It's a wise child that knows its own father

It's a Wise Child That Knows It's Own Father


I have been 'Man Not In Álora' for three weeks now  and I'm starting to miss the place a lot so I've had a look at the website of the ayuntamiento (town hall) to see what's been going on in my absence.
http://www.alora.es/Inicio/Default.asp

It's good to go through the photos and pick  out familiar faces. 'Look,  there's Mario. What's he doing there?' 'I didn't know Pablo had anything to do with the town council.' and so on.
The main headline today is:

"About 400 schoolchildren take part in the 'Pepe Rosas' Villancicos meeting. "



This is the eighth annual Christmas event where the schools get together to sing traditional Christmas songs (villancicos)  in honour of  Pepe Rosas the local folklorist and expert on Verdiales music and dancing who died in 2008. There is a street in Álora named after him, Calle Folclorico Pepe Rosas.

 

                                                                   Pepe Rosas
I have just found this short film about him on YouTube. Some of the footage is quite old and shows Pepe and Alora in the 50s or 60s. It also shows children singing villancicos and verdiales dancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=7WH7XY6urGA&NR=1

Here's another shorter film;

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

Pepe lost his sight a few years before his death.

I was introduced to him  in 2000 by Conchi Vila who was a close friend of Pepe and had a shop on the corner of  Paseo Martos. Pepe spent a lot of time sitting in Conchi's shop, which sold upmarket Moroccan stuff. In earlier years Pepe would go to Morocco to buy items for the shop. He always wore a flat cap and in winter a Burberry scarf; the same one he is wearing in the shorter film. Pepe spoke no English but had visited many countries including the USA and Japan in the 60s and 70s presenting the Verdiales of Alora to the world.

 He was always ready for a chat. I can't say that I understood it all but he would clutch my arm in Conchi's shop, and speak,  in a conspiratorial tone, about the years  of the Franco dictatorship. He once told me that he had been very friendly with one of the putas of the town. He used to sit with her in Cafe Central in  La Plaza de la Fuente Arriba watching the comings and goings in the square. She would point out this or that businessman, politician or policeman and describe his sexual preferences, performance and physical endowment.

He once told me that the street where I live, Calle de Benito Suarez (formally Calle Bermejo) used to be called 'la calle de los curas' because, being adjacent to the parroquia (parish church),  several priests lived in the houses, including ours. My Spanish was not good enough to make out all the clearly scandalous story he told me about our house but I'm sure it included a baby.
He was always adamant that he would not write down any of his stories; they were too dangerous. What a shame. What a loss.

Pepe's real name was José Rosas Hidalgo. I've only just found this out. I knew he was called José (Joseph) because all Josés get called Pepe  (pronounced 'peppy') or Joselito or Pepín and Josefinas are called Pepa or Pepita (little Pepa).
These are examples of the diminutives and apócopes used for names in Spain. Some are just abbreviations but others are more interesting.

Most of the men I know in Álora are called Pepe, Paco or Antonio with a fair number of Juans, Pedros and Diegos ; all saints' names. Often a surname, apodo or another distinguishing name is  added to prevent confusion , eg.

Paco Gordo...Fat Paco
Antonio Motosierra.....Antonio with the chainsaw business
Juan Alto......Tall Juan
Pepín.....Little Pepe


Apparently José becomes Pepe because Pepe sounds like P.P. (PePe) which can stand for 'padre putativo' or 'presumed father' when there are doubts about the identity of the father of a child. This was the case with Jesus and so Joseph was the PP, so Pepe.

Our alcalde (mayor) is called
José Sánchez Moreno but everyone (except me) calls him 'Epi'. I don't know why.



Franciscos are usually called Paco. I don't know why this is  either. A lot of Pacos prefer to be called Francisco, like Francisco Franco and Francisco who works in the planning department on Calle Negrillos.

Maria is far and away the most popular girl´s name in Alora  so many Marias have a second name which is compressed into an apócope.

Here are a few feminine apócopes;

Marilena.......Maria Helena
Maribel..........Maria Isabel
Maripepa........Maria Francisca
Marilu...........Maria Luisa 
Mafe.................Maria Fernanda
Mayte.................Maria Teresa

and so on. I may have made a couple of these up.

Here's a few more:

Meche.........Mercedes
Conchi/Cuca.......Concepción
Dori.........................Adoración
Inma..............................Inmaculada
Puri.....................................Purificación

Some masculine names are contracted in the same way.

King Juan Carlos 1st. becomes . Juancar but I wouldn't address him as such if you ever meet him.

17/12/2012