Feria del libro in San Juan

The International Book Fair of San Juan took place next week, and I volunteered for the Alliance Francaise during the first two days. It was fun to participate in such a literary event since I love reading. However, my expectations were not too high – Puerto Rico doesn’t have a big reading culture* and the event didn’t seem to be very well publicised…

Centro de Convenciones in San Juan

One of my Puerto Rican colleagues was a little disappointed when we entered the Centro de Convenciones on Wednesday evening for preps and compared it to the book fair she’d been in… in Paris. Of course that was a very unfair comparison! The Convention Centre itself is a beautiful modern building (if you are into modern buildings à la Calatrava) but the big hall where the book fair was to be held was maybe a little… too big and echoing.

The new Sheraton hotel opposite the Convention Centre, part of the new neighbourhood being built around the centre and the yacht harbour, with apartment complexes and shops planned… I have no idea if all the plans are still going through with the current crisis?

Welcome to the FIL-PR (Feria del Libro de Puerto Rico or the Puerto Rican Book Fair)

The book fair got off to a slow start, which was expected (on a Thursday), with most school children arriving with their teachers. They were very curious though about the Alliance Francaise stand and the French volunteers gave some improvised French lessons to their delight.

The Alliance Francaise stand at the Book Fair

Unfortunately the explosion and consequent fire at the oil / petrol depot on Thursday night meant that quite a few schools in San Juan and the neighbouring municipalities were closed on Friday, and even fewer visitors came than Thursday.  It was a pity because Friday was the Alliance Francaise’s day and we had planned lots of cultural activites.

The AF stand

However, two brave groups of French students performed during the afternoon, singing French songs (La Marseillaise) and reciting poems and stories in French. They were very motivated and talented - quel dommage that not more people heard their performances!

A deserted Book Fair

Friday evening the number of visitors picked up a little and the little Alliance Francaise apéro turned out to be very popular. I mingled in Spanish, French and Swedish! Afterwards a French editor from the publishing company Acte Sud spoke about her job and told the audience about the incredible and unexpected success in France of the Swedish author Stieg Larsson (book rights owned by this particular company and more than 2 million copies sold just in France).

Friday activity organised by the Alliance Francaise – a presentation of the French author Céline Curiol

Another special guest of the Alliance Francaise was the French author, Céline Curiol, who was “interviewed” about her writing and books - one is called “Voice over” and tells the story of a woman who works at the train station Gare du Nord as a train announcer. I haven’t read any of her books yet but have ordered ”Exil intermédiaire” (not yet translated into English), which is set in New York City where the author has lived.

All in all the experience of the book fair was positive and I hope that there will be more visitors next year!

*) My Puerto Rican colleague told me that her parents had never read to her as a child (which is also the case of O who cannot recall anybody reading books in his home – is it a Hispanic thing??) and she only discovered the world of books as a student.

October weekend in pictures

Most of you are probably wondering how did it go with the fire on Friday… Well, the fire has finally / already been extinguished and the FBI is now working on finding the cause of the explosion. That FBI is involved is not necessarily an indication that there was a supposedly criminal intent behind the explosion, it is just normal routine after such a fire. President Obama has declared an “emergency” in Puerto Rico to free upp FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency – the agency that was involved after the Katrina hurricane) funds. Read more on this link and this one.

Photo taken from the San Juan Convention Centre on Friday afternoon

Nothing bad that doesn’t bring out some good: Maybe some more Americans have learnt over the last few days that Puerto Rico is in fact an American territory? I quote CNN: Federal agencies have jurisdiction over Puerto Rico because it is a territory of the United States. It is very interesting to notice that there is a need to explain this, while at the same time the article was found under the category “World” and not “US”.

Dark smoke clouds on Friday afternoon

The explosion on the night between Thursday and Friday was felt as strongly as a 2,8 earthquake and quite a few of my friends had heard it and seen the flames. However, O and I, who were both awake at 00.30 on Thursday night didn’t notice anything. Funnily enough I had heard explosions around “Grey’s Anatomy-time” earlier in the evening, but I was told that they were caused by fireworks somewhere in the neighbourhood.

 
Just before the sun set on Friday

I worked at the Book Fair until closing time (9 o’clock) on Friday evening and afterwards we just had a late dinner at home while watching the Puerto Rican news about the fire.

