Chirigota groupie: Cadiz Carnaval 2013

This past week was Cadiz Carnaval, or as one of my friends put it; the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. What could be better than day after day of dressing up, letting go of reality, and hitting the streets with your friends? It almost gives the Biblical phrase, "Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we shall die" a literal meaning for me. The entire week I ate, drank, and was merry and now I am in bed with a fever feeling like I am going to die. I wouldn't take it back for the world. However, for me its not so much the partying that calls my attention as the pure arte gaditano in the form of singing groups (chirigotas, comparsas, coros, quartets, etc) that compete for weeks leading up to carnaval then spend the entire week performing all throughout the streets. 

While many of the chirigotas are difficult to understand at first (they are full of local jokes and colloquialisms that even other Spaniards from outside of Cadiz have difficulty catching), one of my favorite pastimes is choosing a few quality groups and learning their songs. With the help of my Spanish peeps who translate from local Spanish in actual Spanish I have been able to get a good grip on a few of the chirigotas, and have come up with what I consider to be the 3 main elements of a chirigota:  

1. Politics 
Arguably the most important part of the chirigotas, you can't miss the chance to take a jab at Rajoy (Prime Minister of Spain), King Juan Carlos, the mayor, or basically any governmental or administrative office. The theme of 2013 seems to be Rajoy and his recortes, or budget cuts. The people especially bemoan the cuts in education and healthcare, furious that a ride in an ambulance now costs 5 euro as opposed to being free like before. (FIVE euros. I'm sometimes tempted to mention that its $500+ in the USA, but then what's the point of starting the typical USA vs SPAIN conversation?) 
With budget cuts being a hot topic this year, it makes sense that one of the most popular groups uses their chorus to respond loud and clear to Rajoy's cutbacks by telling him to "recortate un huevo". 

See those scissors, Rajoy? Better watch out. 

2. La Crisis
It's sad but true; the economic crisis in Spain is constantly at the top of everybody's mind. This is especially true in Cadiz, whom people have lovingly nicknamed "Capital iberamericano del desempleo", Iberian capital of unemployment. They sing about not being able to buy food for their families, about families losing their houses to the bank, and about not being paid at work. As the chorus of another group spells it out loud and clear:

Superamos los recortes de Rajoy y Zapatero
Superamos con el Cadiz por lo menos seis descensos 
Superamos al fin del mundo pero mas difícil va a ser;
Superar en 2013 al final del mes!


ROUGHLY translated:
We can overcome the cutbacks of Rajoy and Zapatero
We can deal with six relegations of the Cadiz soccer team
We can even reach the end of the world, but its going to be even more difficult to:
Make it to the end of the month (or next paycheck) in 2013!

Watch it here (0:44):

Chirigota video

Highway to Cadiz: city of unemployment

3. R-rated material
Yes, a chirigota wouldn't be complete without the smattering of jokes that make prim and proper people blush and try to hide their laugh, and leaves gaditanos rolling on the floor with laughter. You can count on at least one joke about the male anatomy, and this year '50 Shades of Gray' makes multiple appearances. There's no need for more details... Lets just say that considering the other main topics of the chirigota, this provides much needed pure comic relief. It also shows the thin line that Spaniards constantly walk between funny and inappropriate. 

*gasp* did they really just say that??

All in all, I had a really great time enjoying the essence of Carnaval and basically becoming chirigota groupie #1:

Cadiz 3020: Los que acabaron el segundo puente

Los erasmus pocos y pario la abuela

Cadiz 3020: Los que acabaron el segundo puente

Las autenticas 

Los cabrones

Los erasmus pocos y pario la abuela

Los recortaos

Learning English with Party Games

Admittedly, teaching middle schoolers is not my preferred line of work (gasp!). I don’t envision myself doing it in the future, but here in Spain it’s a necessity. That being said, I might as well have fun with it, right? As my Dad would say, MTBOI. Make the best of it.

