Rehearsing

One day during a rehearsal
for a play I was participating in
the guard erupted in the middle of a scene
which had set off the smoke signals
He said nobody should move
he thought there was some kind of amenaza.
When it was my turn to appear
the director said,
Y ahora la terrorista musulmana
I wanted to scream Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,
but instead I said, "Let´s start with our class on Europe".

My friend wanted to know if I was the only hijabee
in the gym
in the gym, the instructor wanted to know
why I didn´t show my hair
I told her it had to do with how we understood sexuality
She made me do twenty more sit-ups
I was not convinced.

Damages

My friend told me he was victimised in a
"friendly way" during his trip to India.
the families he met all wanted to take pictures
with him when he said he was European.
he was perplexed.
they didn´t even know me, he added.
He termed it "friendly attacks"
I preferred collateral damage.

Prohibiciones y Transgresiones

Alcohol was prohibited for them
no sabes lo que pierdes
no sabes lo que pierdes
no sabes lo que pierdes
el se reventó de jamón
ella se hartó de alcohol
they wanted to know
what they were missing.

la mujer franquista

He told me his landlady was a franquista
who opposed the removal
of Franco´s signos
that still haunted Spain
she said that if they removed his busts
they should also get rid of Seguridad Social
which Franco also introduced.

Encrucijada

Feliz Navidad, said the jolly Christians
Feliz Hanuka, responded the jewish couple
A fight broke off
Feliz Hanuka, said the Christian, was when the jews killed Christ
the muslim intervened
he didn´t said Mabrouk Eid,
he tried to break up the fight
the Jew was grateful, yet perplexed
Un joven musulmán que se mete y ayuda a un judío en Hanuka.
esto es un milagro,
the papers reported him saying.
The muslim insisted it was nothing,
he was doing his duty as a human being,
that was how his parents had raised him,
but he was being dubbed a hero
for it seemed this act really was a miracle
in HanukaEidNavidad.

prolonged stay

Whenever she met a Spaniard
after asking how long she was in spain
he/she would usually ask if she intended to stay.
once a viejo verde in the metro told her
he happily welcomed all the
foreign women to Spain
but the men, he thought,
should stay out.
he didn´t want them there.

Atentado in Algiers

She was in the never-ending cola
waiting in the cold
to get her autorización de regreso
she fast became the beacon and help desk
for those women who thought
she was one of them-
hijabbed, therefore muslim and mora
each time she politely responded
in her español con acento
that she didn´t speak nor understand
al arabiya
the girl next to her smiled
she was simpática.
she told the girl she was going to visit Algeria
the girl suddenly pointed to the floor
the headlines of one of those newspapers
they hand out in the metro- ADN-
highlighted the terrorist attack in Algiers.
there were two atentados
the oficina de la ONU was destroyed.
alot of muertos,
hundreds injured
the petite indígena,
vendedora
unknowingly trampled on the page
she was selling chiclé, chocolate, cigarrillos
The girl in the line had a bizarre expression on her face
she turned to me and said,
September 11, March 11,
now December 11.
Why? She wanted to know.
She seeemed to be waiting for an answer

Making sense of nonesense

Flat-hunting-
coloured and Muslim:
sticky combination
with a foreign accent
she presented herself for an interview
the landlady retorted-
"Pensé que eras normal"
she replied- me too!

......

she was asked how come she was so "morena"
she replied, how come you´re so "blanca"?

..............

the child looked at her fascinated
he turned to his mother and said-
mamá, that woman "está pintada de barro"
i want a mask like that for Halloween
the mother half-smiled.

.....

Ramadan nights
she was having "iftar" in
a
Moroccan circle.
they wanted to know if she had
her "papeles".

.....

She found a job
was happy to share her elation
she said proudly- "tengo trabajo"
her friend replied, "¿como doméstica?"

......

Her "jefa" told her she was
suspicious of "moros";
they raped and pillaged Spain
under Franco
"Tengo verguenza de los marroquíes", she said.
that´s why she was patiently waiting for her
"nacionalidad española"

........

She didn´t understand why i didn´t
eat
"pincho moruno"
i didn´t eat "cerdo", that´s all.
she couldn´t understand
the customs of "esa gente", she told her neigbour.
"they want to be españoles,
but they didn´t like jamón ibérico".

.......

She politely said she didn´t drink alcohol
"not even a bit of wine?", she was asked
No, she repeated, she didn´t drink alcohol
the turrón contained alcohol
so they decided not to tell her.

Tea in Lavapies

She was dining at an Indian restaurant serviced by Bangladeshis. She insisted on having Pakistani tea.. the waiter didn´t understand. Was she Paquistaní? No, she was of Indian origin, raised in the Caribbean Isles, whose ancestors were Indians. She smiled. The waiter still didn´t understand but quickly brought her the chai spice milk tea she requested.