L'onze de Setembre

September 11^th, is a dark day for both Americans and Catalans alike.  On September 11^th, 1714 Spanish troops seized the city of Barcelona during the Spanish War of Succession and made the Catalans surrender.  Over the next few years, the Spanish king banned the Catalan language and basically just suppressed the hell out of Catalonia.  So it’s for this reason that on September 11^th the Catalans celebrate their National Day, aka “La Diada.”

I was fortunate enough to see La Diada last year, it was during my first week in Barcelona.  Last year I went to an organized event by the Generalitat (Catalonia’s government) and got to walk about their parliament building.  This year I took a walk around Arc de Triomf, where they have a big Catalan flag with the blue triangle and star (the flag for Catalan independence) hanging between the arc.  Around the walk from the Arc to the Parc de la Ciutadella there were many stands selling all sort of Catalan nationalist items, like flags, pins and scarves.  There was even a booth headed by two Basques, because some people view Euskadi (the Basque Country) and Catalonia as “brothers,” because they are both distinct nations within the Spanish state.  I thought it was a nice show of solidarity that a few Basques showed up to celebrate the National Day of Catalonia.

The main event of the day is the laying of floral offerings on the monument of Rafael Casanova, who was commander in chief of Catalonia during the Siege of Barcelona in 1714.  Because of his resistance to Spanish forces he’s become a symbol of Catalan nationalism and for this reason the people of Barcelona pay tribute to him on their National Day.  When I was there, the castellers (Human Tower builders) from my old neighborhood of Sants were there, paying tribute by building a mini castell and placing their floral offering onto the statue.

Later in the day, I meet up with my Catalan friends and we walked around looking at the stands and then later watched one of my favorite Catalan groups, Obrint Pas.  All around me it seemed like everyone was either wearing the independence flag or had a sticker on their shirt that had some reference to independence from Spain.

Now some of you may be wondering, “why do so many Catalans want independence, they’re Spanish after all.”  The answer is that many of them don’t feel Spanish at all, they are only Catalan: it’s their language, their culture and their way of life.  Catalan culture has castells, pa amb tomàquet and cava while Spanish culture has bulls, gazpacho and sangría.  One participant summed up it perfectly when he said “Spanish culture is the culture of the center and south of the country, they don’t incorporate aspects Catalan and Basque culture into the national ‘Spanish’ culture; so why are people surprised that I don’t feel Spanish, my culture is not represented in Spain.”

Furthermore, many of them feel like Spain is constantly repressing them, saying you can’t do this or that.  The most recent example is the decision by the courts that Spanish is to now be the language of the classroom, alongside Catalan.  Since the 80s, Catalan has been the vehicular language in the K-12 education in Catalonia, which is to say that every subject (except Spanish) is taught in Catalan.  The argument for this was that every child that comes to Catalonian schools, whether they be 6^th generation Catalans or child of African immigrants, will learn to speak Catalan in order to promote the use of that language and to facilitate integration into the community.  Very few people had problems with this method of “linguistic immersion” as was shown in poll after poll.  However, three families demanded that their children be instructed in Spanish, brought their case to the courts and won.  What the Catalans fear is that with this decision the Spanish and other immigrants to Catalonia are going to have their kid instructed in Catalan, while the Catalans will continue to be instructed in their native language.  This could be problematic for two reasons:

a) It will endanger the Catalan language.  In the 70s, there was a massive amount of immigration from the poorer regions of Spain to Catalonia and the children of those immigrants learned to speak Catalan.  Today, those people don’t identify with the region where they parents are from, they are Catalan and are from Catalonia.  It’s their culture, it’s who they identify with and it’s partly due to the Catalan immersion they received as a kid.

b) Having the parents either chose Spanish or Catalan for their child will create a division within the kids, which is possible to last for a life time.  No one wants to split the kids into two groups because this will just foster more negative feelings towards one another.

Through my interviews I’ve noticed that people in Catalonia are just fed up with the Spanish government.  They pay view high taxes here which then goes to the Spanish government to be divided up amongst the other Autonomous regions in Spain; of course, Catalonia receives very little of that money back.  They don’t have control over taxes like the states in the Unites States do and they want more control over their money because they have things they would like to improve in their country.

Basically, I think the best way to sum all this up is with a great metaphor from my friend Laura: “Spain is like the parent that keeps on saying ‘no, no don’t do that, that’s not allowed’ and Catalonia is like the child.  If you keep on hearing this over and over what are you going to do when you’re 18?  ‘Bye guys, I’m fed up with you, I’m outta here.’”

