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April 24, 2006
The importance of image
Around a week ago I tried to visit the local museum, and when it was locked I sat down in the plaza to relax a little. I saw an older fellow also enjoying the afternoon and his cigarette and I decided to ask a simple question about the name of the plaza. He turned out a sort of museum himself and wanted to tell me all about the historical names of plazas and streets in Cádiz. Not only that, but went I asked about some other parts of Spain’s story, he was eager to tell about Andalucía’s hard times with poverty and hunger, immigration movements to Buenos Aires, and later, about the changes that Spain has seen through the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to democracy. “It was a change that happened overnight,” he said. Politically, that may have been the case (or maybe felt that way), but I have some questions about how the 1975 transition has still influenced today’s culture in Spain.
He told me about how during the dictatorship, everyone had to be calladito, quiet, on their guard. You never knew who might be the one who might have some allegiance toward the dictatorship who could turn you in for complaining or “conspiring” against the government. Many “agitators,” some who were more agitators than others, were carried off by the firing squad to the pit behind the Puerta de Tierra wall. People learned to question their neighbors, even families.
My friend in the plaza told me that he felt that that suspicion dissipated with the transition to democracy. He might be right. At the same time, I’ve been impressed by the amount of defending one’s image or actions can be. I remember first noticing the tendency in Ceuta. I felt like everyone was best friends with the ones they were with so they could talk about what some other person had done wrong or been out of line in someway or another. Every step of the way people wanted to make it clear that they had nothing to do with whatever problem was on the table. Since then I’ve continued to notice tendency frequently. There is a cycle of distrust that seems to permeate different groups.
Image takes different forms. My host dad laughed at a long-sleeve t-shirt I wore one day and couldn’t believe I went out in the street in what he thought looked like “pajamas.” (Fortunately with the warmer weather, I haven’t needed to wear it since!) The Semana Santa processionals and the Catholic churches hold high images that represent perfection and purity. Interestingly, I haven’t gotten the sense that image is characterized by jobs or possessions like in the US. That honor may be found more in the social ladder represented by who you know.
There’s another thought, an observation on cross-cultural interaction. It seems that in times when we struggle to understand our image or define our identity we tend to quickly analyze and judge the identity or the culture around us, trying to make sense out of our world. When we become more comfortable with our surroundings, it isn’t until we pull ourselves together into classrooms or conferences before we think about evaluating our culture. Whether we consciously think about it or not, we all try to maintain a certain image (although we might use other words for that). It seems that sometimes we can choose to let the same similarities and differences in between us drive us apart or bring us together. Perhaps that which is actually closest to us threatens us most.
I remember waking up early to pray with the Franciscans at the Cruz Blanca in Tangier, Morocco. I think the famous prayer that guides their ministry is a wise approach to this question of identity or image. “O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek… to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love…”
Posted by Derrick at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
Testimony of a former Sandinista Guerrilla
This morning I had some more lessons that go beyond Spain, but still have everything to do with a world of violence and neo-colonization. I had the opportunity to sit in on a class who had a guest speaker who grew up in the midst of Nicaragua’s violent years and took arms himself in the Sandinista Guerrilla effort.
He told about how the Samoza family military dictatorship, which was formed with the support of the U.S., was responsible for the deaths of as many as 12,000 Nicaraguans. He said they were able to maintain order and control in the country through military power and depriving citizens of literacy and education opportunities that would equip them to challenge the government. The Sandinista movement (FSLN) formed initially not to struggle for the indigenous groups or for land reform, but to remove the Samozas from power and install a popular democracy. The speaker said that “in order to achieve was right, we used means that were wrong.” He told of how as the violence escalated, all sorts of morals are thrown away and people begin to act like animals. He remembers clearly from when he was 7 years old, three U.S. soldiers came for his father, beat him, and carried him away to where he was tortured by North American and Spanish soldiers. From an early age, he learned to hate North American and European nations.
The Sandinistas were able to gain control of the country between 79 and 90. According to the speaker, it was a time to begin promoting literacy, agrarian reform and other programs that were missing in during the dictatorship. Also during those years, Reagan was carrying out his global campaign against communism. At first, he said the Nicaraguans didn’t want to have anything to do with the Soviets. However, as the US financed the Contras to resist the Sandinista government and they began to accept the financial support of the Soviets. This was the “dirty war” as he called it, and the means of war continued to worsen. The speaker was one of many youths that served in the Sandinista forces. Thousands of these young people were killed in battle. In the group of 30 (all younger than 18) that he served with, he is the only one who lives today.
