Back to Catalan class last night. I hadn't been in more than a week, what with all the Carnaval excitement. It was good to get back, though it was an unique experience that evening. The class is full, as would be expected, of people who are not from Catalonia. The majority are from Morocco, a few from Argentina, a Moldavian and one from the United States. The teacher asked the class if we were beginning to feel more comfortable here and to feel "una mica" Catalan. The final person to respond to this voiced some concerns about Catalans not being very welcoming, being perhaps a bit racist, and how he has trouble finding work as a foreigner. This comment sparked an hour and half of discussion and debate. It was extremely interesting, linguistically and sociologically. Everyone was speaking very quickly and animatedly, some in Castellano, some in a mix of Catalan and Castellano, and the teacher fully in Catalan. Remarkably, we all, myself included, were able to follow this heated and emotionally charged discussion in multiple languages.
And tonight, off to Castellano class!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
El Proyecto de Composiciones de Inglés
Last week passed uneventfully. The temperature reached 10 ºC a few days, which was nice change. Spring is in the air - meaning I've rounded the bend on this experience, crossing the halfway mark, and now only three months remain of my teaching post here in Solsona. It suddenly feels as if time has sprouted wings and is soaring ahead, while I race to keep up. And I'm literally racing. Yesterday, five weeks into my marathon training, I ran 12 miles. Only nine more weeks until the big event in Madrid. So quite a lot of living still remains between now and my return stateside. In school, the children are working on their essays and this weekend I took home several of them to grade. Next week they will begin memorizing them and by the end of March I will record each student reciting their essay from memory. I think they are getting used to hearing my accent and are understanding me better. It is hard to conclusively judge their progress as a result of my being here, but I think I'm making an impact and an impression at the very least.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Descansi En Pau
Is It Over Yet??!!
Last day of carnaval here in Solsona, and boy are we ready for it to end! Don't get me wrong, it has been an extremely "interesting" experience. Last night, in a spectacle they call "The Devils Fireworks", the plaza was filled with drumming and then lit up in flames. Smoke and fire and drumming and cheering. We captured the display on video for your viewing pleasure, along with some other short clips of Solsona's Carnaval. As you are watching these, keep in mind that we are filming from our balcony - that is how close we are to all of this. Enjoy!
Monday, February 15, 2010
¡Caranaval! (Day 2)
We were warned about the craziness of Solsona's Carnaval. But I don't think we fully believed the stories until today at around 4pm. Just below us is a bar called the Cantabric, which is the most popular bar in town and on normal weekends it can be pretty rowdy outside our windows until 2am. So this is what we were expecting, just more of the same. But yesterday in the early afternoon, one of the more boisterous comparsas set up a dj booth just outside of the Cantabric and began blasting all sorts America "hit" songs. For some reason old American music is extremely popular here, as if they were the latest hits. But we could have dealt with the musical time warp - what had us devising ways to put ourselves quickly and painlessly out of our misery was they fact that there was also a microphone involved in this little impromptu dj stand. Mind you, these guys running the booth had probably been drinking since sometime the day before. During the songs, the guy on the mic was either singing along as loud and as off key as he possibly could, or he was singing out just the beat of the song, or he was just yelling gratuitously, just because he could. It was horrendous and it sounded like he was sitting in our living room. Conversation was impossible, unless we felt like shouting ourselvs. Good times. He finally quieted down around 6:30pm or so. Meanwhile, plastic barricades had been set up through the plaza, creating a mini race track, with jumps and obstacles. The road leading into and out of the plaza goes downhill, fairly steep in some parts. One of the activities for Carnaval is the building of little "race cars" which are then ridden down this course and trophies are later awarded for the fastest. From our balcony, we could look down and watch the show. It was hilarious. Check it out!
This ended around 8pm or so and then the sausages were cooked. Everyone eats in the streets, drinks in the streets and just wanders and makes a ruckus. Last night, I got myself a sausage, called "butifarra," and it was DELICIOUS! The music went on again from the stage in the plaza and people danced and ate and drank and blew whistles and ran around. There was a drumming group and firecrackers and lots of beer and things didn't quiet down until almost 4am. We wandered around and took in the spectacle until about midnight or so, but then tried to get some sleep. It wasn't happening. The party was practically IN our bedroom. No sleep til sunrise!
This ended around 8pm or so and then the sausages were cooked. Everyone eats in the streets, drinks in the streets and just wanders and makes a ruckus. Last night, I got myself a sausage, called "butifarra," and it was DELICIOUS! The music went on again from the stage in the plaza and people danced and ate and drank and blew whistles and ran around. There was a drumming group and firecrackers and lots of beer and things didn't quiet down until almost 4am. We wandered around and took in the spectacle until about midnight or so, but then tried to get some sleep. It wasn't happening. The party was practically IN our bedroom. No sleep til sunrise!
