El Castillo de Cardona

On Sunday, another town nearby was having a mushroom festival as well. Rosa and Francisco had happily agreed to take me and so we set off at around 11am for Cardona. Cardona is about the size of Solsona but boasts an amazing old castle, from the Romanic period. We went right into the casco antiguo and milled around for a bit taking in the sites. Sunday is also the day of their open air market, so in addition to the mushroom festivities, their were also all the vegetable stands and clothing and artisan craft tables. It was very busy and alive. One stand was offering free coca y chocolate. Coca is a really delicious sweet bread that I have tried, but I've never had it with chocolate. Rosa tells me it is a very typical breakfast to have on Sunday, as it is sweet and rich and not for normal days. So we got in line so that I could try it. The chocolate is meant to be a drink, but is much better for dunking as it is very thick, almost like a pudding, and served hot. But alas! They ran out when I was just one person away from reaching the goal. Rosa ducked up front quickly and must have said something about how I was an American and had never had it before, sob sob sob, and they scraped the bottom of the barrel and I managed to get a taste. It was extremely rich and I don't think I could have made it through a full cup anyway, but it was yummy! There was the most adorable little boy that was practically climbing inside of his cup of chocolate – I couldn't resist taking his picture!

We then climbed up to the castle. There was a spectacular view from the top and the structure itself was remarkable to behold. There is a tower at the top that is called the torre de la minyona which means the "tower of the naughty girl". Apparently some duke had a daughter that he wanted to marry to some guy, likely a match that would be to his advantage, but his daughter refused so he locked her in the tower. Whenever I get lost in the fairytale of how romantic it would have been to be alive “back then” I should remember things like this and thank my lucky stars that I am a woman of the 21st century. Before heading home for comida we stopped in at a little bar for a quick snack – they call it tomando un vermouth even though we didn't drink vermouth. In the past, having a glass of vermouth in the late morning before eating was common and so the name has stuck though now it is used to describe having a snack or an appetizer before eating. We had fried calamaria and small chilled clams marinated in lemon juice and salt.

And now it is Monday, and back to the work week. But first, disfrutan las fotos!

Los Chicos del Coro

I may have mentioned that Saturday was a very full day. It didn't end there. At 8pm I met Roser (the director of my school) and her husband in the main portal, jumped in their car and off we drove to Manresa. Manresa is small city about 45 minutes from Solsona – it has maybe 70,000 inhabitants. Roser had an extra ticket to see Los Chicos del Coro perform and had invited me to join them at the theatre. When we arrived we still had about a half an hour before the concert began so we strolled about on the passeig – a much smaller version of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. There was an outdoor market happening there at the moment too. It was lovely to stroll up and down the walkway, looking at all the amazing artisan breads and meats, and honey and spices, all while chatting amiably with Roser and her husband. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have connected with such nice people here. The people of Solsona have been amazing to me, so welcoming, generous and warm.

The show was delightful, they are a children's choir from France and are extremely talented. All the children are between the ages of 10 and 12 and they sing beautifully for ones so young. They have amazing control of their voices and sang in at least four different languages extremely well. There is a movie called Los Chicos del Coro and this choir sang the soundtrack for the movie. If you're interested just google it. 

The concert ended at 11:30pm, which of course meant that it must be dinner time. These Spaniards sure are night owls! So the whole group of us (by this time we had connected up with three other couples, friends of Roser, and her teenage niece) went to a restaurant bar and ordered some tapas. Laura, my friend from the program, lives in Manresa, so she also joined us at dinner and we had some fun. She is really chatty and I think they all got a kick out of las dos americanas. We finally made our way home around 1:30am. I was tired, but happy.

Festa de Bolets!

 After the breakfast feast and the run, the day continued de una manera muy agradable. In Solsona and the surrounding areas, mushroom hunting is extremely popular and right now is el tiempo de las bolets. Today was the inauguration day for a special restaurant week; all the participating restaurants are offering fixed menus highlighting local ingredients, specifically mushrooms. To kick off the restaurant week, there was mini festival right in my very own Plaza Mayor. All the restaurants had a table set up and were offering samples and small plates. You bought a ticket to enter and then you could sample foods from local restaurants. Que chulo! There were also tables displaying the different kinds of mushrooms that are found in this area. They say that in Catalunya the people estan locos por las bolets. From my balcony I could look down at the crowded plaza and watch the people milling about. A little later I went down and joined the crowd. There was a woman selling the most delicious fresh goat cheese and I couldn't resist buying some from her. It is so rich, almost like ricotta, but in water like fresh mozzerella. Que rico! Above are some pictures from my balcony and from below.

Breakfast of Champions!

