fine.”
Alex,
I have to admit that I would also like to one day live in Barcelona for a few years. But in a city where jobs are so scarce and anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise as it is, it makes sense that foreigners are none-too-welcome.
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Oso,
I´m in complete agreement with HP on the smoking ban. I also don´t see any arguments above that even attempt at refuting any of his points.
And just to remind you… do you have that Bangkok article? Thx…
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Peter,
I emailed you saying I didn’t have it anymore (unfortunately – it was a good read). Have you not been getting my emails?
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Oso,
No, I am not speaking of stereotypes but my experience with the four different Catalan women my friends have dated. I am sure that there are of all types there (ugly, easy-going, etc.). I got along well with all of them, but I was not trying to date them.
As to smoking bans. Health rights trump pleasure rights (a company cannot claim a right to make profit as an excuse to pollute)- especially for workers. Those who work in bars and restaurants have few other options for work, so for them it is not as much as a choice.
I am also pleased to see that the new smoking ban in Washington state also prohibits smoking around building entrances.
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OSO wrote: ‘DD,
It can be used either as a verb modifier or adjective modifier – like how Mexicans use “bien.” As in, “Boston is wicked cold.” Or, “Boston esta bien frio.” Or: “No mames, eres bien buena.” “Damn girl, you are wicked fine.”’
Les Deceo un Feliz Navidad Prospero Ano y Felizidad.
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Oso…
Definitely, I had a feeling they don’t really like immigrants there in Catalunya… being the exact same opposite in Andalusia! (that is, unless you are african)… we (I am Costa Rican
definitely keep certain similarities, that go way back to the invasion of America back in 1492 (not the type of guy that would hold that stupid grudge after sooo long, but things are to be said the way they were).
I loved the way andalusians talk, I could never understand a single word, but they were so welcoming, and fun, you’d think you’re in your home country! … ohh… and Madrid, by far, best late night partying EVER.
Anyway, didn’t you think their meal times were way too weird?, and how the hell to they manage to party all night til 5 am (or more) and then go to work the next day?, EVERY DAY almost? hehe they don’t go to work until like 10 but still…
Excelent Blog! Merry Xmas and Chanuka and Kwanza to you all
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Xolo,
I can’t for the life of me imagine you not getting along with anyone. The most interesting thing I thought about the smoking ban in Spain was how many smokers – according to the survey – were in favor of it. It’s like they were saying, “please, stop letting us smoke.” That definitely wasn’t the reaction here in California. Smokers were pretty pissed.
DD,
I hate to be so particular, but right there, that’s the sorta wicked grammatical abuse I was talking about. Wicked as an adjective (ie. that shit is wicked yo) is for teenage skaters. Those highbrow Bostonians, they only use it to modify adjectives and verbs. So, for example, you could wish us a ‘wicked rad holiday.’ But simply a ‘wicked holiday’ does not suffice. Regardless, happy holidays to you too.
Alex,
Happy holidays to you too. My Argentinean friends had prepared me well for Spanish meal times, but I still don’t see how it’s humanly possible to party nearly every night until about 5 a.m. and then go to work just a few hours later. No wonder they want their independence, the EU won’t allow that for very long.
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I think the different reactions in Spain (and in Italy) on the one hand and in the US on the other is due to the fact that in Europe it came all at once. In the US it has been a gradual change. First there were smoking sections, then you could not smoke in public buildings, so when the restaurant/bar ban came along, smokers felt like their last refuge was being taken away. The other issue might be the feeling in Europe that the rules can be bent a little (Southern Europe, I mean). An occasional smoke won’t be an issue.
This used to be the case a couple of years back. At the Malpensa airport in Milan, I saw a policeman smoking inside the airport right under the do not smoke sign. I heard they were cracking down for a while recently, but it might have been shortlived.