Loco Por Lorca

CHOVE EN SANTIAGO
meu doce amor.
Camelia branca do ar
brila entebrecida ó sol.
.....

It´s raining in Santiago

Tá sé ag sileadh báistí ar Santiago

The Irish Embassy in Madrid hosted a remarkable celebration on April 7^th 2018 in La Residencia de Estudiantes, the place where Federico García Lorca lived and studied.

His poems were recited beautifully in Spanish, English and Irish and this one in gallego.

Not everyone knows that there are six poems published by Lorca in galego and that he allowed himself to be immersed in the songs and music of this ancient rainy green Celtic land.

Ascen escribe…

La lectura de Poemas de F. Garcia Lorca, siempre producen gran emoción, pero si además lo acompañamos con música, resulta mágico. 

Me ha encantado la celebración del aniversario que se ha realizado en la Escuela Libre de Enseñanza.

Gracias.

A. Bartolome. ASEDOW 

The poets Beatriz Villacañas, Theo Dorgan and Keith Payne who read were accompanied by four musicians, two from Ireland, two from Spain and the initiative was funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

And so this, the project of musician Cormac Juan came into being. Cormac Juan composed a wonderful foxtrot that he named Foxtrot de García Lorca, imagining that Federico might have been  moved to dance to this popular sound of the 1930s. The tribute will travel all over Spain and Ireland too.

There was a gathering of wonderful talent here in Madrid at the weekend . 

´The blend of Hispano- Irish traditional and contemporary creativity seems particularly appropriate as a tribute to García Lorca´ to quote the Ambassador Síle Maguire who was happily accompanied by the Irish poet and playwright, Paula Meehan and by the Irish author and Hispanist, Ian Gibson.

THEY ARE CELEBRATING THE 120^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE POET AND PLAYWRIGHT.

Federico García Lorca was born in Granada on 5^th June 1898.

Easter Break

Enjoy your Easter break.Our talks took us from Egypt to Tibet and from Guatamala to Japan. We look forward to hearing more of your  stories in Part 2 of  Travelling Tales.
Universidad Popular Wednesday 4th April.

Carry on!

Tommy Sands, folk singer and civil rights activist from Northern Ireland  came back to San Sebastián De Los Reyes and sang to a packed hall in El Caserón on Friday.  Many remember the cultural  exchange trip to his hometown of Rostrevor, County Down where dancers from Sanse participated in the local festival called Fiddlers Green and The Sands family and Irish dancers came to San Sebastián De Los Reyes twenty five years ago.

Los Viernes De La Tradición are organized  by La Universidad Popular in la Plaza De La Constitución. These free concerts are widely acknowledged in the music world as a precious  gem.

Friday was no exception. Tommy and his wife Catherine, who acted as his interpreter, explained each song and its context in the troubled history of Northern Ireland.

Alone on the stage with his guitar and tin whistle, he was never alone because he brought us  friends, children, politicians, family, cats and dogs, TV news, dark country roads and lashing rain through his stories and songs.

Persistently pushing politicians through his music to use their power to bring peace to the people and the persistent belief that peace is possible, when it seemed impossible, the Good Friday agreement was signed twenty years ago.  His message to them now is the same as twenty years ago.

CARRY ON!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94RgWPUCdBM&feature=share

Nice Irish weather for St Patrick´s weekend

The pouring rain did not deter us from celebrating it with our pub quiz. 
Eleven of us turned up and the teams achieved a good score.
There is always a bit of dispute over the winners when the contest is so close and this was no exception.
The important thing is that we enjoyed it and took something away as we  brushed up our general knowledge.Our thanks to the bar Con 1 Par. It was a good place to have it.
Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures but sure, the next time we will.

One question that stumped both teams was the name of the county town in Fermanagh where Oscar Wilde went to school.
The answer is Enniskillen. Here are some  pictures of me there on a nice rainy day.
The map shows the importance of rail travel in those days. Boys travelled there by train from all over Ireland.

View from the windows above

March 14th

We will begin the St Patrick´s Day celebrations with a pub quiz.

Join us!

MARCH 8TH

WOMEN STAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S DAY 2018

GOING VEGAN

An animal eats more food than it provides as meat. Animal agriculture uses up too much of the

world´s most precious natural resource, water.

So maybe it is time to rethink our eating habits, which would mean eating less meat and more plants.

To join our talks, write to us at asedow@gmail.com 

Universidad Popular Primera planta, San Sebastián De Los Reyes 

Wednesday 7th March 2018

18h         for general  chit chat and info about our assocaiation

18.30h    for the discussion

TALKS

We have the use of a room in Universidad Popular San Sebastián De Los Reyes.
On Wednesdays  we meet to exchange viewpoints on different themes in English. 
We also have a good selection of books and dvds.

Nos reuniremos próximamente para charlar sobre estos temas en inglés.

FEB 28th
BOOKS
March 7th
GOING VEGAN
MARCH 14th 
PUB QUIZ  in a local bar. Our St Patrick´s Day celebration

If you would like to join us, write to asedow@gmail.com. 

St. Patrick´s Day

SHAMROCK

Falta poco para la celebración del día de San Patricio, que como todos sabéis es el próximo día 17 de marzo. Como siempre procederemos a realizar unas actividades para este día y para ello queremos contar con vuestras ideas y aportaciones. .
Este año como contamos con un lugar físico para poder reunirnos, podríamos quedar en nuestra sede y realizar juegos como un concurso con divertidas preguntas o un “pub quiz” También podríamos dar un paseo y acabar en un pub para tomar unos refrescos en honor al Santo! Las posibilidades son infinitas, y ya hemos hecho intercambio de libros, lecturas compartidas en la biblioteca Central, concurso de relatos infantiles y también de adultos…… Os toca a vosotros elegir o sugerir! Si tenéis una buena idea compartirla y nos ponemos en marcha. Os esperamos a todos/as.

Relax and enjoy the movie

Hi.

On Wednesday 21st we will continue with our film theme and finish watching the film Me Before You  starring Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin and Charles Dance.

How about this for a topic? BOOKS! Where to start? We will begin our discussion about that on Wednesday too.

See you then.
For more info write to us at asedow@gmail.com

Sketch from the Marx Brothers