[Less] Smoke seen from our window on Saturday morning

On Saturday morning we could still see smoke from the fire but we didn’t notice any special smell of burning or petrol. I told O though that I didn’t feel comfortable eating breakfast by the balcony, in case there were toxic fumes in the air (probably silly!), so we ate at the dining table instead. First “indoor”* weekend breakfast in a long time!

Smoke seen from the highway on Saturday afternoon

In the afternoon we headed to the central part of the island with Swedish B – some of O’s colleagues were playing a charity game of “bamboo ten”. I thought that the whole event was called “bamboo ten” but we were told that it referred to the game, which is a mix of softball and baseball, and played with bamboo sticks and a tennis ball! Hence the name “bamboo ten[nis]“. Has anybody else heard of this game? I tried to google it but couldn’t find any information – maybe I spelt it wrong?

“Bamboo Ten”

While watching the game, and trying to figure out the rules – B and I were utterly confused, we had some fried bacalaitos (fried pancakes with pieces of dry cod – bacalao) and pondering why one of the teams was called Los Extraterrestre – wasn’t there a -s missing at the end? O’s theory was that it was written phonetically – Puerto Ricans have a tendency to not pronunce the -s at the end of words (the name Luis is pronunced [Lui] – almost like in French!) or maybe it was just a mis-print?

A typical local sports park in Puerto Rico

The game took place in a local sports park, with two platforms for spectators at the baseball field, and another one by the basketball court, plus a running track. We saw one typical Puerto Rican jogger in a sweat suit – with emphasis on sweat! It looks an outfit made from a black garbage bag and it supposed to make you sweat more – completely stupid and probably dangerous in this heat! Stupid, because what you lose by sweating you will gain by rehydrating afterwards. (we later on found the suits for sale in Marshalls)

O’s air hostess friend S arrived on Saturday evening and we had a lovely dinner with her in Ummo, one of our favourite restaurants that serves parillas argentinas (Argentinian grill). It was fun to have dinner in Spanish, especially as I had been practising my Spanish during the two days at the Book Fair!

Tunos and tunas getting ready for their performance

Yesterday we visited the Book Fair since O wasn’t able to make it on Thursday and Friday when I was working. We saw typical student bands called Tunas prepare for their performance. I had never heard of Tunas until recently when I saw a group in the Old San Juan – they are hard not to notice since they are always dressed in traditional medieval clothes.  The typical instrument is the guitar and the students sing and play traditional folkloric songs.

Tunas at the San Juan Book Fair

All (?) the Spanish regions were represented at the Book Fair with official publications, both scientific and more literary books. Imagine our surprise when we found a book about the castle in O’s small home village! We bought it, of course 

More about the book fair tomorrow!

Does anybody know what this flower, or rather tree, is called? I really tried to get a better photo of it but it was very windy and to my annoyance I didn’t have any photo assistance since O had walked ahead of me…

*) Since we actually eat by the balcony and not on it. We open the French windows though so it is almost as sitting outdoors…

My view this morning – smoke from the explosion at the refinery

I was getting up a little later this morning, and was checking emails and facebook when I saw some status updates from friends in Puerto Rico about a big fire. So I went to the website of the the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día and read the headlines: A huge explosion at the oil / petrol refiniery, here in San Juan! I looked out the window and this is what I saw:

I am quite far from Bayamón where the refinery is located so I can’t imagine what it looks like closer to the site of the fire

The explosion happened just after midnight but the fire will probably last for days, according to reports. I tried to find some information on maybe CNN or BBC News, but apparently Puerto Rico is a very small island and there are more important news for the international community. The Puerto Rican tv-channels are all focusing on the fire and explosion of course and I am keeping my fingers crossed that no fireman will be hurt fighting the flames.

The schools have been closed in some of the municipalities in the San Juan area and the Bacardi factory is closed for today. One big consequence of the fire might be petrol shortages for the Puerto Rican drivers – serious for a country so depending on cars! Apparently people have already headed to petrol stations to fill up, but the not-so-popular governor* has claimed that there is petrol for at least one week.

Update: CNN just mentioned the fire… and my brother sent this link about the fire (in English).

The smoke is blowing out to sea – luckily the winds are blowing in the right direction, from land… (dark smoke behind the white clouds)

This afternoon I am working at the Book Fair again – I will write about it next week!

*) Last week there was a general strike in Puerto Rico and thousands of people demonstrated against the governor’s decision to cut 17,000 public jobs in a country with already very high unemployment…

Closed for book fair!

