AMERICA (Part I), in English

Last week we went with the family and friends to a Rodeo Fair in Canby, Oregon. It was like in the movies, with cowboys trying to ride crazy horses and bulls, tie down roping individually or in teams or even cowgirls competing in a barrel racing. The two hours an a half went by pretty fast. Thinking a bit about the experience, a Rodeo illustrates 2 of of the most common features of the this country: Patriotism and Show Business.

-At the beginning of the event, of course, they played the national anthem, it was performed by a cowgirl and she sang really well, stayed in tune all the time and the audience was in respectful silence until almost the very end when, as often, some started to yell without much control. I guess it is no news for anybody here if I say that americans are patriotic though there are some more radicals ('We are the nation chosen by God") while others are less extreme ("hey, we are the most powerful nation in the world, we must have done something right")...in general, I would say that people are really proud of having born in the USA. To the Spaniards who might read these lines (not sure why I translate this part into English...) I would recommend them to not try to create analogies with our society, not very patriotic for the most part; it is just a fruitless exercise... if in the next 200 years we become again the World's Powerful Nation and, by the way, we figure out the lyrics for our anthem... perhaps then we might start to hear it proudly before any Soccer game of la Liga.

-Show and Business, two words that could be printed in the american dollar bills. Any public event organized in the USA usually is entertaining, even the Mass in a Catholic Church, can you imagine this.... In my first years living here, I thought that it was simply an ADN matter (it was in their blood..) but then I realized, because I experienced it in my work, that it is just a matter of planning and preparation (in other words, tones of rehearsals). It comes to my mind something that happened a few year ago during the NBA All Stars weekend when Rudy Fernandez was invited to the Slam Dunk competition and he asked Marc Gasol to help him. The whole exercise didn't work out and I still remember what a TV commentator said, in a mocking tone: "What an amateur display". In that moment it offended me the negative comments of those guys (not sure if it was Shaquille or Barkley or both) against two of the most successful spanish athletes in the last decades, however, with some perspective I actually came to understand what they meant. I have the impression, that we, Spaniards, need to learn a lot in this ground. The organization of the rodeo was impeccable, the transitions between different events were fast and the mix of action and jokes made it a really nice evening (there was a 'serious' MC and a sort of clown who actually was very funny...)

-And of course, the Business...,before and after the Rodeo, the place was surrounded by carts offering all type of foods and drinks (in a Far West Rodeo, it is just fine to offer Indian or Japanese food as long as there is a consumer willing to pay of it). ' Money Talks' in the USA, laud and clear. I will let it here for now...