Pelegrí (pilgrim) de Tossa

Tossa de Mar is a small town rich with history. Today I witnessed something quite amazing as a testimate to human faith and determinations. A little back story shall we...

During the 15th century, when a plague devastated a number of coastal towns, the inhabitants of Tossa promised to send a pilgrim every year to the hermitage of Sant Sebastià, in the town of Santa Coloma de Farners, to give thanks for having driven the epidemic away. The vow has been kept for over five hundred years. The chosen pilgrim, garbed in a short cape decorated with seashells, travels the forty kilometres which separate the two towns in total silence, accompanied by approximately one thousand people. The walk lasts a whole day, with the procession arriving at Santa Coloma by sundown. Next morning the entourage sets out for the return trip and, back in Tossa, the pilgrim is met by a procession which marches alongside the town's torch lit ramparts.

Carme called me around 6:15pm this evening to come witness the return of the pilgrim. So I quickly snatched up my camera ad headed toward the meeting spot. The entire town of tossa and a sizeable amount of tourists, lined the streets to witness the return of the pilgrim and all of his followers. Not sure what to expect, I kept my eyes open and my mouth shut.

Having Carme ,lead the way, she would drop a few stories about her experience with this event but quickly following her words with "I have not lived here in 10 years so I am not sure". I felt inclined to ask her where she had lived for the past 10 years since obviously I was not aware of her return to this small town. I guess she just did not want me to catch her in an untruth if she could not remember every fact completely.

The pilgrim is a male, over the age of 18 who was born in and still lives in Tossa de mar. Upon birth, I hear some parents will register their son´s name at the local city government office in hopes in the next 18 years, there son will have a chance. And we know Alex has no chance in hell unless all the boys go off to war or something. and I find it funny that it can only be a boy. sure they want to keep historical accuracy but why don´t they have a darker skinned baby jesus in the manger, huh?

The pelegrí is kept quiet until it is announced the day of the pilgimmage. Like it states before, this has gone on for 500 years and sure to go on longer. A promise was made and the people of tossa plan to keep it. The chosen one is adorned in a outfit adorned with sea shells and sets off on his 40km walk in total silence, accompanied by sometimes hundred of more devote followers. The reason for the others to follow is to keep a promise. A promise to God. For instance you might promise God to make the trek if you were to heal your sick son. To explain how devoted and grand of an idea this is, some do the entire trek barefooted. You know, keeping with historical accuracy. The following day the procession does the return trip back to Tossa, entering into the city by sundown. This is where the experiance picks up for me.

The family and I headed to the castle to wait for the procession to pass. I noticed many people carrying long candles and Carme noted that these people are the escorts. The line the passageways with their candles as the proocession makes it way thru the city to the church to report the completion of the promise. Outside the church, people were lining the streets as a handful of people prepared the fires. The only way to describe the fires is that they mount these metal baskets and fill them with more than enough firewood douced in lighter fluid of some sorts. These baskets are suspended about 15-20ft high and are lit with a long post with a blazing fire on one end. The sound of the wood lighting is reminiscent of a hugh gas leak igniting. The wooshing of air as the fire lit instantly made the whole crowd jump. with the anticipation of the pelegrí, we were on edge and I could not tell you why.

Then over the loudspeakers, which I had not noticed before but could have been mounted for this purpose, a man began chanting prayers to God. This felt surreal and mystifying as his voice cackled over the loudspeakers. Soon the chanting stopped and you felt a wave of energy fill the crowd. Familiar sounds of hushing was directing at playing little ones and the beginning of the candle bearing escorts were making their way thru the street to the church. Another puse for the procession as the voice over the intercom filled our ears and head with more prayers. Finally the group of 1500, including the pelegrí were allowed to enter the church.

As the group moved along, there was a sense of appreciation from the crowd and a since of pity for those who sacrificed themselves for the sake of a promise. Familiar eyes met mine as they shared a soft knowing smile with me. I would like to think with my smile I am showing them the appreciation for sharing thier culture with me. I think some were suprised I was visible at this event and it only paions me I am not able to express the awesomeness of this event for me. Still it's much more appreciated and understood on my part when you have famliarity with some of the people who were participating in this event. It gave a sense of depth to it all, even if I did not personally know the pelegrí.

The moving part for me was seeing the thousands of followers. Sure the clergy were in their finest and the pelegrí looked regal and grand in his costume, but the most moving part was yet to come. Groups of followers passed by walking on cold and unforginving ancient stone roads barefoot. This showed me the dedication and faith that man could hold onto during a serious journey.

Snow days

I just found out that nearby there is a bit of a ski resort. I knew the Pyrenees were within view but was not sure of skiing or sledding options. check out a few of the pics from when Johnnie too Noelia and Alex while I had to work :(

American Gansta

So a week or two ago I decided to do some marketing and self promotion. In order for my business to fly, I have to get the word out that I am in business right? I cannot rely on the local media as Tossa doesn´t have a daily newspaper. No, the local newsroom is Tossa itself with rumors and gossip running amok. The most ironic part is overhearing younger ladies, congregating over cigarettes and half empty coffee cups, gossiping about the older women and how the older women gossip. I wish there was a mirror convenient to show them the reflection of old hags they are becoming.