Unfortunately I haven’t had time to write a Wednesday recipe post today, as I worked all afternoon with preparations for the participation of the Alliance Francaise at the Feria internacional del libro de San Juan (International Book Fair), which is starting tomorrow.

It is the first time since 1994* (!!) that I will be attending a book fair and I am really looking forward to the experience! I will try to take lots of photos and tell you more about it after I have worked in our stand for the next two days. On Friday we are celebrating a day of French culture with different activities and the special guests, a few French authors and editors, will present their work.

The fair looking very empty and quiet this evening… Hopefully it will be more crowded once it opens tomorrow!

And on Saturday one of O’s Spanish friends is coming to Puerto Rico – she works for Iberia and is working the San Juan route this weekend. It will be so much fun to see her, especially as we haven’t seen her in more than a year and she recently got engaged!

*) The international book fair of Geneva, I still have the Fodor’s Guide to the United Kingdom that I bought there!

What’s in a name (Part II)

Last week I read about Anne’s and her husband’s thoughts on names, and it reminded me of a short “essay” I wrote for my Spanish course a few months ago. I think that the subject of names is fascinating; the cultural and linguistic differences, as well as the historical background and meaning.

When it comes to royalty, I thought that it was fascinating for example to discover that in the Spanish gossip magazine, Hola, the British Queen Elizabeth II is referred to as Isabela Segunda, her son is called Carlos and her grandson Guillermo (William). One of my first memories of working in Brussels is of when I mixed up Charlemagne and Charleroi. For me, as a Swede, the two names sounded very alike – to the shock of my French colleague who told me that Charlemagne* was a very famous king (I had heard of him as Karl den Store in Swedish or Charles the Great) and Charleroi is a Belgian town! Why is it that names of Kings and Queens are translated?

King Oscar’s sardines – the sardines are Norwegian, and the king was Swedish. However, Oscar II also ruled over Norway since the two countries were in a union until 1905. Oscar is a Celtic name and was in fashion in Sweden around the turn of last century, as well as currently (since the new Millenium)

I have already written about names, in my blog post “What’s in a name – Spanish name mysteries“, which dealt with confusing Spanish surname (family name) traditions rather than first names. Surnames are definitely interesting, the respective family names of O and I could have had a -ez and -es at the end, but they do not… This causes a lot of confusion, especially here in Puerto Rico, even though the most famous Puerto Rican singer has the same surname as O, while I always try to explain that I am not a relative of Sherlock! O’s surname is a very common one in Spanish-, French & English-speaking countries, but of course pronunced differently.

Tombstone for one of my ancestors called Nils – a very common name in my family (and region). It was the 5th most common name in 1901 and is once again increasing in popularity

This is more or less what I wrote (in Spanish originally):

Names (without any scientific proof what so ever, this is my study of how names are chosen in different countries):

In Sweden it is common to choose names of past generations, generally the generation of the grandparents (or great grandparents) of the parents’ of the child. This means that names are “recycled” every 3-4 generations, but the children are not necessarily named after a certain relative (see below for the Spanish tradition).

The most popular names for Swedish children born in 2008 were:

1. Maja
2. Emma (second name of my father’s uncle’s wife – she’s Swiss though)
3. Julia
4. Ella (actually my great-grandmother’s name)

 

1. Lucas
2. Oscar
3. William
4. Elias

(source: www.svenskanamn.se)

Otto, a German name that used to be given to the 8th child in a family! Its popularity is increasing in Sweden, maybe because of the yummy ice cream sold under this name 

However, the most common names in Sweden (for children and adults) are Maria (and Anna), and Erik (and Lars). What is interesting is that most people with these names, Maria and Erik, have them as second names, i.e not used as their given names (tilltalsnamn). 

Spanish square with the same name as O’s grandfather and grandmother (ending with an -a of course). It is of German origin and means, just like it sounds, “the brown” or “the tanned”. Saint Bruno was born in Cologne and refused to become a bishop in Reims (from Wikipedia).

In Spain, my impression is that names don’t change as often as in Sweden. There are always children who are called Carlos, Diego and Manuel! And to prove this, I actually just took what I thought were common Spanish names, the above-mentioned ones, and confirmed their popularity (No 14, No 9 and No 15 for babies born in 2007). One reason might be that many Spanish families still keep the tradition of naming the first son after the father, who in his turn was named after the grandfather, named after the great-grandfather etc etc.