Let the Games Begin...
The fun continues in Solsona. After our Barcelona/Tarragona weekend, we spent Sunday and Monday just chilling out in our piso. Well, most of Sunday anyway. First, I had to run 8 miles. I'm training for the Madrid Marathon on April 25th, so wish me luck! I found a road that leads out of Solsona, but all roads lead up from here, so it makes for a challenging first half. But the view is incredible on the way back. The pre-pyrenees rise up, snow-capped and majestic in the distant past Solsona. Word is that the Madrid Marathon is an extremely hilly course, so hopefully all this hill running I am doing here will prepare. If it weren't for the way back, I might decided this whole running thing is for the birds - hills and I are not friends.
Tuesday was a fantastic day. I'm continuing to work in small groups with my 6th graders on their English essay. It is giving me more of an opportunity to connect with them on a more one on one basis, which is really nice. I may or may not be slipping in a few Spanish or Catalan words to help our communication and I think some of them may be on to me! My adult class in the evening went very well and I get the impression that they think I am a good teacher. After class I walked out with the school director and we both made an effort to converse, her in English and I in Catalan. We're at about the same level, which is very low, so it was fun to try to communicate that way.
On Thursday, Carnaval began in Solsona. It is a BIG DEAL here. Everyone forms groups, called Comparsas, and they have different names for them. Each group has their own robe or bata that they all wear. They are like big funny pijamas or clown costumes. On the first day the various comparsas were assigned different stretches of the city to decorate and when they were finished there was a big dinner for them in the middle of the plaza mayor. The saying goes around here, "En Carnaval, tot s'val" which means anything goes in Carnaval. They mean it. After the meal, a stage had been set up in the plaza with a serious sound system. They began blasting music, people were dancing and then a pirate ship came up the road carrying "caps gros" as they call them. They began dancing in the crowd with the people too. This went on until about 1am. Did I mention our apartment is right in the plaza mayor? The speakers might as well have been set up in our living room. No sleep til sunrise shall be our motto for the next four or five days. ¡Carnaval!
Tuesday was a fantastic day. I'm continuing to work in small groups with my 6th graders on their English essay. It is giving me more of an opportunity to connect with them on a more one on one basis, which is really nice. I may or may not be slipping in a few Spanish or Catalan words to help our communication and I think some of them may be on to me! My adult class in the evening went very well and I get the impression that they think I am a good teacher. After class I walked out with the school director and we both made an effort to converse, her in English and I in Catalan. We're at about the same level, which is very low, so it was fun to try to communicate that way.
On Thursday, Carnaval began in Solsona. It is a BIG DEAL here. Everyone forms groups, called Comparsas, and they have different names for them. Each group has their own robe or bata that they all wear. They are like big funny pijamas or clown costumes. On the first day the various comparsas were assigned different stretches of the city to decorate and when they were finished there was a big dinner for them in the middle of the plaza mayor. The saying goes around here, "En Carnaval, tot s'val" which means anything goes in Carnaval. They mean it. After the meal, a stage had been set up in the plaza with a serious sound system. They began blasting music, people were dancing and then a pirate ship came up the road carrying "caps gros" as they call them. They began dancing in the crowd with the people too. This went on until about 1am. Did I mention our apartment is right in the plaza mayor? The speakers might as well have been set up in our living room. No sleep til sunrise shall be our motto for the next four or five days. ¡Carnaval!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tarragona by the Sea
Last week was a busy week. I began going to Catalan classes on Monday and Wednesday nights, and to Castellano classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. In addition to school with the children and the adult ESL classes I teach, I'm out straight! The Castellano classes are really basic, but I go because it is a rare opportunity to hear someone speak Spanish, even if he is talking about how to give directions and tell time and describe what we're wearing. It's no Don Quijote class, but it is all I've got right now, so I'll take it. The Catalan class is a different, more challenging, story. I've been hearing Catalan now for four months and had begun to pick out and understand some words and phrases, but the structure of the language was still a mystery to me. After only three nights of class, I feel like what I've been hearing for the past four months is taking on a more recognizable form. Poc a poc, as they say. Some of it is very similar to Castellano, but it also resembles French and even Italian. I'm certain to begin to confuse the two.
School continues to go well, and I feel like I'm making some progress with the children. The 6th graders are working on writing an essay right now that they will have to memorize and then I will record them reciting it. Last week I began taking small groups of three or four students to a separate classroom to work with them on their grammar and pronunciation. I really enjoy working with them alone and being "in charge" instead of in Rosa's shadow in class, not really able to do much. This past Friday I had to go to Barcelona for the final training session of the program. It was a two hour workshop with about twenty other Auxiliares where we discussed different strategies for how to animate our students to learn and practice English. It was useful. Kristian came with me to Barcelona so after the meeting we spent the day wandering around. Barcelona is lovely. We went up and down the Passeig de Gracia and on and around Las Ramblas, searching in vain for food that we can't get in Solsona. We thought we might have more luck finding international foods in a city, but only managed to find one thing on our list, which was some jelly made with just fruit juice, no sugar.
