12 Uvas... Explaining the Tradition

I found this relly interesting article on yahoo explaining where the tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight originates.  It was in Spanish so I did my best at traslating it into English :)


¿Por qué se toman uvas el día de Nochevieja al son de las campanadas de medianoche?

Why do people eat grapes on New Years Day at the stroke of midnight?

Todos los años la misma historia. La misma imagen. Cuando se acercan las doce de la noche del 31 de diciembre, la familia al completo se agolpa alrededor de la televisión, expectante, nerviosa, armada con 12 uvas y dispuesta, este año sí, a comérselas todas. Pero, ¿por qué se toman uvas el día de Nochevieja al son de las campanadas de medianoche? ¿Por qué 12? Toda tradición tiene una explicación y ésta, en concreto, al menos cuenta con dos.

Every year the same story. The same picture. When 12 o’clock at night approaches on December 31, the family is crowded around the television, anticipating, nervous, armed with 12 grapes and prepared, this year yes, to eat all of them. But, why do people eat grapes on New Years Day at the stroke of midnight? Why 12? Every tradition has an explanation and this one, specifically, at least has two.

La más extendida asegura que el hecho de tomar uvas el día de Nochevieja se remonta a 1909, año en el que los agricultores españoles se encontraron con un excedente de cosecha considerable. Para darle salida decidieron propagar la leyenda de que comer este fruto daba buena suerte y, desde entonces, todo aquel que quiera entrar en el próximo año con buen pie debe cumplir con el ritual.

The more extended version states that the task of eating grapes on New Years Day dates back to 1909, the year in which Spanish agriculturalists were met with a surplus from a considerable harvest. In order to get rid of it, they decided to create a legend that eating this fruit gives good luck y since then, anyone that wanted to start the New Year on the right foot should complete this ritual.

La otra historia data de finales del siglo XIX. Un grupo de ciudadanos, molestos por la decisión del alcalde de Madrid, José Abascal, de cobrar a todos aquellos que quisiesen salir a recibir a los Reyes Magos provocó que el pueblo se quedase sin la callejera fiesta y buscase una alternativa. La encontraron el día de Nochevieja, congregándose en la Puerta del Sol para comer uvas con la intención, dicen, de ridiculizar a los nobles que en tan señalada noche del año ingerían uvas y bebían champán amansalva. La pataleta de un grupo de madrileños cuajó y poco a poco se fue extendiendo por toda la geografía española. Esta histórica narración explicaría también el porqué las campanadas se retransmiten desde Madrid (aunque en los últimos años algunas cadenas de televisión han optado por otros lugares).

The other story dates back to the end of the 19th century. A group of citizens, bothered by the decision of the mayor of Madrid, Jose Abascal, to charge all of them that wanted to go out to greet the 3 Wise Men (December 6) provoked the town to stay out of the street holiday and search for an alternative. They found it on New Year’s Eve where they gathered in la Puerta de Sol in order to eat grapes with the intention, they say, to ridicule the nobles that so celebrated this night of the year by tediously consuming grapes and drinking champagne. The tantrum from the group of Madrilenos (Madridians, if you will) coagulated and little by little was extended to every part of Spain. This historical narration also explains the reason the bell clangs are broadcasted from Madrid (however in the last few years some TV stations have opted for other places)

En cuanto a la razón por la que se come una docena de uvas y no más o menos, tampoco hay consenso. Unos dicen que simbolizanlos meses del año y otros, más prosaicos, que es una por cada campanada, sin más. El caso es que cada 31 de diciembre la estampa se repite, aunque en los últimos años la tradición ha perdido parte de su malvado encanto. Las uvas ya no son lo que eran. Peladas y sin pepitas es mucho más sencillo cumplir con el ritual. Eso sí, que nadie se olvide de pedir un deseo por cada una y, por favor, no confundáis los cuartos con las campanadas.

As for the reason that they eat a dozen of grapes and no more no less, neither has a consensus. Some say that it symbolizes the months of the year and other, more mundane, that it’s one for each bell clang, no more. In any case, every December 31 the image repeats itself; however in the last few years, the tradition has lost part of its marveled enchantment. The grapes aren’t what they used to be. Peeled and without seed makes it much easier to complete the ritual. Like so, no one forgets to make a wish with each one and please, don’t confuse the living room with the bell clangs.

Cultural Banter: The Wandering Eye

This first segment stems from a lot of experiences: good and bad I’ve had here. The Spanish are world renowned for their penetrating stares. Stay in Spain for more than a week and you can easily realize why this is. People here stare and I mean STARE! I noticed it when I studied abroad… our Professor even hinted at it a bit when I had to go to cultural classes prior to my trip. I studied in Toledo which is a much smaller city than Madrid. Here, I noticed this cultural trait right away. Madrid is accustomed to more tourists. So a 6 foot, blonde walking the streets definitely stood out more in Toledo.
While living in Toledo, especially my second time back, I became the target of almost every pair of Spanish eyes. I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight and I’ve learned to dress in a more Euro-chic sense rather than my failed Amer-iversity look that I had when I was studying abroad. As soon as I left my apartment, I had constant feeling of being watched. So every time I got on public transportation or walked into another crowded space, I felt the need to put on a show for the audience. I made sure that every hair was in place and that I worked my newly-adopted swagger I picked up shortly after moving here. Within weeks, I felt this aura of confidence. I even caught myself staring longer than would be culturally acceptable in the US. But with this confidence came even more inappropriate male attention. But it’s not even just the men as most people would think… I’d say it’s almost 50/50 between men and women with the staring. Men will just go a bit further and more out of their way to get your attention.

You know why the men stare but it still confused me why the women stare as much as they do. I have my theories but I can’t be sure:

1.) Spain is extremely fashion conscious. I thought my host mother was insane after leaving Toledo the first time because she used to spend an hour getting ready, doing her makeup and hair just to go to the supermarket to buy bread for lunch. After returning, I’ve realized just how important looks are here. Even during LA CRISIS, Spanish women and men will find the money to get this seasons newest looks. Yes, they’re not as credit crazy as Americans but they’ll get some new trends every season to vamp up the wardrobe. With this in mind, I can understand why women would look at other women and men at men… to see what the newest trends are. But what I haven’t decided is if Spain is so fashion-savvy because of how critical they are of eachother (by staring) or if they stare because of how important fashion is to their culture?

2.) Latin women are extremely possessive. I’m expanding this idea to more than just Spanish women because I’ve noticed this even more so in other cultures. I’ve been in a few social situations where the women are on the defensive with all other women when they are with their ‘novios’. Almost to the point where it’s funny. I could simply walk past a couple that I don’t know going to the bathroom and the woman will automatically glare at me and put her arm somewhere on her man. At first I was taken aback by this but now I just keep looking forward and don’t even give her the satisfaction of knowing that I acknowledged her.
I’ve talked to some of my female students about this. And I’ve come to realize some possible reasons for this behavior which deals in large part to the Latin male persona and extreme issues of infidelity that has been common practice in their culture. Therefore, it’s clear that women stare at other women to size up the competition.

3.) Foreign things are interesting to look at. I guess this is a more particular reason to me because of my physical aspects but it’s still completely relevant to any other foreigners. If I was riding the subway in the Chicago Loop and I saw someone that was obviously foreign (a little harder to imagine coming from a culture that is created from many cultures) but I would probably spend more time looking too. Spain is an extremely close-knit culture. There isn’t a very large mixing of cultures like in America so foreigners are still of great interest to most Spanish people.

This has been a common discussion I’ve had with other non-Spanish people living here in Spain. Why do the Spanish think it’s appropriate to stare so obviously? In the US, we like to check out other people, whether it is an attractive looking person of the opposite sex or because that girl walking by had some slammin’ stiletto boots that we would love to get our hands on. The difference is that we don’t want these people to know we are looking at them. So we’ll do the quick 3 second glance then turn away then look around to see if anyone is looking at you looking at someone else; if not, turn back to take a second glance for maybe another 3-5 seconds…. Turn away again then if you have to, make it look like you’re looking at something else in order to get just one more look at whatever it was that caught your eye. I’ve realized though that maybe this is a problem with our culture. Because God forbid that someone catches us looking at someone else or worse yet, the person that you’re looking at catches you… then you have to make a quick escape or blush like a guilty child that was just busted doing something naughty.