The great-grandmother Francisca (I noticed that I called her Joaquina in another post – I am actually not sure if she is Francisca or Joaquina, need to confirm her name with O’s father), whose name is not among the top 100 of the names given to babies in 2007

Since this tradition only seems to apply to boys, does it maybe mean that women’s names change more often in Spain? I am not so sure, but let’s try to do the same test as with male names. I would say that common Spanish female names are: Cristina, Mónica and Ana. Now, let me check their popularity among babies born in the 21st century: Cristina was No 26, Mónica No 88 and Ana No 13!

Aha, I have proved my point in a most un-scientific way: the names I chose were names of Spanish people I know (from my generation) and obviously their popularity have not been carried over to the present female generation to the extent of the male names, which are still common.

José is only No 36 on the top list of names from 2007. According to Wikipedia José Palafox is a hardcore punk musician but I doubt that the street in Zaragoza was named after him…

These are the top names of Spanish babies born in 2007:

1. Lucía
2. María
3. Paula
4. Sara

1. Daniel
2. Alejandro
3. Pablo
4. David

(source: www.babycenter.es/pregnancy/nombres/top_names_2007 and interestingly enough the top 4 names haven’t changed at all between 2007 and 2008)

I have never met a Sebastián in Puerto Rico, but his street is one of the most beautiful in the Old San Juan

My third example is the Puerto Rican name tradition – which doesn’t seem to be cyclical like the Swedish one, nor repetitive like the Spanish one, but it is rather a more imaginative custom. It would appear that the Puerto Rican parents try to find the most original name possible, and one tradition is to combine the names of the two parents – for example Geomari (from George and María). I don’t know how popular it is nowadays to give taíno (indigenous indian tribe in Puerto Rico and other islands of the Caribbean) names to babies but the name Uroyoan for example is of taíno origin.

For a foreigner it is sometimes difficult to understand and remember people’s names, at least when they are called Jehyra, Katsí, Nerydette, Adalberto, Glendaliz, Ydalmi, Unexie, Eulalio etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love the originality**, but maybe they are not always very practical names? And it does seem that boys get the more traditional names while the more fanciful ones are reserved for girls.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the top names of Puerto Rican babies, in the US the more plain (?) names Jacob and Emily were the most popular in 2007.

*) Charlemagne is also the name of one of the European Commission buildings in Brussels and the whole conversation was about me going for lunch there – but I said Charleroi, a town 6o km away…

**) A Puerto Rican novel that I would really like to read, but haven’t found yet, is Usmaíl by Pedro Juan Soto that tells the story of a boy named after a US Mail post box…

A typical (?) October weekend

Already Monday again and I wonder where the weekend went… Here are some photos to show what we did:

We are true Marshalls fans but twice in one weekend is a bit exaggerated… The reason was the plate though – my aunt collects this china (Botanical Garden) and we thought that we had bought 4 deep plates for her – however, one was the wrong model so we needed to change it. We were lucky – there was only one left!

Of course we ended up with some stuff for us as well, a Ralph Lauren bed sheet for $10 and some stockings for me (for the European winter)!

Saturday evening was spent in the company of friends – including a 2-year old who was entertained by drawings (by my talented Spanish teacher), a book in Swedish (kaka means cake / cookie and not poo as in most latin languages) and some cuddly animals. She confused me a little when she started talking about l’Escargot (the snail – in French) but it turned out to be a very cute misunderstanding of O’s name!! The funny thing about the book was that her mother told me that she had had the same books about the boy Max in French as a kid – they are written by a Swedish author!

Saturday’s dinner was Indian-inspired, just like my shoes (?). O made his speciality – Chicken Tikka Masala… fortunately there are some left-overs for my lunch today!

Eggy brunch on Sunday - we ate porridge / cereal and sandwiches as well… I have already told you about O’s yummy sandwiches – he is a sandwich artist and they are the highlight of the weekend breakfasts!

Our second trip to Marshalls, this time to the store in Santurce (on Saturday we went to the one in Carolina). This restaurant is just opposite and they have part of the menu painted on the wall outside.

After Marshalls we headed towards the mall – the shops in Puerto Rico close at 17.00 on Sundays (21.00 the other days), but we were not planning on more shopping…

Entrance to the big mall – Plaza las Américas

We arrived just 10 minutes before closing time so we decided to do some window-shopping in West Elm – well, we actually did enter the shop, but just for browsing… I think we have only bought something once (a blanket on sale) in that store as the prices are too high.

