I went with Paco Marullo, the first 'democratic' mayor of Mojácar, on a cultural exchange to Cardiff, Wales. It was his first trip to England. The first thing that amazed him was the greenery and that sheep just grazed and didn’t need a shepherd to lead them around. They just ate by themselves in a field. We stayed with some very nice friends who had arranged the cultural exchange and gift giving. I went as his translator. One thing we found interesting was the number of Spaniards working as waiters in almost all the establishments we visited. Why anyone from Spain would want to move to Wales is beyond me but there were a lot. This helped put the mayor at ease a little. Not speaking any English we went over a few important words. One of the first things he wanted to know was what did they call the men and women’s rooms so he wouldn’t wonder into the wrong one by mistake. I gave him a few main ones like men and women, boy or girl and of course, gentlemen and ladies. Before he left the table we would go over the signs he might see just to be sure but he always had to return to the table to ask me to accompany him because he couldn’t pronounce or understand things like Goose and Gander or Doe and Buck and so on. It seems that in Wales every restaurant has its own way of describing the restroom. We went to a great Irish bar and it gave him an idea of what a great bar could be like even though he didn’t follow through when we got back. I don’t know if the Welsh have their own bars, we certainly never saw one but like I say there was a Spaniard almost everywhere we went.
On the day of the cultural exchange, we dressed the part and took a limo. We were greeted by the mayoress and council members and given a tour of the town hall plus all the gifts they had received from visiting dignitaries, including a hand-painted egg which had been painted from the inside given by a Chinese ambassador and then there were all the famous portraits on the wall. We exchanged plaques and Indalos and information and then left. It was a far cry from the Mojácar town hall, which had just been re-built from the old and sorry building that had done service until then. We spent a few fun days there and then came home. I don’t think I have ever seen the beautiful plaque they gave us or any of the gifts proudly displayed in our rather austere new town hall and I have certainly never heard anything about the trip or exchange. It was quite an important event because it was the first of its kind for Mojácar. Now we do cultural exchanges with places like En Camps, Andorra, where most of the locals own apartments (and bank accounts) and with whom we are ‘twinned’. We should have researched it better and done an exchange with Cochiguaz, Chile. They found a cave drawing of an Indalo exactly like our original one and it is used as their trade-mark for all artisan products and exportations, including their famous brand of Pisco, a South American fire-water. It is also on the lay lines of the Templars, just like Mojácar and a special magical place, or the Zuni Indians in America that also have the Indalo as a goddess to protect their crops. At least we share a common interest and they would be interesting areas to have cultural exchanges with. Culture has to mean a bit more than a bank account and a piss up. At one point there was even talk about twinning with Turre, on the grounds that it was ‘foreign, but not too foreign’. You have got to be joking. Can’t they think outside the box once in a while?
On the day of the cultural exchange, we dressed the part and took a limo. We were greeted by the mayoress and council members and given a tour of the town hall plus all the gifts they had received from visiting dignitaries, including a hand-painted egg which had been painted from the inside given by a Chinese ambassador and then there were all the famous portraits on the wall. We exchanged plaques and Indalos and information and then left. It was a far cry from the Mojácar town hall, which had just been re-built from the old and sorry building that had done service until then. We spent a few fun days there and then came home. I don’t think I have ever seen the beautiful plaque they gave us or any of the gifts proudly displayed in our rather austere new town hall and I have certainly never heard anything about the trip or exchange. It was quite an important event because it was the first of its kind for Mojácar. Now we do cultural exchanges with places like En Camps, Andorra, where most of the locals own apartments (and bank accounts) and with whom we are ‘twinned’. We should have researched it better and done an exchange with Cochiguaz, Chile. They found a cave drawing of an Indalo exactly like our original one and it is used as their trade-mark for all artisan products and exportations, including their famous brand of Pisco, a South American fire-water. It is also on the lay lines of the Templars, just like Mojácar and a special magical place, or the Zuni Indians in America that also have the Indalo as a goddess to protect their crops. At least we share a common interest and they would be interesting areas to have cultural exchanges with. Culture has to mean a bit more than a bank account and a piss up. At one point there was even talk about twinning with Turre, on the grounds that it was ‘foreign, but not too foreign’. You have got to be joking. Can’t they think outside the box once in a while?
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