In time the Sandinista government corrupted and weakened, and lost power to the Contras. When the elections took place, the Sandinistas lost. The speaker said that was a great disappointment for the Sandinistas to see that the people chose to turn their backs on the movement. The people were tired of war. At that point, he and other Sandinistas chose to leave the country for their safety, and he has been in Spain since then.
He was adamant that the neo-colonizing means of globalization and the host of NGO’s that have filled Nicaragua today don’t have the answer either. His plea was for international solidarity and said that at this point he is more effective talking in schools than fighting in Nicaragua. He says the leftist movements that are growing in South America should continue, and the international community should support the cultural distinctiveness and respect fair economic systems.
I left his presentation feeling quite helpless in a world that continues to be filled with violence daily. The news is filled each day with the tragedy in Israel/Palestine and Iraq, and now tensions gain between the U.S. and Iran. What can be done? The cycle of violence and international tension repeats seems to repeat time and time again. “The first problem with war is war itself,” our speaker had said. The world must come together, as he also suggested: “another world is possible.”
Posted by Derrick at 04:59 PM | Comments (2)
April 15, 2006
Semana Santa
Easter has always been an important holiday for me. Sometimes our church will meet on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday for a service, but the emphasis certainly is focused in the Sunday events. There is a morning service to celebrate with the church, and later, family gatherings enjoy special food and time together.
This year I’ve had the opportunity to see a very different way of celebrating Easter. The Semana Santa, Holy Week, begins on Palm Sunday. At 3:15 in the afternoon, the first processional began at the parish Ntra. Sra. del Carmen. Leading the group is the Elder Brother and the first Brotherhood. They dress as penitents, wearing cone-shaped headpiece and masked from head to toe. Depending on where they walk in the procession, they might carry a large candle, some kind of cross or ornament, or incense. Behind around a hundred penitents follows the first paso, which are the processional floats. For Palm Sunday, the first paso portrays Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The pasos are plated by lots of silver and gold, and turn into ornate works of art. They’re carried by a team of men who are packed underneath and slowly step together until they get their next break to duck out and catch some fresh air. As the week goes on, the Jesus pasos tell different parts of the crucifixion story (although they don’t come in any order). Jesus’ paso is followed by a marching band. Next, around another hundred penitents walk before the Virgin Mary’s paso and band.
Each procession leaves from a different church around Cádiz, makes a visit to the Catedral and returns to its church. The trip usually takes between six or seven hours. In Cádiz, four processionals leave each day, beginning in the afternoon and finishing around 1:00 in the morning. The biggest day (or night rather) is Thursday, when the eight processionals that begin in the afternoon don’t finish until 10:00 Friday morning. Who will want to watch a processional that starts at 2:00 and ends at 7:00? There are an amazing number of people that turn out to see the pasos, and fill the Cádiz hotels for the week. My host parents usually take a few trips to go out and see the processionals, but they’ve spent most of their week watching processional (and their reruns) on their TV.
Tomorrow at 11:00 in the morning the 28th paso will leave from the Cathedral. This last procession celebrates the resurrected Jesus and concludes the Semana Santa. Other than the first and last pasos, the emphasis on the week is overwhelmingly on the Jesus’ crucifixion and Mary’s faithfulness and suffering.
The Semana Santa brings together some different aspects of Spain’s culture and experience. Especially for the older generation, the week is a special time to remember and celebrate their faith. There are those who do penance in the procession, sometimes carrying chains or walking barefoot. Younger people participate in the processionals and are taught from an early age to value the pasos. However, for secular Spain the week is valued more as a nice cultural folklore that is worth holding onto than something that has real spiritual significance. In addition, in a region that struggles to produce employment opportunities, the amount of tourism that the week brings is certainly a benefit. The question that I am left with is whether the cultural and financial aspect be reason enough to continue with such events through the next generation. As we are reminded of Christ’s faithfulness, may we also gain the hope of new life.
Posted by Derrick at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
A Day Trip to Sevilla
On Wednesday I took advantage of a free day during the Semana Santa week to visit Sevilla, the capital city of Andalucía. The city is also well known for their traditional events, and their Semana Santa is probably Spain’s most famous.
It was a 2 train ride to Sevilla and I arrived around noon. I wanted to start out with the tour bus ride that Moira told me I should do to get an overview of the city before walking around, so I asked around until I found my way to Avenida Portugal where the bus leaves from. Right before I got on the bus I had my first surprise of the day. I was wearing my SGA shirt, and as one guy got off he read it and said, "Hey, Eastern Mennonite University!" He was a JMU student who's doing a semester abroad in Granada and he was visiting Sevilla with his family during the Semana Santa. It was a fun little connection. Small world.
