From Barcelona (Spain) to Santo Domingo

[earosemena]

Gallegos, catalanes y espanoles

Jimena, is so nice to have you on the board. You bring "chispa" I could tell you some good gallego stories. I was born in Cuba and been in the US for many, many years but was raised very "espanola." My mother used to take us to the "Zarzuela" every Saturday. Anyway, just wanted to welcome you and tell you that I'm third generation Cuban descending from Catalanes "anarquistas."

 

[Jimena]

Earosemena! ;-) Thanks for the compliments!
I do think that the "chispa" is this forum itself, really. I wish their creators get enough money to do de SP1, Fr1, GB1, JP1, IT1... :-DDDDDDD Usually beeing a foreigner is a lot of work, you need a lot of energy. This site is a great help!!!

My father was a CNT man, walked trough (yes, by foot) the Pirineos many time transporting documents. YOu would love wathing "Land and Freedom" a Ken Loach film about the Spanish Civil War based on George Orwell memories from Catalu?a. May be your family and mine met a long time a go. There were 2 groups: CNT and FAI. The most romantics ones were POUM. A very interesting moment in history, when many peopple really believe that they could change the world. As usual the Saddams , Bushes, Aznares, Blairs and big economical interests of the moment didn't let the world be in peace.

Vaya! C?mo me he enrollado!!!

Muchos besotes,

Jimena

 

[Hillbilly]

Spanish Civil War

Dear Jimena: I think you will find that the Guerra Civil is alive and well in Dominicana.

Be well and we await your arrival...

HB, el teu amic....

 

[Chirimoya]

Yes, and let us know how you get along.

Land and Freedom - wonderful film!

A friend just sent me details of an interesting job in Barcelona. If I apply, and get it, we could do a swap! I'm allowed to dream...

BTW did you get my PM? I know it's an apartment but if you could find someone to share it's a good deal. PM me when you get here anyway.

Hasta pronto,

Chiri

 

[Jimena]

Hola, hola!

SuperChiriiiiiii!!!! Vente, vente!!!!! If I am here I will help you, if not, my friends will take care of you, seriously.
About the accomodation... I already have someone interested who would live with my cats too.

I have no post from you!!! Please e-mail me to jimenafpinto@terra.es

I remember the day when I went to see Land and Freedom. The cinema was full. At the end everybody stood up and there was an applause for 10 minuts. No exagero, mujer! Fue tal cual! Impresssssssionante y escalofriante!!!!
Ken Loach is very succesful here, his films stay for months at the cinemas. Now "Sweet Sixteen" is on since 2 months a go.

Hola, amic meu! Com va tot? Aqui ja estem a la primavera, el temps es delici?s
I will desagree a bit with you. ;-) I have been reading through this forum and apparentely in Dominican culture desagreement is not common, so...how a guerra civil could be on? ))))

Spanish people we are not an example to follow (I am talking about Franco, for example). Trujillo.... that really was one of the most bastard dictators (have you red Vargas Llosa's novel about him?) if We can say that a dictator is worse than other, what is really difficult, don't you think?
So, what do think that the culture (dominican + catolic+hispanic) "helps" and does in order to keep the situation in DR as it is?

Spain will be allways with the risk of a civil war because we are divided in two countries: Left and right political way of living. Please do reed a Blas de Otero poem called "Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza". Ana Bel?n (she is a very very very famous singer, as much as Joan Manoel Serrat) put it into music a quite long time a go. That is Spain. I will try to find it in internet and copy it here for you all. There is a lot of pain still about the Spanish Civil War within our society. Aznar is a good example about what the conservative political parties are here.

And I have more silly questions... the sort of questions a foreigner (with curiosity, a lot of it) allways have... ;-)
DR is a country with a lot of wind and sunshine...and energy problems. So, why there is no use of ecologic energy? Or may be there is and I am talking nonsense! The cost will be not a good justification, I am very sorry. PPP :-DDDDDDDDDDDD


Besotes and hugs,

Jimena

 

[Jimena]

ESPA?A CAMISA BLANCA DE MI ESPERANZA






Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza

reseca historia que nos abrasa

con acercarse s?lo a mirarla.

Paloma buscando cielos m?s estrellados

donde entendernos sin destrozarnos

donde sentarnos y conversar.



Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza

la negra pena nos atenaza

la pena deja plomo en las alas.

Quisiera poner el hombro y pongo palabras

que casi siempre acaban en nada

cuando se enfrentan al ancho mar.



Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza

a veces madre siempre madrastra

navaja, barro, clavel, espada.

La muerte siempre presente nos acompa?a

en nuestras cosas m?s cotidianas

y al fin nos hace a todos igual.



Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza

de fuera o dentro dulce o amarga

de olor a incienso de cal y ca?a.

?Qui?n puso el desasosiego en nuestras entra?as

nos hizo libres pero sin alas

?nos dej? el hambre y se llev? el pan?



Espa?a camisa blanca de mi esperanza

aqu? me tienes nadie me manda

quererte tanto me cuesta nada.

Nos haces siempre a tu imagen y semejanza

lo bueno y malo que hay en tu estampa

de peregrina a ning?n lugar...

 

[Chirimoya]

Jimena, I sent you an e-mail about a flat in Gazcue.

I also love the song 'Espa?a Camisa Blanca' but had never paid much attention to the meaning. Thanks!

