Noche Vieja

On New Year's Eve in Spain, the tradition is to eat twelve grapes, one for each stroke of midnight. If you are able to eat twelve grapes in twelve seconds, it means you will have a good year. For every grape that you aren't able to eat, you will suffer that many months of bad luck. Doesn't sound TOO hard, except that all the grapes in Spain have big seeds. In fact, it actually sounds like a recipe for disaster... new years eve revelers, enjoying their Cava maybe a little too much, and then they have to rapidly stuff twelve seeded grapes in their mouth and swallow? Hmm... Well, the tradition began about 100 years ago when some grape farmers who had an enormous harvest of bad grapes that they needed to get rid of suggested the idea and it apparently stuck. Go figure.

I'll be participating in the tradition this year, from the wild streets of Barcelona. Then off to Italy for ten days. I'll post again when I return. Here's to a happy and healthy new year!

Happy New Year Everyone! Prospero Año Nuevo! Feliç Any Nou! 

Christmas Eve Rainbow

A rain cloud has covered Solsona since the snow last week, and obscured the mountains from view. But on Christmas eve, the sun peeked out while the soft drizzle continued to fall and a lovely rainbow was visible from my balcony, arching over the rooftops.

Bones Festes Everyone!

Vacaciones!

Today was the last day of school until the second week of January. To celebrate the students put on a traditional Catalan Christmas play called Pastorets. It is about the shepherds and their journey to the baby Jesus. Afterward, we returned to school and the children were given Coca y Xocolata - a traditional Catalan snack. It is delicious! Coca is a soft sweet bread that is dunked into the thickest hot chocolate you can imagine - think hot chocolate pudding! It was a mad house trying to serve all the kids though - but they were really cute with their chocolate mustaches. They sure do dive right in!

In the afternoon, all the teachers met in the teacher's lounge to say goodbye and a few small gifts were given. And they did a mini version of the "caga tío". In Catalonia, instead of Santa Claus, who is a relative newcomer to these parts, their tradition is to have a hollowed-out tree stump that is covered with a blanket. It is called "tío" or uncle. In the weeks leading up to Christmas the children feed the log with orange peels and other food scraps. The idea is to fatten it up. The parents take the food scraps away at night to make it look as if the tío had eaten them. Then they fill the hollow trunk with presents. And on Christmas Eve they sing the "Caga Tío" song and hit the log then lift the blanket. Miraculously for the children, it is full of presents for them! Neat tradition. I like these Catalans.

Preparing for Christmas in Solsona

Christmas has arrived in Solsona. The city is decorated with pretty white lights up and down the narrow streets. The other night, just outside of my balcony window, in the Plaza Mayor, an enormous truck drove up (how it maneuvered the aforementioned narrow streets to get there - your guess is as good as mine!) carrying an equally enormous pine tree. A crew of men and the crane from the truck set about hoisting the tree into an upright position in the air, then lowering it into a waiting open manhole filled with water. They secured it (through similarly mysterious means) and a few days later strung it with lights. Now, every night there is a gigantic Christmas tree peeking into the living room, shining with Christmas cheer.

And yesterday, on the first day of winter, it snowed! Hooray! It was gone by the late afternoon, but it was glorious and wintery and white while it lasted. I had traveled to Lleida yesterday morning, to pick up my NIE (Foreign Identification Number), and the journey back to Solsona on the bus was a slippery one. The countryside was covered in a dusting of white and the winding, climbing roads were a slushy treacherous mess. But we made it. And I am now officially legal to be in Spain until September 2010!

Bon Nadal! Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!

 

Castellvell

I have fallen behind on my posting and I don't want any of you, my loyal followers, to miss any of the adventure. So here goes a whirlwind of posts - be sure to read down to catch any you may have missed!

The castle sitting above Solsona has proved to be a wonderful place. From the top, it is possible to see all of Solsona and the surrounding countryside, and the mountains off in the distance, depending on how clear the day may be. I make the trek up a couple of times a week, and it is always different up there... the way the light falls, the clarity of the air - but it is beautiful every time. The light was especially stunning on this trip up.

 

¡VOTA!

In case you are not aware, Catalans would very much like to gain independence from Spain and have Catalonia recognized as an independent country. Right now they are an autonomous region, with their own president and their own official language - but any government decision must go through the central government of Madrid. On the 13th of December communities across Catalonia held a vote on Catalan independence. The vote was purely symbolic, but it was posed to garner more recognition for the movement towards independence. Catalonia is a fascinating region with an incredibly rich and important history.  I recommend coming for a visit, or at the very least going for an armchair journey. If you are interested in learning more about the vote or the independence movement you should check out this BBC article about the vote.

 

Exciting Discovery at the Local Castle

I've been up to Solsona's castle multiple times now, on my own and with visitors. But this past trip up I discovered something that caused me no small amount of amusement. So I hope this puts a smile on your face too.

Two foot marks with a hole in the center... what could it be???

Wait! I have an idea....

Look out below!