So I took the bus tour in which I got to see part of the city across the river that I probably wouldn't have seen if I had just been walking. I saw the ratty abandoned modern stuff that Moira had told me about. Sevilla is famous for their traditional and old stuff, and when they had set up for a world fair in 1992, they invested some 8 billion dollars in all these modern looking pavilions and lights and buildings, but since then it hasn't been maintained at all and it is now is left overgrown with weeds, falling apart and just doesn't go with the rest of Sevilla.
At that point, I had some lunch at a little restaurant and started to explore the city on my own, taking some pictures of the city hall and other buildings. Everything downtown is classy, old and well kept. I took advantage of my student ID for a cheep entrance to the cathedral, and I wasn't inside for more than 15 minutes when I had my second surprise of the day. Chuby, the one Finnish/Nigerian guy who comes sometimes to the Baptist church and one other Finnish guy where there! The other’s name is Pasi and his mother is from Madrid, so he speaks Spanish well. Since he's studying the language, he's a walking talking textbook with the grammar and all. Anyhow, we spent the rest of the afternoon together downtown.
From there we also visited the Alcázar, which is an old Arab garden/fortress that is absolutely beautiful. There are more gardens in Sevilla that I didn't get a chance to see, and I’m sure I would be able to make a few more day visits and still have more left to see.
Later we walked down to the Torre de Oro, and the Bull fighting coliseum, and then we made our way up through the center to see some of the Semana Santa processionals on our way out of town. They had traveled by bus and I had used the train, so at around 8:00 we split up to go to our different stations. It was a great day, and I was glad to share it with some others. My train arrived in Cádiz at 11:30, and the walk back to the house took a good 45 minutes trying to find streets free of the crowds and processionals. I ate what was probably my latest supper yet at around 12:15 or so and called it a day.
Posted by Derrick at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2006
Soul Music from Two Shores
A series of classical concerts is part of the annual cultural agenda for Lent in Cádiz. They include strings, vocal ensembles and choruses, bands, and perhaps the most unique but not most popular, saetas. The saetas come from the world of flamenco, and carry the same energy and passion, but are also a different genre with their melody, rhythm, and of course content. Instead of traditional flamenco material which deals with love or lack of love, family or cultural identity or the land and such, the saetas are songs of faith.
I’m told that saetas used to be a larger part of the Semana Santa here, but as society has continued secularizing, it has ended up like a lot of Catholic tradition in the category of cultural folklore that is nice to preserve. What continues is a competition, where singers present their saetas in different flamenco clubs, and then the best are selected to sing in a final presentation in the Santo Ángel Church.
I was able to be at the church last Friday to hear the finalists’ music. The concert was opened by a few solemn numbers by a band, and then a designated speaker introduced the evening’s feature with fluffy praise about saetas.
Singing solo and unaccompanied by guitar or clapping, the music carries even more intensity than most flamenco. The saetas deal with confession and crucifixion, themes that we would hear on a Good Friday service. They have few verses, but the singer holds out words or phrases as he or she improvises around the melody. The songs' improvised trails have obvious Arabic influence, a mark of how this music has come up from between two cultures.
The first man seemed moved after his presentation, and I was impressed to see that something of soul remains in the music. After the remaining two singers, the band concluded the evening with a few more songs and we were dismissed.
Last evening I had another opportunity to hear a different, but not far removed kind of music. I went for the first time to the Central Lechera, which used to be a building for milk processing and has been turned into a simple concert hall a similar to but a little bigger than EMU’s black box theater. The title the artists gave the show was “Músicas del Mundo: Música entre dos orillas del Mediterranéo,” World Music: Music between two shores of the Mediterranean. As the title suggests, Fathi Benyakob and Nono Quevedo come from opposite sides of the strait and they music they perform brings together these worlds.
Benyakob plays violin and Quevedo accompanies with cello to perform music that comes from Morocco, but certainly has great influence from Europe and other parts as well. The music mostly had a darker side to it, with melodies in a similar vein as the saetas, but there were also moments with a more driving rhythm. Through the whole concert, the two demonstrated amazing ability with their instruments with their speed, clarity and the variety of sounds and melodies that they could perform.
Between the two shows it was interesting to hear the similarities in these ways of expressing two different kinds of music. In both concerts the performers were clearly deeply invested in their music, making for an impressive show and a chance to learn something about the music from this corner of the world.
Posted by Derrick at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)