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:

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.

Spanish a La Calle (Parte 2)

As promised, here’s a continuation of my Spanish slang post (part one can be viewed here)

• Tío/Tía: Literally it means “uncle/aunt” but it’s used between young people as our “dude,” as in the common greeting “¿qué pasa tío?” (what’s up dude).
• Ni fu o fa: Pretty much translates to “neither good nor bad.”  They also say pse pse (pronounced “ship, ship.”)
• -azo: Add this suffix on the ending of body parts and it means you use that body part to hit someone.  For example, el puño is a fist but a puñetazo is a punch.  Furthermore if you nudge your friend with your elbow (el codo) it’s a codazo.
• Tener ganas: Very very common.  It’s used to mean you want to do something.  Like for example, tengo ganas de ir de fiesta (I feel like partying)
• Decir cuatro cosas: Literally means “to tell four things,” but you say it when you’re really mad; ¡Voy a decirte cuatro cosas, nunca me ha llamaste…..
• Birra: slang for beer
• ¡Qué guay!: Used like our “cool.”  -He comprado un Ferrari.  -Ah ¡qué guay tío!
• Mogollón:  Kind of like “más que mucho” (more than a lot).  Voy a echar de menos de Catalunya un mogollón…
• Tristón: It means sad, but you don’t know why.
• Chin-Chin: Used when you toast everyone with glasses of wine/champagne, like our “cheers.”
• Canguro: Literally kangaroo, but it also means “nanny” (you know, the nanny carries the children around in her pouch all the time)
• Pagafantas: Comes from two words: paga (he pays) and fanta (the delicious pop that comes in orange and lemon flavors).  It’s used to describe a guy who really likes a girl but the girl only sees him as a friend, hence why he always pays for the fantas.  This is probably my favorite slang word that I’ve learned.

Here’s a list of words/phrase I wish I knew before I went to Spain.  Hopefully it will help you in your travels.

• ¿Baja(s)?: If need to get off the metro/bus at the next stop you can use this phrase to politely ask the person who’s blocking you to move out of the way.  Literally it means “are you getting off?,” and if they aren’t they will move out of the way.  Of course, use the usted form for your elders and tú for middle age and young people.
• Perdone/a: Use this if you accidently bump into someone.  Again use perdone for your elders and perdona for everyone else.  Do not use "discúlpame" as you will stick out like a sore thumb because it's super formal.
• No pasa nada: Use this if someone bumps into you, apologizes and you want to say "don't worry about it."  Generally this is used to say "don't worry about it/no problem" but if someone is worrying about something (like an exam, forget something ect.) that's when you use the literal translation of "no te preocupes"
• Vale: The Spanish version of OK.  Use it the same way we would use OK back in the States, except not for “are you ok?” (use ¿estás bien?)
• Pasa, Pasa, Pasa: It's used for letting someone go ahead of you, like through the door.  Now I know that when they say it it'll sound like they're angry/agitated but they're not.  
• ¿Me pones ______?: If you’re in a bar/café and you want to order a drink, use this phrase.  They don’t really use “quiero/quisera” for ordering drinks.
• Igualmente: Use it when someone says “buen fin de semana,” it means “you too.”
• Entender: Use this verb if you want to say “I (don’t) understand” instead of the verb comprender.
• One cultural thing:  They really don't use por favor and gracias that much like how we use it all the time for everything.  Like for example, they won't really say it when a store clerk hands them their purchases, but if it's a really big favor or when asking for directions they will say it; it's just a cultural thing to get use to.  Oh yeah, and it sounds really weird to them if you say muchas gracias all the time, as I found out, haha.

I’m sure there’s a lot more but I can’t think of anymore right now :p

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!

Host Families

As most of you know, I live with a host family here in Barcelona.  This was probably the best decision I’ve made so far regarding my study abroad experience, right behind choosing to go to Bilbao with Michelle and choosing to study in Barcelona.

I live with a 65-year old widow, Rafaela in her medium sized apartment (apartments are called “pisos” here in Spain).  She owns a clothes store in a near by market.  We have two pets here at home, a parrot (Dinu) and a Silky Terrier by the name of “Teri.”  The parrot can get quite obnoxious at times, expecially when it lets out 3 (or more) long screeches in succession. 

