Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas






So, my family finally decided to have Christmas dinner at my grandma's (my mum's mum). This discussion takes place every year, and I think most of the time the outcome is the same.
Anyway, the idea is to spend it together!.

Christmas, like every tradition in Mexico is very rich in small details. The 9 days before Christmas, we celebrate "posadas", when we conmemorate the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph in Belen... and we break "pinatas". I will talk about that in another note!.
On Christmas day, we eat "romeritos" (a herb that looks like rosemary, mixed with cactus and prawn cakes in mole), shreded salted cod fish in tomato sauce with chili, and turkey.
Later, at 12 pm, we cradle a figure of baby Jesus (this happens in my family, I don't know if it is a common practice) and pray.
When we were kids, we used to light-up these things called "luces de bengala". Basically, they are sticks covered with gun-powder (calm down, it is not so dangerous). So, in memory of those happy times, we lighted some.
After the party, I slept in my sister's bedroom... two crazy girls!.

Best wishes for everybody!!!!.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Augusto Pinochet and the Dirty War in LatinAmerica.

Augusto Pinochet, dictator of Chile for 17 years died yesterday. A bitter-sweet feeling, some people say. He finally left, but without paying for all the trouble he caused.

His deeds were part of a bigger movement that happened in many countries of Latinamerica during the seventies, the so-called "Guerra Sucia" (Dirty War). During this time, militar dictatorships were installed in Brasil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay; with the aid of USA and following a carefully designed plan called "Operacion Cóndor".

Violence was turned against the population: torture, murder, persecution, manipulation of the information and repression were usual practice. A lot of people disappeared...

Mexico had its own type of Dirty War. Although not under militar dictatorship, around the same time a policy of repression was activated against the oppositors to the regime. The death of Lucio Cabañas and his supporters, the massacre of students in Tlatelolco in 1968 are just some of the examples of the dark period in which the country was thrown. One of the persons accused for these crimes, the ex-president Luis Echeverría, will finally stand trial. Hopefully his case does not finish like Pinochet´s and some justice is done.

For the ones that read in Spanish (sorry, I really did not feel like translating!), here are some fragments of a poem by the Chilean Raúl Zurita. I listened to some of his poems during the meeting of Iberoamerican Poetry. He lived the horrors of the dictatorship and protested against it not only through his work.


"Canto a su amor desaparecido"

Ahora Zurita, me largó, ya que de puro verso y desgarro te pudiste
entrar aquí, en nuestras pesadillas; ¿tú puedes decirme dónde está mi
hijo?


-A la Paisa
-A las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
-A la Agrupación de Familiares de los que no aparecen
-A todos los tortura, palomos del amor, países chilenos y asesinos:

Canté, canté de amor, con la cara toda bañada canté de amor y los
muchachos me sonrieron. Más fuerte canté, la pasión puse, el sueño,
la lágrima. Canté la canción de los viejos galpones de concreto. Unos
sobre otros decenas de nichos los llenaban. En cada uno hay un país,
son como niños, están muertos. Todos yacen allá, países negros, África
y sudacas. Yo les canté así de amor la pena a los países. Miles de cruces
llenaban hasta el fin el campo. Entera su enamorada canté así. Canté el
amor:

Fue el tormento, los golpes y en pedazos
nos rompimos. Yo alcancé a oí­rte pero la
luz se iba.
Te busqué entre los destrozados,
hablé contigo. Tus restos me miraron y yo
te abracé. Todo acabó.
No queda nada. Pero muerta te amo y nos
amamos, aunque esto nadie pueda enten-
derlo.

(.....)

Murió mi chica, murió mi chico, desaparecieron todos.

Desiertos de amor.
Ay amor, quebrados caímos y en la caída
lloré mirándote. Fue golpe tras golpe, pero
los últimos ya no eran necesarios.
Apenas un poco nos arrastramos entre los
cuerpos derrumbados para quedar juntos,
para quedar uno al lado del otro. No es duro
ni la soledad. Nada ha sucedido y mi sueño
se levanta y cae como siempre. Como los
dí­as. Como la noche Todo mi amor está aquí
y se ha quedado:

-Pegado a las rocas al mar y a las montañas.
-Pegado, pegado a las rocas al mar y a las montañas.

Raúl Zurita, 1985.

Old friends...

I met a bunch of old friends from University last Saturday. It seems amazing, but we actually met ten years ago, during the first year!. It was nice to see them again, and I am glad we have not lost the contact after all this time, although we talk on and off. I confess I am really bad at keeping in touch...

Cristina brought along some pickies she took at the time and it was funny to see what we looked like and how much we have changed. Viri, Cris and Zu look almost the same, well, maybe Zu looks a bit thinner than what I remember. Isaac is the only guy that is still in the same shape, Marcos (Cris' husband) is definitely bigger and I have tried to make Jaime see that I don't think he is fat, he just does not look like a boy anymore (and still keeps those witty green eyes!).

Thank God they have not lost their sense of humor, that conversation that can turn caustic at times. We laughed a lot... but no, it was not like going back in time. We are somehow different now... I would say a bit less fresh, the body movements certainly more thoughtful.

