WYD 2011 in Madrid, Spain

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about World Youth Day 2011. Yes! Three years in advance. I hope to see all of you there in 3 years. Madrid is a beautiful city and if WYD is held in August, it will be practically empty. I'll post interesting info about Madrid here. Geez... I have 3 years. That should give me enough time.

Also, first lesson for all of those wanting to learn rudimentary Spanish.

Hola, buenos días.

Un café por favor.

A must know as Spanish coffee is increadibly good and for now very inexpensive.

Tuesday, November 27 - CHRISTtmas Music

Advent season begins in 5 days.

Well, the Advent wreath is well on its way! Now I'm making an Advent calendar. I have the traditional one with little windows that you must open on the 24 days prior to CHRISTmas. I want to make another one for Julian. Trying to get ideas. Anyone?

I've been listening to Christmas music. I ran across a lovely 16th Century Spanish Villancico (carol) that has me mesmerized. It is called "Riu, riu, chiu". I have not figured out how to put music on here (can it be done?) so I will subject you to a Youtube video. The version I have is better, but alas, one must do with what one has (the hand clapping is a bit of an excess) . By the way, don't miss The Monkees (yes, THOSE Monkees!) giving it a go.




And by the way, did you know that we only have 28 more days until CHRISTmas?!

En español

I suppose that this initial obsession with "Wave of Sorrows" will dissipate, if not disappear in due time. For now, I am looking for any and all information on this song. I am THAT obsessive about U2. I'm not a scary, stalking fan, but I DO ENJOY THEIR MUSIC! (and I think The Edge is sooooo handsome, yes, The Edge, not Bono, call me weird).
So searching for all things U2, and "Wave of Sorrows" specifically, I've run across a few translations of the song into Spanish that I do not agree with. So, I've spent time that I should be using in a more productive endeavor, into translating the song into Spanish.

Wave of Sorrow

Heat haze rising
On hell’s own hill.

You wake up this morning
It took an act of will.
You walk through the night
To get here today
To bring your children
To give them away.

Oh, oh this cruel sun.
Is daylight never done?
Cruelty just begun
To make a shadow of everyone

And if the rain came?
And if the rain came now?

Souls bent over without a breeze,
Blankets on burning trees .
I’m sick without disease.
Nobility on its knees.

And if the rain came?
And if the rain came now?
Would it wash us all away
On a wave of sorrow?
Wave
On a wave of sorrow.

Where now the Holy cities?
Where the ancient Holy scrolls?
Where now emperor Menelek?
And the Queen of Sheba’s gold?

You are my bride.
You wear her crown.
And on your finger precious stones.
As every good thing
now been sold.

Son, of shepherd boy, now King
What wisdom can you bring?
What lyric would you sing?
Where is the music of the Seraphim?

And if the rain came?
And if the rain came now?
Would it wash us all away
On a wave of sorrow?
Wave
A wave of sorrow .
Wave...

Blessed are the meek
who scratch in the dirt,
For they shall inherit
what’s left of the Earth.
Blessed are the Kings
who’ve left their thrones,
They are buried
in this Valley of Dry Bones.

Blessed all of you
with an empty heart,
For you got nothing
from which you cannot part.
Blessed is the ego
It’s all we got this hour.

Blessed is the voice
that speaks truth to power.
Blessed is the sex worker
who sold her body tonight.
She used what she got
To save her children’s life.

Blessed are you,
the deaf cannot hear a scream.
Blessed are the stupid
who can dream.
Blessed are
the tin-canned cardboard slums.
Blessed is the spirit
that overcomes.




Ola de dolor

La calina se eleva
de la colina del infierno.

El despertarte
fue acto de voluntad.
Caminas toda la noche
para llegar hoy.
Traes a tus hijos
para regalarlos.

O… o el sol es cruel.
¿La luz del sol, nunca desaparecerá?
La crueldad empieza
a convertirnos a todos en sombra.

¿Y si llega la lluvia?
¿Y si llegase la lluvia?

Almas doblegadas sin siquiera brisa.
Mantas sobre árboles ardientes.
Soy un enfermo sin enfermedad.
Mi dignidad se ha arrodillado.

¿Y si llega la lluvia?
¿Y si llegase la lluvia?
¿Nos llevaría a todos
Sobre una ola de dolor?
Ola
Sobre una ola de dolor.

¿Dónde están las ciudades santas?
¿Dónde los pergaminos santos?
¿Dónde el emperador Menelik?
¿Y el oro de la reina de Saba?