Here are some videos I took and you can also check out my pictures in the Catalan Nationalism photo album that I started last year.

The Castellers of Sants:

Singing "Els Segadors," the national anthem of Catalonia:

Obrint Pas (a very pro-independence group) performing "Seguirem" off of their new album Coratge, near the Arc de Triomf on La Diada:

Week Two Update

So, I’m in the middle of my second week in Catalonia and my research project is coming along very nicely.  I’ve gotten some really great interviews, in terms of what I’m looking for and also it’s interesting to me to see the wide variety of opinions I get when I ask the same questions.  For example, I ask every participant what the significance of FC Barcelona’s slogan “Més que un club” (more than a club) is.  From my experience over here last year, I came to view the phrase as an expression of Catalan nationalism, which is to say that FC Barcelona represents Catalonia as a nation since their own national selection team is not officially recognized when they play in international matches.  However, some participants have been telling me that the phrase is in relation to how FC Barcelona represents Catalan values such as hard work and humility, while others say that it’s because those who support Barça are part of a family, a community of people who come together to support a common cause.  I’ve gotten 14 interviews so far, with about 10 more scheduled for later this week, so I’m going to have more than what I need :)

For sightseeing, I’ve done plenty of that over the last few days or so.  I stayed in Barcelona for the weekend and just did some re-sightseeing of L’eixample and the Gothic Quarter.  I also went to a few of the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc show’s, which in the summer is when the fountain is set to music and lights.  This year, one show was set to Disney songs….en español (I got a good laugh out of that).  Also, on Saturday I went to Las Arenas mall in Plaça Espanya, which was not finished when I was in BCN last year.  Basically, the city took an old bullfighting ring and converted it into a mall (since you know, bullfighting has been outlawed in Catalonia as of the 1^st of this year).  The mall had some pretty nice shows and a great view of Plaça Espanya at the top level (I also got a great buy on a FC Barcelona t-shirt here, only 13€!)

As for going outside of Barcelona, I did so on Sunday and Monday.  On Sunday I went out to Lleida, the capital of the western providence of Lleida (naturally).  There wasn’t really much to do in the town (I was joking with one of my friends that it’s like the Toledo, OH of Catalonia).  For this reason, I was surprised that they actually have a tourism office in the town.  The only thing to really see was La Seu Vella, which is an abandoned cathedral on top of the city’s hill, a monument you could see for miles away.  One thing that really surprised me about the city was the amount of immigrants (mostly Africans and Muslims).  They definitely seemed to outnumber the Catalans in the city and I found out from one of my participants that they come here to work in the fields.

On Monday I went to Girona, which is again the capital of the Girona providence.  This city was definitely a lot more interesting than Lleida as it was so much more beautiful.  A river divided the city and for a few blocks on each side there are different colored houses lining the river.  It’s better for you to look at my pictures than for me to describe it because unfortunately I don’t know much about the history of all the buildings, as I didn’t take a guided tour of the city.  The coolest part was that you can walk on top of the old city’s wall and it gives you great views of everything.

Yesterday, I went back to see my old host mom (Lita) and it was an incredibly surreal experience.  She greeted me with the traditional petons (kiss on each cheek) and then we went to the living room to talk and catch up.  Her mom is also staying with her this mom and José was there too, so it was great to see them again too.  The first thing my host mom commented on was how apparently I look thinner than the last time she saw me (that or my large shirts give the impression that I’ve lost a lot of weight, hahaha).  When I was talking with them it was just like old times, my Spanish was flowing perfectly and I could understand everything they were saying.  José even brought up our old inside joke on how I my tongue gets tied when I try to say “A reveure,” Catalan for “see you later.”  Lita remembered that my favorite dish is tortilla española, so of course she made that for dinner.  I also meet the new girls who are staying with her this semester and gave them a little bit of advice and told them about my time studying abroad.

After dinner, Lita told me that she had a problem with her laptop and asked if I could look at it.  She told me that I was going to laugh a lot when I saw her problem and I did…apparently, her background is a picture of me and my sister on my birthday, with stupid expressions on our faces and Lita didn’t know how it got there nor how to get it off.  What’s even funnier is that the picture is zoomed in mostly on my sister’s face, with her eyes bulging out at you.  I laughed quite a bit, it’s funny to think that for the last couple of months every time Lita starts up her computer she has to stare at that picture of my sister and I.