Now what can I say about Teri.  Well, Teri is a 12-year old dog, who would be every dog whisperer’s dream come true.  He has a problem with people leaving the house, because students come here for 3 months and then leave him forever. For this reason, he barks whenever someone leaves the house, but never when people come home.  One day I was leaving for school when he snuck out, plopping himself in front of the elevetor.  I tried my best to coax him to come back in the piso (“Teri, ¡tengo un palito!  Ven aquí”), but he wouldn’t have any of it.  I go over to try to pick him up and he growls at me bearing his teeth in the process.  As I was running late for school, I wanted to get this ordeal over with so I pick him up really quickly and (gently) toss him back in the piso.  He's a complete nervous wreck and when you add in some back problems you get one fragile dog.

The piso is a pretty good place to live.  It’s 3 bedrooms, one bathroom with a nice balcony.  However, the neighborhood we live in (Sants) isn’t the best for college age kids because it’s mostly a residential area with families and old people, plus it’s kind of far away from all the happening places.

That being said, I’m glad I live where I am because Rafaela is the best host mom anyone could ask for.  She’s a great cook and she’s very involved with our lives.  Everyday when she comes home from school she always asks how are day went and she loves it when we show her pictures when we come home from a weekend trip around Europe.  She also likes to talk a lot, which is really helpful for us because it helps us practice our Spanish.  She also helps me with my Catalan, by teaching me some words/phrases and helping me with my pronunciation (the double l’s are una puta!).

Rafaela also typically hosts exchange students all year round.  I didn't know this until I asked her about all the Paris decorations in her house (I was curious as to why she had them because she said that she's never been to Paris).  She's been hosting them for about 6 years now and she's told me plenty of stories about other students (two girls use to go out clubbing every night, another one got caught having her boyfriend spending the night).  Not to toot my horn or anything, but she did tell me that John and I are the best exchange students she's ever hosted because we're friendly, open/interested in learning about the culture and more family-like than the other students.

She lives alone, but her mom stayed with her for the first month I was there because she broke her leg falling down the stairs.  Since then, she's been spending a month at a time between her two daughter's piso; in fact, she just came back yesterday to spend November here.  Rafaela also has a friend, José, who comes over every evening.  Everyday, Rafaela, José and Teri go out for a walk near the little green space we have near our piso, then she always cooks our dinner so that John and I can eat around 9 (they hardly ever eat dinner) and we usually first watch a game show (Pasapalabra) followed by the news.  

Here’s some pictures from my home stay:

Oh Teri.  He spends most of his day in my room, either because he loves me or because he's worried about the next time I leave the apartment

My Room

The Living Room

The Kitchen

I’ve been very fortunate with my host families.  First, Arantza and Maren (the host family in the Basque Country) really made my transition to the Spanish way of life very easy (I don’t think I went through any culture shock what so ever) and now, I’m living with Rafaela; I couldn’t have asked for a better living situation over here in Spain.

I love living with host families for three main reasons:

1. Food: Spanish food is soooo good.  Everything is cooked with olive oil, it's fresh and very healthy.  I have a salad for dinner everyday (with olive oil and vinegar for dressing, which is typical in Spain), some bread and either pasta, fish or meat.  She makes a mean tortilla española and in typical Spanish fashion, she always asks us if we want anymore of anything to eat (¿Algo más?  ¿Helado? ¿Fruta?).
2. Culture: You get to experience the culture first hand when you live with a host family; you really submerge yourself in what it's actually like to live in Spain (as opposed to living in dorms with your fellow American students).  It's interesting because Arantza and Maren (the host family I stayed with in Bilbao) are Basque, Rafaela is Catalan, her mom is from Andalucía (Southern Spain) and José is from Galicia (Northwest corner of Spain), so I've kind gotten to know some of the major cultures that make up Spain as a whole.
3. Spanish: You have to speak Spanish in your home stay.  My Spanish has improved so much in the last 2 and a half months partly because of my Spanish language class, but my host families have definitely made a bigger impact on my Spanish than any class ever could.  I'd say that I can speak Spanish on a conversational level, which is to say that even though I make mistakes from time to time with words choice/verb tenses I still can get my point across and continue the conversation.  Spanish kind of just flows out now and I don’t really think too much about it.

My advice to students who want to study abroad: choose to live with a host family.  Trust me, I know it’s going to be very tempting to live with your fellow study abroad compadres, but you will learn so much more if you step outside of your comfort zone and submerge yourself into the local culture.  You will learn more than you can ever hope to learn in your classes.

