[Gocamino] Re: [Santiagobis] Re: The Turista Two-Step

[Blaroli at aol.com]

Hello, 
The name of cranberries in Spanish is "Arandonos -with the accent on the 
second a- agrio de los pantanos" (Sour arandanos of the marshes), or plain 
"arandonos agrios".  Blueberries are called "arandonos azules" (blue arandonos). 
Blackberries do have  a simple name: "moras",  derived from the NorthAfrican Arabs 
that occupied Spain for centuries.  While they were of various Arab  groups 
(Almahodes, etc.,) in Spain they werel called indistinctively "moros" (Moors); 
whence Santiago Matamoros. (In Southern Spain, and in several Latin American 
countries, there is a popular dish called "moros y cristianos" (Moors and 
Christians) that consists of seasoned white rice and black beans..
While "moras"  (blackberries) abound in certain parts of Spain, and are 
rather popular, cranberries and blueberries, to my knowledge, do not.   I've never 
seen them.
"Moras" (blackberries) are often found in Spanish linguistic folklore. A 
popular saying states that "La mancha de la mora con otra mora se quita"  (the 
stain of a blackberry is removed by another blackberry)..... roughly,  it means 
that the woes of a lost love are erased by a new love......or. a lost job.... 
or a lost ambition, or a lost anything.......... good advice, that. 
The word for strawberries is "fresas", which evolved  from "frescas" (fresh, 
in the femenine plural form), presumably because they are available in the hot 
weather and are refreshing.

In another related note: several friends and I, including native 
Spanish-English speakers, have been trying to translate the "Shadows" poem into English 
and have not come up with an acceptable version. The poem is too melodiously 
beautiful.... almost unbearably so,  and we simply cannot do it justice.  But 
since so many of you want it, I'll keep on trying.

Big hug!

Rosina