Dia de Acción de Gracias

Yesterday was an interesting day. Unlike the rest of you, I had to go to work since Thanksgiving is of course not celebrated here. But it was a neat opportunity to share something of US culture with my students. With my young students, I explained a little about the history of Thanksgiving and the traditions, and then I showed them how to make a hand turkey! They spent the class drawing and decorating their turkeys - then I took pictures of them with their drawings to share with you. I'll post the pictures soon, since I took them with the school camara and haven't gotten my hands on them yet. But they are super cute.

With my adult classes I was able to explain a bit more about the holiday, and then as a speaking exercise we went around the room and they said what they were thankful for. It brought me some of the spirit of the day even though I was far from home.

For dinner, even in our teensy weensy kitchen, we managed to whip up a really delicious feast. We made mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted squash, and green beans. Yummy! I missed making a pie, but we found a Spanish pumpkin pastry, so that had to suffice until next year. And thanks to Skype, we shared our meal with family and friends even from thousands of miles away. What a world. 

In the spirit of the day, I am thankful for the opportunity to be here, for my family and friends, for the sunshine, for internet and Skype, for café con leche, for the ability to communicate in another language with ease, for delicious and extremely affordable Spanish wine... the list goes on.

So, desde España, Happy Thanksgiving!

La Guía Sorprendida

On Tuesday I put on yet another new hat. "Deborah the Picasso Expert and Museum Guide". What a trip. I went to Barcelona with fifty sixth graders and their teachers to visit the Picasso Museum. We split the group in two, and with twenty-five kids in tow, I marched them through the museum, pausing at about twelve different paintings to draw their attention to Picasso's ever-changing artistic styles and evolution as an artist. Of course, their English is basic and they are eleven-year-olds, so I had to be careful with my words and ask them questions like, "what colors did Picasso use in this painting?" "Are the people in the paintings happy or sad?". The funny part was that this was of course not a private visit, so the museum was full of other people. After the second or third explanation in front of a painting, I began to notice that some of my audience members were much taller than when I began. Barcelona is a city full of tourists, so there were plenty of people who understood English, mistook me for an official museum guide, and tagged along through my presentation. A few even came up to me at the end to ask some questions about Picasso, or to thank me for the tour. Then I did it all over again with the second group. Highly amusing!

After the tour, we spent an hour or so in an enormous park to have lunch and let the kids burn off some steam before getting on the bus back to Solsona. The Catalonian Parliament building resides in this park, as well as a science museum and a statue of a mammoth. There was also this incredible fountain in the center of the park, with a golden chariot at the top and mermaid sculptures. Have I mentioned that I love my job?

Homage to Catalonia

I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since I have posted anything. How time flies! And so much has gone on in the meantime. On the 13th (Friday the 13th to be precise) it finally happened folks. After all the stories I've heard over the years tourist being robbed and how important it is to be aware of your belongings when traveling - and always being sort of skeptical about how it could happen - it happened to me. What an awful, helpless, foolish, frustrating feeling it is to be robbed. Those were MY things! What right do they have to take them? Luckily for me, I was not carrying my passport. But they got my sweet Timbuktu bag! Mostly I lost sentimental/useful things, that would be of no use to the robber but were amazingly distressing for me to lose. My notebook with all the English lesson planning I have done since arriving here! My pocket moleskin with various unintelligible scribbles that only I understand. My change purse that my dear friend Allison gave me before my trip to Costa Rica. A favorite lip balm that I can only get in Eugene, Oregon. They are probably all just sitting in garbage can somewhere in Barcelona. I would have rather just been asked for all my money and gotten to keep my bag and its precious cargo! Instead they snuck off with it while my head was turned... I didn't even know it happened. I know, I know! I should have been more careful, believe me, I only blame myself. So the Spanish Adventure continues...

In brighter news, this past Saturday we went with a group of teachers from my school on an excursion to Gósol, a small town set deeper into the prepirineos. When Picasso was in his early twenties, he spent two or three months in Gósol over the summer, and it was here that he painted some of his famous works and began to explore a more cubist style in his paintings. We explored the town, visited the house where he lived, took some pictures from the balcony where he painted, and ate lunch in a local restaurant. We also made some stops along the way to Gósol: at the mouth of the river Cardener, and in a town shooting up into the sky on a hilltop in the middle of a valley surrounded by larger mountains. Breathtaking. Here are some highlights:

Caminante no hay camino...

On Sunday, I went on a walk around Clariana, just outside of Solsona, with a group of people from the Solsona Outing Club. It was a sparkling, sunny and very brisk day and we walked for a little over two hours. We followed winding paths that led us to an hidden ancient ice well, a romanesque bridge, crumbing castle, old churches and beautiful vistas all around. The company was good, even though they kept getting a kick out of pointing out to me that America wasn't even discovered until 500 years or more after some of these things were constructed. 

After the walk we returned to the waiting cars, and quick vermut of olives, mussels, clams, potato chips and a purrón full of beer mixed with lemon soda, waiting for us to snack on before heading home. Have I mentioned the purrón? It is a container usually filled with vino tinto or some other form of wine, and in order to share among many, it has a spout and is passed around. I have seen it used several times since being here, but yesterday they finally egged me on and made me try it. I got a little on me, but in the hand managed to make a decent showing. It was a good day all around.

 

Field Trip to Lleida

This past week was an extremely busy one, full of special school activities. Halloween isn't typically celebrated here, but as part of English class the students learned about the holiday and learned some Halloween songs (halloween songs?) and made a presentation to the school. That was on Tuesday and was very cute. On Wednesday I went with the 5th graders on a field trip to Lleida, which is a small city about an hour and a half from Solsona. It boasts two cathedrals, and an interesting story explaining the phenomenon. The oldest one, which we visited, is called La Seu Bella and the first stone was placed in 1202. It is a roman style construction and is very impressive. But in 1707 it became a military barracks and was no longer used for religious purposes. Because the city still needed to have church where the people could attend mass, another cathedral was constructed. It wasn't until 1948 that the military stopped using it and in 1950 restoration projects were begun that continue today. The Seu Bella is also famous for its cloister - it is the largest in Europe. I learned all of this and more from the guide that led our group through the tour - the best part is that she was speaking Catalan and I understood! 

The bell tower connected to the cathedral has 238 steps, spiraling up 60 meters. Of the large group of eleven year olds on this trip, only two remained below - the rest excitedly marched to the top. At the top we took several pictures and one girl asked if I would take a picture with her. I agreed and suddenly it was a free-for-all! They all began clamoring around me asking to take a picture with me. It was actually a little overwhelming. I don't think I would like to be famous at all.