Columbus Day

It's a national holiday in Spain. There is a big military parade reviewed by the king and the government ministers. It's going on as I write this -- Read more. Several flights of aircraft have just gone overhead -- my school (which continues to hold classes) is just a few hundred feet from the parade route.

There is a teenaged Unkranian refugee in my class. I can't imagine he is very thriled by the aircraft flyovers, which we heard all last week as the planes practiced. He's not present today.

We had a short discussion in class about whether our national days -- there are students from several countries -- resemble this military parade. Each of us managed the words to deplore such a waste of money.

But why are they doing it on October 12? Because Columbus! The official name of the day is El dia de la fiesta nacionál. It's also known as Dia de la raza. In this case "raza" doesn't refer to "the people" as it does in California, but to "the race" -- that is, the "Spanish race." So that, combined with the nation that Columbus discovered American today, tells you the character of the day.

In class, the instructor showed this satirical video: