Que el tiempo vuela-Human Towers, Onions, and Chocolate

We'll start off this blog with some candy.  One of my classes I teach each week at a cafe covered traditions.  The following week, one of my students brought me 3 big bags of typical Catalan christmas candy!  I felt so loved.  I guess I'm at least an acceptable English teacher.  The first were Almendras Rellenas de turrón (directly translates to stuffed almond nuggets), which were almondy flavored creme filled round wafer cookies.  Probably the candy most similar to something you may find in the US.  Next delicious candy: I've always been a fan of marshmallow, and mazapán was very similar.  These, however, are fancy high class marshmallows. Much thicker, sweeter, and not quite as puffy.  More dense.  Last but not least the turrón duro.  This was the strangest of the lot.  You know how peanuts are suspended in the carmel of a payday bar? Now imagine that you've frozen a charleston chew and think of the consistency/taste of the frozen cream in the middle.  Now, duro has peanuts and other nuts suspended in a hard crunchy cream that is the consistency and taste of a frozen charleston chew, but not cold.  Imagine that or just look at the picture below.  Some of these are quite difficult to describe because it's not like any candy I've ever tried in the US.  I am not one to say no to candy though and these are no exception.

Easter!
While Spaniards lack oversized bunnies who hop around hiding decorated cooked eggs, they make up for it in chocolate and "monas".  I spent the week in a small town an hour away with the extended family and was able to see all the traditions in full swing.  Sunday morning, the family eats together (similar to Thanksgiving) starting with fish tapas that were in muffin pan cups.  For the life of me, I could not find these tapas online but essentially there is a piece of bread, cream, then a slab of raw fish on top.  Quite tasty.  You always eat your food as separate plates so we started with some potatoes then meat, etc.  After dinner, we gathered around and watched as the children received monas from their godparents.  Normally, the godparents are the uncles and traditionally, the children receive monas until their first communion.  I've talked to many locals about this and some receive monas after their first communion until they're 18 so it all depends on the family.  Monas are large layered cakes with the consistency of angel food cake but with chocolate cream throughout the layers.  Traditionally, you'll see feathers and a chocolate egg on top.  Times have changed however and tradition is not followed to the T, so at our semana santa, the children received large chocolate structures.  The chocolate shapes that the kids received this semana santa included a large boat, Mickey Mouse, and a rooster.  It is definitely a lot of chocolate and we are still working on finishing it.  While their chocolate monas did not include the cake, the family bought a large mona cake for everyone to share.

Traditional Mona complete with feathers, fluffy chicks, and a chocolate egg

More modern chocolate castle mona

What's left of our mona a month and a half later

Since then, things have been pretty scheduled with the exception of spending as much time outside as possible.  My last two classes at the cafe we talked about Inventions and Superstitions.  It's certainly been a learning experience planning lessons for adults each week.  I have a new respect for professors that tried to be funny by putting a comic in their powerpoint.  They are just trying to make the class more interesting yet us college students were too tired at 8am to appreciate that gesture.  Oh well.  I have no complaints though.  I love making the lessons and now that we've gotten past typical topics of conversations including Food, Traditions, Family, etc… I can be creative with my themes.  Each week I learn something new, especially this past week with my lesson about superstitions.  Did you know? 13 is also an unlucky number in Spain and combine that with Tuesday, you get the ominous combination, Tuesday the 13th. With the onset of American influences in Spanish culture, including movies, magazines, styles, etc. Friday the 13th has also become a day to fear.  Another tid bit of information: If you're a single woman in the same room as someone sweeping run far away.  If the sweeper accidentally hits the feet of the unbeknownst woman, she is bound to stay single forever.

Let's talk about the craziness that is the English language for a second.  As a native speaker I was previously ignorant to the fact that our language, especially the pronunciation is completely nonsensical at times.

Silent letters, please.  We'll just accept you as our worst nightmare disguised in letter form.  End of that story.

By the time I go buy the groceries, I'll have to say goodbye.  Why? But seriously, why?

Some more list of words that if pronounced the slightest bit incorrectly can prove to be confusing: tin/ten, pull/pool, sheet/ship/shift/sheep, not/note, boat/bought, we'll/will, can/can't (say it, you probably don't even pronounce the "t" you simply stop your word short), dog/duck, and some others.

It's very rare that you will hear native speaker refer to their schedule, as the preferred, much easier to pronounce phrase, "time table" is chosen.