Shortly after that I had to say goodbye to everyone and this is where everything quickly turned bittersweet.  It was tough saying goodbye to all of them again, especially since one year ago yesterday was when my roommate and I moved into Lita’s apartment.  So needless to say on the metro ride I was feeling a mixture of emotions.

I feel better today and since I have no interviews scheduled I think I’m going to do some more sightseeing and get a tour of the Palau de Musica Catalana, a modernist-style music hall that is famous as being a staple of Catalan architecture.  Next week, on Sunday I’m going to be with my Catalan friends celebrating La Diada, the National Day of Catalonia and then on Monday I’m off to Lleida again to do some more interviews.  Hopefully I should have some pictures of Barcelona up this week by Friday, and pictures/blog about La Diada on Tuesday/Wednesday of next week.

Until then, “a reveure”

I'm Back...

So I knew I kept this blog open for a reason…I’ll be back in Catalunya for three weeks from August 27^th to September 19^th.  However, this time I am going for a very different reason and that is to start my career.

You read that right; career as in something I want to do for the rest of my life, as opposed to a “J-O-B,” something that I do to pay for school/living expenses.  I want to stay at THE Ohio State University for graduate school in Hispanic Linguistics and eventually become a professor.  However, since OSU’s program is competitive I needed to get a head start on the application process and conduct my own original research as an undergrad.  So, with the help of an outstanding advisor, I’ve developed a research topic to study: how Catalan influences the Spanish language.  However, the catch to studying this topic is that I need to talk to actual Catalans in order to have valid data, and you’d be hard pressed to find a Catalan living in the United States, let alone Columbus…

So, I submitted a research proposal to the Arts and Sciences Honors Committee and I was fortunate enough to be awarded a research grant that allows me to go over and spend three weeks back in Catalunya.  During the time that I’m over there I’m going to be traveling throughout Catalunya, interviewing people about their lives, opinions and beliefs.  Hopefully, this project will spur more ideas for possible research topics in graduate school but if not at least I’m going to be getting valuable field experience.

I’m excited to be going back, especially since this time around I’m going to be doing a lot more traveling inside of Catalunya to places that I didn’t get to visit the first time around, like Girona, Tarragona and Figueres (the home to the Dalí museum!).  Also, I’m going to be over there again during the National Day of Catalonia, so I’m hoping I get to spend that day with my Catalan friends, celebrating one of their most important days of the year :)

Unfortunately, I will not be over there to see La Mercè (September 23-25) because OSU starts classes on the 21^st, but at least I got to see the festival last year.

Any who, I really don’t know at this point how much I’m going to be writing during the 3 weeks; it just really depends on how much down time I have to describe everything.  I’m shooting for 3 to 5 posts, but don’t hold me to it ;)

Oh and I’ll create a new facebook photo album for my trip that will be public and on the side bar (I think I'm gonna name it "Catalunya '11")!

Finally, remember this picture?

I knew there was some truth behind the belief that if you drink from the Canalets fountain you’ll eventually come back to Barcelona.  So here I go, ¡me voy!

A Very Merry Catalonian Christmas

So even though I am looking forward back to Christmas in the States I have definitely enjoyed Christmas time over here in Catalunya.  There are lights up in the city over the streets and although there’s no snow here you can tell it’s Christmas time.

If you haven’t noticed, Catalunya has a lot of different customs and traditions (hence the political charged saying “Catalonia is not Spain”) and Nadal (Catalan for Christmas) is no exception.  There are two main Catalan traditions that I want to mention: Cagatió and the Caganers.

Cagatió is a very popular Christmas tradition for kids in Catalunya that centers around a little log (called Tió de Nadal) with a painted face, like so:

Beginning on December 8^th and up through Christmas Eve the kids feed the Tió something small (like bread), give it some water and cover it with a blanket every night before they go to bed.  Then on either Christmas Eve or Christmas day the kids beat the log with a stick while singing songs in the hopes that it will poop out presents.  At first the kids softly beat the log while singing songs like “caga tió, caga torró, avellanes i mató, si no cagues bé, et daré un cop de bastó, caga tió!” (translation: poop log, poop turrón, hazelnuts and cottage cheese, if you don't poop well, I'll hit you with a stick, poop log!).  For good measure, the kids brutally hit the log with the stick while screaming “CAGA TIÓ!” (poop log!) before they lift up the blanket to find all the presents that tió pooped for them!  The presents are generally small though because in Spain los reyes magos (the Three Wise Men) bring the boys and girls their presents on January 6th (though Santa Clause is making inroads, just as with Halloween).