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

Spanish a La Calle (Parte 1)

The day I arrived in Spain, I came into contact with colloquial Spanish; that's to say, the Spanish they don't teach you in high school.  Here are just some of those expressions/slang that I like or that I found comical.

Cool expressions/words

• Rompecabezas: Puzzles, from the Spanish words romper (to break) and cabeza (head).  I did learn this word in high school and it’s probably one of my favorite Spanish words.
• Comer la cabeza: Loosely translates “to eat your head.”  It’s means "to persuade someone."  
• Ser mi media naranja: Translates to “to be my half orange.”   It’s used to say “he/she is my better half.”  
• La peña: Your group of friends.  However your best friend(s) is called un/a colega.
• Ñoño: Silly, used in a teasing way, as in “no seas ñoño” (don’t by silly).  By far my favorite Spanish word because it has double  ñ’s!. 
• Pijo: A snob. 
• Chulo: cocky, arrogant
• Cuesta la cuesta: Translates to "costs the hill."  It's just something you say when you're walking/climbing up a steep hill.
• Pip-pip (prounced peep-peep): it’s the sound they make for horns.  I find it funny because we say “beep-beep” and the only thing separating a “p” sound from a "b” sound is that the vocal cords vibrate when making a “b” sound (sorry, the linguistics nerd is coming out in me…)
• Hacer pipi: As shown above, the Spanish “i” is pronounced like the English “ee.”  Knowing that, say the Spanish word pipi.  Hacer pipi means “to go pee” (literally “to make pee”).  
• ¡De puta madre!: How young people say “awesome”
• ¡Hombre!: Means “man” but it’s used to express surprise or “hey look,…….”  For example, you haven’t seen your best friend from high school years and then one day you pass him on the street.  “¡Hombre!, ¿cuánto tiempo ha pasado en no verlo?” (Hombre, how long has it been since I’ve seen you?)  Or let’s say that you’re discussing something with a friend and they say something that you think is incorrect or don’t agree with: “Hombre, no creo que sea esa” (hombre, I don’t think that’s it). Although it literally means “man” it’s used between man-women and women-women in addition to man-man.  You will hear this word all the time.
• Vale: Spanish version of "ok."  You will use this all the time.

Caution, the following expression are either vulgar or contain content of a sexual nature (mind you, I did learn some of these words in my Spanish language class over here...)  I figured that some of you would get a kick out of learning some of these words, so I'll put them here and you do with them what you want to.  If you are offended by such material, please close your web browser and wait for my next post.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED :)

• Hacer un pis: Literally “to make a piss), but of course it means “to take a piss.”  I laughed so hard the first time Arantza said this (“¿¡Qué has dicho Arantza!?”)
• Tener culo quadrado: Translates to "to have a square ass."  It's used to describe the feeling when you've been in a chair too long.  Again, gracias a Arantza for that one.
• Tener una aventura: Transaltes to “to have an adventure.”  It’s used to describe cheating on your spouse, but in the sense that it was only a one-night stand.  However, if you have a lover, then the expression would be tener un/una amante (to have a lover).
• Amigo con derecho a roce: Loosely translates to “a friend with the right to touch.” It means friends with benefits.
• Pechuga: Normally it's used to describe the breast of an animal, like pechuga del pollo (chicken breast).  However, it's also used to describe a woman's large rack.
• Echar un polvo: Loosely translates to “to expel dust.”  In Spain, it’s used to say that you’ve had sex with someone, though I've found that the verb follar is much more common. 
• Joder: Spain’s f-word.  The word is very interesting to me because it can be used in the infinite form to express surprise/anger/disbelief/astonishment and it can also be used regularly in its verb form.  For example, you’re climbing up a steep mountain and you still have a lot to climb: joder.  You’re describing to a Spaniard that you can’t walk around certain parts of Toledo wearing a certain color because of gangs and the Spaniard responds: joder.  You find out that you’re wife is “echando un polvo” with the milkman: ¡JODER!  Of course, only use this around people you are very close with.

Of course, I will update this list when I come into contact with some more cool expressions and sayings, probably towards the end of my trip (a day I don't want to think about right now).

Huegla General

Yesterday in Spain there was a huelga general, a general strike.  The strike was organized as a protest against the Socialist Prime Minister’s, Zapatero, Labor Reform which cut the cost of firing a worker (only 33 days of severance for every year worked as opposed to 45 days), decreased public investment plans and reduced civil servant wages (by 5%).  Zapatero claims that these measure will help bring down the budget deficit and unemployment (which is currently at around 20%), however many people over here believe that Zapatero is punishing the workers for the mistakes that the banks made, while the banks got millions of Euros in bailouts.