Last but not least our tendency to pronounce "d's" as "t's" and vis versa is much more prevalent than I originally realized.  Would you think it is strange if you saw a word begin with "K-T?" Well yes of course you would, those two letters sound unnatural together.  Or do they? I came to realize that we say that everyday with words like, "liked, worked, asked, etc…" Alright, so in words that end in "-ed" the "d" is pronounced like a "t" right?  Wrong again, try saying "added."  So in our first examples, those "d's" are "t's" yet in words like, "waiter, battery, litter, bitter, etc." it is quite the opposite.  If there's a rule for this nonsense I have no idea what it would be (though I'm sure there is).  Poco a poco (little by little).  Madness I say.  I'm just glad I am a native English speaker and don't have to try to make sense of it as an logical adult rather than just accepting it as a naive child.

THANKS FOR THAT

I'm not saying that the Spanish language is a piece of cake because it certainly is not.  In elementary school, we are taught that "ll" is pronounced as a "y" in Spanish.  For example, the word for she, "ella" is pronounced as "eya."  Well that's good enough for 10 year old native english speakers learning spanish, however, I've come to learn that this is certainly not the case.  The "ll" sound is a new sound entirely that does not actually exist in the English language.  The closest equivalent is a "y" hence our elementary school lessons, yet the actual sound is a mix between a "y" an "l" finished with a sort of "a" sound.  Kind of.  I have yet to master this.

Alright moving on.  I do some private English conversation lessons and one of my students was in a play so I went to go see it.  It was completely in Catalan but surprisingly I understood more of it than I anticipated.  Not because I magically learned how to speak Catalan but because I picked up on the context during this 4 person play.  It was quite an experience and you realize that even though cultures can be quite different, the base of human interaction is very similar regardless of the country you are in.  Sometimes, I forget that I cannot understand people speaking around me and after the play as everyone was gathered around talking, it felt like a typical small play/small theater atmosphere in the US.  You'd think that the longer I've been here, the more small differences I would find between the two cultures yet it has been quite the opposite.  I've come to realize the similarities, going back to the basics of a human working for a living and attempting to form meaningful relationships with those around them through leisure and activities.  Many human desires are the same from parents wanting the best for their children, teenagers attempting to be individuals yet afraid to do anything their friends don't do first, to children not wanting to eat their vegetables but with the threat of no dessert will do so anyway.

I've started watching How I Met your Mother in spanish and while I understand more than I thought I would, I still miss many of the clever jokes with my inability to pick up on the fast paced conversations.  I also want to point out that spanish companies do a pretty good job at matching the spoken spanish words to the lips of english speaking characters.  Much better than the feeble attempts on MXC. (First 30 seconds of video). MXC

Castelling is a typical Catalan tradition and is awesome to watch.  I liked their Facebook page and after reading/google translating their "about me" section, I realized you could go to their practices and watch! Or participate if you were up to it.  Let me back track a little.  These castellers make a human tower and have no special tools to do so, simply themselves, patience, and a black scarf type material that supports their back and helps other castellers climb on top of them.

You get the idea

The Castellers group of Igualada: Moixiganguers

The black scarf is tightly wrapped around their lower back for support and to help the other castellers climb up them.  They also will hold the collar of their shirt in their mouth to prevent it slipping while the many feet are attempting to get a foot hold.  It was incredible to watch as the youngest members of the group fearlessly climbed like monkeys and sat on the top with only their helmets and the trust of those below them for protection.

In the video, you'll see different levels.  The base is called the pinya.  El tronc (like trunk of a tree) is everything above the ground floor. The very top of the castell is the enxaneta (on-shea-net-a…sort of): always a very small light brave and nimble child willing to climb a few stories.  Once the enxaneta reaches the top, he/she raises his hand and immediately the castell begins to disassemble.  Like sliding down a fireman's pole, except the poles are human.

La pinya

From the last picture, it seems that the bottom (la pinya) is disorganized, simply a moshpit of people bunched together doing their best to support the tower of people above them.  That is not the case.  Look at the picture below and you'll see a diagram for only the base of the tower.  Each person has a specific job, whether that be to hold the knees or legs of a person or simply support the person standing in front of them.