Here’s a very cute video of a Catalan kid making Tió de Nadal poop out his presents:

The other popular tradition in Catalunya is the giving of Caganers.  It’s a small statue that populates all the local nativity scenes, both the public and private ones.  This sounds innocent right?  Well the thing is, the caganer statue is a person with his/her buttocks exposed (colloquially called “mooning," I believe ;) ) with a neat little pile of poo on the floor.  Here’s what I’m talking about:

The exact origin of the tradition is unknown but it still remains very popular.  There’s a huge Christmas market, called Fira de Santa Llúcia, in the plaza of the main cathedral in the Gothic Quarter and I counted at least 8 stands selling caganers and many more selling tiós de Nadal of all sizes.  Oh yeah, and no one is sacred when it comes to caganers.  There are ones of Obama, Hillary, Bush, the Pope, Zapatero (the Spanish prime minister), Tiger Woods, the Statue of Liberty, Darth Vader, ect.  If you’re curious here’s the website where you can view and buy caganers.

Also, here’s a video announcing the new line-up of caganers for 2009!

 

I had no idea there was another culture out there that's as obsessed with poop as ours, haha.

Come back on Thursday if you want to see some pictures of Christmas in Catalunya, they will be here in my updated Catalonian nationalism facebook album.

El Clásico

Last night was the one of the most important days in the Catalonian calendar: the FC Barcelona v. Real Madrid game, nicknamed “El Clásico.”  Let me explain why it’s so important:

To better understand the situation in Catalunya let me describe the following hypothetical situation.  The United States has been a free and independent country for 200+ years right?  Well imagine Mexico invading and conquering the US and imposing Spanish as the official language. Furthermore, if you spoke English in the streets you would be arrested on the spot.  What if they also banned our national anthem, our flag and holidays like Thanksgiving and the 4^th of July.  If this happened, would you start to feel Mexican or would you still call yourself an American?

Now change Mexico to Spain and the United States to Catalunya because that’s pretty much exactly what happened over here.  For centuries, Catalunya was an independent nation with its own language, culture and customs.  Even when Spain was “unified” under the crown of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel in 1479, Catalunya was still able to be separate from the rest of Spain.  Catalunya first came to be suppressed by Spain following the Spanish War of Succession in the early 18^th century.  Spain took control of Catalunya and built two fortresses overlooking Barcelona to keep the city under control (and of course Catalan was banned).  Catalunya enjoyed a little bit of freedom when it became an industrial powerhouse in the 19^th and 20^th centuries but once Franco won the Spanish Civil War it was all over for Catalunya.

Franco ruled Spain from 1939-1975 and he completely suppressed anything that was “deviant” from a unified Spanish culture, that’s to say anything that related to historically significant regions like Catalunya, Euskadi (the Basque County) and Galicia.  As a result, each of these regions saw their native languages banned and their traditional customs and traditions suppressed. 

So you may ask, how the hell does all of this relate to a fútbol game?  Well, under Franco the Catalans still felt like they were Catalans (and not Spaniards) but they had no way to express this pride without being thrown into jail; they couldn’t fly la senyera (the Catalan flag) nor speak their native language openly in the streets.  However, they could become a supporter of the largest fútbol club in Catalunya, FC Barcelona.  Anyone who was a die-hard Catalan was a fan of FC Barcelona and would wave their club’s flag as a way to “stick it to the man”; "we're still Catalans even though you try to keep us down."  The club's motto “més que un club” (Catalan for “more than a club”) comes directly from this point in the history.  This is why the game versus Real Madrid has become what it is today, a great display of the two best teams in Spain mixed with some political overtones.  It’s like the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, but throw in regional nationalism and years of suppression into the mix.

So I went to a bar last night near Plaça de Catalunya to watch the game with the rest of Barcelona.  Even before the game, there was more people out on the street than normal and it just felt like the entire city was alive with excitement and anticipation.  The bar (Cafè Catalunya, perfect for the occasion) wasn’t too packed but there was this big table of Catalan students that made the game very interesting.  I’ve been looking forward to this game ever since I knew I was going to be studying in Barcelona and it didn’t disappoint my expectations.  Barcelona absolutely DESTROYED Real Madrid with a score of 5-0.  Barcelona looked like the better team throughout the entire match and they deserved to win.

