Mallada in Meira

Mallar: Galician. verb, to beat cereals with a flail or mechanically to separate the grains from their husks. See Eng. threshing. Curiously, just like another one of its English counterparts, beat, it can be transformed into an adjective to mean exhausted. Estou mallada, I'm beat.

Wouldn't want to lose a needle here!

As a very rural region, Galicia has always had celebrations in accordance with the seasons and harvests. One such occasion is the malla or threshing. Before the advent of the combine harvester (which was much later in Galicia than you'd imagine) the malla was half social event, half work gathering. At the end of summer, neighbors used to help their neighbors get the job done after collecting the wheat. They'd rotate to pitch in at all area farms. While researching some vocabulary equivalents in English, I discovered similar get-togethers in the Great Plains. Threshing Bees. Given the size difference in land, Galicia's version was on a much smaller scale

After its near-disappearance in Galicia, the malla is making a comeback. In big towns around the plains of Galicia, they now gather to give a demonstration of threshing techniques, using a variety or manual and mechanical instruments. I guess this is to show us city slickers what hard work looks like. In late August, we went to Meira to see their malla. For the past 20 years, an association dedicated to preserving threshing has been holding this blast-from-the-past event. 

A mechanical threshing device

The small crowd assembled around the exhibition was made up of mostly senior citizens. Recognizing the machines that were used in the demonstration, old men reminisced about their childhoods. We were front and center to see how a group of volunteers coaxed a noisy threshing machine to work. Between demonstrations there was a roving traditional band, clad in old-fashioned traditional Galician clothes. Throughout the day there were supposedly handouts of donuts, wine, and queimada as well as other traditional musics. We didn't stay long enough to find out though. It took me a few hours to get over missing out on free donuts!

Getting wheat from the very top