Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’.

Cosas de España/Galiza

Ex PP President Rajoy has upset the French by alluding to the ‘non-French’ composition of their football team. Specifically: They have a formidable team, albeit without Frenchmen. Naturally, as well as being incorrect, this is widely seen as racist. Though maybe not so much in Spain.

Yesterday’s longish bull-run in Pamplona resulted in more injuries than in the previous 4 events, with one of them sounding pretty serious – a gored face. Today’s was ‘fast and very clean’, with just the usual minor injuries. Did I already say that I can’t understand why applause breaks out in the ring once the cows have led all the bulls to their holding pen? Though I guess there might not be a lot of sobriety in the place.

I ate lunch today in a short and narrow street in Pv city’s old quarter and was treated – if that’s the right word – to simultaneous bagpipe playing at both ends of it. But better than the intrusive Romanian accordionist, I suppose. Which reminds me . . . Spain’s worst guitarist/singer is still doing his rounds in the old quarter. And being paid to go away. I guess that’s something I could do in an emergency.

The World Cup

So, it’s an England v Argentina semi final. England might have beaten Norway but they will need to be better to get past Team Messi.

The Middle East War

The latest update from Naked Capitalism.

Trump rages at an enemy he can’t beat.

The United States of Trump America

Quotes

• It’s bafflingly stupid that Trump let a housing bill become law without signing it, ensuring he gets no credit for it. It’s literally the only thing they’ve done on affordability, and he managed to completely disown it.
• America is now a nation where every individual is gloriously free to construct any version of reality he or she devoutly believes to be true. American Christianity in the 21st century resembles the 17th century version of Puritan fanatics.

America is destroying itself. It’s no surprise. Scholars will someday wonder how the richest country in history chose to throw it all away. But the crisis has been there since the beginning.

Paul Krugman on Trump’s Spain nonsense: This is like Europe declaring ‘We’re cutting off all trade with Florida’ — they can’t do that. And also, there’s a lot of U.S. business with Spain. In fact, Spain is one of those countries with which we run a trade surplus. U.S. business would be howling. So this is all a non-event, this is not something that is real. Except that the President of the U.S. did say this. We cannot leave the fate of the U.S. or the world in the hands of somebody who is completely irrational, who is making demands and believing himself to have powers that he does not.

The Way of the World

Allegedly, these traditional manners aren’t taught to kids any more, at least in the Anglo world. Particularly the UK:-

• Saying Please and Thank-you
• Holding the door open for people: [Now considered condescending if done by a man for a woman].
• Greeting people properly
• Making eye contact when speaking to someone. [Obligatory in Spain].
• Covering one’s mouth when coughing or sneezing
• Listening without interrupting. [Definitely not obligatory in Spain]
• Saying “Excuse me, when needing attention.
• Offering a handshake or polite introduction
• Saying ‘Sorry’ and meaning it.
• Respecting personal space. [Also not a Spanish thing].
• Not chewing with one’s mouth open.
• Using polite table manners – eg waiting for everyone to be served before diving in, using utensils properly, and asking someone to pass a dish instead of lunging across the table 
• Writing Thank-you notes.
• Waiting your turn. [Our culture of instant gratification has made the art of waiting incredibly rare for kids].
• Being kind to servers, shop assistants, and workers. [This is a Spanish thing.]

Spanish

• Recoveco: Nook, nook and cranny, recess.
• Parco: Laconic.
• Onírico: Dreamlike.

English

5 foreign words that English needs.

Did you know?

The origin of the phrase “To turn a blind eye”. It means to deliberately ignore something. The phrase is often associated with Admiral Nelson, who supposedly ignored a signal during the Battle of Copenhagen by putting a telescope to his blind eye. It might be true, they say.

Finally . . . You Have to Laugh

‘Sparkling Wit’: Chess is the most outstanding waste of human intelligence outside an advertising agency: Raymond Chandler.

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If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you.