There was one interesting scuffle in the match.  Ronaldo, the cocky Real Madrid player, pushed Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona coach after Guardiola was holding onto the ball before a Real Madrid throw-in.  As soon as Ronalado pushes him the Barcelona players come to the defense of their coach, including Barcelona’s goalie (who was yellow carded for leaving the goal area).  Here’s video of the scuffle (I don’t agree with the commentary but this was the only one I could find in English).

The best part of the game was my favorite player, David Villa (striker #7), scored two goals in the second half; he scored the first one with 54 minutes of play gone and the second one 3 minutes later.  The game ended with a stunning 5-0 score in favor of Barcelona, which was a shock to me (I thought the game would be really close, like 2-1) but of course I was ecstatic. 

As is tradition in Barcelona, whenever Barça beats Real Madrid everyone gathers at the top of La Rambla at the font de Canalets.  Here’s a picture of the fountain without the masses of Barcelona fans:

I was there for a good hour, celebrating the win with the rest of Barcelona.  Everyone was in a good mood, jumping up and down while chanting some of Barça's cheers.  I have few favorite ones that I would like to share:

• “Madrid, cabrón, saluda al campeón”: Spanish for “Madrid, carbón (a very vulgar Spanish swear word, close to our motherf-er), salute the champion.  
• "Villa, Villa, Villa....Villa maravilla": This one refers to David Villa.  They repeat his last name and add the Spanish word for "a wonder" b/c it rhymes :)
• “Ese portugués, hijo de puta és”: This one deals with that cabrón Ronaldo.  It means “this Portuguese (Ronaldo is from Portugal), son of a bitch he is." 
• "Visca Barça i visca Catalunya!": Catalan for "long live FC Barcelona and long live Catalonia." (a personal favorite)

Here’s my video from the celebrations:

My Youtube Video (it's probably better to just click this link):

Last night is something I will never forget (despite having a liter of beer, haha.  I asked for a cerveza and the waiter came back with huge chilled glass filled with beer).  My FC Barcelona pictures have been updated so you can see all of what happened last night.

Visca Barça i visca Catalunya!

La Castanyada

Even though I wasn’t back in the States for Halloween, I did celebrate the Catalan equivalent with my host family.

Here in Catalunya, they celebrate “La Castanyada” on or near All Saint’s Day (Tots Sants in Catalan).  Like in the rest of Spain and other Hispanic countries people go to the cemetery to clean off the graves of their loved ones and place flowers on their final resting place.  However, unlike the rest of Spain there is a traditional meal that everyone in Catalunya eats around this time.

They feast on a meal of roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets (the most delicious pastries made from a paste of sugar and almonds).  So, last night my host mom’s family (her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter) and her friend José came over to celebrate the holiday.  Rafaela made the chestnuts and sweet potatoes while José and her daughter each brought over two dozen panellets.  After first eating tortilla española (potato omelet) she then brought out the castanyas i moniatos and to drink we had cava (Catalunya’s champagne).  I liked everything even though it was some work trying to get the shell off of the chestnut (they literally just came out of the oven).

When we were finished with that Rafaela brought out the pièce de résistance: els panellets!  They were soooo good.  The traditional one is covered with pine nuts but there’s panellets of every shape, size, color, and taste.  I tried some chocolate, coffee and coconut ones in addition to the pine nuts.  They were all so delicious, I need to learn how to make them (maybe for Christmas back in the States?)

Here’s a picture of our Castanyada feast:

And here's another one of a bakery selling panellets:

After the feast, the granddaughter got into the Halloween spirit and painted the faces of Rafaela, José and her mom.  It was pretty funny because she would disappear with them for 15 minutes and then come back in the living, announcing in a loud voice: “os presento (presenting) _____.” She turned José into Frankenstein and the two women into brujas (witches).

This brought up an interesting point of conversation.  They were all telling me that 10 years ago there was no such thing as Halloween in Spain but ever since then it’s becoming more and more popular each year.  In fact, I had three girls dressed as princesses ring the apartment’s doorbell and say, “trick-or-treat!”  I was speechless and had to say, “sorry, I don’t have any candy” (en castellano, of course) and as I closed the door I could see the smiles being wiped off their faces.  I told Rafaela about it and she just laughed (“I don’t have candy!”).  She said it was probably just the family next door and to not worry about it.

