Adventures in Provence & Catalunya

The past couple of weeks have been really productive in terms of research. I've had some really informative interviews and have gotten to know some really great people. One young Catalan couple we met showed us their home, which is an old and humble home (but with a lot of character) where they grow their own food and harvest their own eggs. Afterwards, we visited their parents' home a bit further out in the countryside. The home was AMAZING. It was originally built in the early 12th century, and has been completely renovated over the past 20 years by this couple. They maintained a lot of the castle-like features but also added some modern elements. In our final opinion, the home was a work of art.

On our time "off" (not interviewing, not on the computer and not on the phone), Mike and I visited the beloved Costa Brava. Not being much of a beach couple, we spent most of our time hiking and walking along the coastline. After a couple of hours of working up a sweat, we took a nice cool dip in the clear blue Mediterranean waters. It was wonderful.

Today, we returned to Olesa de Montserrat, where we had seen the fire-run a couple of weeks earlier. This time, we witnessed Catalan castells, or human towers. A team of people literally form towers which can reach up to 9 stories high. The base is formed by the oldest and strongest individuals, while the higher stories are made up by the lightest and youngest. Adding to the drama of this human assembly is the traditional Catalan music provided by drums and flutes in the background.

We also saw another Catalan tradition at the Olesa festa major known as gegants. These gegants are large 15ft high giants made of paper mache and dressed in rich fabric. After the castells, they performed their own dance.

After our visit to Olesa, we headed to Montserrat, which literally means "serrated mountain". It is a monastery built in the mountains, whose highest peak reaches approx. 4000 ft. To say the least, there were some amazing views.

After a fun day in Barcelona, we went to Olesa de Montserrat, which is a small town just 20 mins north of Barcelona. We went to witness their "fiesta mayor," a festival each town in Catalunya (and Spain) celebrates every year to honor their town's respective patron saint. This town was celebrating the day of la Santa Oliva (the saint of olive oil). We wandered the streets for an hour before the festivities started. At 9:30, the famous correfoc, or "fire-run," started. While correfocs vary from town to town, they all essentially involve individuals dressed as diablos (devils) running, or dancing, through the town's streets and plazas as they light their pitchforks on fire and set off firecrackers. Following each group of diablos are drummers who provide the music. All in all, the experience is an amazing onslaught on the senses - the fires light up the night sky, firecrackers pierce your ears, the drum's rhythmical beat energizes you, and the physical and verbal interactions with the town's spectators make you feel like a part of the town.

Each group of diablos (there were 4) starts by gathering in a circle, raising their forks, and lighting a big fire. They then disperse, with each diablo dancing down the street through showers of fireworks.

In addition to raising their forks, one of the groups apparently had their own tradition of lowering their pants.

While it's all very exciting, it's also a bit scary standing at the side of the street, so close to the sparks from the fireworks. Mike can testify to this as he got hit with a spark on the back of his neck and said it was actually pretty painful. He wasn't as smart as some of the others who had cardboard boxes with which to shield themselves, like this little girl.

The correfoc eventually culminated in one of the town's central plazas. There, the finale involved all the devils gathered together and an amazing display of fire and fireworks.

After it all ended, I was fortunate to have met a very kind couple who answered a lot of my questions about the correfoc and other Catalan traditions, and who very graciously invited us to their home afterwards to share with us some of their videos, photos and books, all documenting various Catalan traditions. And this all happened at about midnight! We also eventually learned that the husband is a government official who works in the department of cultural education. Of all the people whose shoulder I could have tapped in a large crowd of people, in an effort to find helpful informants, I came upon a couple officially and personally invested in the dissemination of Catalan culture. We were also fortunate to have met one of the devil groups, with whom we were able to get some pictures and learn more interesting things from. All in all, it was a great day and night for fieldwork.