There is no local TV station with nightly news at 10pm...no, no, no...BUT there is a local access cable type channel. It´s called Tossa TV where it holds basically, a slide show of upcoming events. They broadcast anything from upcoming group trips to places like Greece or Rome to the local bingo halls new times and specials. They also broadcast upcoming local soccer matches so I always know where I need to be when my team is playing.

So how would I get the word out that I have a shop and trying to give the local boys and competition, Info G, a run for their money. So I asked around to my English speaking friends for some ideas and to get the lowdown on Info G´s angle in town. Along with some inside scoop of how poor they are at turnaround and quality of service, I knew my angle had to be to reassure people of my quality of service, maybe a service guarantee and return policy and lastly, hope that I can provide any solution to their needs. In between all the thinking on my feet to come up with a marketing plan, I had to get solutions to how I am going to get the word out.

I could not trust word of mouth to provide steady and instantaneous clients (but it doesn't hurt)...I had to hoof it around town. So I came up with fliers in several different forms and sent it off to the printers for some professional touch. After waiting almost 2 weeks, finally my poster, fliers, business cards and card stock hand outs in two different sizes (2 and 4 up for a A4 sized paper...there is no letter and legal here). Carme´s mother claimed two posters, one for her flower shop and one in the back window of her car (which reminds me of a over sized Studebaker) Big ups to mamacita Carmina, repping the east side gossipers.

Now Tossa is not a very large town and I don´t have the money nor the mailing lists to have the local Correos (think national postal service) mail them out. But I have my own issues with the local postal office here that I have yet to get into, so trust me on this one. A hint, we get mail once a week it seems. before i thought it was because we just moved here but when you are waiting on specific things, you realize that is not the case. the mail is just slow. So I made my rounds to the more populated areas dropping, one by one, fliers in people´s mailboxes. Most of the apartment buildings are key accessed. Even the mailman has to ring all the buzzers to an apartment building to gain access to the mailboxes located in the hallway of the building. Figuring out how I am going to gain access, I just followed the mailman´s ways. I hit buzzers one at a time, waiting for a spell, for someone to answer. When they answer, I just say I am correos and they allow me entry...even if the mailman ran hours before. Also, only ever seeing one mail, i figured if he could do it, I could cover the whole town in a day. Well I ran out of fliers before I could test that theory but I also figured something out. Because there is only one mailman, THAT IS THE REASON WHY WE GET MAIL ONCE A WEEK...he is too lazy to walk the entire town!!!

So I used a bit of Spanish, charm and overcame a lot of fear and went to talk to local businesses about leaving some of my card stock hand outs at their coffee counters or bars, figuring people don´t come in for coffee to go, they sit and enjoy a bit of solidarity and peace from the grind known as Tossa´s traffic woes...which means a tourist bus is creeping along the main street looking for a place to park and is slowing the locals from their usual routines of getting croissants right out of the oven.

I went into one of my favorite coffee places, Cafe di Tossa, and asked, in broken Spanish, if they would allow me the chance to leave some handouts here. They agreed. They even took the time to read it and appreciate the flier was printed in Spanish on one side and Catalan on the other. I am a genius! That was 2 weeks ago and about 40 cards left at the counter, placed neatly for all of Tossa to notice and sip their coffee to. Well at least the ones sitting at the bar.

Well I went back to Cafe di Tossa after 2 weeks, not only to enjoy a refreshing mid afternoon pick me upper, but to see if some of my fliers had moved. To my surprise there were non left. I might have expected a few left but not bone dry. I was elated and overwhelmed I almost kissed the lady behind the counter. Luckily I came to my senses as she is not one to even think of in that way. Just try to imagine a female version to Wane Newton if you will. But then reality set in. 2 weeks, all cards gone. It´s a possibility but...no emails, no phone calls and I would have to find a way to get web statistics on people hitting my site. Hmmmm. I inquired but the girl again was hard to look at and it was hard to focus on her mouth and the sound of her husky, I just got up in the morning, mustaches about to break thru having self. So I gave up and walked away, feeling a bit defeated.

I did the same reconnaissance at other locations to just hear the familiar and faint "cha-ching" sound as I noticed that I was erased from the town of Tossa. there was no record of my business´existence. I was even removed from the local tourist office which I was really excited about having my mark made there. Still no phone calls, no emails, no business. I know times are tough in Tossa during the winter, but are my pamphlets being used in the fireplaces of Tossa? Maybe some dumb nuts was using it for scratch paper...remember i printed on both sides. Could possibly some poor soul be using those leaflets as toilet paper? Watch out for the card stock...ouch.Still i had a sinking feeling that I was getting my ass handed to me from those nitwits from Info G. I can´t punk out but before sweet revenge is to be exacted, I need to get some money into the house.