Me?, I am not the same person they met, I am sure. I have lost the long hair, the fringe, even some weight... of course the main difference is not there.

However, certain things never change (I am glad!): that is what keeps us friends.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Si tú no estás (Rosana Arbelo)

Rosana Arbelo is a Spanish singer. This song is old (10 years), but is now in fashion due to a new group called "Sin bandera"... I´m attempting to play it with the guitar.

For the music: http://odeo.com/audio/1239729/view

"No quiero estar sin ti
si tú no estás aquí me sobra el aire
No quiero estar así
si tú no estás la gente se hace nadie

Si tú no estás aquí no sé
qué diablos hago amándote
si tú no estás aquí sabrás
que Dios no va a entender por qué te vas.

No quiero estar sin ti
si tú no estás aquí, me falta el sueño
no quiero andar así
latiendo un corazón de amor sin dueño

Si tú no estás aqui no sé...(repeat)

Derramaré mis sueños si algún día no te tengo
lo más grande se hará lo más pequeño
pasearé en un cielo sin estrellas esta vez
tratando de entender quien hizo un infierno el paraiso

No te vayas nunca porque
no puedo estar sin ti
si tú no estás aquí, me quema el aire

Si tú no estás aquí no sé... (repeat)

Si tú no estás aquí..."


"I don´t want to be without you
if you are not here, the air is not needed
I don´t want to feel like this
If you are not here, the people becomes nobody

If you are not here, I don´t know
what on earth am I doing loving you
If you are not here, you will know
that God will not understand why you leave

I don´t want to be without you
If you are not here, I feel insomnia
I don´t want to feel like this
a heart beating, without owner

If you are not here, I don´t know... (repeat)

I will pour out my dreams, if one day I don´t have you
the biggest will become the smallest
I will travel in a starless sky
trying to understand who transformed the paradise in hell

Don´t ever go because
I cannot be without you
If you are not here, the air burns

If you are not here, I don´t know... (repeat)

If you are not here..."

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Translating: My country.

I switched on the TV on 1st of December to watch the new president taking possession. An act that normally takes hours and goes on in peace became a show. The podium taken, fights between the delegates to block the entrances, the protest emitted over a background of whistles and the screams of "scum"; an act that, from beginning to end took only five minutes. The TV chose to describe the event as, though strange and short, a new beginning for a Mexico in peace.

It worries me... this country like a chronic patient, experiences convulsions, worries me. It worries me to see how it is breaking apart, how it is dividing. How its leaders try to trick the people and, above all, how everybody pretends "nothing is happening".
It worries me to see how many unhappy people there are, tired to see how their quality of life instead of improving, is worse (the World Bank has declared the difference between rich and poor has increased during the last six years). And also a lot of people disappointed about the lack of tolerance and feeling that their voice is not heard.
It worries me, above all, this intention of believing that the group of people in disagreement is a minority, when there are a lot of people unhappy out there, when it was necessary to transform the Congress into a fortress to protect the new president, when the Main Square of Mexico City appears full every time the opposition calls.

There are so many things that need to be changed here... but nothing is possible if we continue diminishing the importance of the situation, if -like always- we stay waiting, if we want to diminish or even not listen other people's opinion, if we want, in a phrase, to keep the eyes closed.

Mi país...

Encendí el televisor la mañana del 1o. de Diciembre para ver la toma de posesión. Un acto que normalmente toma horas y se desarrolla pacíficamente se volvió tremendo espectáculo. La tribuna tomada, jaloneo entre los diputados para bloquear los accesos, la protesta emitida por sobre las rechiflas y los gritos de "espurio" y "pelele"; un acto que desde la entrada del nuevo presidente hasta su salida, duró no más de cinco minutos. La televisión en cadena nacional quiso describir el evento como, aunque extraño y muy breve, un nuevo principio para un México en calma...

Me preocupa... me preocupa este país que, como un enfermo crónico convulsiona. Me preocupa ver cómo se está resquebrajando, cómo se está dividiendo. Cómo sus líderes intentan burlar a su gente, y sobre todo cómo se pretende hacer creer que "no pasa nada".
Me preocupa ver que hay mucha gente infeliz, cansada de ver que su calidad de vida en vez de mejorar empeora (El Banco Mundial declara que la brecha entre ricos y pobres se ha hecho más amplia durante el pasado sexenio). Y también mucha gente decepcionada de la falta de tolerancia y de que al parecer, su voz no es tomada en cuenta.
Me preocupa, sobre todo, éste querer creer que la gente en desacuerdo es una minoría, cuando se encuentra tanta gente a disgusto en la calle, cuando fue necesario transformar el Palacio Legislativo en una fortaleza para proteger al nuevo presidente, cuando se sigue llenando el Zócalo capitalino de simpatizantes de la oposición.
Hay tantas cosas que necesitan cambiar aquí... pero nada puede ser posible si nos empeñamos en disminuir la gravedad de la situación, si -como siempre- nos quedamos sentados, si queremos disminuir o ni siquiera escuchar la opinión de otros, si queremos, en una palabra, cerrar los ojos.