Trivia Game

1. Why would there be tour busses parked on half of the streets around Retiro Park (about one and a half miles) on the first Saturday of February (which happened to be a cool and cloudy day)?

2. What question did I refuse to answer that my high school students asked me the first day I taught English?

3. What is my roommate’s sister’s name?

4. What three publications/literary works are translated more than any other?


Hints:

1. People of all ages were getting out of the tour busses, but they were all Spanish.

2. It has to do with politics.

3. It’s more than four names (which is typical… my roommate’s name is María José López Saez).

4. One is a literary work, one is not, and the other is what you think it is.


Answers:

1. There was a protest, of course! Yes, it was a family affair… even kids were running around with flags. They were protesting the current president’s stance on negotiations with ETA (a terrorist group from Northern Spain that wants the Basque country to be independent). Zapatero, the current president from the socialist party, is open to negotiating with ETA and many Spaniards disagree with this decision. So… what do they do? Protest, of course!

2. Did you vote for Bush? No comment.

3. Luisa María, Del Pilar, Del Carmen, Del Perpetuo Socorro Calletana de Jesús de Todos los Santos López Saez. I’M NOT KIDDING. I’ve never met anyone with commas in their name before. My roommate calls her “Tata” because when she was little she couldn’t say her name… gee, I wonder why!

4. The most-translated publication WAS the Bible, and then Don Quijote, but now it’s 1) Ikea Catalog, 2) The Bible, and 3) Don Quijote (according to my Don Quijote prof… who is wicked smart).