Elections

Yesterday, they held elections for local and provincial government.  What, you ask?  Elections on a Sunday?  When no one has to work?  So people can actually go vote?  Yes!  The elections were preceded by pretty mild protests here (and some not-so-mild protests in Barcelona and Madrid).

As far as I can tell, Spain has a constitutional monarchy, and the elected government functions in a similar way to that of the United Kingdom.  There's a governing party made up of the party with the "majority" (not a numerical majority in the sense that they have more than 50% of the seats, but in the sense that they have more seats than any other party).  The prime minister is usually from this party after the big national elections.  Then, there's an opposition party, which is usually the party with the second most seats ... unless that party decides to make a coalition with the ruling party.  Anyhow, people have been pretty disenchanted with the current governing party - the socialist party - since unemployment is through the roof (around 21% nation-wide and over 40% for young people) after the financial collapse that was caused by a housing bubble (sound familiar?).

Nation-wide the opposition party won by a "landslide" (the more conservative Popular Party - which is the best name for a political party after The Rent Is Too Damn High Party in New York).  Of course, the Basques have to do everything differently and we only had municipal elections here, not elections for the provincial government.  [I should say here that a lot of my information is from Spanish newspapers and guess work form what I've heard, I could be totally wrong.  About everything.]  And of course, the Popular Party wasn't so popular here.  The newly formed Bildu party won.  Bildu means something like "gathering" in Basque and is a coalition party itself in some ways of the many nationalist groups around here.  Nationalist, in this neck of the woods, does not mean pro-Spain, but rather pro-Basque.  Not everyone who is "nationalist" is pro-separation, but a lot are.  And they're definitely pro-autonomy.  That is, they want to function without much interference from the Spanish.  This results in a sort of weird language thing in which people around here will answer a question like "Are you Spanish?" by saying "No, I'm Basque."  Some locals aren't very nationalist, but it's not something that's discussed in public at all.  In fact, on Saturday, we were talking about this with my friend who is from here and someone asked her if she was offended if people said she was Spanish.  Her answer?  "No, I'm not really nationalist."  But she said it very quietly so as to not incite the ire of a group of Basque speakers nearby who probably would have been unhappy to hear that.

Anyhow, back to the Bildu.  There was a big issue last month before I got here about whether or not they could even participate in the elections.  Apparently some of the candidates on the ticket have ties to ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - or Basque Homeland and Freedom) - a nationalist, separatist, and terrorist organization.  ETA has called a permanent cease-fire recently (and they're honestly not super active in the Basque country - more in Madrid), but people tend to be pretty wary of them.

It's a pretty fascinating situation, not least because I don't totally understand what's going on or how the government works, so I get to sort of fill in the blanks with my imagination.  :)  It's also really interesting to see how people react to these sorts of situations, which is quietly so far.  I'll be interested to see if there are more protests now that the elections have happened.  The big election happens next March, so I'm sure that will be more of a show-stopper in terms of reaction.

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In other news, in my Monday tradition here, I was eaten alive by mosquitos this morning - a huge bug bite on my temple and one on my arm.  Two is the fewest I've had so far though.  Last Monday, it was 4 and the week before that it was something absurd like 12.

I am really, really liking my friends here.  There are two girls in particular who I feel like I would be friends with in any situation, not just the sort of weird situation I'm in here.  I feel myself genuinely enjoying myself, relaxing, and laughing.  It is a huge, huge relief.

I'm probably about a third of the way done with my stripy blanket and I love everything about it.  I love making it.  I love the crazy color combinations.  I love the yarn (which is a huge shock because it's 100% acrylic which is usually a bit of a pain to work with and doesn't feel this great when it's done).  I want it to be done now, so I can hunker down under it, wear it as a cape, etc ... and I also never want to finish it because it's so fun.  I can't bring it to work because it's too big ... and I'd only want to work on it all the time, which would be unproductive.

Speaking of work, I know a lot of you are curious, but I'm not talking about it here - other than to say that it's great.  I'd be happy to e-mail or talk on the phone in more detail.  You know it's good when I happily work 12 hour days (with a blog break once in a while).  :)

Finally, my little plants are doing well.  The cilantro is thriving, the rosemary is great, and the basil is huge.  I've been really enjoying fresh basil and rosemary.  Unfortunately, my chives were attacked by bugs.  I think I got most of the bugs, so I'm trying to re-grow, but I might have to sadly scrap the chives.  They are making cooking easier, as is the fact that I'm getting more adventurous about what I'm trying to cook (and I've accrued more staples now, making life much easier).  I have yet to brave the real meat and fish counters, but stay tuned for a post soon about the food that I love here.  It will probably be titled something like I (Heart) Anchovies.  If you've only ever had canned anchovies that are super salty, you can't judge me ... Wait 'til you hear about the deliciousness that are white anchovies!