a wandering woman writes

Monday, August 13, 2007

Hankering

han·ker (hngkr)
intr.v. han·kered, han·ker·ing, han·kers
To have a strong, often restless desire.

-American Heritage dictionary


It's August in Salamanca.

And I've got a hankering to be somewhere else, a coast maybe. Somewhere. Out celebrating August with the rest of Spain's population.

Lately, I've had a hankering to write in Spanish. A story, an article. A journal. Something. It's a stubborn hankering.

A fabulous pottery exhibit in Caja Duero's gallery off the Plaza de los Bandos has me hankering to play with clay again. Right here at the kitchen table, coiling, if that's how it has to be for now.

I haven't yet mentioned this to the fine clients who pay the rent, but I've got one hell of a hankering to do the Camino de Santiago this fall. Start to finish.

And a sail. A sail. Oh, am I hankering to head out for a sail.

I have a hankering to see three tiny Americans I've barely met since they showed up to live with friends of mine, their parents. That might just be a hankering to make up long, detailed monster stories and head out to the park to climb foot high boulders and howl like we've just conquered Everest.

I've got a hankering to see Asturias and Galicia's Costa de la Muerte. Today.

I'll be back to blog, I promise. Soon as I figure out what to do with all these hankerings.

Labels:

posted by Erin at 10:09 PM

18 Comments:

  • One of my best friends in Spain just did the Camino de Santiago. Well worth it, she said.

    As for your other hankerings... hey, they all sound good. Just prioritize. Asturias and Galicia are wonderful in the summer. You get the beaches but it's cool enough to sleep well at night. I do understand the feeling of being land-locked in July and August; in fact I just posted about teaching English in Madrid in the summer, where, as the old song goes, Vaya, vaya, aquí no hay playa...

    So get thee to the coast. And then write poetry in Spanish about it.
    :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:30 AM  

  • I've had a hankering to do the Camino for the past 4 years. I've helped organize a big gathering/conference on it here in Toronto in 2005 and met sooo many wonderful people who have done it. I've promised myself I'll do it when I finish my thesis. It would be a good thing to do after finishing my degree...

    As for writing in Spanish, just do it! I kept a journal in Spanish when I was in Spain. You should made have a second blog or write the odd post in spanish on this same blog. It would be great! and some of us could comment in Spanish ;)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:44 AM  

  • Muy buenas noches, mujer viajera... (o es que prefieres mujer errante???)

    I have been lurking here for a while, enjoying your marvelous observations on Spain and lingering in those delightful voyeuristic moments that you provide us all...

    Like several other visitors, I too, know Salamanca, having studied there for a semester back in 1993. Sometimes it seems like yesterday, sometimes it seems like forever ago.

    And as for hankering? You have me planning my trip already, despite the $0 in my bank account.

    Thanks for encouraging us all to dream. : )

    Heidi

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:03 AM  

  • Can I just say I really like the people who visit this blog? All three of you rock.

    Heidi! Welcome! SO that was you, lurking? Thanks for coming out in the open. I'll look forward to meeting you once you get that trip planned... Thank you, thank you for the kind comment.

    By Blogger Erin, at 11:07 PM  

  • Sounds like time for hankers aweigh!!!!

    By Blogger Payasoru, at 11:45 PM  

  • I remember the "Vaya Vaya. Aqui no hay playa" song! (Hombres G maybe?) Mushy memories of bares de copas with a bunch of twenty something Madrilenos proudly responding "Y que? Y que?" But August is definitely a month to hanker for a beach . . . I can relate as I type this from Kansas City.

    When you all decide to walk the Camino, let me know. My husband (El Irlandes) and I said we were going to do it the year we turned 40 and we're already two years behind schedule. (We hadn't factored in the "what do we do with the little kids" question.)

    Someday . . . . maybe right before we open our cute little B&B somewhere perfect in Spain ;-)

    Ann in KC

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:01 AM  

  • It's Los Refrescos actually, 1989:

    Aqui No Hay Playa Lyrics


    Podéis tener Retiro, Casa Campo y Ateneo,
    podéis tener mil cines, mil teatros, mil museos.
    Podéis tener Corrala, organillos y chulapas.