On Saturday we went on yet another excursion organized by Rosa. This one turned out to be the best one by far. We went to Tarragona for the day. Tarragona is about an hour south of Barcelona, on the Mediterranean. It was originally settled by the Romans and it has some very well preserved ruins from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. There is an ancient amphitheater sitting just at the edge of the sea, an Roman circo where the gladiators fought, and a lovely walkway with Romanic pillars. The gothic cathedral is also something to see, built much later obviously. The temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than it has been in Solsona, which was wonderful but hard to come back to the chilly north after such a summer-like day. To the west of the sea, inland, the mountains rise up outside of the city, so Tarragona sits truly amidst the best of both worlds. We were smitten and started making plans for how we could live there next year. (!) Here are some pictures of our day.
School continues to go well, and I feel like I'm making some progress with the children. The 6th graders are working on writing an essay right now that they will have to memorize and then I will record them reciting it. Last week I began taking small groups of three or four students to a separate classroom to work with them on their grammar and pronunciation. I really enjoy working with them alone and being "in charge" instead of in Rosa's shadow in class, not really able to do much. This past Friday I had to go to Barcelona for the final training session of the program. It was a two hour workshop with about twenty other Auxiliares where we discussed different strategies for how to animate our students to learn and practice English. It was useful. Kristian came with me to Barcelona so after the meeting we spent the day wandering around. Barcelona is lovely. We went up and down the Passeig de Gracia and on and around Las Ramblas, searching in vain for food that we can't get in Solsona. We thought we might have more luck finding international foods in a city, but only managed to find one thing on our list, which was some jelly made with just fruit juice, no sugar.
On Saturday we went on yet another excursion organized by Rosa. This one turned out to be the best one by far. We went to Tarragona for the day. Tarragona is about an hour south of Barcelona, on the Mediterranean. It was originally settled by the Romans and it has some very well preserved ruins from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. There is an ancient amphitheater sitting just at the edge of the sea, an Roman circo where the gladiators fought, and a lovely walkway with Romanic pillars. The gothic cathedral is also something to see, built much later obviously. The temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than it has been in Solsona, which was wonderful but hard to come back to the chilly north after such a summer-like day. To the west of the sea, inland, the mountains rise up outside of the city, so Tarragona sits truly amidst the best of both worlds. We were smitten and started making plans for how we could live there next year. (!) Here are some pictures of our day.
L'Oli i Calzots
In the first few weeks of arriving Rosa told me about how she and her husband always make a trip around the first of the year to an olive farm to buy their olive oil supply for the year. So I'd been looking forward to the excursion we made last Saturday for several months now. Like the trip to Gosol, the teachers that I work with organized a group excursion to visit the olive farm and take a tour of the pressing facilities. As the day approached we planned our morning carefully knowing that we should have a good breakfast. Days with the group tend to be long and we're never quite sure what we're in for - add to that the fact that when we do finally stop for lunch it is often disappointing and pricey. I'll say it again, I love Spain, but the food leaves a lot to be desired. Not to mention that it seems the majority of Spaniards don't get the concept of vegetarian. So the plan was to get up early, fuel up, and be ready for the day. Instead, the alarm didn't go off and we ended up having twenty minutes to get ready and get to the meeting spot, which meant no breakfast. Never a good idea. Less so in Spain, and even less so when your day is on someone else's schedule. We survived though and the day made for a good story.
The olive oil pressing process was interesting - how the olives are collected, washed, sorted, pressed and bottled. We bought 5L, which we calculated to last us almost to the end of our stay here. This oil is made from the arbequina olive, a small, black bitter olive. The olive oil retains some of the bitter flavor, but is absolutely delicious. Here is a shot of a truckload of olives being delivered to the pressing plant.
The olive farm was in a little town called Llardecans and when we finished our oil purchases we walked up into the town, as we had been told about a little pastisseria selling some of the best roasted almonds around. The area of Spain that were in is know for its olives and it almonds trees. They were indeed tasty almonds.
