Jo no, i tu?

Como ya dije, en estos momentos estoy en Eivissa (Ibiza) para una temporada. Y qué mejor para inaugurar una estancia que ir a un concierto reivindicativo-ecologista.

Por si acaso no estáis al corriente, se pretende hacer una autopista en Eivissa. Las Pitiüsas son islas pequeñas y no necesitan de una autopista. Ni en Eivissa ni mucho menos para unir Formentera. Así que me fui con mis primas y mi hermano a el concierto "SOS Eivissa – Salvem la Mediterrània" de mano de la plataforma "No volem autopista". En el concierto participaron mucha gente conocida: Beth, parte de Chambao, Adrià Collado, Andreu Buenafuente, Antònia Font, Cayetana Guillén-Cuervo, Statuas de Sal (grupo oriundo de la isla), Gerard Quintana (excomponente de Sopa de Cabra, pero no encuentro su web), Marina Rossell, Mártires del compás, Pastora, Ojos de brujo, Vagabundos de lujo, etc. Pero quien creo que gustó más –a parte de Estatuas de Sal, que son de aquí–, o al menos divirtió, fue la Terremoto de Alcorcón (a quién conocí a través de SSG).
La verdad es que es una pena que en una isla tan pequeña hagan una construcción tan grande, una salvajada tan grande. Aunque antes solía venir todos los veranos a Eivissa, hacía mucho tiempo que no venía, pero, sin embargo, siempre he sentido un apego especial por la isla. Y por esa razón me sabe mal que la destrocen. He visto como mi pueblo de la Costa Daurada ha ido vendiendo palmos de arena poco a poco, construyendo pisos a lo largo de toda la costa, destrozando el bosque que gobernaba una cala preciosa. Tanto Greenpeace como la UE ya han mostrado lo mal que está la costa española, y en especial la catalana y la valenciana. Lo único que pienso es: si destrozamos la costa catalana, por lo menos aún tenemos la montaña, pero si destrozamos las islas, ¿qué les quedará a la gente de aquí?
Entiendo que se deban arreglar las carreteras, hacerlas más seguras, poner tropecientas rotondas, pero no hace falta hacer una autopista. Para nada. Una isla que se cruza en menos de una hora... ¿para qué un carril rápido?
Así que levanto las manos y grito "No volem autopista", "No volem una illa de ciment". Y los que estáis ahí, frente a la pantalla, espero que también estéis levantando las manos.

En el web de la plataforma no he visto que haya alguna manera de contribuir a la causa a parte de los donativos. Yo no he hecho donativos, pero he comprado camisetas, chapitas y consumí en los conciertos. Pero si en algún momento me entero de alguna manera de colaborar o comprar por Internet alguna camiseta, ya lo pondré. Por cierto, el dinero es para los abogados.
Otra página interesante sobre el tema.

Los dibujos de las camisestas, como el del cartel
de la foto de éste post, son de Mariscal.

Escuchando: "Time goes by con Loli".

Isolated

The last few weeks have been quite hectic.

The third week of May my father called me to tell me he was going to get an operation and he might need some assistance. My brother was, at the moment, living with him but he had just started a job that is very important to his career. Since I was quite fed up of my job, I decided to quit and fly to Eivissa (a.k.a. Ibiza) to help him. Eivissa, as you know, is one of the islands in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

There were many reasons why I should do that. I already said about my disliking of my job, but also the fact that I would have time to study for my exams this week. Since I study at the Spanish Open University I have been able to take my exams in the island. This meant that I needed not to travel to Tortosa to take them, which meant leaving my town early and having lunch there and wandering around in the city for few hours.
Now I have finished my exams and I am experimenting such a peace that I hadn't had in a long time. In fact, the peace started the moment I resigned of job: the pressure of I-have-to-study, I-have-to-learn, I-have-no-time-whatsoever had disappeared that exact same moment. Then I was taking it more relaxed: I had time. Thought, the exams didn't go as well as I expected. Perhaps I relaxed so much or perhaps I had so much pressure on them. Anyway, I still have September.
Now I am in this island for almost a month and I don't know what my life is going to be. I don't know how long I am going to stay here, I don't have a job, my father is recovering but nothing is final yet.
So here I am. In this island I hadn't been for the last 10 years. With so many nice, sunny beaches (I am not a beach guy, though). And with surprising things.
It is very funny to hear people speaking in Catalan. They speak a variety of Catalan quite different to mine. We call 'Balerar' to the Catalan spoken in the Islands, but 'Eivissenc' (in Eivissa – Ibiza) is pretty different to Mallorquí (in Mallorca); haven't heard Menorquí yet. I have been twice to Palma de Mallorca (Capital of the Autonomous Community of Illes Balears, which is in the island of Mallorca) since I arrived here. I was watching telly the other day while I was having my breakfast and Doraemon was on. The funny thing is that it was at the same time in Canal 33 or K3 (I am not sure, as the same channel changes its name depending on the content), a channel that belongs to the Catalan television and in IB3, the Balearic channel. Doraemon was speaking absolutely different to what I was used to. I commented that to my Eivissan cousin yesterday and she seemed pretty upset for that: she says that the day she has a son or a daughter wants him or her to learn Eivissan language, not Mallorcan, so she thinks that children programs in the Autonomous Community Channel should be in either all the varieties (i.e. Doraemon speaks in Mallorquí, Nobita in Eivissenc and Shizuka in Menorquí) or in Standard Catalan (which is quite similar to what I speak).
This surprised me, though, I have never heard anyone in a children's program speaking in Tarragoní (the variety of Catalan that is spoken in the region I grew up). Though, I must say, that children's Catalan is becoming more and more standardized. Though, the ones that are more isolated in towns or the ones that are mostly surrounded by elder people do speak the dialects of each zone.
Never really thought about this. It is very surprising how a language that has a pretty small coverage has so many different varieties. Perhaps for the fact that I am not a truly native speaker of Catalan and I speak much closer to the Standard than my friends. This also happens with my speaking of Spanish. Since my mother was a teacher she spoke the Standards. My dad is from Andalucía and we speak so different. Perhaps my Standardization of myself has made me think that the Standard is cool. But now, I think we should try to have the regional variety. Also, obvious, the Standard version, the Standard Spanish, and the Standard English. Wow, too many?

Anyway. Now I am in this island and things get my attention all the time: how things are, how people behaves, etc. I must say that what surprises me the most is the difference in prices. Almost everything is much more expensive, especially Super-Market buyable stuff. Though, office stationery is cheaper.
The other thing that I am so amazed of is the fact that cars (hm... their drivers) stop in the pedestrian crossings. No way in my town!
Ah, and taxi drivers in Mallorca drive very fast.

What future will be like I don't know. But I will tell you all the things that I will be experiencing in this island.
If any nice Eivissan is around (male or female), get in touch.

Listening: La Vie en Rose, Edith Piaf
and Ne me quitte pas, Jacques Brel