The reason for visiting the mall was our Sunday fika at Borders with our Swedish friend B, the bookstore stays open until late on Sundays. B and I were not catching up on Spanish gossip for once, but reading a special edition of Hola magazine about travels. I took notes of some of the places recommended to see in Spain as I would really like to see more of Spain next year. O did a tour of the country with his American ex-girlfriend and I think that it is time that he does the same with me!!

The Stieg Larsson books are finally being sold in Spanish at Borders (apparently the Mexican edition of the books, instead of the Spanish). It was fun to see the big announcement about the Swedish books even though I am not a fan!

To O’s despair I can’t go to Borders without picking up a book or two… These were on sale for $3.99 and as I am going to New York next week, I thought that reading about Brooklyn could be fun!

Reading in bed before going to sleep – the beige/yellow striped pillow cases are bargains from Marshalls, as well as the magazine… The white and pink pillow case says “My darling” in Swedish and was one of my feeble attempts to teach O Swedish 

Wednesday recipe: Salmon & avocado salad + Etiquette poll on toilet lid manners

It is still Wednesday in my part of the world and here’s a recipe to prove it

Salmon & Avocado Salad
1 piece of salmon filet (~400 grams)
2 tablespoons French Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons dill, parsley or tarragon
1 teaspoon coarse (Kosher) salt
freshly ground black pepper
crispy lettuce (such as Iceberg or romaine)
1 big avocado
1 onion – chopped
1 lemon – juice and peel
a handful of pickled gherkins – chopped

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Mix the mustard, olive oil, black pepper, salt, chopped gherkins and onion, lemon peel and herbs in a small bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on the salmon and bake in the oven approximately 10-15 minutes.
Cut or tear the lettuce and put in a salad bowl. Cut the avocado in small cubes and add to the lettuce, sprinkle some lemon juice on top.
Serve the salad mixed with the oven-baked salmon and some bread.

(Recipe inspired by “Varm laxsallad med avokado” from the book Kärlek, Oliver och Timjan by Anna and Fanny Bergenström)
 

And now to the etiquette poll: Toilet lid manners!

As you know, we have had a lot of visitors to our home here in Puerto Rico, and when you spend time close to family and friends for a while, you notice certain habits… One of the things that has struck me the most is that very few, men and women, put down the lid after using the toilet! The lid, not the ring – which fortunately most men do lower after having done their business…

I have also noticed that in almost every home shown on my favourite tv channel, HGTV, the toilet lid is always up! This in homes that have been staged, styled and designed to be sold! Am I the only person who thinks that it looks nicer if the lid is closed?? Isn’t that the reason why there is one?

So, I am curious – let me know your thoughts on “toilet lid manners”…

Every time I walk past the guest bathroom and I can see that the lid is up, I have to enter and close it… I am sure a lot of people think it is silly and O is definitely one of them! We have been discussing the “raison d’être” of the toilet lid, and I always try to suggest that it might have been invented so to avoid that people accidentally drop something into the toilet, or so that you can use it as a seat but most of all – it is there to be closed!

“You haven’t forgotten anything? Did you lower the lid and flush?” (apparently the French speakers only need to be reminded to flush…)

However, it can’t just be me, because I found these signs (above and below) displayed in the toilets* in the Alliance Francaise!

Might seem superfluous to remind the “users” to flush – but after having worked in a hotel as a cleaning lady, I know that a lot of people seem to forget (??) to do this… In many places in Puerto Rico (and in Greece!) you are asked to throw the toilet paper in the trash can (zafacón is Puerto Rican Spanish) because the sewage system is so bad.

Speaking of toilets, I might have mentioned already that the exterior of our building is being renovated and painted – we have now, after ~3 months, reached the painting phase, which means that the construction workers are doing their second round of the four walls. This morning I heard that they were somewhere outside our master bedroom and decided to go to the loo in the guest bathroom instead. Just when I am sitting there, I can hear the “window-cleaner lift” approaching outside… and voilà, it stops right outside the bathroom window!! Fortunately I was behind a shower curtain, but still, needless to say I didn’t feel very relaxed about the situation!

Outside the bathroom window this morning…

A few minutes later I was sitting in front of the computer in my pj’s when I heard voices behind me – arrggghh, they seemed to be everywhere today! I am starting to feel besieged, and quite frankly tired of having people outside the windows – on the 9th floor!

