Dear readers, dear listeners:
My name is Clara Maleh, Clarita for my friends, that is, for you too from now on.
This surname of mine will sound somewhat familiar to some in Purchena, it will mean nothing to others though. “Is she a stranger?»- many will wonder.
At my young age, I have asked myself this and other questions many times: Where am I from, where did I come from? Where did I go? Where did I end up staying?
The only thing I can tell you is where I am now, which is in the modern radio space, on the Internet, in your mobile phones and computers, on social media, and in the spheres of thought.
I am also in the mind and heart of my father, I know that for sure; in the untold history of Purchena, in the details that escaped the chronicles and that perished in the memory of the people over the years.
Now I am here to share the stories of this old town and bring them back to life little by little, so those that have been living here forever and also the newcomers know what happened and why when no one was looking.
I am Clarita Maleh, the daughter of the Moorish General Jerome el Maleh. I am the purchenera time traveller who will navigate the waters of the most famous moments, as well as the least known, of our small great town.
When they knocked on my door to propose this project to me, I couldn’t resist.
They told me its name was Living the 20s and that a girl from Granada had come up with the idea. It turns out that she, Conchita was her name, began to tell the neighbours of the Albayzín district what had happened in their neighbourhood every day in 1920. This helped people to learn a little about their history and also entertain themselves during the lockdowns of the 2020 Covid pandemic, exactly 100 years after the events and happenings that she narrated.
After a few months, someone remembered me and my curious and amazing ability to travel in time. They thought it would be wonderful for someone else in Europe to do the same, someone who would be willing to accompany me on this journey of emotions and learning. That’s where Klárika comes into scene. She’s my old friend and namesake from Harghita, which is one of the counties surrounded by the high mountains of Transylvania, in Romania. Cool place, don’t you think?
This is how the Erasmus+ project Living the 20s was born, although I will not only stay in that decade, as I will move from one era to another because the history of this town is too rich and interesting. And because I feel like it, you see!
You will have the opportunity to read and listen to me every other Monday, or whenever you feel like it. That is the good thing about a cyber novel, isn’t it?
In addition, I will make the occasional appearance in the village, cause I have not strolled through the alleys of Purchena for a long time. It scares me a little, given that the last time I went out I got lost, you cannot imagine how everything has changed since the year 1569…
But well, that is another story that I will tell you soon enough.
I hope you enjoy Klárika’s stories, as well as my own (which will be published in no more and no less than four languages: English, Spanish, Romanian and Hungarian—cause that language is spoken in Harghita, too; let’s see who dare say they are not understandable!) and may you, the purcheneras and purcheneros of 2022 enrich yourselves through the trips that we will put on top of the… table… or better said: on top of your… phones! (Or computers, for that matter).
Without further ado, I’ll see you on October 31st.
May the sun always shine within you,
Clarita.
CYBERNOVELS L'20S 