Day 35_Girona

"We don't speak Spanish here," said the man at the cafe.  I had a long and interesting discussion with a young man (who had visited the United States and was very fluent in English) about his country.  Actually, what I had wanted to know was whether the Art Museum was worth a visit, but our conversation went to a discussion of Girona, Catalyuna, Andalusia and Spain...Like my initial feelings yesterday, ordering coffee this morning, I was greeted with "Hola" and goodbyed with "Merci"-- a combination of French and Spanish.  The impact of Spain's longtime leader Franco has never been on my radar.  Perhaps it was a lack of political science classes, but I didn't realize how his regime had effected Spanish culture.  I gave a lecture on Franco the other day and this is what we discussed.  Francisco Franco (1892 - 1975) was a former military general who became dictator of Spain from 1936 - 1975.  He was in charge during the civil war which defeated Catalyuna in 1939 and drew this part of Spain into its borders.  To win this war, he enlisted the help of other good guys including Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.  In fact, Germany tested many of its blitzkrieg innovations during this civil war which they ultimately used against Poland to start WWII.  (Picasso's Guernica was a depiction of this war.)  After Franco conquered this part of Spain, he required all of Spain to use only Spanish for documents and forbade the use of Catalyuna language (which is kind of like a mix of French and Spanish--mostly Spanish).  His right wing authoritarian regime dissolved the Spanish parliament and instituted a platform of Spanish nationalism, Catholicism and traditional values (which sounds good on paper).  In fact, he maintained control of Spain through systematic suppression of dissident views through censorship, coercion, imprisonment of his ideological enemies in concentration camps and the death penalty to make his point.  Some credit him with the death of 200,000 people.  For Franco, national homogeneity was a political matter so Spanish and Spanish values were instituted.  For women, Franco believed that their role in society was traditional and that they were to be a)  good daughters to their parents, b) support their husbands, and c)  raise the children.  Because Catholicism was the national religion, there was no divorce, contraception or abortion.  When Franco died in 1975, Spain slowly changed to a democracy and allowed artistic, sexual and political freedom in Spain. 

I visited the Museum of Archeology in Girona which showcased its history from hunter-gatherers some 700,000 years ago, through Roman times, to the Middle Ages.  The museum is inside an 11th century church, which became a military station under Franco.  Examining historic photos of the church through aerials, I initially was confused why it was called St. Pedro and not Sant Pere as it is called now.  Franco's regime was the answer, as everything was in Spanish at the time.   Another interesting item at this museum were Roman milestones.  I am in the land of metric which makes things really easy.  Ever wonder where "miles" came from?  It didn't occur to me until I was reading the interpretive signs which are in Catalyunan, Spanish and English--and our measurements for once agreed in the language.  "Miles" come from Roman measurements where 1000 double paces = 1 mille, which is about a mile.  These markers were stones that contained honorary inscriptions with the names and titles of the emperors or magistrates under whom the mandated road was built and their distance in miles to the next city.  These particular ones were found along Via Augusta, the Roman road through Gerunda (the Roman name for Girona).

Today was a sketch day for me.  I have written a lot and taken plenty of photos to chronicle the trip.  Drawing, however, is a different way to understand place as you reduce the drawing to what you deem the most important parts.  It was a good way to "see" Girona and take a deep breath of quiet.

Some quick observations:
1.  People actually smoke when they ride mopeds.
2.  Spain has imported some questionable American culture.  At lunch today I witnessed people smoking Marlboros and Lucky Strikes, drinking Fanta and Coke, while we listened to Air Supply.