room for error
& government initiatives
I think one of the things I notice most as we move around this city is how little room for error they leave themselves while driving. The taxi drivers weave in and out of traffic, regardless of the flow that is supposed to be happening. Buses come within 2 feet of cars. Pedestrians cross with blind faith. And then don’t get me started on the parking. I’m in awe. Because many parking spots are built in places that existed far before cars, they are teensy. I mean like Prius drivers have to pull in their side view mirrors, let their passengers out, back the car in, and then squeeze out of their barely opened driver’s door. The parking spaces seem to be half of those in the US, and yet most cars aren’t scratched. It’s just as bad with the parallel parking. Earlier today I saw a car that literally had 4 inches in front and 6 inches in back. (I didn’t really measure, don’t worry. Besides, I’d have to give it to you in centimeters then.) I realize that for some of you big city folk this may just be normal city stuff, but I’m telling you the mere thought of driving here makes me shake.
There are other situations where there’s tons of room for error, because you can’t get it wrong. Time, for instance. There are not really expectations for being on time; most Spaniards aren’t. In fact, we were early to the soccer game last weekend, and it was strange to Raul. We started talking about the typical schedules here (because I feel like there’s a lot of drinking wine and eating tapas going on around here & am curious about when people work.) I asked him what a typical workday is like, and he said: “arrive to work around 9-10am, but don’t actually start doing any work until about 11. Go to lunch from 2-4, unless it’s a Friday at many companies, when you can just go home. Have a merienda (snack) from 6-7. Go home from work around 8 or 9, then eat dinner around 9-11. (Laurie asked me a good question about when they wake up and I am guessing it depends on if they have kids in school or not. The private school where Pritch & Jodi’s daughters go starts at 9, but I think the public school starts later.)
Well that conversation turned into more conversation about working in Spain. Raul said that meetings often turn to food first. As in, you might walk into a room expecting to be meeting about something and as soon as everyone arrives (late) someone will say, “ok, let’s go!” and you’ll find yourself headed to a restaurant for a couple of hours. I asked if you could just skip those and he said, “No, because that’s really when the meeting behind the meeting happens.” He said the government has some protections in place for employees. If they are let go or retire, they get paid 22 days’ worth of salary (it used to be double that) for every year worked for the company. It pays (literally) to stay with a company until retirement. They also get 14 paychecks per year. I wonder if this is to offset the 21% tax on most everything.
In other government news, Jodi shared something with me today I think you’ll find interesting. (She shared the New York Post article about it with me, quoted below.) The government in Catalonia, Spain, an autonomous community, is encouraging women to go topless. “Want to fight gender discrimination? Go topless! That is the message authorities in Catalonia, Spain, are conveying to women in the region as part of a new campaign aimed at putting an end to the sexualization of the female body.
“The sexualization of women starts when they are young, and it accompanies us all our lives. That we must cover up our breasts in some spaces is proof.” The campaign also highlights the double standard in modern society, which gives men a pass for going bare-chested outdoors but shames women for doing the same. To drive this point home, the commercial shows a man’s bare torso, with a superimposed text that reads: “this nipple is free,” followed by a photo of a topless woman covering her breasts with her hands, accompanied by the caption: “this one is not.” Catalonia’s pro-topless swimming initiative comes on the heels of a controversy that was sparked by a summer ad campaign that was launched by Spain’s Left-wing government, encouraging older and plus-size women to hit the beach. The ads featuring slogans like “all bodies are beach bodies” and “summer is ours, too” caused a backlash from critics who labeled them patronizing.
There’s no great segway from that into what else we did today. We hung out with Pritch and Jodi for a good part of the day. Pritch showed me how to make their special salad dressing which looks easy enough for me to actually try. (It wasn’t until a couple of years ago when I watched Jen make salad dressing that I realized that was a thing you could even do.) Later in the afternoon, we got to see Luke again. And this time his brilliant wife, Raquel, was with him. (We also got to hug their boys, who we hadn’t seen since they were shorter than us!) It was great to visit with them & hear some banjo, even if our time was short.
It’s at this point in my blog writing that I try to channel the greats of Murder, She Wrote or Doogie Howser and come up with something thought-provoking or sassy or just something that wraps everything up with a nice bow. But I don’t know how I can possibly write something that ties together taxi drivers and parking spaces with work schedules and government spending with topless initiatives and friends and family. But that’s indeed all that I’ve covered in a few words mas o menos (more or less) here for you today.
Stay tuned for some jam-packed days in Sevilla coming up next.
FOOTNOTES:
Bucket list item checked for Chad last night. He said the Real Madrid game was “amazing” and that he got emotional at the Champions League song.
This little piggy…cut by a plate. I left something out of my description of Segovia. Apparently one of the things they are known for is eating suckling pigs. The worst part of it is how they serve them. (To me it was the worst, at least. I didn’t try any, but 3 people did who were close to our table, so we watched the display.) I’m guessing it was the owner of the restaurant or maybe even the head chef was wearing an outfit that made me think of a priest. One person brought out a small table and set it up. Then someone else continued the ceremony and brought the pig out on a silver platter. At this point there were several of the staff standing at attention, so it felt like a sacrifice was getting ready to happen. The owner/chef took a small plate and used it to quickly cut the pig into 5 pieces, sliding the meat onto plates after each slice.
Writing prompts:
* room for error
* What do you think your country’s (this blog is international, baby!) government should start a campaign to encourage?
“Footnote” - if you do the topless thing… IMAGINE how much more
Space you’d have in you one tiny suitcase Cica? Methinks you should seriously consider it
I just followed one of your links and found an article on "Catalonia’s Department of Equality and Feminism highlights gender double standards such as armpit smell." see if you can discover more, please!