Today has been a very full day - and it is only 7pm. (Remember that here in Spain, the day doesn't end until midnight - at the earliest!). This morning I was invited by my downstairs neighbor to breakfast with them. Also invited were my upstairs neighbor, his novia, the dueña of this building and her gardener. Together we made quite a group. The hosts of this breakfast extravaganza are from Japan and have been living in Solsona for the past twenty years. They run a cultural exchange business between Catalunya and Japan - and they speak Catalan, Japanese and una mica of English. Javier (my upstairs neighbor) and his girlfriend Teresa are both from Madrid, but he has been living in Solsona for the past 4 years and as such has learned Catalan, but she only speaks Castellano. Elvira (my landlady) and Ignacio speak both Catalan and Castellano, but of course primarily Catalan. Me, well, I'm beginning to recognize a few words in Catalan, but still wouldn't say I know it. So it was fantastic mix of languages and cultures, this neighborly breakfast. Kasuko is so warm and friendly and eager to communicate - she speaks in Catalan to me and throws in a few English words here and there and I answer in Castellano and some English and little by little we decipher what the other is trying to say. Que chulo!

The breakfast itself was a surprising event. It was HUGE! The table was laid with fresh tomatoes and garlic, olive oil and salt, and a bottle of red wine. The cooking was down on the fireplace in the middle of the living room where we all congregated. They were roasting sausage and morcilla and something that looked a bit like bacon but was really thick and VERY fatty. The bread was cut from a gigantic loaf, creating slices as long as my forearm and almost as wide as the span of my palm. They too were toasted on the fire. This is a very typical Catalan breakfast. The slices of toast are prepared thus - each person doing so individually: a clove of raw garlic is rubbed over the slice, then a tomato is sliced in half and smeared over the top of the bread as well, to moisten it, then it is drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. The meat is eaten either separately or folded into the toast and eaten together. And the wine. Oof! They were drinking like champions at 10 in the morning! I was completely stuffed, but it was delicious. Then the plates were cleared and the wanted to do a "chin chin", a toast, so out came the cava and we all had a little sparkling wine and toasted to some saint. Pretty much every day here is the day of some saint or other. There are a bizillion of them! Then came postre and cafe - fruit and toasted walnuts in the shell, and pieces of chocolate. By the time breakfast was over, around 12:30pm, I was ready to go back to bed. But it was wonderful. Here are a few photos of the cooking and laid table. Check out the wine bottle... the men tip their heads back and a stream of wine comes out from the tip of that container and they drink directly from the bottle. What a trip Spain is.

After breakfast, and digesting por un rato,  I went for a spectacular long run into the countryside. I finally made it to the bridge that I mentioned in my last post about running. It took about 30 minutes to get there and it was a gorgeous day today, sparkling sun and fresh air. The bridge is an amazing old stone structure, towering up into the trees, in the roman style, like a large acqueduct. It is stunning. And I repeat: Life is Good.

To Market, to Market...

Una Manzana para Mi

Classes went very well today. I think I am beginning to get the hang of this whole teaching thing. (Knock on wood, it may have just been a good day!) The day began with a morning art class with the children from 5th grade. They are learning how to draw straight lines with ruler and of course more to the point, what the vocabulary and instructions are in English. This is art in English. The concepts may be a little on the easy side, but understanding what we are instructing them to do is the part that is difficult for them. But once they set to work, I walked among their desks, helping those who needed it. Some were afraid to get help from me because they didn't know how to ask the question that they wanted to ask, but I'm getting better about not letting them slide. I stand there and say "try! what do you want to ask me?" or I try and guess what they need and form the question for them and explain so that they understand. It is fun and really rewarding to begin to make connections with them. They are so darn cute! Today a whole group of them got really excited about asking me for me email address. They came running over to me with pieces of paper and a pens, clamoring for me to write down my email. I got such a kick out of it! They all want to be my friend on Facebook and to know if I have messenger. I think it is probably best if we get to know each other in class first. ;)

Today I also taught two sessions of English to the teachers, one during the lunch hour and another in the late afternoon. I realized today that here I am, teaching English for the first time, with no real notion of the best way to present the subject matter, and my audience, my students, are a bunch of teachers! But I must be doing something right because every week my classes have grown by one or two teachers. Word is spreading! And I love it. I really do love teaching. It is so satisfying to share a piece of knowledge, whether basic or complex, that I possess with someone who is unfamiliar with it. To see them begin to understand and know that I played a part in their acquisition of knowledge is an amazingly gratifying experience. For someone like myself, who has always loved learning, to now be in the position to help another person learn - well I'm just tickled pink!

Views around Solsona

Rainy Day in Solsona

Today it is raining in Solsona and I am reminded of life in Eugene. The climate is surprisingly similar here and I feel at home. The streets have become familiar to me and I know my way around. It is easy as it is small, but it is still a nice feeling. Very often, I pass people I know and exchange "adeos", catalan for adios. The children from school know me and are always excited to see me walking about in their town. Yesterday afternoon two girls spotted me and came running up to say excited hellos, but then instantly changed their expression to that of deers in headlights when I responded to them and asked them what they were doing that afternoon. It was a bit more than they bargained for I think. They are still learning, but at least they are enthusiastic.