I enjoyed the holiday, as it was another cool aspect of the Catalan culture.  I already know that next year I’m going to miss panellets :(

Welcome to Spain?

Ok, so I read this article on The Huffington Post today and I thought I would share it with you because it made me laugh. 

The Article: “Spanish Prostitutes Ordered to Wear Safety Vests”

"Spanish prostitutes have been ordered to wear reflective safety vests for their own safety, according to reports. Women working on rural roadsides in Catalonia must don the vests to avoid a €40 ($56) fine.

Prostitution is not banned in Spain, but it has been outlawed in some cities. However, lack of the safety vests is the only reason to fine the women working outside of the Spanish city of Lleida, where the vest program is now in effect, as prostitution is not illegal outside of the city limits.

However, some see the move as an attempt by Mayor Josep Maria Bea of Lleida to drive the women out of town. There are an estimated 300,000 female sex workers in Spain, according to the Telegraph

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodrígue Zapatero promised to ban prostitution ads in newspapers, but has failed to do so. Meanwhile, a recent survey showed that one in four Spanish men admitted to paying for sex."

Wow.  ¿Bienvenidos a España? 

I guess the Spanish government really does take care of everyone...

You can read the original article here

Cava, Gaudí and Sitges: Just Another Week in Catalunya

Well life is really starting to pick up here in BCN.  My classes are taking up a lot of my time, I’ve been busy planning weekend trips (Rome is this Friday through Sunday!), and my homework is starting to pile up.  But of course, I have time for a quick blog update!

Update 1 - School: Classes are going decently.  My Spanish language class if by far my favorite because it’s a really small class (only 16 of us), the teacher is very helpful and chill at the same time, and the classroom dynamics are perfect.  For example, on Tuesday we had to imagine that a nuclear bomb destroyed the world and that there was only enough room for 13 of us in the shelter.  Therefore, we had to explain (in Spanish of course) what characteristics and experience we can bring to the table to rebuild civilization.  I started off saying that I’m a psych major and that I will be able to help everyone with emotional problems to which some other girl responded with “well I’m a psych major too, my parents are psychiatrists and I’ve studied mediation techniques and yoga.”  My teacher asked me if I had a response to that.  I knew that I could not compete with that, so I tried to respond with humor: “um……¿adiós?” 

Although my Catalan class is fairly difficult, I’m still enjoying it because I’m learning the language of the land and it’s a great conversation starter with my host mom (she always asks me what I did in my Catalan class when I come home).  However, it’s requiring me to forget years of what I learned in Spanish in order to pronounce the vowels correctly.  Catalan vowels are reduced when they are not in they are not in the stressed syllable, unlike Spanish where all the vowels have their full value.  For example, casa is both Spanish and Catalan for “house,” but they are pronounced differently: [ka.sa] versus [ka.zə].  To make things more confusing, Catalan also has 3 more vowels than Spanish.  Catalan also has a difficult sound for the double l and of course it’s in a lot of their words (llum, Lluís, lliure ect..)  I just have to keep on reminding myself that once again I’m learning a new language and it took me awhile to get a good grip on Spanish.  With time and practice I’ll become better at Catalan.

In addition to learning Catalan, the class is also meant to teach us about the Culture of Catalunya.  So far we talked about La Mercè (which of course I got to experience first hand) and a popular folk song about a midget "Patufet."  The jist of the story is that he's this tiny tiny kid who has to sing this song so that no one will step on him.  It rains one day so he has to under a leaf to keep dry.  However, a cow devours him and the leaf in one gulp.  Since it's a story meant for kids it has a happy/funny end: the cow farts and Patufet flies out to freedom.  Here's the video we watched in class it's actually pretty funny and it has a catchy chorus ("Patim patam patum, homes i dones del cap dret, patim patam patum, no trepitgeu en Patufet")

My other two classes are going well too.  We’ve talked about the 2^nd Republic and Franco’s dictatorship in my Spanish politics class and about the Roman Barcelona (Barcino) in my History of Barcelona class.  Apparently, Plaça de Sant Jaume was the center of the Roman city (the forum) and now I can walk through the plaza next time appreciating it a little bit more.

Update 2 - Exploring Barcelona: Since I don’t have Friday classes (score!) it gives me an opportunity to either travel or explore BCN.  Since I didn’t have a trip planned this weekend, we decided to explore some of Gaudí’s creations.  We went inside of Sagrada Familia to find out that the inside is pretty bare.  The ceiling and columns were exquisite, but there was no interior décor, like pews or altars.  We did decide to take the elevator up to one of the towers of the church and it was worth every euro to go up.  Not only did you get a great view of church but also great views of BCN.