So take this cultural difference as you will. I'm still back and forth on the issue. Plus there are so many other cultural aspects that branch off from this one to discuss in one post. So I'll be expanding on this as time goes on.

Cultural Banter

So I’m creating another segment to my blog called 'Cultural Banter' to let out some of my frustrations. Living abroad, anyone will encounter some extreme to subtle cultural differences. At first, I figured I would become accustomed to such differences as the months passed. But with tallying up over a year’s worth of time here in Spain, I’ve realized that there are some things that I will not get used to. These aren’t going to be ‘bash on Spain’s life style’ posts but more of ‘this is what really makes me an American.’ Don’t get me wrong, I’m also going to write about things that Spain does that I love and how much better the US would be if they adopted these cultural aspects.


So consider this an expansion to my ‘Cultural Tricks of the Trade’ segment I had started earlier. Some topics will be revisited and over time, you may find that my opinions change. I hope in the end that things will change my opinion because after all, that’s the point of this whole experience: to live a life different than what’s expected and to explore the many things that we as people can share with one another… so please leave feedback and personal stories. I’d love to hear it!

Gluglu Gluglu… Gobble Gobble

The months are passing ever so quickly here in the Land of Torros. The weather turned from scorching to bitter cold in a matter of weeks. However, there’s just something magical about Madrid during the winter.

But anyhow, onto the issue at hand: Thanksgiving. I pondered how I would feel my first BIG holiday away from home. Sure I’ve missed birthdays and smaller holidays but nothing as big as Thanksgiving. As I hope all of you know, Thanksgiving is something particular to the ‘New World.’ The US celebrates it the end of November while other surrounding countries like Canada celebrate it in October. That Thursday I made all my classes a ‘Thanksgiving’ theme. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that many Spaniards are familiar with this American holiday, especially the US version. The majority know about the ‘Natives’ and how the Americanos stuff themselves silly with yummy treats. Some even think of Thanksgiving as the day when Americans go crazy at the shopping malls, punching and pushing each other for color televisions. I simply had to fill in some of the English vocabulary. A few days prior, my grandmother forwarded me a cute little poem that I printed out and used as a fun warm-up activity with my students:

T’was the night of Thanksgiving,
But I just couldn’t sleep.
I tried counting backwards,
I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned,
The dark meat and white.
But I fought the temptation,
With all of my might.

Tossing and turning,with anticipation.
The thought of a snackbecame infatuation.
So I raced to the kitchen,
Flung open the door,
And gazed at the fridge,
Full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey,
And buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots,
Beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling,
So plump and so round.
‘til all of a sudden,
I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling,
Floating into the sky,
With a mouthful of pudding,
And a handful of pie.
But I managed to yell
As I soared past the trees
Happy eating to all,
Pass the cranberries, please!!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious,
May your pies take the prize
And May your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off of your thighs!

I continued with my classes in the normal matter. The teachers and I did our part of complaining to each other; knowing that our families were all together back in the States with a sweet potato in one hand and a turkey leg in the other while we were in Spain teaching superlatives and participles as adjectives. We also joked with the non-American (USA) teachers about how lucky they were not to feel so tortured by this day. I went to bed a little sad but overall, I felt like I represented Thanksgiving well in Madrid.

That Saturday, my academy was having a special Thanksgiving Luncheon (also called the 20th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling Celebration for all the non-US teachers haha). We met at Fass, this nice little German restaurant in Madrid. We choose our dish the week prior. It wasn’t my mother’s turkey or stuffing but it was nice to celebrate as a big group. We could choose from Beef Stroganoff to Cochillo to other traditional German dishes. Plus the beer and wine followed pretty steadily all during the meal.


(left down to right down)
Miguel, Stephanie, Kelsey, Stephen
Michelle, Cat, Martin, Christine

Danny, David, Nikki and Tim

Left to Right:
Isabel, Virginia, Maria, Giselle, Tisha, Craig's head

Devin, Eric and Dan

Jose Maria, Jeff and Jerry

Many of the teachers ended the celebration with a little bar crawl that lasted till the wee hours of the morning. I however missed out on the afterhours because I got a call to give a private lesson for right after lunch. I was hesitant but when the guy offered me 30 euro an hour, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. So all in all, it wasn’t an overly exciting Thanksgiving but I figured it would be a lot more painful. I emailed my family the following days asking what I had missed. They told me that it was an average holiday, nothing too exciting which in a way made me happy that I didn’t miss too much. My mother told me some funny stories of her Black Friday which I always find entertaining. Hopefully Christmas will go over as smoothly but somehow I don’t think I’ll be so lucky.

