La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
The Spanish Legion accompanied the Hermandad de La Caridad (The Brotherhood of the Holy Charity) on Thursday. It’s no surprise that everyone likes to see these guys. Tight trousers, tight shirts unbuttoned to expose chests, tattoos, muscles, even facial hair, these are not your typical soldiers. I was going to share some of their history (the good and the bad), but there’s plenty available online and I wouldn’t do it justice here.
Thanks for all the moral support in response to my meltdown. I’m fine today, which is how this works. I suppose it’s brain chemistry. When it’s in balance, I’ve overcome my childhood (which wasn’t all bad). When it’s not, I’m back in hell. Today, it’s the Garden of Eden.
I saw The Kid Brother last night. That’s two weeks in a row with video. He bowled, of course. First game? Two-Four. What? Two-One-Four. Was that One-Two-Four? That’s what I said. We speak at 11 p.m. my time. After that, it usually takes an hour or more for my brain to slow down enough to sleep.
A painter is coming today to look at the ceiling in the bathroom. Remember the leak from the roof? When I said we didn’t need a painter, just someone to replace the one damaged ceiling tile, he said, “Yes, I’ll check to see what kind of tile we need, too.” One would think that could have been checked the first, second, third, or fourth time someone was here. The Kid Brother said, “Just do it yourself!”
We had a meeting with a banker in our bank’s business office a few weeks ago. He told us we didn’t need to move our account from Fuengirola; the banks are all, finally, networked now. We went to our nearest branch yesterday. The man there was rude. I told him we had an appointment. He said, “No, you don’t.” San Geraldo gave his name and I said the appointment is for 11:00. “No, it’s for 11:30,” he abruptly replied. (But I thought we didn’t have an appointment.) “What do you want?” he snapped. I explained about looking at other types of accounts for transfers from the States. “Impossible,” he said. “You don’t have an account here.” I told him our account was in Fuengirola. “Then you have to go to Fuengirola to make any changes.” I told him the business officer told us we didn’t have to do that anymore. All the branches are networked now. “No they’re not.” San Geraldo muttered, “Let’s just find another bank,” and walked out the door. Meanwhile, a very nice guy who was standing in line and could only hear parts of the conversation asked in accented but perfect English if he could help. I thanked him and told him what was going on. He rolled his eyes and said, “I’d just find another bank. I have a business account here and they drive me crazy.” This is par for the course at Banco Sabadell and we’ve been talking about changing banks for years. Now is the time.
La Legión Española acompañó a la Hermandad de la Caridad el jueves. No es de extrañar que a todos les guste ver a estos tipos. Pantalones ajustados, camisas ajustadas desabrochadas que dejan ver el pecho, tatuajes, músculos, incluso vello facial; estos no son los soldados típicos. Iba a compartir algo de su historia (lo bueno y lo malo), pero hay mucha información disponible en línea y no le haría justicia aquí.
Gracias por todo el apoyo moral tras mi crisis. Hoy estoy bien, así es como funciona esto. Supongo que es la química cerebral. Cuando está en equilibrio, he superado mi infancia (que no fue del todo mala). Cuando no lo está, vuelvo al infierno. Hoy, estoy en el Jardín del Edén.
Anoche vi El Hermanito. Son dos semanas seguidas con video. Jugó a los bolos, claro. ¿Primer partido? Dos-Cuatro. ¿Qué? Dos-Uno-Cuatro. ¿Fue Uno-Dos-Cuatro? Eso dije. Hablamos a las 23:00, hora mía. Después, normalmente me toma una hora o más descansar lo suficiente para dormir.
Hoy viene un pintor a mirar el techo del baño. ¿Recuerdas la gotera? Cuando le dije que no necesitábamos pintor, solo que alguien cambiara la placa dañada, me dijo: “Sí, también revisaré qué tipo de placa necesitamos”. Uno pensaría que ya lo habrían revisado la primera, segunda, tercera, o cuarta vez que alguien vino. El hermanito dijo: “¡Hazlo tú mismo!”.