In class yesterday I had an experience that tested my humility. Rosa, the English teacher that I work with, decided to ask the children how many languages they know. She went around the room asking them and some knew three, some knew five, and so on. Then she turned to me and said "Deborah, how many languages do you speak?" I was almost speechless, then meekly said "one". "Oh, you only know one? We beat you!" she said triumphantly. Grrrr! She knows I can't admit that I know Spanish - I'm not sure what she was trying to prove. Oh well, I hope it made the kids feel good and smart, even at my expense.

Lunch!

La Primera Invitada

I had my very first visitor this weekend. I met Laura at the Orientation in Barcelona on 30 September. She is here in Catalunya on the same program as I am and is teaching in a little town called Suria, about an hour by bus from Solsona. She arrived Sunday afternoon and I don't think we stopped talking until she left the following afternoon. It was fun to be able to compare notes on our different placement, our living situations, navigating in Catalan, our observations about Catalonia, and generally nice to have a buddy for a night. We hiked up to the castle together so she could see all of Solsona and then we went to dinner together. We made a point of ordering a couple of different things, not knowing what we were ordering and were able to sample some typical Catalan cuisine. We tried coca which is sort of like a pizza, only more delicious. It is on a piece of long, thin sort of sweet bread, and on top was roasted zucchini and discs of fresh goat cheese. Yum!

Un Camino

On Friday afternoon I decided to hike up to the castle to get myself out for some air and exercise. It was just before 7pm when I set out and the sun was already down behind the hills that form the valley that I live in. The sky was still light and the prepirineos were bathed in purple and pink light in the distance. They were stunning. As I left the populated part of the city and began to cross the field to reach the path that leads up to the castle I came upon a small herd of goats on their way homeward - an old peasant walking alongside of them, guiding them gently though they obviously knew the way. Their bells clanged quaintly in the evening quiet and when I passed the man and offered a smiling "buenas tardes" he returned the greeting with a one-toothed grin. Delightful man! I watched the goats continue their way homeward for another moment, enjoying the farm smells that mingled with the evening air, then resumed my ascent. The temperature has changed here, the sun still shines with purpose during the daytime, but winter is in the air and it was brisk and cold as I walked purposely upwards. Once I warmed with the exertion of the climb the air was a welcome companion and the cold felt good on my cheeks and in my lungs. When I reached the top the light had changed. The sky was a hazy orange-pink and a few bats began to dart about against the castle wall in the growing dusk. I sat for a time on a rock wall, looking down on Solsona, and watched as the town began to light up as darkness fell.

La corrida de la vida

That last post was a long one, and I commend any who made it through. I'll try to be more brief in future posts, but it is difficult! So much happens here! This week I began teaching English classes to adults, in addition to teaching the little ones at school. I have 15 "students", all of them teachers here at Setelsis who would like to learn/improve their English. Tuesdays class went very well. I started with present-tense verbs and we talked about where we live and what we do when we are at home. I had to keep reminding myself that they were at a low level, because I felt so silly saying "what do you do when you are at home?" "Do you cook?" "What room do you cook in?" But I really liked being at the blackboard, writing down words, helping them with pronunciation, and explaining various rules about the English language. Any ESL teaching tips are very welcome if you have them!

Another aspect of my life here is running. I love running, you can do it anywhere, no special equipment is needed. Running shoes and out the door I go. Running has allowed me to explore the different places I have lived in a much more intimate way than I would have otherwise. I find secret paths, and notice different buildings or little hidden gardens. Here in Solsona, there is a path that leads out into the countryside towards Font de la Frau, which is a fountain. As the path gets farther out of the city, it becomes surrounded by farms, and the smell of manure is rich and pungent. Then the path narrows and there is only single-file room to pass, which is fine since I run alone. I have not yet reached the fountain, and I do not know how far out it is, but every run I get a little farther before turning back and retracing my steps. One day I'll get there.

After my run today I returned to my apartment for some lunch and enjoyed the view from my balcony in the square. Life is good.

Oh Spain!