*) And yes, I am European and I am not afraid of calling a toilet a toilet (or even “loo”) - half-baths, powder rooms etc sound just silly in my ears!

An internet-less Wednesday afternoon

I was going to publish a new Wednesday recipe today, and work on “des feuilles de route” (itineraries) for the Alliance Francaise’s guests who are coming to the San Juan Book Fair in two weeks’ time, but internet didn’t work all afternoon and this is what I did instead:

Sorting out the clean laundry…

Sorting out papers – practical that we still have the dining table extended since the crayfish party…

Listening to some old music and reading an old diary from 2005 – the year I met O! I laughed when I read that he said after a few weeks together that I would make a perfect wife… as I haven’t done…

… the ironing yet

Back to working on those documents now…

¿Estamos ready? Spanglish in Puerto Rico

Learning Spanish in Puerto Rico can be a very interesting experience. First of all because a lot of people insist on speaking English to foreigners – regardless of whether the foreigners are English-speaking or not (happened to my blond but very Spanish brother-in-law C who doesn’t speak English*) and regardless of their own level of English (the Puerto Rican accent in English is not always easy to understand) and secondly because the Puerto Rican Spanish is full of Anglicisms, or maybe rather Americanisms!

Spot the Spanglish at the car wash!

When it comes to the first issue, I just consequently say ¿Perdón? when somebody talks to me in English, and if they insist on English, I show my stubbornness by replying in Spanish… It happened to me twice on Monday; first a taxi driver came up to me on the way to Starbucks and said something which I didn’t actually hear, and he didn’t change language after my ¿Perdón? but continued by asking ”Why not take a taxi instead of walking” – I replied “Voy solamente a Starbucks, no está lejos…” (I am only going to Starbucks, it is not far). When I arrived to the café, the girl behind the counter spoke to me in English but did actually change to Spanish when I said ¿Perdón? Sometimes I feel like Don Quijote fighting against wind mills – why do I even bother? Well, maybe because I insist on practising my Spanish…

Anyway, I am used to this kind of bilingual conversations from Belgium where every now and then people would detect my foreign accent in French and try to speak to me in English! However, I was also aware of the fact that there are Belgians who prefer speaking English (most Flemish-speaking Belgians for example) and the same is the case in Puerto Rico. I just figured out a few weeks ago that one of the shop assistants in a local shop is probably an English-speaking American woman so maybe I should just stop insisting on speaking Spanish to her.

More Spanglish…

I get an enormous sense of well-being and am happy for the rest of the day** when people speak to me in Spanish and don’t switch languages It happens more and more, which my Spanish teacher told me is a good indication that my Spanish has improved! Nevertheless, speaking Spanish in Spain is much more rewarding and less stressful, since the Spaniards, at least in Zaragoza, don’t have the same reflex to speak English to foreigners. Of course, this is probably because there are a lot fewer tourists in Aragón than in my area of San Juan…

The Spanglish is another matter: I find the Puerto Rican habit of using English words in Spanish, or making English words into Spanish  fascinating and creative, while O thinks it is shocking the way the Puerto Ricans mistreat his and their mother tongue! Of course I can understand that it is quite tragic how perfectly adequate Spanish words are being replaced by Spanglish ones, but I also believe that it is the way languages have evolved since the beginning of times…

• fresa is sometimes called strawberi, and arándano rojo agrio is simply cranberi (maybe not surprising since cranberry is not a locally grown berry in Spain nor in Puerto Rico)
• picotear (to snack) is replaced by snackear - oh yes, I saw it on a billboard this weekend, but unfortunately I didn’t have time to take a photo! 
• Sorry is used almost as much as perdón 
• Hangear (to hang out) and chatear (to chat) are common verbs 
• El beauty (as in beauty parlour) and el blower (which I already mentioned yesterday is called le brushing in French, i.e blow-drying your hair and getting it styled at the hairdresser’s) are popular words in Puerto Rico
• Suéter is a wonderfully phonetic word for “sweater” in Puerto Rico, just like the Spanish spell whisky güisqui and pronunce their word for sweater [xer'sei] (actually jersey)
• ¿Estamos ready? was heard during the Beach cleaning event a few weeks ago! (Are we ready?)