Tú eres mi desposada.
Llevas su corona.
En tu dedo piedras preciosas.
Como todo lo bueno,
ahora te han vendido.

Hijo del pastor, ahora rey
¿Qué sabiduría nos traes?
¿Qué letra cantarías?
¿Dónde está la música de los serafines?

¿Y si llega la lluvia?
¿Y si llegase la lluvia?
¿Nos llevaría a todos?
Sobre una ola de dolor?
Ola
Sobre una ola de dolor
Ola…

Bienaventurados los mansos
que trabajan la tierra
porque de ellos será
lo que queda de ella.
Bienaventurados los reyes
que han abandonado su tronos
Están enterrados
en el Valle de los huesos secos.

Bienaventurados los que
tengan un corazón vacío
Pues no tienesn nada
a lo que no puedan renunciar.
Bendito el ego,
es todo lo que nos queda.

Bienaventurada es la voz
que reta al Poder
Bienaventurada la prostituta
que vendió su cuerpo esta noche
Utilizó lo que ganó
para salvar a sus hijos

Bienaventurado tú
el sordo que no puede oir los gritos
Bienaventurados los estúpidos
que aún pueden soñar
Bienaventuradas
las barriadas chabolistas
Bienaventurado el espíritu
que lo pueda superar.





I encourage any opinions/corrections on the translation.
I would also like ideas or comments on the biblical references found in the song:
holy cities, holy scrolls, Valley of Dry Bones, Queen of Sheba, Solomon, Seraphim, The Beatitudes.

Me encantaría recibir opiniones/correciones en cuanto a la traducción.
También me encantaría que se entablara una conversación sobre los temas bíblicos de la canción:
ciudades santas, pergaminos santos, el Valle de los huesos secos, la Reina de Saba, Salomón, los serafines, las Bienaventuranzas.

Trans Border Community

This past weekend I participated in the 2007 Atlanta Eucharistic Congress via Ustream. It was great to see the people that I usually listen to. What was even better was to see that Catholic joy that most non-Catholics seem to think is non-existent.
If there is something that I have learned this past year, since getting my very own iPod and downloading every Catholic podcast that I can get my hands on, is that, yes, we Catholics are a "peculiar bunch", but we have stopped being afraid of living our faith in a very public sphere.
At least in the US. Europe, or at least Spain is a very different matter. That is why I hang on to this virtual community that has formed around this new technology. I often mention Greg and Jennifer, Father Roderick, Fathers Seraphim, Fr. Bill, Fr. Geek, Fr. Barron, Fr. Dave and Mike, Doctor Paul and others in my conversations with husband, family and friends. The SQPN has become the Catholic community that I am lacking here in Barcelona. For you see, in my home God is present in all things great and small. But stepping outside my door it is almost impossible to find someone that will own up to believing in anything.
This summer I look forward to going back home (I've lived in Barcelona for nine years and I still call Orange County home) and joining the Catholic community that I grew up with. The one that pray and sings in Spanish and English. The one where everybody still knows my name. The one that knows that I am C. and G's daughter and R's sister and D and M's auntie. The one where you can say "God bless you", "God willing" "Praise God" and nobody will call you fascist for doing so (perhaps they will call you other things, but not fascist).
So, the countdown begins for what I hope will be a relaxing and Spirit filled vacation.

May God be praised!

My Child

My son is six years old. He doesn't really understand what is happening to him yet. Like his mother and father, he is growing up in a home where more than one language is spoken daily. He knows that Mom speaks English (much to my chagrin, as it was always my intention to speak the sweet sounding Spanish that I heard from Mom, Mother, Grandmother and aunts), Dad speaks Spanish and Grandmother speaks Catalan (also the language used as school).
The difference between Mom and Dad is that Dad's two languages are not that different. Mom's two languages are worlds apart.
When he was a baby, he was soothed by the sweet sound of "Duérmete niño" and didn't really care for "Hush Little Baby". Was is the sound of Spanish that lulled him to sleep, or was it that those words has much more feeling behind them than her learned English.
Now that he is six, he's increasingly more discontent with English. It is a language that is imposed on him. He has to learn it. Mom and Dad don't speak it to each other. In school, he gets one hour of English a week.
He wants to speak better Spanish and Catalan. He is painfully aware that all his friends speak much better than he does. He just wants to fit in. (I can hear the hurt in his voice, it's the same hurt I felt for so many years when my thick accent and my limited vocabulary made me stick out like a cactus in a flower garden)
Should I really continue to teach him something that is not something I feel as mine? D. says yes.
Yo no lo tengo tan claro.