Next up was Casa Batlló, which I have to say was kind of disappointing for 14€.  I mean the inside was really well designed, but the rooms were completely bare with no furniture.  I went in expecting to see an actual house with stuff it, but nope.  The roof was kind of cool though; it was like La Pedrera but only more colorful.

Update 3 - Exploring Catalunya: On Satuday, ISA took us on an excursion to Cordníu winery and Sitges.  The winery is famous for producing cava, Catalunya’s champagne (they can’t call it champagne for copyright reasons).  The tour of the place was really cool.  It included going down to the cellar to see miles and miles of wine/cava just chilling there.  We got to ride on a cart that reminded me of something Disney World would have, but it was so much better.  We got to go through the cellar and see how much wine and cava was actually there.  Afterwards, we got to try two types of cava: a white and rose kind.  Yeah, everyone was much more talkative and alive after that cava tasting, haha.

We then continued on our way to Sitges, a little town in Catalunya on the Mediterrean coast.  The town was very pretty, it reminded me of los pueblos blancos (white towns) of Andalucía.  However, if you weren’t there to party or to soak up some sun on the beach there’s not to do.  It’s probably much more fun at night, but during the day it’s kind of a snooze.  Literally, I think we walked from one end of the town to the other end in less than an hour. 

As always, my photo albumns are updated.  This one includes random pictures of Barcelona (including La Boquería!)  in addition to Cordníu/Sitges and the other one is an updated version of Gaudí’s Barcelona.  Check back midweek for a post about some cool Spanish phrases (including the Spanish spoken on the street…) and next Monday/Tuesday for my post about Rome.  Until then, I’ll see you when I see ya!

Mom, I've Fallen in Love....

It’s official; I’ve fallen in love with Catalunya.

Saturday was another day of sightseeing.  We went to La Boquería, which is basically a giant market off of Las Ramblas with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, candy, spices, nuts and pretty much any other thing you could possibly think about eating.  I didn’t take pictures this time because it was really crowded with locals and tourists taking pictures, lol.  I’m going to go back later this week and hopefully it’s not as packed.

After a little descanso, we headed out again to tour some of Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces.  We first went to Sagrada Familia, the massive and elaborate church designed by Gaudí.  It is truly incredible.  One of the façades is of the Nativity and the other one is of the Passion.  The Passion wasn’t actually designed by Gaudí because he didn’t leave any plans of how to complete the church, so other architects are designing the rest of it, channeling Gaudí spirit as they go along.  Of course, it decided to rain when I was there so I didn’t take any pictures, grrr.  One interesting note:  construction on the church began in 1882 and will not be completed until at least 2026.

Parc Güell was the next stop.  We took the metro and had to climb up a huge hill to get to the park and it felt like I was in San Francisco.  We went back to all the really cool parts and ventured around the park a little bit more.  Off the beaten path there is a hill with 3 big stone crosses and apparently this is the hangout spot of the young pot smokers of Barcelona.  There was this guy in leopard pants/shirt playing his guitar and shaking his hips like he was Elvis and then there was a group of teens just rolling up a joint.  Um, maybe this is why it’s off the beaten path…

Today, we went to Montserrat (Catalan for “jagged mountain”).  It’s a giant mountain about an hour away from Barcelona by train.  To get up to the mountain you can either ride on a cable car at a 45° angle or you can take the train.  Naturally, we opted for the cable car and we made the right decision, being suspended over the side of the mountain is a pretty cool experience. 

Once we got off the cable car station we ventured into town.  There’s a famous monastery there along with a museum, but we chose to take a hike and climb the mountain to its summit, Sant Jeroni.  The hike up there was extremely tiring (about a 2 hour hike uphill), but we were rewarded at the very top with a spectacular view.  At the summit there was a viewing platform that had crystal clear 360° view of the mountain and the rest of Catalunya.  Seriously, it was perhaps the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life and I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it was.  So, I suggest you look at my pictures, here, and let me know if you see faces in the rocks too.