The strike came to my front door as I was woken up at about 9:30 by all the noise.  I live 2 blocks away from Carrer de Sants, a main street in Barcelona and it was one of the routes they chose to march.  I can only imagine how many people were marching down that street on the way to Plaça d’Espanya.  Even though my culture classes were cancelled I was still suppose to have my language class at 11 (but I wasn’t planning to go), but then I checked the e-mail my teacher and ISA sent me saying that picketers were blocking the entrance to school.  Oh joy.

As I didn’t want to be in the thicket of things, I stayed home and watched the coverage from the news.  What I saw really astounded me.  There were protests all over the country in all the major cities and a lot of them turned violent, especially the ones in Barcelona (however, the violence wasn't caused by the strikers, it was caused by an anti-establishment fraction).  As far as what I saw on the news, there was news footage of them setting the street garbage bins and cop cars on fire.  Protestors also threw rocks at SWAT like police cars.  Some people harassed storeowners who decided to stay open for the day.  Other protestors stopped cars on their way to Barcelona to “inform” them of their right to strike and to get them to do so.  In Madrid, there were literally guards with riot gear posted at the entrance of a Corte Inglés (the national department store).

I also noticed that a lot of people were carrying Catalonian independence flags during the protests.  I think some people here were using the strike as an excuse to get rowdy with the police and try to “advance” the cause of Catalonian independence.  I asked my Spanish teacher about this and she said that basically anytime there is a national protest some Catalonians take to the street to demand independence for Catalunya. 

Here are some pictures of the strike, courtesy of El País (the national newspaper)  The first three are from Barcelona, the last one is from Madrd:

The labor unions over here are claiming that it was a successful strike.  About 70% of the country didn’t go to work and electricity usage was down about 17% for the day.  However, a lot of people stayed home for two big reasons:

a)     Public transportation:  The services were extremely limited.  In Barcelona, the metro was only open between 6-9 and then again from 5-8 and even then service was very limited.  I walked around a little bit too (at around lunch time, hey even the protesters gotta eat right?) and I didn’t see a single bus in operation.

b)     Safety:  Why would you go to work if you knew that you would encounter angry protesters?  Hell, even if I did have class yesterday I wouldn’t have walked to school, I didn’t want to get caught up in the drama.  My host mom decided to stay home too for the exact same reason.

So the big take home message here is that not everyone in Spain was on strike.  A lot of them wanted to go to work but they were unable to. Another big take home message: not all protesters were violent.  Of course, the violent actions are the most extreme and therefore they make the news. 

Do not think for a second that the entire country wanted to or participated in this strike. 

P.S.  Rhetorical question: Did the people who organized the strike go on strike and if so, from what?  Organizing the strike?

La Mercè

I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it again: people over here know how to throw parties.

Last weekend (Sept. 23-26) was the local festival here in Barcelona, La Mercè.  It honors the patroness of Barcelona, Mare de Deu de la Mercè (the Virgin of Mercy), but more importantly it’s a showcase of the most important aspects of the Catalan Culture.  Here’s a day-by-day account of what I was lucky enough to see (as there was so much to see, this post is very very very long…).

*If you would rather see what La Mercè was all about rather than read about it, scroll down to the end of this post for my two-part youtube video*

Thursday night, I went to see an alternative rock group from Valencia called Obrint Pas.  I happened to stumble across them when I was still back in the States, so of course I was thrilled that they were going to be in Barcelona as a part of BAM (Barcelona Acció Musical), Barcelona’s musical scene during La Mercè.  They sing in Catalan, and it’s usually about very nationalistic/independence themes about the Països Catalanas (Catalan-speaking territories).  For some reason, I thought it was going to be very low key, which of course I was dead wrong about.  The concert was held at Parc Fòrum, which is apparently the park where the youth of Barcelona go to party.  Literally, as far as my eye could see there were circles of young people drinking and smoking, not to mention the amount of trash, bottles and plastic bags everywhere. 

