This random British guy at a party congratulated me the other day on being a McGill grad. "Wow, oh my god, it has such an amazing reputation! It's one of the top 50 in the world, I'm so impressed, you should be proud."
WTF???!!!!!! And he wasn't even drunk!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Is a rose still a rose?
Basque language was completely banned under Franco. Until his death in the mid-seventies, you could get arrested for speaking in in public. Basque-speaking kids would get beaten at school when they'd show up to kindergarten not knowing much Spanish and without realizing a few words of their mother tongue would slip out.
This I knew. But I recently learned that Basque names were banned too. So, little Julen or Agurtzane or Karmele would show up at school and be told by the teacher that their names were not acceptable and they would now have to answer to their Spanish equivalents: Julián, Rosario, or María del Carmen. Same thing when you went to have your national ID card made. So when Franco died, everyone ran to the public registry and finally got their REAL names put on their ID cards.
This I knew. But I recently learned that Basque names were banned too. So, little Julen or Agurtzane or Karmele would show up at school and be told by the teacher that their names were not acceptable and they would now have to answer to their Spanish equivalents: Julián, Rosario, or María del Carmen. Same thing when you went to have your national ID card made. So when Franco died, everyone ran to the public registry and finally got their REAL names put on their ID cards.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Lack of 'recul'
In some ways I suck as a blogger, for the same reason I suck as a photographer. I'm not referring to my lack of technical know-how, but about the hard time I have stepping out of the moment to be an observer. I could be at a parade, and the floats could be vivid and picturesque, and the atmosphere palpable and it could be a people-watching paradise, but I'll probably end up opting to leave my camera in my bag and keep enjoying the show. And sometimes later I'll regret not having any photos of the moment. But sometimes I'll be content to have absorbed the moment into my memory.
And it can be the same with a blog. When life's full and fun, sometimes it can seem like if you sit down and write about it, you'll miss out on something. Which is why I have a huge list of draft entries from the last month that will soon be filled out with the details on my birthday, Christmas and New Year's, and my recent trips to Madrid and Barcelona. Now that life's slowed back down into the ease of routine, there's lots of time for a little stepping out of frame.
And it can be the same with a blog. When life's full and fun, sometimes it can seem like if you sit down and write about it, you'll miss out on something. Which is why I have a huge list of draft entries from the last month that will soon be filled out with the details on my birthday, Christmas and New Year's, and my recent trips to Madrid and Barcelona. Now that life's slowed back down into the ease of routine, there's lots of time for a little stepping out of frame.
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