I was pleasantly surprised that Barcelona seemed to have an actual real black person as Baltasar for the three wise men parade.
Black-face is a very touchy topic back in the US and it's a bit of a shock to see many parades (like in the town where we spent Christmas) where not only Baltasar has his face painted black, but also his whole entourage.
Racial attitudes can be somewhat archaic here...
Like when my Spanish grandma sees a cute little black baby. "Pobrecito!" she says and launches into an explanation on how sorry she feels for the baby for having black skin like all those poor people in Africa.
A blog about our new life in Sant Cugat, strange discoveries, amusing local news, politics, economics and cute stories about kids.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My most expensive free gift
My company Christmas present arrived today. It was a cute little solar panel that you can plug into your mobile phone to charge it.
Unfortunately, the person in charge of sending the gift to Spain had this weird idea that you should actually be truthful on the customs declaration, and wrote "electronics" with value of $5 on the form.
Big mistake.
Spanish customs charged 0.50 euros in customs plus a 20 euro "processing fee".
Just put "other" as the description with a value of $1. Works much better.
Unfortunately, the person in charge of sending the gift to Spain had this weird idea that you should actually be truthful on the customs declaration, and wrote "electronics" with value of $5 on the form.
Big mistake.
Spanish customs charged 0.50 euros in customs plus a 20 euro "processing fee".
Just put "other" as the description with a value of $1. Works much better.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Jamon bubble in Spain
40 million unsold jamons.
Last year I did such a hatchet job cutting my first jamon that one visitor wouldn't leave until he had performed emergency surgery on it.
Hopefully this year I do better.
Last year I did such a hatchet job cutting my first jamon that one visitor wouldn't leave until he had performed emergency surgery on it.
Hopefully this year I do better.
Nonperformance incentive pay
Employment law in Spain is a case study in good intentions gone bad. What began as measures to protect employees have turned harmful as everyone figured out how to game the system. The finiquito is a great example of this. If you are a full employee and your company decides that they no longer need you, they generally have to pay you 1.5 months of salary per year worked to avoid legal trouble. If you leave on your own, you get nothing.
Given how costly it is to lay people off, most young people work on one year contracts (which is renewed one year, then bye-bye). The end result is that the population on average has less job security than in many countries that have lower protections.
Since I’ve been at the same company about 17 years, I would get an insane amount of money if my company laid me off. Enough to get me wondering about how hard I should really be working.
Needless to say, the phrase "you can't fire me, I quit!" is not often heard in Spain.
Given how costly it is to lay people off, most young people work on one year contracts (which is renewed one year, then bye-bye). The end result is that the population on average has less job security than in many countries that have lower protections.
Since I’ve been at the same company about 17 years, I would get an insane amount of money if my company laid me off. Enough to get me wondering about how hard I should really be working.
Needless to say, the phrase "you can't fire me, I quit!" is not often heard in Spain.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
How to hire a kangaroo
Having a live-in nanny was probably one of the best decisions we made after we moved here. Both of us travel quite a bit and after my wife got a high fever while I was in the US, we decided to get some outside help. Nannies are called "canguros" here in case you get confused.
Many more upscale places in Spain come with a handy "service area" where your kangaroo can live. In many cases, you spend a bit more on rent, but you save quite a bit by providing free housing as part of the deal. It's nice to be able to go for a drink with worrying about getting a babysitter.
Our first nanny decided to abscond back to south america with no notice after convincing my wife to sign some papers that would allow her to come back to Spain legally. What was supposed to take a week ended up taking two month, after which time we had already hired someone else. We were still on the hook to pay social security for 6 months. Lesson learned.
Unlike everyone else we know, we actually treat our nanny pretty well, providing a christmas/summer bonus, vacation, and pay her about 800 euros/month (which apparently is outrageously high). People here in Catalonia pride themselves in paying as little as possible to their nannies, which is kind of silly when you think about how much impact they have on your kids lives.
We know one family that has a giant mansion nearby (it takes up the whole city block with tennis courts, etc. Argentineans in the "import" business.. uh huh ), who was saying that she pays her nanny 600 euros a month for working for 8am-10pm every day, and was especially proud of the fact that she forbids her from eating anything while on duty.
The conclusion is that our family wouldn't do very well in the sweatshop-owning business.
Many more upscale places in Spain come with a handy "service area" where your kangaroo can live. In many cases, you spend a bit more on rent, but you save quite a bit by providing free housing as part of the deal. It's nice to be able to go for a drink with worrying about getting a babysitter.
Our first nanny decided to abscond back to south america with no notice after convincing my wife to sign some papers that would allow her to come back to Spain legally. What was supposed to take a week ended up taking two month, after which time we had already hired someone else. We were still on the hook to pay social security for 6 months. Lesson learned.
Unlike everyone else we know, we actually treat our nanny pretty well, providing a christmas/summer bonus, vacation, and pay her about 800 euros/month (which apparently is outrageously high). People here in Catalonia pride themselves in paying as little as possible to their nannies, which is kind of silly when you think about how much impact they have on your kids lives.
We know one family that has a giant mansion nearby (it takes up the whole city block with tennis courts, etc. Argentineans in the "import" business.. uh huh ), who was saying that she pays her nanny 600 euros a month for working for 8am-10pm every day, and was especially proud of the fact that she forbids her from eating anything while on duty.
The conclusion is that our family wouldn't do very well in the sweatshop-owning business.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Your first mistake was trying to follow the law
Pretty amazing story those homes being torn down in Almeria.
So only 11 building licenses were issued in Albox since 2001 (of which 8 were invalidated after the houses were built), but if you look at Google maps, it's obvious that much much more has been built since then. For real amusement, compare the satellite view to the catastral records.
Guess who gets screwed when the government decides to make a point about urban sprawl? The people who built illegally? Nope. The poor suckers who actually made the effort to build their house legally.
Something to keep in mind when living in societies that are not law and order oriented. By creating a paper trail, you make it easier for the government to pick on you. Thus the consequences of completely ignoring the law are often less severe than the consequences of following the law incorrectly (no points awarded for effort).
So only 11 building licenses were issued in Albox since 2001 (of which 8 were invalidated after the houses were built), but if you look at Google maps, it's obvious that much much more has been built since then. For real amusement, compare the satellite view to the catastral records.
Guess who gets screwed when the government decides to make a point about urban sprawl? The people who built illegally? Nope. The poor suckers who actually made the effort to build their house legally.
Something to keep in mind when living in societies that are not law and order oriented. By creating a paper trail, you make it easier for the government to pick on you. Thus the consequences of completely ignoring the law are often less severe than the consequences of following the law incorrectly (no points awarded for effort).
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