In my attempt to MTBOI, I have developed a collection of FUN ways to teach various skills. As I like to call it;

~Learning English with party games~

Yes, party games. Amazing, I've found one for almost every verb tense that I've taught, its just a matter of searching and brainstorming. Here there are - categorized by target skill! You are welcome.

Present Simple:

Who am I?

Players tape a piece of paper on their forehead with the name of a celebrity so that the rest of the group can see the name. They take turns asking yes/no questions about their unknown person to the rest of the class, such as; “Am I American? Do I make movies?” The first person to correctly guess their person wins. 

Present Continuous:

“I’m going to China and I’m bringing…”

The first person says, “I’m going to China and I’m bringing a (word beginning in A).” The next person continues, saying the first phrase and adding a word beginning with B, etc. It’s a childish, but this game can be fun if the kids get creative.

Past Simple of to be and Past Continuous:

Mafia

This has been one of the most popular games that I introduced in my class. Usually played with a deck of cards, I play with two “mafia”, two “detectives” and two “doctors” who I have chosen. The mafia have to choose who to kill while the rest of the “townspeople” are sleeping, and the detectives have to try to figure out who the mafia is before everyone is killed.  The children accuse one another of being the mafia, and the accused has to defend him or herself by answering the questions, “Where were you last night?” (past simple with to be) and “What were you doing last night?” (past continuous). The main downfall to this game is that players cheat, and they look around while they are supposed to be sleeping.

Present Perfect:

Two truths and a lie

This was another very successful game, in which I actually saw surprisingly good creativity. Taking turns coming to the board, students must write down 3 sentences about themselves in the present perfect. I.e. I have lived in America, I have ridden a motorcycle,… However, two must be true and one must be false. The other students then attempt to guess the false statement, saying; “You have never ridden a motorcycle.” After all the students have attempted to guess the false statement, the student reveals the answer and whoever guessed correctly receives one point. If nobody guesses correctly, the student who wrote the sentences receives a point.

Never have I ever (classroom appropriate)

There are various ways to play this game, the most common being holding up 5 or 10 fingers to begin and going around in a circle. However, I like to have all the students stand up to begin. The person who is “it” comes to the front of the classroom and begins eliminating students with true statements about himself in the negative present perfect. (“I have never swum in the ocean.”) Any student who has done the thing must sit down. The student continues making statements until only one person is left standing, and that person then becomes “it”.

Future with will:

M.A.S.H.

This is more of a middle school lunchroom game than a party game, but it turned out hilarious with my students and got enthusiastic participation. Do I really have to explain how to play?? Any Americans who grew up in the 90s have definitely played their fair share of MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House).  On the board or a piece of paper you must write MASH at the top of the page, and below you put categories such as spouse, city, job, pet, car, etc. Under each category you put four words, and it is more fun if at least one of them is ridiculous, such as alligator for pet or Brad Pitt for spouse. Decide on a “magic number”, then beginning with the M on MASH you begin counting and eliminating every word that lands on the “magic number” until you are left with one word in each category. Students then share the results saying; “I will marry Brad Pitt, I will live in Cadiz, I will be a teacher, etc.” It’s almost always hilarious and students practice future predictions with will.

Vocabulary, general skills:

Scattegories

Sometimes students can be surprising- in a good way. My students blew me away with the words they were able to come up with in Scattegories. For this game, categories are pre-chosen by the teacher (jobs, household items, verbs, etc). For each round there is a different letter chosen, and students have 2 minutes to think of words to fit the category that begin with the chosen letter. You can play as many rounds as you wish, using the same categories every time.

Draw, write, draw, write

Begin with a large piece of paper divided into sections horizontally. At the top section, students write a sentence (“The cow jumped over the moon”) Everyone  then passes the paper to their neighbor, who reads the sentence and below draws a picture of the sentence. Before they pass the paper again, they must fold it so that ONLY their drawing is visible. The next student then looks at the drawing and writes a sentence based on that drawing. (“The cow jumped over the moon” might become “The horse is skipping”). They then pass the paper, covering up the drawing above, so the next person ONLY sees what the previous person has written. The paper continuous around the circle like this, and it is hilarious to see how the sentence changes.