The map for the pinya

Over this past weekend, they had something called "La Mostra." In Spanish, "la muestra", which comes from the word, mostrar=to show. It was a 4 day event with theater performances around Igualada geared toward children.  On a beautiful Saturday, I went with the girl I take care of to the main plaza in the center of Igualada.  A large crowd was gathered at the other side of the square so we stopped by.  We blended in with parents with kids on shoulders and the little girl was completely content on top of my shoulders watching a clown attempting to jump on top of a 20 foot tall chair.  Sometimes Igualada can feel like a ghost town, especially when the weather is bad.  But in the summertime when the weather is high (perfect summer song) people flock the streets and make a point to spend time in the parks, at outside tables at restaurants, the main shopping streets, and it is bustling!

Hard to see but the street is filled with people during La Mostra.

Today the weather is typical London weather, ie horrible.  Dreary, cloudy, a little rain here and there, not enough for an umbrella but enough to be annoyed.  Usually the weather affects my mood but today I could not be happier.  I am ecstatic and it may be the most proud and happiest I’ve felt since I’ve been here.  This morning I had a private class with a group of 3 women and then had a class with another student of mine.  In February, the second student contacted me with an interest in practicing interviewing in English because he was unemployed and looking to maximize his options.  The crisis in Spain has caused many to take advantage of their time off by learning English or pursuing other activities that would increase their chances of obtaining a job later on.  Since teaching him, he has had a few interviews but has not been successful.  Today I learned that he received a job in the UK! I was so proud and felt that I contributed a little bit to his success.  He was a very hard worker and the credit goes all to him but I would like to think that I helped improve his English skills.  I now know why so many people choose the teaching profession.  While at many times you work many more hours outside of class and it can be very challenging at times, the feeling you get when one of your students is successful is the best feeling in the world.  I was so ecstatic and walking on cloud nine.  He will move there indefinitely with his wife and little girl and I am very excited for him and his new adventure.  I enjoyed having him as a student so I will be sad to see him go but know that he will make the best of the bad weather in the UK.  Walking to my next intercambio for the day, I ran into my student from my first class that morning, one of the 3 women, and she mentioned that she had an interview the next day! As if my day could not get any better! I was so happy for her and wished her the best of luck for the following day.  Even better, that morning we had reviewed interview skills.

Calcots are a traditional Catalan food: grilled greens onions dipped in a special sauce.  Usually eaten at a calcotada, which is essentially a BBQ, where people will don bibs, peel off part of the onion, dip it in the sauce, then attempt to eat it in one bite without being too messy.

Recently, I have been going to English meetings to help locals improve their English and we simply talk for an hour or two.  While talking about our different traditions, they mentioned calcots and were surprised that I had never tried them before. Since the season for calcots is quickly coming to a close, they organized our next English meeting at a restaurant so I could try the infamous onion! It was such a great feeling that they would do that in order to show me and some other au pairs that Catalan tradition.

They warned me that this would not be the traditional way of eating calcots, however, still a good alternative.  After ordering our calcots and other tapas, they brought us what looked like a finished plate with fish spines left over.  We were convinced that this plate was not actually food and just a nice practical joke from the friendly owners.  Our waiter tried it first to prove that these fried anchovy spines were, in fact, edible so subsequently, we all dug in.  While they looked as appetizing as severed fish heads, they were actually pretty good.

The anchovy spine looked a little fishy but we ate it anyway

Then the tapas came (including the calcots).  The plate of worm looking things with black round things is actually cod that was salted then unsalted via a nice dip in some water. Ie cold cod with olives.  Not my fav but I tried it.  To the right of that is a bowl with the sauce for the calcots.  Below that we've got pork pieces glazed in a honey sauce that I eloquently described as mini fancy spicy hotdogs. Below that are some croquetas filled with mushrooms or ham.  More calcots, some ham, above that you'll see the lonely piece of bread left on the plate with olive oil and tomato.  Then patatas bravas or potatoes with a spicy mayonnaise sauce.  Last but not least some fried artichokes in the middle.  Molt be! There's only one way to eat tapas.  Each person has their own small fork and start eating! 

Tapas!

Calcots! Fun size pieces.

Bite size!

Traditional way of eating calcots.  Photo credit: Google Images i.e. not me or anyone I know

Que el tiempo vuela, how the time flies.  I only have 5 weeks left as an au pair and it's crazy to think that I'll be leaving good friends and may not see them again for many many years. Thanks to Facebook/whatsapp/other social media we will definitely stay in contact but I'll miss the relaxing days on the grass steps, sitting in a plaza eating kebabs, and hanging out at our favorite bar on a Friday night.