Yesterday was a treat as I got to experience up close and personal the delights of Spanish bureaucracy. In order to extend my visa to allow me to stay here legally for the full nine months I had to go to the Comisaría de Policia for the province, which is in Lleida, about an hour en coche from Solsona. But before doing that, I had to enpadronarme in Solsona. Meaning I registered with the census of Solsona using my local address here. But since my landlord is renting me this place debajo de la mesa so she doesn't have to pay taxes, I provided them with the address of the teacher and her family (with their permission) who have more or less adopted me. SO, empadronamiento in hand, along with the rest of the paperwork that was supposedly required (passport, photocopy of passport, visa, photocopy of visa, official letter stating that I am an auxiliar de conversación, photocopy of official letter, etc etc etc) I marched to Lleida, kindly escorted by the director of the school, to the Comisaría de Policia. When we arrived it was just about to open and there was already a line of people outside of the door. The door opened and large-bellied officer stepped into the crowd and began asking loudly who had an appointment and at what time and then inefficiently began herding people into different lines. While I waited in line to hold our spot, por si acaso, Roser ducked inside to ask where we should wait. She came back in a moment smiling triumphantly and beckoned me inside. We made our way through the still empty office and around to a large room with about 15 or 20 desks, all numbered. We sat down at number 5, where Roser had been directed, and began to tell the man what I needed. He immediately got angry and expostulated for a moment about how he only works with Spaniards and if I'm an extranjero I have to go back to the original line. We said we had been TOLD to go to him, but he wasn't having any of it and sent us away. So we returned to the officer that Roser had questioned earlier and told him what happened and explained again what I was there for. Apparently he had misunderstood the first time and now he was flustered and said, oh yeah, you go right here in this line. So there we were, back in the original line, only now much farther back because of our detour. We stood there for a few moments, then Roser said that if he was wrong once, maybe he was wrong twice, and decided to ask him one more time. She explained again that I was there to get my NIE (Numero de identificación de extranjero). OH! He said this time, you need to be in that line over there. Sigh. So again we switched lines and this time it seemed to be the right one. So here is how it went:

We waited in that final line for about 15 minutes before we approached the desk of the an officer and told him that I need the application for the NIE. He looked around, didn't have it at his desk, left for a minute, came back with the form, (which was short) and I began to fill it out. But oh no, I couldn't fill it out there at his desk even though it would take all of a minute to do, I had to get up and go back to the waiting area to fill it out, then get back in the line to talk to him. So that is what I did. When I reached him again he took the form, looked at my passport, typed a couple of things in the computer, then wrote a number a piece of scrap paper, gave me back passport, application and handed me the number and told me to go to the desk next to his, which of course, there was a line for. OK. So far so good. (But seriously, why couldn't he do the whole darn thing??) So I wait for the woman at the desk next to his and when I approach her, she looks at my forms and passport, then fills out one of those old fashioned carbon paper forms with my request and the fee for the NIE. She hands me this form and tells me I have to leave the comisaría and go to a bank to pay the fee then come back. Really? REALLY???

So I take the form, go out and around the block, find a bank, go and and wait in a line of people I had just seen in the comisaría, only to get close to the teller and have her shout out to the waiting line, that no, they don't accept the payments at that bank, we have to go to another. At this point, I can only find the humor in the situation, so I happily trudge out with the crowd and we make our way down the street in search of another bank that will take our money. Finally, score! Bank found, fee paid, I return to the comisaría with my receipt. And there the fun begins. Now I had to actually take a number to be seen. One hour and forty-five minutes later, my number finally came up. I went back to the woman at the computer. She took my receipt, looked at my passport again, looked at the empadronamiento form (but none of the other photocopies I had so dutifully made and brought), took my fingerprint and gave me a temporary piece of paper with my NIE. And said, come back in 40 days to get your official NIE. Really? REALLY?? Oh, Spain...

Fotos de Solsona

 

 

 

 

The First Three Weeks

I have officially been on Spanish soil for three weeks, and the passage of time is apparent in the number of English words I have been forgetting. A good sign!

Solsona is a small town of just under 9,000 inhabitants, sitting in the valley of the "prepirineos" as they are called here. Catalán is the official language, a blend of Spanish and French is the best way I can describe this language. Everyone knows Spanish, though sometimes it is a struggle for them, and often I am told that I know Spanish better than them! A mentira to be sure, but nice to hear all the same.

I am teaching at CEIP Setelsis, a primary school here in Solsona, and I work with 5th and 6th graders in their English class and the Art in English class. The kids are great and have been told that I ONLY speak English, so as to encourage them to speak in English. Sometimes they look at me a little skeptically and say "no hablas catalán NI español???" and I have to just shrug my shoulders and act as if I don't know what the heck they just said to me. Mildly humiliating, but it is all in the name of education! Sometimes when they can't find any words but want to connect with me they say things like "Seempsons?" or "faceboook?" or "hannah moantahna?" Ah, American culture. But by far my favorite moment so far is the exercise they do at the end of class each day: each student must go around the room and say "my eeenglesh werd for today ees_____" And on my first day at school one student, bless her little heart, said "my eenglish word for tooday ees Deborah". Made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

As the days and weeks and months slip by, so too my adventures will pile one on top of the other and I will share them here.