Tuvimos una reunión con un banquero en la oficina de nuestro banco hace unas semanas. Nos dijo que no necesitábamos trasladar nuestra cuenta de Fuengirola; por fin, todos los bancos están conectados. Ayer fuimos a la sucursal más cercana. El hombre fue grosero. Le dije que teníamos cita. Dijo: “No, no tienes cita”. San Geraldo dio su nombre y le dije que la cita era a las 11:00. “No, es a las 11:30”, respondió bruscamente. (Pero pensé que no teníamos cita). “¿Qué quieres?”, espetó. Le expliqué que podíamos buscar otros tipos de cuentas para transferencias desde Estados Unidos. “Imposible”, dijo. “No tienes cuenta aquí”. Le dije que nuestra cuenta estaba en Fuengirola. “Entonces tienes que ir a Fuengirola para hacer cualquier cambio”. Le dije que el asesor comercial nos había dicho que ya no teníamos que hacerlo. Todas las sucursales ya están conectadas. “No, no lo están”. San Geraldo murmuró: “Busquemos otro banco”, y salió. Mientras tanto, un tipo muy amable que estaba en la fila y solo oía fragmentos de la conversación me preguntó, en un inglés con acento pero perfecto, si podía ayudarme. Le di las gracias y le expliqué lo que pasaba. Puso los ojos en blanco y dijo: “Yo buscaría otro banco. Tengo una cuenta de empresa aquí y me vuelven loco”. Esto es normal en Banco Sabadell y llevamos años hablando de cambiar de banco. Ahora es el momento.
• Algunos costaleros admiraban con rudeza a las mujeres en la calle después de su turno cargando el paso. ¿Qué haría Jesús?
• Plaza del Potro frente al Museo de Bellas Artes. Mi espacio seguro durante casi 45 minutos.
• Camouflage is not a good outfit to wear in those crowds. I almost walked right into him.
• El camuflaje no es un buen atuendo para usar entre tanta gente. Casi lo choco.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
I’m not quite sure what to say about the French Foreign Legion. They are definitely manly-looking men.
Camo guy was just asking for trouble. Bank guy was too. What a jerk! Best to follow the advice of the man in line.
MM
Ms. Moon:
One thing you could say about the French Foreign Legion is that they’re the Spanish Foreign Legion. Other than that, I agree.
Oh wait! How did I skip that part? The SPANISH Foreign Legion. Of course. What would a French foreign legion be doing in Spain? I guess they’d be…foreign.
Ms. Moon:
It makes sense to me. I never knew there was anything but a French Foreign Legion.
Yes, it sounds like it is time to change banks. I know it is a hassle though to go through all of that. Glad to hear that you are feeling better. Your description of the Spanish Legion men had me hoping you’d provide some visuals, and you didn’t disappoint!
Michael:
No more of a hassle than trying to do our banking business here with Sabadell. I took two videos of the Legion. The second ended with the hunkiest of hunks ever. When I went to download my photos, I discovered I never pressed RECORD the second time!
I have done that myself! Frustrating!
That’s funny about walking into camo guy. My, the Legionnaires look good! Is that a recruitment requirement? But yes, they have an unfortunate history. Olivia
Olivia:
It does attract a certain type, doesn’t it. Though the band members don’t seem to consistently meet up to the requirements.
They remind of the DRILL TEAM And colorguard in jrotc. I was never good at gun twirling and marching so I never applied
Adam:
Was the drill team that hot? (Anyway, I wouldn’t have joined either.)
At ease soldier!
Jim:
All I can think is ATTENTION!
I enjoyed the video of the Legionnaires for a variety of reasons! They have women, too! My Instagram has figured out I like seeing these processionals and offers me many to watch these days. Some have been from Málaga.
Kelly:
Yes! I was happy to see the women, too.
To be fair to those burly costaleros, the one young woman on the left didn’t seem to mind being admired. If I was her, I’m not sure I would either.
Kirk:
I agree. Both women seemed to enjoy the attention. Still, the costaleros were a bit creepy in their behavior given they had just been proudly carrying Jesus through the streets.
What a creep at that bank. Why are people like that?
But, very cool that you got to do video chat with Chuck! And see these cool sights 🙂
Judy C:
That’s par for the course in our experience at Sabadell. So, I don’t really blame the employees as much as I blame the management.
Woof! Lovely – ahem – uniforms. Jx
PS Jobsworths like that man at Sabadell really piss me off. Make sure you inform them that he was the reason you decided to change banks!
Jon:
Yes, the ahem uniforms are lovely aren’t they? If that one jerk at the bank was the only problem, we wouldn’t switch. It’s such a common problem at Sabadell. I blame management. Anyway, they sent me a survey yesterday! And I let them have it.
