same shit, different country
a narrow, quaint street in Besalu, not far from Banyoles, which hosted the rowing events for the '92 olympics. was admiring the cathedral when i hear the distinctive sound of two cats going at it. it's my first day in spain and i'm being greeted by the same shit i've got at home: squalling cats.
but this squall's a long one and T, L and i walk around the corner to investigate. the confrontation's taking place in a flat on the 3rd floor, which i guess is the 2nd if you're a spaniard. apparently freaked out by the noise and fighting, a third cat darts out the french doors and leaps atop the wrought iron rail enclosing the flat's balcony. it wobbles there, contemplating the leap across the street to a quieter, safer spot.
-- i don't think they're fighting, T posited. i think they're makin' luuuuuuuuuv.
if that's love, i want no part of it, and neither does the wobbly cat. i'm rooting for it to attempt the jump. maybe it won't make it and maybe there will be one less cat in the world. i edge closer with my camera.
the love inside is painful and LONG. wobbly cat gives up on the jump and settles into a precarious crouch on the 2-inch thick rail. i'm not going to get it in motion, so i settle for a shot of the cat from below. the shutter clicks and i take a step to rejoin T and L when something strikes my forearm. something warm, hard and a bit tacky. i stare at the nugget on the ground and sniff my arm to confirm. there are no little kids chucking stuff from windows, and the inside cats have not overturned the litter box. there's no explanation other than the fact i've just been shit on by the cat on the railing.
apparently my reputation runs far and wide.
4 comments:
With malice aforethought I'd wager. Was your trip fabulous? Do you feel energised and full of 'what ho!' Now?
it was pretty fab, though travelling w/other ppl vastly changes the experience, b/c you interact primarily with them whereas if you're solo, you interact more w/the locals -- & i prefer the latter.
OTOH, the catalonians i encountered struck me as rather a dour lot. i don't expect them to burble enthusiastically, but i do kinda expect that if you greet a stranger w/a hello & smile, you'll get a similar response. not much smiling, tho. ??
i do love catalonians' stubborn independence streak. can you esplain, though, the meaning behind the banners proclaiming "No MAT" and showing the catalonian donkey kicking what appears to be an electric tower? i assume it's got something to do w/this month's referendum, but what's MAT and what's the tower??
Catalonian and smiling?..ahahahahahahahahahah, oh dearie me, no. Unless of course you're giving them money, then they smile aplenty. Go to Valencia for smiling, or Seville (very like the Irish, drunkards into having a dood time)
I think MAT 'Molt Alta Tensió' something to do with higher pylons wires and nuclear energy-but I could be wrong. I exect is is some Spanish company they object to, Catalonia is NOT SPAIN! Apprently-according to much graffiti.
ta v much for the clarification! i'm glad it was life in general, not my visage in particular, that contributes to catalonian grumpiness, though how you can live in such a beautiful country with such gorgeous weather and remain grumpy is beyond my ken...
Post a Comment