This is why I love Catalunya, it truly has everything you could possibly want.  Want to go to the beach?   Go to Costa Brava and Sitges.  Want to explore nature?  Well then go to Montserrat.  Want to uncover what it was like to live in Roman times?  Hop on a train and go to Tarragona.  Modern art lover?  Head on over to Figueres to see Dalí’s museum.  Gaudí admirer?  Walk through Barcelona.  Seriously, there is so much to do in Catalunya that you will never be bored.  There is truly something here for everyone and I would highly highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Europe.  If you’re planning a trip to Paris, make sure you cross the border and spend a week down here.  Trust me, it’ll be worth your wild.

Don’t believe me?  Then check out my pictures from Montserrat, Gaudí’s Barcelona and pictures of Catalonian Nationalism off in the side bar or by clicking the links.  I will be updating Gaudí’s Barcelona later this week after I take pictures of Sagrada Familia and I will be updating the Catalonian Nationalism over the next three months.

On a side note, my comprehension of Catalan is actually improving.  My host mom was speaking Catalan to her granddaughter on Saturday and I was able to catch a lot of what she was saying.  It’s actually a really cool sounding language and I can’t wait to start my Catalan class next Monday!

Is Spain a Unified Nation?

I feel like I need to dedicate a post to a brief introduction on a very important topic: Regional Nationalism/Politics in Spain.

Spain is made up 17 autonomous regions, which are somewhat to similar to states in the US. Some of these autonomous regions, principally the Basque Country and Catalonia, are historically different from Spain. For example, between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries Catalonia was an economically and politically powerful region that rivaled the Moorish and Castilian kingdoms. The Basque Country has traditionally ruled parts of Northern Spain and Southeastern France and their language is not a Romance language, unlike everything else on the Iberian Peninsula. So, both regions have their own language, their own cuisine, and their own culture, which is completely different from Spain; therefore, they are considered nationalities (just like Spanish/French/American ect.)

In my post about the festival in Bilbao, I told you about the tent with the flags of all the “oppressed nations.” I also observed some other nationalistic feelings during the festival. During the Marijaia parade, there was this guy walking in front of her with a Basque flag, with the word “independence” written on it. We were also walking in el Casco Viejo and this group of middle age guys were talking very loudly. One suddenly yells “español” (Spanish) to which another one replied “vasco” (Basque). I didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation to know that they were talking about whether they considered themselves to be Spanish or Basque.

Now, this reminds me of something that came up a few days earlier in the apartment. I was watching the news with Arantza and something about Basque politics came up. After explaining the situation to me, Arantza stated that she doesn't consider herself to be Spanish; she’s Basque and Basque only. Think about that for a minute. She has stronger ties to her autonomous region than she does to the national state. She considers herself to be a citizen of her region but not a citizen of the country she lives in. That would be like me saying: “I live in the United States, but I am not an American. I'm Ohioan.”

Today, there are strong movements in both Catalonia and the Basque Country for the independence of their region from Spain. The Basque Country has it’s own nationalist terrorist group (The ETA) that uses violence to advance this cause while Catalonia keeps on trying to push for more autonomy and for more rights. A lot of people in both regions feel as if they are “a nation without a state."


(A sign in Plentzia, a fishing village in the Basque Country. It says "This is not Spain")

Now you may ask, “why is there so much animosity between Catalonia/Basque Country and Spain?” Long story short: Franco. General Franco’s side won the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and with that he installed himself as the fascist dictator of Spain. While in power, Franco ruled with an iron fist and tried to shove the idea of “national Spanish unity” down the throats of everyone in Spain. His view of an “ideal” Spain was absolute obedience to the Catholic Church and to the national State, women were to remain at home, and Spanish was to be the only language of the country. As a result, he outlawed the use of the Catalan and Basque languages. So, during Franco’s dictatorship the Catalonian and Basque people could not speak their native languages in public for fear of Franco’s henchmen; essentially, they were forced to speak Spanish. This is why, here in Spain, if you want to ask someone “do you speak Spanish?” you say “¿Hablas castellano?” and not “¿Hablas español?” Español implies that there is one, unified language here in Spain, while castellano (Castilian) makes it sound like it’s on more equal footing with the other languages of Spain.

So why do I feel like this is an important topic that you all should be aware of? Well, besides staying in the Basque Country for the two and a half weeks before my program starts, I’m going to be studying in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia. Most likely, I’m going to have stories about the tension between Spain and Catalonia when I finally get to Barcelona, whether it be a million man march for Catalonian independence in the streets of Barcelona or my host mom describing to me what it was like to live under Franco.

Also, I just find it fascinating.

P.S. If this topic is interesting to you, here’s a good article that talks about Catalonia: Barcelona: Leading a stateless nation