TAKEAWAY: It is a sort of second breakfast, getting copies of Spain’s three national newspapers and reading them cover to cover while enjoying a week of rest, beach and sun in the paradise-like Canary Islands.
Almost total disconnect!
Ok, so I mentioned that I would not update this blog until August 16. It is almost total disconnect here, but, with apologies to my friend William Powers (author of the bestseller Hamlet’s BlackBerry) who is the ultimate inspiration—- and my conspirator—-for the idea of”disconnecting”, I just had to post this blog today.
You see, I am enjoying one final week of beach and sun for the summer of 2010, and it is going to be heavy duty, busy work in the months ahead until the next December break. I find it just fantastic that I do not have access to Internet in my room at this five-star hotel in Maspalomas, a beautiful spot in the Canary Islands. There is Internet access in the lobby only, so I do check mails, etc. in the evenings before dinner (one cannot truly totally disconnect, unless he wants to return to hundreds of mails that require answers, or so goes my thinking. Again, sorry William, I am trying, really trying to hit 100% DCT).
But this post is about something that would please William——not to mention my other friend Tyler Brulé, another advocate of reading printed newspapers and magazines.
One cannot get a copy of the International Herald Tribune or USA Today here. Not at all. But I don’t need them or miss them, because, I get my three favorite Spanish daily newspapers first thing each morning: El Pais, El Mundo, ABC.
Why I like these newspapers
The first important thing to mention is the format: All three of the Spanish dailies are published in compact formats, which makes it very easy and convenient for beach reading, especially when the wind blows, as it often does in Maspalomas, blowing sand from the dunes everywhere.
The second reason these papers are must read for me: They are all what I would call “complete newspapers”. The content fare includes the news that we all need to know, but the larger offer,especially in El Pais, is a series of features, analyses and, thorough coverage of Latin America that is impressive and leaves the reader so satisfied that you one feels smarter and better informed when one reaches that last page, usually an interview with someone whose ideas are of interest, whether we know the person or not.
The third reason for me is more personal: as my mother tongue is Spanish, but I was educated in the United States from the age of 14, totally in English, it is exciting to read these entire editions in Spanish, and to rediscover words that one had not heard or used for decades. Today, that one word was ” trifulca”—-meaning a row, squabble. My grandfather used the word often to describe altercations between pro Castro sympathizers and their opponents during one of his daily domino playing sessions with friends. Seeing that word today, and knowing what it meant, was satisfying, bringing back the memories of my paternal grandfather and those lazy afternoons in the Cuba of the 1950s.
As an American, I love to read stories that show us what great impact American culture has worldwide. In today’s editions I have found out that two purely American shows are finding new audiences in Spain:
–Chicago, the musical, after 9 months of success in a Madrid theater, will now embark on a national tour of 35 cities.
–The Golden Girls, that 80s comedy about four ladies of a certain age who showed that one can have fun (and sex) at any age, now will get a Spanish makeover, to be titled Las Chicas de Oro, with a cast that includes four of Spain’s most beloved actresses, including two of my favorites, Carmen Maura and Concha Velazco.
I am also happy to see full page ads all over these newspapers, especially in their daily Summer Specials, devoted to culture and the arts but also to very local activiites. All three of the national newspapers publish a special Canaries edition here, with ample local news.
Ironically, although the TV offerings in my room are generous, they do not include CNN, so my dose of US news is somewhat lacking, but I do know that a flight attendant for JetBlue had it with unruly, pesty passengers and made a grand exit as his flight reached JFK,popping the lever for the airliner’s inflatable chute before sliding to the tarmac outside the terminal door. Oh, yes, he grabbed a beer from the galley cart on his way out.
That story was prominently displayed in all the newspapers, complete with a photo of the smiling flight attendant, whom, I guess, will not be flying again anytime soon. Somehow, I found myself sympathizing with the flight attendant—-although perhaps not his modus operandi. As a frequent flyer, I am often a witness to the type of passenger who caused the problem aboard the JetBlue flight: someone who gets up to get his luggage from overhead compartments before the fasten seat belt sign is off. I can say that in 3 out of 10 flights, I will witness someone trying to do this, and the flight attendants coming on the PA to say: Sir/Madam, please sit down, we are not there yet.
People in such a hurry to get out of an airplane—-and I mean the passengers, not necessarily the flight attendant in the story——are beyond disconnecting. For them, the problem is one of trying to inject a little patience in their routines——not to mention courtesy.
And, oh, back to the Canary Islands: there is plenty of courtesy here. And the colorful flowers, the sleepy salamanders, the brown dunes that sit there majestically and totally disconnected, all say hello to that patience waiting to get out of you.
The tall waves from the sea remind you that some things never change and are, indeed, worth waiting for.
And that, by the way, include my three Spanish newspapers each morning I am here.
TheMarioBlog post #611