Falles!!!

[mokenju1]

Being a valenciana, I have to make some spam. Sorry.

Fallas are one of the most popular and international spanish festivals. The valencianos make every year beautiful monuments that we burn the night of the 19th of March.

You can find more information about the Fallas at:

http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com/en/htm/monumentos.htm

A little teaser. I'm going to attach a picture of the ninot indultat infantil of this year (A ninot is one of the figures that belongs to a Falla, and this one belongs to a small falla for children. We call it ninot indultat because every year we choose one of them and it's the only one that it's not burned.)

[monele]

Waaah, no burning pretty things ...

[mokenju1]

Hmmm... it has an explanation.

The ninots of the Fallas usually represent what is going bad in our society (corrupts politicians, environmental problems, that kind of disgusting things.). At the side of each ninot there's a little poster that explains the meaning of the ninot with sarcastic lines in verse .So when we burn the falla is with the wish that those things also disappear with their ninots .

But the ninots of the Fallas for children have not that meaning of public denunciation. They are only made to be beautiful. And it's really a shame that they are also burned, but we can't preserve all of them... because if we did it there would be no place for people (bear in mind that we make thousands and thousands of ninots in Valencia every year.)

[monele]

Okay, wow... crazyness ^^. I'd have a hard time seeing my art burnt ^^; but eh, at least *some* of them are kept

[lordcloudx]

Whoo nice! Thanks for the pics. makes me wanna draw an anime version of those um ninot indul-something?

Hehe. No offense meant. btw, is that pronounced as falyas?

speaking of festivals, we're gonna be having our own "semana santa" or holy week in english soon. I think it's a Spanish term, since we use a lot of spanish words in our language.

[mokenju1]

Hehe. No offense meant. btw, is that pronounced as falyas?

speaking of festivals, we're gonna be having our own "semana santa" or holy week in english soon. I think it's a Spanish term, since we use a lot of spanish words in our language.

The correct pronuntiation of fallas would be something as fayas (with the two "a" sounding as in the word "carpenter" or the music note "fa" and the "y" sounding as in "yesterday".) In valenciano (that is the dialect of Valencia) we could them falles that would sound the two english words fa(again the musical note "fa") and the word "yes": fa-yes.

And yes, that year in Spain, Fallas and Semana Santa are very near one from each other in time (Semana Santa as you would probably now depends on the Cuaresma,etc, but Fallas are always at the same day so some years there's a couple of weaks between them and some years they are almost together). La Semana Santa most famous and visited of Spain is the one from Andalucia and although I haven't been there myself it has to be beautiful, because the Andalucia's people are really "believers" and they sing touching songs to the Virgin Mary (They sometimes even cry ). And I hadn't the least idea that in Filipinas you also had a "semana santa" . It's interesting how some traditions still persists although all the time that has passed since we were there .

[lordcloudx]

Thanks. That was informative. We still have many umm... pseudo-spanish practices. Such as holding fiestas for individual saints etc. Ya well your people were the ones who colonized us for years and years and also first brought Catholicism to us according to textbooks (although it's probably skewed against spain and in favor of filipino heroism nobody believes that stuff hook line and sinker anymore anywayz.)

We also have this wierd practice of crucifying someone literally and self-flagellation (or so they call it) which is kinda connected to catholicism.

hehe we also use the same spanish words to say sonuva.... etc. all over the Philippines. And it's considered a very strong insult.

edit: my family name is also spanish. Mirasol for "look at the sun"

[mokenju1]

Thanks. That was informative. We still have many umm... pseudo-spanish practices. Such as holding fiestas for individual saints etc. Ya well your people were the ones who colonized us for years and years and also first brought Catholicism to us according to textbooks (although it's probably skewed against spain and in favor of filipino heroism nobody believes that stuff hook line and sinker anymore anywayz.)

Yep, it's not like people really likes to be colonizated and "converted to the true religion", Monele can tell you what happened when Napoleon send his brother to be our king (although the fact that the french could enter our country was enterely our own king's fault, he was a very stupid,stupid man) . Even with latino american countries whom with we share great bonds for the language and so on, many people there still thinks of us as "that people who came here to enslave us and get our gold", and they are probably right (but when we talk with them they say Spain is their "Madre Patria"="Mother native country" ).

We also have this wierd practice of crucifying someone literally and self-flagellation (or so they call it) which is kinda connected to catholicism.