The move to Barcelona was just a dream... maybe one day. I've visited 3 times and hope to go again soon. My husband hasn't been there yet so maybe we'll go this year, we are spending some of the summer in Europe. You mentioning Ken Loach reminded me also of 'Karla's Song' which I am sure you have also seen. It has a special meaning for me.

Funny you should compare the Spanish and DR experiences of emerging from dictatorships. My impression is that Spain got over it PDQ while the DR still wallows in a post-Trujillo hang-up, thanks to the hard work of subsequent presidents like Balaguer who saw the value of keeping many of the mechanisms of dictatorship under a veneer of democracy. Scope for discussion there!

As for the alternative energy question: there is some promotion of solar panels etc in the campos, and possibly some wind energy too. There are lots of hydroelectric dams but I don't know how much they supply. The country is very dependent on oil for energy and it is a mystery to me why there is no massive strategy to facilitate the use of these methods. All over the Mediterranean region people use solar water heaters, while these are virtually unknown here.

What do FUNREDES do, I have heard the name but can't place it. What will you be doing with them?

Keep in touch!

Chiri

 

[Jimena]

SuperChiri!!!!

As usual your message is very interesting!!!

I do love Karla's Song too! It is very difficult for me to say which Ken Loach film I prefer... all of them are so good!

I personally believe that Spain sold very well the experience to getting back to democracy. We did it on the best way We could do it at that moment. But, but the level of democracy that we had in 1936 is not reached yet as many people told me.
All that is in our social present memory... It is difficult to explain it in English for me.

I hope we can meet in Barcelona very soon! Woudn't that be great!

Solar energy is not very common here because is expensive but yes, there is more and more specially in Andalucia. Wind energy is all over the country.

Well, I bet that meu amic HB can say a lot about all of this ;-)


FUNREDES is a Non-Governmental Organization, dedicated to the dissemination of New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) in developing countries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean with the objective of contributing to regional development and integration.
www.funredes.org

I would be reorganizing their website and helping to raise the pedagogical side of it (is is my speciallity, you can find my work through Google under Jimena Fern?ndez)
My personal goal is to help people using internet rationally and not forgetting our human size for everything. It is important as well that a big part of the world don't get unplaged from the rest of the world (what happens to be the smaller part of the world too)
Blame my anarchist family!!! :-DDDDDDDDDDDDD

Besotes and hugs,

Jimena

OH! By the way... I have been reading the thread about the woman in a relationship with a dominican person who is thinking about moving to DR... It 's sound veeeeeeery hard to move... Anymore sage suggestions?
Well, at list I do speak Spanish fluently :-DDDDDDD I am kidding!!!!!!!!!!! Spanish sense of hmour is quite ironic, you know Most of you will enjoy a lot more my conversation when I speak in Spanish ;-) BTW, thank you all for beeing so patient reading my funny English (I am very conscious about it
;-) )


I found that thread very interesting I feel honored to read messages from people so honest about their ideas, really. But I must confess that I got a bit "acojonada" as we say here... So, is that difficult to live there?

M?s besotes and more hugs

Jimena

 

[Hillbilly]

Jimena el teu amic

When i said the Civil war was alive and well here in the DR, I meant that there are many of the older Espa?les that went thru that epoch and survived but they brought all the poprejudices with them. In the late 1930s and all during the 40s, and games of f?tbol would invariably end in a re fighting of the Civil War. Of course things are better now.

Another point is that the "Spanish" culture is most certainly alive and well. The Casa de Espa?a in Santo Domingo the Centro Espa?ol in Santiago, the Club Espa?ol in Constanza are all tightly involved in keeping tradition alive. Every October (?) we have a "Romer?a" here in Santiago that is a blast!! And Carnival is observed inthe best tradition. Both the Casa de Espa?a and the Centro Espa?ol sponsor "comparsas" for the parade and enter the national competition for the best comparsas.

As for wind power? We have a "Ressident Expert"on that Subject, Tom F , if memory serves. He knows more about that than all the rest of us put together..Also solar power, which is certainly coming on line. In fact one of the most modern systems is Spanish!!...


Adeu el teu amic,

HB

 

[Jimena]

Meu Gran amic!

Es absolutament delici?s legirte! Bueno, quan arrivi tindr? que portarte mooooolta sobrassada!!! ;-)

The football figths happened here also! :-DDDDDDDD There is a film about it called "El Portero" from twoo years a go done by Gonzalo Suarez with my favorite actor, Carmelo G?mez. Of course We have a lot more than Almod?var (I prefer his firts movies, my favorite one is "Matador" with a very young Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura, Eusebio Poncela and Assumpta Serna) "Talk to her" is beautiful too.

When were you in Spain? You told me that you were in Mallorca. May be Ibiza? I thinK that you and Timex shoul writte some books, definetelly!!! Is fascinating reading you both.

Pedro Salinas, the poet, went to Puerto Rico when he had to leave Spain and after he lived in the United States as any others. I am ignorant about Spanish inmigration in DR, unfortunatelly.

Hahaha! Romer?as in DR!!! That must be in April if they keep the tradition of Feria de Abril (the one in Sevilla) or in mAy, what is the Granada brunch )))

Molts petons,

la teva amiga Jimena

 

[pasha]

What happened?

Jimena - the line went suddenly dead on your impending move to the DR. Did it happen?

I'm also interested in the question of NGOs, including staff living, so any information you can share about your move, work, etc, would be greatly appreciated.

Best, P