Since the home is reserved for family, people party in the street or in bars/clubs.  So, I guess it’s very common to buy a two-liter bottle of pop, mix some alcohol into the bottle and pass it around your circle of friends, right?  Oh, and people were rolling and smoking joints like it was nobody’s business.  This whole scene was kind of culture shock to me, because back in the States the cops would be all over the place, riot gear and all.  However, the only cops I saw were the ones directing traffic, pedestrians and security to get into the concert area.  The concert itself was pretty good, I only recognized three songs but it was still a good time.  It was insane though and when I say insane, I really mean insane.  There were people yelling in Catalan, the band was firing up the crowd, people jumping up and down and random mosh pits everywhere. 

Friday was the actual holiday of La Mercè, so everything except restaurants was shut down.  At around one, in the Plaça de Sant Jaume (the main plaza in the Gothic quarter), there was a castells competition.  Castells are literally human towers and it was quite a sight to see.  There were three different teams of castellers (the human tower builders) from neighborhoods in Barcelona, Sants (where I live), Sagrada Família and Gràcia.  They tried to outperform each other by building the tallest and most elaborate towers.  There were some that were 5-6 levels high (a horizontal collection of castellers is considered a level), and there was another cool one that was 5 levels high with a vertical stack of casterllers in the middle.  I was in awe of the skill it too to build these towers; I still don’t know how they managed to do it without falling over like Jenga pieces.  Oh and my favorite part: who was the bravest person that would climb to the top of the castell?  It was always a little kid with a helmet and they would only stay on top long enough to raise their hand up to get applauses from the crowd.

Later on Friday was La Mercè Cavalcade, the main procession of the Gegants, the 9-10 feet tall protagonists of La Mercè.  There’s a person inside each gegant that makes it walk, run and dance.  However, there’s no electronics involved; the person inside the gegant has to be strong enough to have the thing on his/her shoulders and be able to run and dance in it without falling over.  Just like the casterllers, it takes a lot of skill and it’s incredibly difficult.  The gegants were all very unique; there were traditional ones like the Barcelona giants, the Eagle, the Lion and the Dragon Monster but then there were ones that made me laugh (like the one that looked like Ronald Reagan and a pigeon with boobs).  Also, there were many marching bands that played traditional Catalan tunes with a special type of pipe and drums.  The whole procession marched down Las Ramblas (the most famous street in Barcelona), down to el Barrio Gótico (the Gothic Quarter), past the Plaça de Sant Jaume and finished up at the La Seu (The Gothic Quarter’s cathedral).  We were lucky enough to get a great spot in Las Ramblas where we could see everything and it was definitely a cool parade to watch.

On Saturday we checked out the traditional Catalan dance, Sardana, in Plaça de Sant Jaume.  A lot of Spaniards consider this to be a very lazy and boring dance but I found it to be quite moving, especially considering the history behind it.  When Franco came into power not only did he outlaw the public use of Catalan, but he also banned sardanes.  He was in power for more than 30 years, so for a dance to survive that long under repression is quite an achievement.  Maybe for this reason, a lot of the older participants looked very serious when they were dancing and the music was at times very somber.  To dance you first have to put your belongings in the center pile and then join the circle.  Each dance usually lasts around ten or fifteen minutes and then the participants take a little break before starting again.  At first there were maybe only three circles in the plaza, but later when we came back the whole plaza was filled with dance circles, sometimes even a circle within a circle. 

Later on Saturday night all Hell broke loose; no, literally all Hell broke loose.  Near el Barrio Gótico the gates of Hell opened up and out poured the Devils and Dragons into the streets of Barcelona in what is known as Correfoc (Catalan for “fire run”).  This was by far the highlight of the festival.  Although it’s a recent tradition (it was created in the first few years after Franco’s death), it is one of the most popular traditions in Barcelona.  The procession combines huge dragons, ferocious beasts, devils and drum lines.  There were several types of dragons as well as beasts (examples: a three-headed dog, Gaudí’s dragon from Parc Güell, a demented looking pig, and a T-rex).  The people running the festival would attach some sort of tube looking thing (think roll of coins, but much bigger) to either the mouth and/or tail of the dragon/beast, light it, and then it would run down the street chasing people brave enough to get in front of it.  I don’t really know how to describe the flames other than they were huge sparklers on steroids.  When the gunpowder ran out, there would be a flash followed by a very loud BANG and then the people in charge would have to attach another tube to it.  There were also several different styles of shooting off the flames.  Most of the dragons/beasts would sway back in forth while moving down the street, others would aim the flames directly at the participant’s feet while others would shoot flames onto the sidewalks (where I was standing), showering the spectators with flames. 