Since our time in Barcelona, Mike and I decided that we would have to return to Barcelona so that we could have lunch "in the market." Although the first time we were there we had lunch from the market (we bought bread and manchego cheese and ate it as we were walking), we didn't technically eat our lunch in the market. While one can purchase all kinds of fresh fruits, seafood, meats and other interesting foods, one can also eat in the market dishes prepared with ingredients directly purchased from the market stalls.

There are about 5 different bars at which one can eat, but the process of sitting down to a meal isn't as easy as one might think. We quickly learned that one doesn't just approach a bar, sit at an empty seat and place an order. One has to go through this not-very-systematic system of informing one of the staff members surreptitiously circling the bar, that you would like to eat. This man doesn't record your name on a piece of paper like hosts do at restaurants in the US. He just somehow remembers you. And this would be easy if there weren't about 20 other people also competing for a seat at the bar. This man would then inform the other man behind the bar who was taking the orders and serving the dishes, who was next in line for a seat. It was a pretty curious process as not everyone who was waiting for a seat necessarily got one in the order they arrived. It was all very "Spanish" to me, i.e. not so formal, efficient or methodical, but somehow rational. When we finally did get a seat, regardless of the bizarre process we had to go through, we felt like celebrities. With so many people standing around watching as you eat and waiting anxiously for a seat, when the two men decide it's your turn, you feel as as if you just won something big. So even though we ended up having to wait quite awhile before we could eat, our meal made it all worth it. We ordered calamares (squid) and almejas (clams). Both dishes were absolutely DELICIOUS; hands down one of our best meals so far.

We ended our day in Barcelona with a trip to the Museum of Catalan History. The museum was really interesting, informative and thorough to say the least. Afterwards, we wandered a bit around the harbor of Barcelona, where we saw a friendly-looking lobster. This picture is for Jim!

Although we've been here in Girona for almost a week now, we haven't done much other than settle in. Apparently my body wasn't happy with all the travelling and lack of sleep I put it through in the last week and a half, for I felt pretty sick for several days. Since we've been here, we've taken it easy and I've taken full advantage of the Spanish siestas. I've never slept so much in my life! Mike on the other hand has been working hard.

Fortunately, all the sleep I got this past week has helped; today I felt a lot better. With a little more bounce in my step, we explored more of Girona with Rosa, a Catalan woman we met a few days ago and who was kind enough to offer to show us around. One of our stops was at the historical archives of Girona, where we met a friend of hers who works on digitalizing the contents of some really old books; wills dating back to the 15th century. It was pretty neat to touch such old documents. It felt kind of like being in scenes from the movie National Treasure.

We also explored the Catedral of Girona, which was built in 1416 and which has the widest gothic nave in the world.

We also walked along the wall of Girona, which partially encloses the city and was put up by the Romans as a form of fortification.

Some of the cool streets in our area:

Other eventful activities in the last couple of days include the purchase of an essential book: "Catalan Para Dummies." Although there are some similarities between Catalan and Castellano, there are enough differences between the two languages that make it sufficiently difficult for me to understand conversations and public signs. So the Catalan language-learning process has begun!

We've only been here in Girona a couple of days now, but so far, we love this town. It's a small university town, quaint, handsome, and with lots of history, including Roman, Jewish, and Moorish. And, to top it all off, we're living right in the heart of downtown Girona! The area we live in is closed off to cars, consists of narrow cobblestone streets sprinkled with cafes, restaurants, and cute little shops. And our flat is also just perfect - it's an updated flat with all the modern gizmos - washing maching, cooking appliances, wireless internet, tv, microwave.

Our view from our front balcony is also great - we can see the cathedral from one angle, street cafes below, and whatever entertainment the pedestrian traffic below has to offer. Last night it was a group of people dancing to what sounded like French folk music.

The view from the other side of our flat is also pretty neat - the other side is the river with all kinds of interesting fish, including carp, trout, and other strange creatures.

So far, our home base looks and feels good. More to come from Girona...