When I once asked among a group of Puerto Ricans and Mexicans how to say “coaster”, it caused a big discussion… The Puerto Ricans looked at each other and said “¿coaster?”. We had to call O from the kitchen (where he was cooking, while I was entertaining the guests) to get the “proper” Spanish word - ”portavaso“ but then the Mexicans said ”posavaso“! Does the coaster carry / bear the glass or is the glass put on the coaster? According to Wordreference the Mexicans were right, so maybe we can’t trust O’s expertise in Spanish?

And before we judge the Puerto Ricans, or Spaniards for that matter (I mean [xer'sei]??), remember that Swedes have made French words into Swedish ones with a more local spelling: bureau is “byrå”, portefeuille is “portfölj” and fauteuil is “fåtölj”, and the French say le week-end  and spell the word with a hyphen that doesn’t exist in English. When I visited Bosnia in 2001, I saw a menu with cizburger and cikenburger. The list goes on and on…

Spanglish is one thing but there is no excuse for misspelt signs in Spanish, such as this one that we saw in more than one Marshalls shop – kitchen is cocina in Spanish! That the sign continues in English is another matter…

*) The situation was really absurd as he then thought that the Puerto Rican talking to him in English didn’t speak Spanish, so he made an attempt to communicate in broken English…
**) Anyone out there recognising that quote??

Wednesday recipe: Apple & Pear Cakes and an Etiquette Poll on Tipping…

It is apple harvest times at the moment, which I notice on the blog as the most popular post (by search machines) at the moment is my recipe for apple cake from last year. I decided to make my favourite apple cake on Monday, and when I read the recipe posting, I realised that it was in parts almost identical to my text from last Thursday… Opps, I am apparently repeating myself every year around the end of September – I seem to have an idealised image of autumn in my mind! Anyhow, today is Wednesday and you are getting TWO recipes for cakes:

1. Try my best ever apple cake recipe (see link, the Swedish version of the recipe is at the end of the post) but use both apples and pears (I also used Half-and-half as we didn’t have sour cream at home). O described the flavour yesterday: “The first flavour and texture that you notice is the pear, but then right at the end the taste of the apple hits you” – I think he could become a food critic!
2. For the yummiest Pear-Almond Cake with Chocolate Chunks (see link to Rachael Ray’s Everyday web-site) – this cake is soooo good that I made it three weeks in a row and we had to get more Belgian chocolate brought from Belgium (as I just refuse to cook with American chocolate, sorry!)

 

And now to the etiquette question of the week: Do you tip at the hairdresser’s and if yes, how much?

Of course this depends on where in the world you live – in Europe, the US or somewhere else… In Europe I have never tipped a hairdresser, as I always assume that service is included when comes to a service, if you see what I mean! Maybe it also depends on whether you go to a big hairdress salon where different people take care of you (washing the hair, cutting it, colouring and styling it etc), or if you go to a small place where the same person does everything?

 

In Puerto Rico the beauty parlours are quite simply called El Beauty – this one is located in the Old San Juan

O and I went to the hairdresser on Saturday – we actually go to Sears where O has his favourite, German, hairdresser. It is funny, I always end up with male hairdressers and O with female ones! I don’t know if this is a Puerto Rican phenomenon or if it is just coincidence?? Anyhow, we are always a little stressed about how much we should tip the hairdresser afterwards, and on Saturday we both paid $5 each in tips. It meant that I tipped my male hairdresser 25% and O gave 33% to the female counterpart. Afterwards we discussed if this was not a little too much, but O, who by the way hates tipping, referred to an article he had read in Women’s Health*:

Tips on tipping:

• Stylist (I guess the one cutting your hair): 15-20% of service
• Colorist: 15-20% of service
• Stylist’s assistance: $10-20
• Shampooer: $3-5
• Blow-out person: $10
• Coat-check girl: $1

Phew!! That’s a lot of tipping (and a lot of money!). However, our hairdressers shampoo and cut our hair, we declined el blower service (funny, in French it is called le brushing) and well, we don’t wear coats in Puerto Rico… I was happy to give a big (?) tip to the guy cutting my hair because he did a really good job – much better than the Spanish girl in Zaragoza who did my hair in less than 30 minutes (including washing and drying!) this summer. So, how much would you have tipped?

A closed down barber’s shop in the Old San Juan…

*) He reads whatever he finds next to the toilet – one of his favourite magazines is the Swedish interior design magazine Sköna Hem – unfortunately he can’t pronunce the name