The Devils were the experienced participants of the festival who dressed up in cloaks and used a pitchfork/spear to fill the streets with flames.  Back behind each block of Devils, there were one to three people who would attach the tube to the Devil’s stick and then light it.  Once the stick was lit, the Devil would gleefully run back up to the other Devils, often with a little hop in his/her step.  The tubes themselves would rotate on the stick so that it moved around in a circle, dispersing the maximum amount of flames everywhere.  As the Devils ran down the street bold spectators would follow the Devil, huddling around him/her as the flames danced around them.  Most of these people were covered head to toe in clothing so as they wouldn’t get burned, but I did see a couple of guys wearing nothing but shorts running in front of dragons and then huddling around a Devil.

After each block of dragons/beasts/Devils a drum line would follow and provide some really good beats.  They sounded like tribal music and they really got into the spirit of things too.  They would enthusiastically bang on their snare or base drum while jumping up and down and screaming at the top of their lungs.  They really added to the whole atmosphere of the Correfoc and, being a band geek, they were really fun to listen to.

Sunday was unfortunately the last day of the festival but it went out with a bang (pun intended).  At ten o’clock all of Barcelona gathered at the base of Montijuïc (the main hill of Barcelona) to watch Piromusical.  It’s also probably the most popular event of the festival because the entire plaza was filled, from the fountain all the way pass the round a bout.   The show was an awesome musical fireworks display that took place against the gorgeous backdrop of Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.  There fireworks were set music with near perfect timing as the Magic Fountain of Montijuïc put on a show that would rival any fountain in Las Vegas.  Before the last block of fireworks, everyone lit a sparkler and held it up in the air; it’s a cool little tradition that the locals do.  Overall, it was a great way to end what was a truly remarkable weekend.

All and all, there’s one word I can use to describe the festival: incredible.  I’m so happy that I chose to study here in Barcelona.  I’m so happy I decided to study in the fall, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have been able to experience La Mercè.  I may sound obnoxious at this point, but I’m just so happy that I get the opportunity to spend three months here in this city to learn not only the language but also to learn about their traditions and culture.  Though I love the rest of Spain, my heart now officially belongs here in Barcelona and it will forever be in Catalunya.

Of course, you can see all my pictures from La Mercè, here, or you can check out the sidebar.  However, to get the real feel of what it was like to be at La Mercè, you should check out my two-part youtube video of it at the bottom of this post (just click on part 1 and/or part 2).  It gives you a taste of the castellers, the Cavalcade, saradanes, Correfoc and Piromusical.  As with the rest of this post, the videos are pretty long (2 parts, about 6 minutes each), but here are the times you can go to if you want to see a specific part:

Part 1 - Sardana: 0:11           Castells: 1:38            Cavalcade: 3:45

Part 2 - Correfoc: 0:06          Piromusical: 3:19

¡Espero que disfrutes!

Culture Shock 101: The Main Differences between Spain and the United States

So, I have been in Spain now for two weeks and I’ve loved every minute of it.  I don’t think I went through any culture shock and I believe I’ve adapted very well to the Spanish way of life; things that once seemed novel are now just a part of my daily life.  However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any striking differences between the two cultures…

The following are what I perceive to be the differences between Spain and the United States.  Note of caution:  My observations are based only on Michelle’s host family and on only one part of the Spain; I would hate to say that it describes what all of Spain is like, because, as I discussed in an earlier post, Spain is made up of many cultures/nationalities.

With that, let’s begin (¡Cuidado!  This post is fairly long…)