    Pero al llegar agosto, ¡vaya, vaya!
    Aquí no hay playa,
    ¡vaya, vaya!
    no hay playa,
    ¡vaya, vaya!

    Podéis decir a gritos que es la capital de Europa,
    podéis ganar la Liga, podéis ganar la Copa.
    Afirmaréis seguros que es la capital de España.

    Podéis tener hipódromo, Jarama y Complutense,
    y al lado la Moncloa donde siguen los de siempre.

    Podéis tener al mando del imperio en vuestras manos,
    pero al llegar agosto y el verano.

    Podéis tener la tele y los 40 Principales,
    podéis tener las Cortes, organismos oficiales,
    el Oso y el Madroño, Cibeles, Torrespaña...
    ¡Escucha, Leguina!

    Podéis tener movida ¡hace tiempo!
    movida promovida por el Ayuntamiento,
    podéis rogar a Tierno
    o a Barranco o al que haya...


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjWTzVSCWg

    Oh Lord, that's some bad 80s Europop. But it was great after mil copas.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:56 AM  

  • Oh, Wanderer! How you stir up so much hankering in me.
    I feel like a hummingbird with clipped wings... And it hurts!!!

    As Payasuro says: "Hankers aweigh!"

    By Blogger Cream, at 10:49 AM  

  • LOL. YES, Payasuro. YES. Hanker's aweigh it is. That's my new motto. Hanker's Aweigh. (Not a bad name for a blog either, is it? )

    Oh, cream you poor little hummingbird, I missed the part where your wings are clipped! And all that wandering I've been reading about in your posts? (or do you just have hankering to golf, lol?)

    Can't believe you found the lyrics Ann. Yep, I've heard that and heard plenty of Spaniards well out of their 20s answer. Nothing age related about heartily enjoying those tacky tunes late on a Spanish dance floor.

    By Blogger Erin, at 9:46 PM  

  • All the wandering I've been doing is just a series of reconnaissance outings to find the anchor I hanker for.
    Marrakesh is my latest love.
    And they do have great golf courses, too!

    By Blogger Cream, at 10:01 PM  

  • Ann in KC, I had wanted to walk the Camino at 40 and I am 2 years behind schedule as well! When you come up with a solution for the "what do we do with the little kids", let me know, PLEASE!
    Maybe we will all meet up when we are 45 and take that "walk".

    Laduque

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:25 AM  

  • oh, what a heart felt post - full of love of life, love of touching everything in life - may your hankerings come true - soon!

    By Blogger Gardenia, at 12:31 PM  

  • thank you gardenia! yeh, I've got a hankering to make these more than mere hankerings....

    By Blogger Erin, at 11:59 AM  

  • Hi, nice blog :)

    www.comunicando.ilcannocchiale.it

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:49 PM  

  • This is a cool blog! I hope you still celebrate your decision to come to live in Spain. I encourage you to give the step to start writing texts in Spanish. My blog Small World is bilingual (English/Spanish). In it you'll find basically the insider's viewpoint on Madrid, it's hidden treasures, what to do, and how it compares to other beautiful cities in the world. Feel welcome to drop by, I would love to see you there, Wandering Woman & friends!

    By Blogger Rebeca, at 1:52 PM  

  • Hey Anon, welcome, and thanks. Rebeca, I will be by to see you; I could use Madrid tips. I've been shamelessly MIA..working on one of those hankerings..oneI think I just might get done here soon, but I'm back online and will be over to check out your bravely bilingual blog. Thanks a bunch for the comment!!

    By Blogger Erin, at 10:51 PM  

  • HOla,

    me encanta the word hankering, I´m glad I´m not the only one who spends her days with the hankering feeling..Love your blog, you should write a post in spanish or spanglish..seria muy divertido,

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:39 PM  

  • Hola nuria, fellow hankerer! I love the word too, and the feeling. I don't know if I'll post here in Spanish, lots of folks who read me couldn't read it..but maybe a little side blog.. I actually write well in Spanish, and a lot.. but always just emails, contracts, proposals, reports...for clients. So it ends up being cold English style SPanish....I'd like to write stuff like I write here in Spanish...hmmmm
    thanks for the comment!

    By Blogger Erin, at 7:50 PM  

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