Onwards to lunch. We drove just a little outside of the town and pulled into a gas station, no, not to fill up the tank. There was a restaurant attached to the gas station and this, apparently, was where we would eat. In Spain, all restaurants offer a daily menu, which has a fixed price and comes with a first plate, second plate, dessert and wine. Usually there is a choice of plate for each course. We were a group of fourteen, and it is often easiest to all order the "menu" instead of individual dishes off the regular menu. Instead of giving us all a list of the options to choose from, one person was handed the list, he read the four or five choices for the first course, we raised our hands for which we wanted and he marked down how many of each. Then the same was repeated for the second course and for dessert. Just imagine the confusion. For the first course, Kristian and I both ordered calzots, which are grilled green onions which are served with dipping sauce made of ground almonds, hazlenuts, red pepper, olive oil, garlic and cheese. They are eaten by first peeling off the outer skin that has been blackened by the fire, dipping in the sauce, and then holding them up and swallowing them down. Right now is the season for this and there are special dinners offered in all the restaurants called calzotadas, featuring this dish. We dove right in, gloves, bibs and all. They were delicious!
After the first course, the table was a little dirty from bread crumbs and the burnt parts of the grilled onions. So of course the waiter came out with a dust buster to clean us up between courses. Normal, right? Pesce, are you taking notes?
After lunch, and on the way home, the crew wanted to stop at the new airport that had opened just outside of Lleida. It was so new, it hadn't even had its first flight. But apparently it was a really big deal for everyone in the area, the fact that Lleida, which is not Barcelona, got its own airport. It is extremely tiny, smaller than the airport in Portland, ME. Inside was a cafe, and surprisingly it was full of people. Not there, obviously, to wait for their flight or to meet someone coming in - just there to hang out and enjoy their brand spanking new airport. It was so weird! Then the mayor of Lleida arrived with some journalists to make a tour and the women in our crew suddenly got all flustered. The journalist was famous they said and they fluttered around and got all excited when he waved in their direction. It puts fame in perspective when you see people acting ridiculous about some person that to you is just some guy. Aren't all famous people just some guy or some gal? The following Friday was to be the first flight and we happened to be in Barcelona arriving at the bus station when the first bus heading to the Lleida airport from Barcelona was leaving. There was a camera crew and reporters to mark the momentous event.
The olive oil pressing process was interesting - how the olives are collected, washed, sorted, pressed and bottled. We bought 5L, which we calculated to last us almost to the end of our stay here. This oil is made from the arbequina olive, a small, black bitter olive. The olive oil retains some of the bitter flavor, but is absolutely delicious. Here is a shot of a truckload of olives being delivered to the pressing plant.
The olive farm was in a little town called Llardecans and when we finished our oil purchases we walked up into the town, as we had been told about a little pastisseria selling some of the best roasted almonds around. The area of Spain that were in is know for its olives and it almonds trees. They were indeed tasty almonds.
Onwards to lunch. We drove just a little outside of the town and pulled into a gas station, no, not to fill up the tank. There was a restaurant attached to the gas station and this, apparently, was where we would eat. In Spain, all restaurants offer a daily menu, which has a fixed price and comes with a first plate, second plate, dessert and wine. Usually there is a choice of plate for each course. We were a group of fourteen, and it is often easiest to all order the "menu" instead of individual dishes off the regular menu. Instead of giving us all a list of the options to choose from, one person was handed the list, he read the four or five choices for the first course, we raised our hands for which we wanted and he marked down how many of each. Then the same was repeated for the second course and for dessert. Just imagine the confusion. For the first course, Kristian and I both ordered calzots, which are grilled green onions which are served with dipping sauce made of ground almonds, hazlenuts, red pepper, olive oil, garlic and cheese. They are eaten by first peeling off the outer skin that has been blackened by the fire, dipping in the sauce, and then holding them up and swallowing them down. Right now is the season for this and there are special dinners offered in all the restaurants called calzotadas, featuring this dish. We dove right in, gloves, bibs and all. They were delicious!
After the first course, the table was a little dirty from bread crumbs and the burnt parts of the grilled onions. So of course the waiter came out with a dust buster to clean us up between courses. Normal, right? Pesce, are you taking notes?
After lunch, and on the way home, the crew wanted to stop at the new airport that had opened just outside of Lleida. It was so new, it hadn't even had its first flight. But apparently it was a really big deal for everyone in the area, the fact that Lleida, which is not Barcelona, got its own airport. It is extremely tiny, smaller than the airport in Portland, ME. Inside was a cafe, and surprisingly it was full of people. Not there, obviously, to wait for their flight or to meet someone coming in - just there to hang out and enjoy their brand spanking new airport. It was so weird! Then the mayor of Lleida arrived with some journalists to make a tour and the women in our crew suddenly got all flustered. The journalist was famous they said and they fluttered around and got all excited when he waved in their direction. It puts fame in perspective when you see people acting ridiculous about some person that to you is just some guy. Aren't all famous people just some guy or some gal? The following Friday was to be the first flight and we happened to be in Barcelona arriving at the bus station when the first bus heading to the Lleida airport from Barcelona was leaving. There was a camera crew and reporters to mark the momentous event.
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