I have seen that on tv, but I didn't know that was a Filipinas' practice. And it's kind of... . I'm not even a Catholic in the strict sense, so when I see that the only thing I can say is that maybe they are going a little too far...

hehe we also use the same spanish words to say sonuva.... etc. all over the Philippines. And it's considered a very strong insult.

edit: my family name is also spanish. Mirasol for "look at the sun"

Sonuva?. What does that mean?. I have never heard it. And another question, in Filipinas you still have two family names (first father's family name and then mother's family name) or you have only one like Anglo-saxons people?

[lordcloudx]

Yup, my ppl are the ones doing that self-mutilation all in the name of catholicism.

hmm hehe I was trying to obscure the words. I meant we also use the spanish term to say "son of a bi... (insert last three letters here)" or iho de... um insert last word here too

We do it like the americans. Our civil laws are almost identical to U.S. laws. We carry the initial of our mother's family name before our father's family name.

[monele]

Monele can tell you what happened when Napoleon send his brother to be our king

Nope, but that's because I'm bad at history ^^;;... I'm curious now, though ^^. We probably got kicked out ^^;...

[mokenju1]

Monele can tell you what happened when Napoleon send his brother to be our king

Nope, but that's because I'm bad at history ^^;;... I'm curious now, though ^^. We probably got kicked out ^^;...

Well, we don't speak french here monele so... yes, you were kicked out . What happened was that Napoleon said to our king "Hey, that portuguese people... you also hate them why don't you let me cross your contry to attack them. It can be good for our two countries". And the king who was really stupid said "Of course, go ahead.". But then when he noticed that french soldiers were established in Spanish territory without going to Portugal he said "Hmmm... I'm a little confussed. Why does it look like France has invade us?" I think Bonaparte in his grave has to be still laughing. Something similar happened with Gibraltar, you know Spain is different, we really enjoy(ed) having the least qualified people in the government .

One thing interesting about that invasion was that some Spanish people really thought that it was good for our country that we could have a French king, because they were tired of the absolutist monarchy (they longed for the Enlightenment...).

[monele]

Lol XD... yeah, sounds like our ways all right . It's all good until others notice, then we get our asses kicked ^^;

[Laveil Kurtis]

Good history lessons, mokenju1. But it's not the king's fault, it was the Prime Minister Godoy's fault, who approved the french soldiers to go through Spain to invade Portugal in exchange for territories.

Later, Napoleon called king Carlos IV and prince Fernando VII to make them abdicate the throne and put his own brother to the throne.

But it's not like the king and the prince were captured and thrown into dungeons. It's the opposite: They were in france living a magnificent life.

After the independance war, prince Fernando VII went to the throne. It is actually considered to be the worst spanish king ever. But that's another story.

Something that I learned about the last few hundred years, is that the politicians were incredibly stupid. During the XIX and XX century, Spain was the most underdeveloped country in europe and was always in crisis with constant wars and battles, including a long period of dictatorship.

[PyTom]

...including a long period of dictatorship.

And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

[mokenju1]

Good history lessons, mokenju1. But it's not the king's fault, it was the Prime Minister Godoy's fault, who approved the french soldiers to go through Spain to invade Portugal in exchange for territories.

Later, Napoleon called king Carlos IV and prince Fernando VII to make them abdicate the throne and put his own brother to the throne.

But it's not like the king and the prince were captured and thrown into dungeons. It's the opposite: They were in france living a magnificent life.

Ok, maybe was Godoy's fault, but Carlos IV still was very stupid. You only have to see one of the portraits Goya painted of him to know it . Napoleon despised him and all the Spanish royal family (and history has proved that he had good reasons to do so).

It's not strange that Goya was one of the "afrancesados" (people who wanted a french turn in the Spanish polithics), it would have been funny to know what Goya was thinking when the king was posing for him (but maybe the portrait it's worth a thousand words ).

And maybe they were not in a jail, but I'm sure Carlos IV must have been desolated in France. Probably thinking every day about what went wrong and why they were not governing anymore .

After the independance war, prince Fernando VII went to the throne. It is actually considered to be the worst spanish king ever. But that's another story.

Of course, Fernando VII "The Desired". Again, you only have to see his face in a portrait to know that the only thing that could qualify him to be our king was that he was Spanish .

And that raises the interesting question of why people in Spain are so "happy" with our monarchy. The Borbones can't gobern in France after what happened in their Revolution (although I think Luis Alfonso de Borbon is one of the main candidates of the french monarchists to the non-existent french throne). So we still have a monarchy, thing that it's stupid in the first place, and then even the royal family is not a Spanish one .

And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

Are you waiting that he returns from his grave anytime soon?. We don't have to worry about that. Only one gaze to our actual president and he would be instantly destroyed like an undead touched by the sunlight .