1. Sense of Time: The pace of life is much slower here than it is in the States.  Most shops close down for an hour and a half to two hours during the afternoon for lunch.  The only businesses that stay open during that time are restaurants, cafes, and large department stories in the bigger cities.  A lot of people also take month-long vacations during either the month of August, but others may only take a week or two off.
2. Family and Friends: They are very important to Spaniards.  It’s very common for the children to live at home until their late twenties and for adults to take care of their elderly parents.  Every day I see someone wheeling their elderly parent around in a wheelchair, whether it be to the beach or to a café.  It’s also very common to go out every night to meet up with some friends or family at a local café.  There, you drink a couple of glasses of wine and talk long into the night.  It's uncommon to hang out or have a party at your house, this is reserved for special occasions and holidays (instead, people hang out in public).  Meeting someone for the first time is also a little bit different.  Girls greeting girls kiss each other on both cheeks as do men greeting women; men greeting men is just a firm handshake.  Public displays of affection are very common amongst young people (a.k.a 20-year olds making out on the subway, on the street, ect)
3. Food: The biggest meal of the day here in Spain is lunch, which they eat between 2 and 4 and it's usually a two course meal followed by a piece of fruit for dessert.  Breakfast is usually something light, like cereal/toast and a coffee (though their coffee is basically a shot of espresso).  They usually eat dinner between 10pm and midnight, but it’s also fairly light.  They eat a lot of pork products (ham, bacon, pork loins), seafood, eggs, bread, potatoes, beans, soups, rice and leafy vegetables.  After meals, it’s very common to sit at the table for an hour (or more) and talk, while enjoying a couple of cigarettes (if you smoke) and some more wine.  This is really different from the States where usually at home we just eat and move on.  I think this might have to do with their sense of time and the importance they place on family and friends.  I really like this, because so far there have been a couple of really deep and interesting conversations at the dinner table (Their view of America, what kind of animal you would be in the next life and why, the different languages and dialects of Spain, for example). 
4. Space: Everything is a lot smaller here than it is back in the States.  Houses are expensive and not very common (an average size house back in the States would cost hundreds of thousand of Euros over here), so most people live in apartments.  Arantza’s apartment is considered one of the nicer ones, but it’s still even less space than the first story of my house back home.  Local shops, cafes and bars are also pretty small; at times, you feel like you’re on top of the other customers.  There are no SUV's over here and very few vans.
5. Smoking: Smoking is very common, and this is probably the only aspect of their culture that I do not care for.  They smoke after meals, light up while watching TV, and smoke inside restaurants and cafés.  The government labels on the cigarette packages are also very direct.  They say things like "Smoking can kill" and "Smoking gravely injures you and those around you" in big black letters on the front of the box.
6.  Public Transportation:  Gas is very expensive and it costs 1,000 Euros to take the test to get your license (if you fail and want to take it again, you still have to pay the 1,000 Euros again).  Because of this, most people take public transportation to get from point A to point B.  I’ve taken the metro everywhere, all the way from downtown Bilbao to the little fishing village of Plentzia.  I love taking the metro; it’s inexpensive, fast, reliable and convenient (plus you don’t have to worry about traffic and idiot drivers).  The bus system is also very good. 
7. Fashion: Everyone dresses very fashionably over here; you would not be caught dead wearing a pair of sweatpants outside in public.  Kids my age dress kind of the same as we do back in the states (Guys: jeans, sneakers, graphic t-shirt) but middle aged and older people dress very nicely (they dress like they’re going to church on a Sunday morning).
8. US Imported Entertainment:  Dubbed American television shows are on in the afternoon (shows like Bones, Cold Case, NCIS) and I’ve heard a lot of American music in bars.  One cool thing: before going to commercial, the TV will tell you how many minutes of commercials they will show (we will return in 70 seconds).  Most of the movies shown here in movie theaters are American films dubbed in Spanish and a lot of the theatre productions are American musicals that have been translated into Spanish.
9. The Spanish of Spain: For words that have the letter z and c (if it comes before e or i), the consonant sounds like a lisp; this is only found in the North and Central part of Spain.  Personally, I like it creates a distinction between certain words, so that you are able to spell the correctly.  For example, in the Spanish of Mexico, the words cazar (to hunt) and casar (to marry) are pronounced the same.  This would not happen in Northern/Central Spain because the second consonant in cazar would be “lisped.”  There are also some vocabulary differences between the Spanish of Spain and the Spanish of Latin America.  For example, coger is a verb that means “to take” in Spain, but in Latin American Spanish it’s the f-word (this is probably why we weren’t taught this verb in my Spanish classes).  So if a Spaniard was to say “¿Coges el bús?” (Do you take the bus?) to a Mexican, there will probably be a big misunderstanding….
10. Miscellaneous: A lot of people don’t walk their dogs with leashes, but the dog does stay close to the owner.  Also, dogs crap on the sidewalk and the owner doesn’t have to pick it up.  There is no personal trash collection.  There are big containers on some of the street corners and you have to go out and throw your garbage in there to be collected.  All baby strollers also come complete with their own personal umbrella for the baby.

Well I hope you have a better idea of what life is like over here.  I will probably be updating this list in future posts when I see more differences between the two cultures.

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