Well, the legionnaires were fun, but why can’t they get hats with chin straps that fit?!
That banking story frustrates me just reading about it! I can’t imagine how I would have reacted if I’d been there. Good for you for switching banks.
Steve:
I have no clue why they wear the chin straps under the lip. Other military branches do so as well, some members of the Queen’s Guard (UK) for example. I’ve read a few different theories. I don’t recommend BancoSabadell.
Meh. Pastel mint uniforms don’t scream military pomp to me! The soldiers with the black plastic matador caps you featured a few posts ago were better looking, IMHO.
I’m surprised that Banco Sabadell has any customers left with rude staff like that a**hole!
Tundra Bunny:
They describe them as sage green. Much more butch-sounding than pastel mint. I love those little black hats. Interestingly, I received a survey from the bank yesterday. One of the questions was very strange and asked if I felt my dissatisfaction had anything to do with the “hostile takeover attempt” by BBVA. I knew nothing about that. BBVA is where we plan to move. AND Banco Sabadell service has sucked for the 13 years we’ve used them. So, they can’t blame BBVA.
Oh huh…..I really ought have the The Brotherhood of the Holy Charity to the Casa for cocktail hour…….
Mistress Borghese:
Be specific when you invite them. You want the Spanish Foreign Legion and not the brotherhood.
I hate customer service like that; I’d happily take all my business away from you, sir!
Or I send some of those muscly soldiers in to teach the guy a lesson?
Bob:
I wouldn’t waste the muscly guys on him!
What an asshole that banker was! I’d find another bank, too.
I’m glad you’re feeling better today. I just caught up with your last couple of posts and I’m sorry yesterday sucked.
Jennifer
Jennifer:
Thanks! Some days suck. Some days don’t.
I don’t care for that particular shade of green. Those uniforms would definitely have to come off!
I like the way you think!
Deedles:
I’ll tell them. I’m imagining a whole pile of uniforms outside your door after you send Balder Half out to run some errands.
Yeah, those guys are hot. They don’t want to come to the US, though. ICE would see their tats and accuse them of being in a gang and ship them to El Salvador.
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
And don’t forget the accents. And some look awfully Moorish. I’m actually afraid to go to the US now. Why do you live in Spain?!?
Reminds me of the words a French tv commentator used to describe the national police (many years ago). Les fesses moulées de la Gendarmerie, he said. The molded buttocks of the National Police. Now I see that it’s not just a French thing!
Walt the Fourth:
I can’t believe the commentator said that! But, yes, the molded buttocks of the Foreign Legion. And then there are the National Police here. I’ve seen some officers that were so hot they could have been porn actors.
I used to work in a bank. ( cashier/teller) and I would have been an ex bank worker if I had spoken to a customer like that! Definitely change banks.
I agree that those “soldiers” are very easy on the eye.
Frances.
Frances:
Good customer service at Sabadell is completely dependent on the individual; clearly no guidelines are set forth by management.
I wonder why they wear those ugly chin straps? Other countries’ troops manage to keep glengarry style caps on their heads without them.
I’ve never understood about chinstraps. They always look as if they’re on wrong.
That bank seems to be trying to lose customers. Why, why.
Boud
Boud,
The bank saga gets worse. They can’t find a wire transfer we made three weeks ago. We know they’ve been in touch twice with our bank in the States, but when SG exchanged messages with someone here, she said she can’t find any record of that. And she said it may just be she isn’t allowed access to that information. Say what?!
That’s not just Spanish banks – I had a very similar experience in my bank (NatWest) here in London. I queued for ages to make an enquiry about a failed bank transfer, only to be told that the customer services assistant was unable to see certain transactions on the system and I needed to phone instead. Cue another long wait, listening to godawful “hold music”… Jx
Jon:
I wouldn’t blame Spanish banks at all. Our experiences of banks in the States were mostly awful over the years. Our best experience was with our university credit union in San Diego. We’re currently going through a nightmare with a wire transfer that can’t be found, and no one is taking responsibility for it. Our bank here has been in contact twice with our bank in the States asking for information they already received, but when we ask for status from our bank here they have no record of anything. Fortunately, we met a director at the commercial office recently so phoned him yesterday.
I too was struck by the funny chin straps. Weird with a beard.
Urspo:
And being held in place by the bottom lip.