So I got an idea that would help out a bit more. I am currently looking into putting ads in local magazines and newspapers. Maybe even place a radio ad. But my latest idea, and not too costly and possibly effective was to talk to the business owners I have not talk to already, but not to leave cards...but to just greet them with a welcome letter detailing my services. I guess this way I won´t get removed from plain view but my visibility is limited.

The saga continues.

Rally for Obama

So with the time difference, I did not stay up to watch the Iowa caucus. I figured the results would be the same when I wake up in the morning. Funny, it was not the first thing on my mind when I woke up. But eventually the morning ritual of leaving the television running while I dress for work lent an opportunity for me to hear about the surprising revelations.

As surprised as I was to hear about Obama´s victory, I think I was more surprised to hear about Huckabee´s. Still I would like to see the likes of John McCain with a real shot at the presidency. Unlike most, McCain is not shy about trying more than once. Hell he has run so many times I thought he was president at one time. Still you have to admire a man who is not one to quit. Still I see his role is to keep the Republican candidates honest. He kind of slacked off the job when Bush was elected but he is only human.

But Obama in Iowa. Oh my freaking goodness...do you know what this means? Does this mean that America is ready to have a black president? Is it really so important for a president to be black or a woman? Some people might say that it is not. they might say only if they are able to do the job. But how much do we know of the job and how a person can handle it once they have it. It´s not so easy to just quit like you work the 3-11 shift at your local 7-11. My belief is not necessarily the person and what challenges they may face and how they react but more so the cabinet, staff and confidants they might surround themselves with. Still we have yet to see who Hillary, Obama and Huckabee will surround themselves with, but we know who bush has surrounded himself with.

So back to this whole idea of Obama having a real shot at the Democratic nomination, let alone the presidency. What does that mean to me? Actually I can only rant on this as a African American male, so bear with me. There are a lot of social issues that come with being a Black American within the borders of America. I am sure there are issues to being white, poor, tall, fat, dyslexic, etc. but I am just blabbing about how I feel in these day and times. So read on, shall we.

I am torn on Obama. Not that I do not like his platform or anything like that. I actually admire the man. I admire anyone who puts their life and reputation on the line for the history books. That goes for any candidate for any office. But still, I would suspect as with some other African Americans, there is a sinking feeling of fear of failure in this country. coupled with that feeling is the fear of repairing the fabric that is called American society. We are a country of "freedom" and "equality" but most African Americans rarely felt hat way. Ther eis a quiet and hidden feeling amongst all Americans that is peppered with back room jokes and hidden racism. We all feel it and subscribe to it. Take an average white person and let them be within earshot of a group of African Americans who sprinkle a few "nigga" references and watch this Caucasian change a few shades of red. Still, not being White, most African Americans wonder if he feels at home throwing the word around with his family and friends.

I tried a little experiment one year and sent out 20 resumes. All on great resume stock paper and matching envelopes, proofread by my professor because even with spell check I am a moron at spelling. 10 had Spencer and 10 had Demond as the first name. I got 4 call backs...all for Spencer. The goal was to see if there was some kind of response difference based on my name, Spencer being a "white" name and not common for an African American and Demond as being somewhat ethnic, but not necessarily Black. I got 4 calls for Spencer. Is this a fair scientific experiment? Of course not but it was as close as I was going to get to taking my own gallop poll.

So is American ready to take on a leader to affect our nation for the next 4 years? More importantly am I ready? I am glad I do not live within earshot of the American media. As I am guilty of this also, I can just hear the late night monologues as they try to joke about the president and dodge race jokes and issues all together. I mean I even joked about there being rodeos on the White House lawn when Bush came to town. Would it not be fair game to say that Obamo will have a fish fry and pig roast? there is a McDonalds a block away from the White House. Oh I can just hear it now. We all know how well White media does when it has to address Black figures in the news (Don Imus).

Still on the other hand I am looking forward to the possibility. I think it is time that America looks in the mirror. In the 60´s, America was a powder keg and the melting pot finally boiled over. The civil rights movement somehow began it´s momentum. A young lady was arrested because she was not giving up her seat to a white man. Was this the first time this even happened in a southern city on a bus line? No. But if she was not a secretary or volunteer for the local NAACP chapter, would this event have sparked a movement? Every bit of hope of equality was silenced by an assassin´s bullet. Now a new voice is emerging. No, I do not look at hims as the savior to our people but rather the mender of all Americans. we will now be forced to look within our country, open dialogues and hearts and stop forgetting those haunting photos of lynching, affirmative action (I hate the concept but would we need it if there was no hidden racism, sexism, classism, etc.?)

Still Iowa, with a 95% White population has initiated another discussion about that 500lbs gorilla we have all ignored most of our desegregated lives. Shall we all sit down and talk and get things off our chest?