Carnaval is a very popular holiday celebrated here in Spain. Spain is home to some of the best celebrations in the world – particularly in Tenerife and Sitges. I did not see either of these carnavals, but I did get to see how the average family in Spain celebrates carnaval in their cities. I saw two different celebrations: Cos Blanc in Salou and Carnaval in Tarragona.
I haven’t gone on any amazing trips yet, but I did do something pretty cool. Everyone knows that Spain is known for its tapas: little bites of food like appetizers. My friend and I went on a tapeo: going from restaurant to restaurant eating tapas. The city I live in, Tarragona, hosts “Tarraco Tapes” every spring and fall, perfect for bingeing on tapas.
I’ve now been in Spain for five months, but I still have people that don’t know exactly what I do. Even some of my students don’t know exactly what I do and I see them every day. Officially, my title is “auxiliar de conversa“, but what does that exactly mean?
For me, Tarragona is definitely one of the most underrated cities in Spain. Of course Barcelona steals the Catalan thunder because of its size, but even Tarragona’s northern counterpart, Girona, gets more fanfare. (Especially since Game of Thrones films there, too). But Tarragona is so filled with history and culture. It was the Roman capital of Spain at the height of the empire. Tarragona was one of the most important city along Spain’s Mediterranean coast, and much more important than Barcelona.
I could write so many posts about Tarragona. I did live there for two years and it’s basically my second home. For Christmas 2014, my parents came to Spain. We visited Madrid, Barcelona, and Tarragona. Because I was a resident, I didn’t take many pictures while we were there. And then my mom left her camera in the backseat of a cab in Madrid, so unfortunately, I don’t have much to show from that trip.
Catalans are a very proud people. They have many traditions you can’t find anywhere else. They claim they created the first pa amb tomàquet, they build castells, and they speak their own language. But there is one tradition that is different than anything I have ever seen: Caga Tió.
As of today, I have finished my fourth week of school. After a very emotionally overwhelming first week where I just wanted to quit, things have settled down and the students have become more used to me. The second ESOs even beg to go with me! (And I love them, too!) I’ve almost been here for as much time as last time I was here. Although times definitely get trying and school can be overwhelming, I would say I’m overall enjoying myself. (Thanks, mom, for making me stay). So to celebrate one month, I’ve developed a list of unusual and surprising things from my time here.
By far one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life are castells, or human towers. It’s a tradition in the Catalonia region of Spain. Groups, or collas, come together and build these gigantic human towers with a base, or pinya (literally pineapple), the climbers to form the middle layers, and small children that climb to the top. Yes, SMALL CHILDREN. Like under five years old. In Tarragona, there are two collas: Xiquets and Jove.
Today was my last day in Tarragona. After getting back from Salou at 6:30 and only sleeping for three hours, we had a nice little day. In the morning, I just kind of laid around a little bit. Melanie and I went to lay out by the pool since it was a pretty day outside (but a little cool when a breeze hit). We played a card game with Anna and her friend for a few minutes before just laying out there. We didn’t spend much time out there though because we went to the abuelos‘ house for lunch.
L-R: Cruzma, Me, Pau, Melanie, Anna, Jordi … I love my Spanish/Catalan familia
So yesterday after I wrote out my post, I got my paper done! I think I could have done a lot better on it (because I think there is always room for improvement), but with the little amount of time we had to do everything and all the excursions we go on, it had to do.
After we were done with everything, we went out to the pool and laid out there for a little while. I was brave and got into the pool. It was a lot warmer than it had been when we had our awkward middle school dance moment with Pau’s friends two weeks ago, but it was still a bit nippy.
As a group yesterday, we learned to make some traditional Spanish tapas. A lot of it was them showing us how to make them. Unfortunately, we ate just tapas for dinner and I wasn’t a big fan of them. We also had to eat them in a plaza area that didn’t have any seating, really, and whenever new food was put on the table, all the kids swarmed the food like flies. So my dinner was basically gelato. Jaja.
After the tapas dinner, we went to a flamenco show. After wandering around the city not really knowing where we were going (yes, including the professors), we arrived at this little Andalusian restaurant. Andalusia is the southern part of Spain, which includes Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada. It looked like it was going to be a dinky little show, but it was really cool to see them dance. For the Andalusians being a very free people, they dance very seriously with straight faces. I really liked their dresses. I want one!
We didn’t go out anywhere last night because this morning we had to give a presentation for a grade for our Advanced Medical Spanish class. We were supposed to arrive at 9:30, but our teacher never told us where exactly to go so we were just sitting outside the university building for like twenty minutes before our teacher yelled out of the building which classroom we were at. Then, she decided that we were going to go in order of where we were sitting in the classroom, so I had to go last. A lot of the people in my class took fifteen minutes to do their presentation, so by the time I had to go, I had to take quickly and cut out some parts. Ugh. People told me that mine was really good, but I think I could have done better, as always. I hate talking in front of people.
After have a good-bye luncheon (again, tapas) from the university and a toast of champagne, I spent the rest of the day at home and at the playa. I talked a little with Pau and I asked him if a lot of people in Catalonia don’t like Americans because his friend Pol told me he hates the US. He said the people here just see Americans as thinking they are the center of the universe and everyone depends on them for everything, etc. He asked me if Americans thought like that. I mean, I guess they do, but what he said next really just surprised me. He said that one of his friends went to the US and when she said she was from Spain, the first thing they asked was “Do you have cars there?” … what? People are so stupid. I like to think I have a more global outlook on the world. I hope so!
A few of us girls in the trip went to the beach today for the last time (most likely, because it’s supposed to rain tomorrow). It was really hot earlier today, but by the time we got down there, it was a little chillier and it started to get cloudy, so I’m not going to be much tanner.
So right now, I’m just sitting up in the living room with my host parents watcher Ferrer play Tsonga in the French Open semifinals. They are leaving to go to Paris tomorrow morning and they actually get to see the finals! Nadal is already in there, so hopefully it will be an all Spanish final! Later tonight, we’re going to go out with them for a dinner. I’m probably going to cry tonight, and then tomorrow when I have to say goodbye to the kids! Awww … it’s ok. I’m determined to come back next summer!