In
one poll at least, Spanish lovers have been voted the best in the
world, while Englishmen (and Germans) were among the last. I sent the
article to a few female Spanish friends of mine and one responded
that this was possibly because English women expected rather more of their
men than their Spanish counterparts. For the latter, she said, an
increase from 2 to 4 minutes would be like a miracle. Actually, she
didn't say that; I added it for effect. Though I'm pretty sure it's
true . . .
A
new Spanish word for me - Chacha.
Not
a dance but a
'maid'
or 'nanny'.
Of
the new words which have entered Spanish over the last year, the
'winner' is said to be escrache.
Coming, I think, from South America, this is a demonstration outside the home or workplace of a public
figure, e. g. a right-wing politician. The irony, of
course, is that these stand to be banned under the new Law
of Public Security,
something dusted down from the Franco era and re-introduced so as to
make 'people' safer. And we all know who 'the people' really are.
Other
candidates for Word of the Year were autofoto
(a selfie) and expapa
(an ex-Pope).
Which
reminds me . . . The latest Pope is said to be concerned about the
poor, while living amidst the untold wealth of the Vatican. (That must be the very poor as, compared with his life, we're all poor.) So why
doesn't he, for example, sell the 500 oil paintings that adorn the
Seville cathedral and distribute the proceeds to the badly off? Best
of all, by sending the wealth back to South America. It' be a start.
And rather more convincing than anything the Vatican PR machine has
yet come up with to counter the Church's somewhat tarnished image. "Our new Pope doesn't wear silk shoes", for example.
In
the unlikely event you've arrived at this blog because you're
researching the net before visiting Sevilla, here's a bit of advice:
If
you're going to walk around Sevilla's old quarter, you certainly need
a good map. Or the ability and inclination to regularly seek
directions in Spanish and understand them in gutteral Andaluz. Maps
the size of those in, say, The
Rough Guide,
simply don't hack it - even the blown up bits - and some of the maps
from the various the tourist offices aren't brilliant either. The
best map we found was given to us by our hotel and it named even the
little alleys. But it's not clear who issued it. Perhaps the
Turístico Bus Company. It has a biggish sketch of the AVE train
station in, of all places, Avenida de Kansas City.
Finally
. . . It wouldn't be Spain if there wasn't a lot of begging in
Sevilla, most obviously outside each of the extraordinary number of
churches . But panhandling from a wheelchair was new to me. A toofa*:
the pusher and the sitter.
*
Two for the price of one.