En casa (?) // At home (?)

-- English below --

Bueno, pues ya estamos en casa. O eso dicen ;o) Llegué hace un par de días sin percance digno de mención al aeropuerto de Málaga (menos mal que no compré el billete a Barajas ...) y ya no tengo ni jetlag. Milagrosamente, aún no he pisado ninguna mierda de perro, y como ya sé que aquí los baños no tienen jabón me he comprado unas toallitas para cuando salgo de cañas. Conclusión: la readaptación al planeta Granada va echando leches (no siempre es el caso).

Hoy me he pasado por el bar donde trabaja mi hermana, que es más punki que Espinete, y hemos rezado el padre nuestro de cada reencuentro: dos canciones de Barricada, que es uno de los pocos grupos que aún compartimos (el trash metal no me va mucho, la verdad, y ella como que pasa de mi música folk). Así que para celebrar reencuentros y desencuentros y empezar un nuevo año de entradas con buen pie, ahí va una perla (aquí hay otra).

--[Respondiendo a la pregunta del millón: por ahora el plan es seguir con el blog. Ya veremos si encuentro qué contar :o)]--



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So. Here we are: Granada, early January 2009, a city and a family with open arms to welcome the return of the lost daughter -- lost ten years ago to the temptation of higher studies in Madrid, five years ago to the lure of foreign lands in the "New World". It is so fantastic to be back, and so hard and heartbreaking at times. I have almost no friends left here, and after all this time the locals' attitude bothers me, as do the dog shits spread around the city like little stinky traps, the lack of soap in public washrooms, people's obsession with everythng local. How can it be so hard to enjoy a place and a people that one loves so deeply, I don't know.

Here goes the first lesson on granadian culture: it's called the "mala follá", and it describes, quite graphically, that attitude that I was talking about. Its literal translation is "bad fuck". Like all locally rooted expressions this one is hard to explain; it basically refers to a lack of empathy, coarse rudeness, and disdain for any known code of neighbourliness. It means that the bus driver may yell at you if (s)he feels like it, old ladies will skip the line while they insult you for not respecting elders (excuse meeee?!?!), and "thank you" is heard as often as it snows in the Sahara. I don't really know where the expression comes from, but my personal belief is that it refers to the bitterness that comes after having bad sex -- wait a second, that means that this city is full of sexually frustrated people!! I never thought about that... Hummm...

Whatever the case, here is a joke that summarizes it all. Two friends are drinking a beer together before lunch (now, there goes a typical Spanish vignette) and one says to the other: "Hey mate, tell me, how are you doing?" And the other friend responds: "You motherfucker, you think I'm your personal showman? Go ask your fucking mother to fucking entertain you, fuck it!" (of course, this doesn't mean they will stop being friends: this act of sincerity and expression of inner anger will probably strengthen their relationship).

Next time I will say something good about "them, locals". In the meanwhile, here goes a picture via my dad that shows a better side of this place.