I'll be back in a week.
You'd think it would be nicer weather there, but nope.
Hopefully everyone can avoid the emergency room this time around. The kids have this habit of always breaking stuff or developing new and interesting medical conditions while one of us is gone.
Suerte.
A blog about our new life in Sant Cugat, strange discoveries, amusing local news, politics, economics and cute stories about kids.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
An unreasonable fear of coconuts
Run away everyone! It's "El Coco!"
Mothers have been were scaring their kids on the Iberian peninsula with stories about brown hairy blob-shaped creatures since the middle ages. Strangely enough, when Portuguese sailors discovered the coconut, they named it after the creature (not the other way around).
There's a lovely lullaby that goes:
Duérmete niño,
duérmete ya,
que viene el coco
y te comerá.
Sleep child,
Sleep already,
Or the coco will come
and eat you
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The kids who say 'ni-ni'
On the radio there was a feature the latest sociologic trend in Spain: The ni-ni generation. It stands for neither-nor, as in neither in a job nor in at school.
There was a study back in 2009 that found that 54% of Spaniards between 18 and 34 have no hope for the career prospects. Considering that the unemployment rate for youth is now 39% (EU27 average is 19%), this isn't all the surprising.
The high school dropout rate in Spain is around 30% (vs 12% in Europe), so it's pretty easy to guess where those unemployed kids are coming from.
Why are they dropping out? Here's a clue:
Repetition rates in lower secondary education across OECD countries
There was a study back in 2009 that found that 54% of Spaniards between 18 and 34 have no hope for the career prospects. Considering that the unemployment rate for youth is now 39% (EU27 average is 19%), this isn't all the surprising.
The high school dropout rate in Spain is around 30% (vs 12% in Europe), so it's pretty easy to guess where those unemployed kids are coming from.
Why are they dropping out? Here's a clue:
Repetition rates in lower secondary education across OECD countries
El hombre del saco
If you want to scare your children in Spain, the 2nd most popular choice (#1 will be the topic of tomorrow's post) is a man who will put your child into a sack and take him away:
There was a great version of it on Contando Cuentos last week.
There was a great version of it on Contando Cuentos last week.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Catholic Church
No blog about Spain would be complete without mentioning the strange relationship that most people here have to the Catholic church.
An old joke to demonstrate:
Mother-in-law: "Are you a catholic?"
Me: "I'm an atheist actually"
Mother-in-law: "But you're a catholic atheist, right?"
An old joke to demonstrate:
Mother-in-law: "Are you a catholic?"
Me: "I'm an atheist actually"
Mother-in-law: "But you're a catholic atheist, right?"
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Watch out for the mosquitoes!
Today I kill my first mosquito. It was obviously a bit confused and disoriented, since my usual kill rate hovers just about 0%.
Sant Cugat is the tiger mosquito capital of Spain. If mosquitoes like to bite you, STAY THE HELL AWAY!
They wait outside the door and pounce the moment you leave the house. Last summer my kids looked like they had measles from all the bites.
At least they aren't carrying any disease yet.
Sant Cugat is the tiger mosquito capital of Spain. If mosquitoes like to bite you, STAY THE HELL AWAY!
They wait outside the door and pounce the moment you leave the house. Last summer my kids looked like they had measles from all the bites.
At least they aren't carrying any disease yet.
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