Working Girl (October/November)

In order to save time and space, I’m combining October and November’s edition of Working Girl. Both months were part of the first official trimester of the academic year. Up until October, I was working either part time or the summer schedule. I never had to deal with a real trimester schedule. The days are a lot busier with a variety of different classes. Plus, everyone is back from summer vacation: not only students but teachers as well. The new academic year brought about 10 new teachers to the academy. We lost a handful of older teachers throughout the last few months for various reasons. However, I was looking forward to the new dynamic that these new teachers would bring. Almost 2 months into it, I have already built strong friendships with many of the new teachers along with building stronger bonds with the older teachers.
Anyways, onto my average work week… I start majority of days with a Pre-Intermediate from 10-11:30 am with exceptions to Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have 2 more Intermediate group intensives: one on Monday and Wednesdays and the other 5 days a week until 9pm. The rest of my classes are executives that I give private lessons. I travel to their offices usually 1 hour a week per executive. I start at 8:30 am on Tues/Thurs for one and the rest are from 12-1, Mon-Wednesday. Twice a week I’ll give private lessons to a regular student who is doing a special program within the academy.
Overall, I enjoy my schedule. It’d be a bit taxing starting everyday at 8:30 am and going to 9:00 pm but I have breaks in between and my night class is my favorite of them all without a doubt. So far, the schedule is bearable. Plus, my apartment is so close to the academy so I don’t have to worry about traveling time which is really nice.
My intensives (daily classes) are so completely different from one another that it’s almost funny. My morning class is fun but they really want as much information as I can cram into an hour and a half class. So we work a lot in that class which is awesome how motivated they are. Most of my students were new but I had 2 returning students that I had taught previously in the summer. For the most part it’s a good dynamic and the personalities work well together.

My Mon/Wed intensive is probably my most troublesome class mostly because they are a little too motivated and I have so short of a time with them. They constantly get off topic and ask me irrelevant questions. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to learn as much as possible but you have to draw a line when Intermediate students are asking questions that are difficult for most Advanced students to understand. Plus, I had problems with some students not liking the textbook we were using. I sympathized with them; you spend all this money for a class during a time of economic crisis, spend good money on a book and then not find the significance in any of the material. However, I don’t control that aspect of the class. So it was trying to find a common ground with them.
My night intensive almost parallels the elementary class I have with Rosa and Elu during the summer (neither of which I have as students anymore). In October, it started with 5 guys but then some dropped and some women were added. From that month my 2 favorite students were Jaime and Jose Manuel: the impossible duo. They took a class together the month before hand and became quite the comedic pair in my class. Both were an absolute blast to have. However, Jaime didn’t continue into November. This month I have Jose and Rocio from the previous month, Natalia and Javier who transferred from my morning Pre-Intermediate class and a new girl Marta. Together, we have the best classes ever. I teach them what they need to learn but they make the classes fun. After class, many teachers come up to me and ask what I was doing because they said they could hear us laughing in their classrooms. That’s my favorite part of my job: teaching thru laughter. Every other Friday, we go to a local bar instead of staying in the classroom for conversation practice. Most of the students aren’t returning in December which really saddened me, but with the holidays coming, it’s understandable.

My executives aren’t much to talk about. In general they don’t want to do grammar worksheets but general conversation practice. My favorite right now is probably Leandro. He’s an Argentinean lawyer for Tecnicas Runidas. I call him the Argentinean pacifist and he calls me the Obama-loving war-monger. Needless to say, our classes are interesting. We talk about all the hot debate issues mostly dealing with cultural differences between S. America and the US, Spain and the US, and Spain and S. America. Most times I’m only supposed to stay for an hour but we loose track of time and before I realize it, I’ve been there for almost 2 hours. I’ve only had actual class with him 4 times because he travels a lot with his job. But I’m sure I’ll have a lot to add in later blogs.