Adapting

A year ago I was writing about adapting to the local culture, but now it is time to readjust to life in Claremont.

Some parts are easier than others.

• It was great to out for dinner and have as much ice water as we want included in the price of dinner.
• I can turn a knob on the stove and flame appears, no match necessary.
• I don't have to look at my watch before going to a store. Most likely if I am awake, the store is open.
• I can enjoy fresh air while hanging laundry since my neighbors don't smoke.
• I don't have to plan what I am going to say before I go to the store/library/other.
• I can chat with the friendly people working at the grocery store.
• Each day a newspaper in English is delivered to the house.
• Having a car and knowing how to get places.

On the other hand I miss

• the immersion, the differences, the newness of everything. I suppose that would have worn off.
• the break from fund raising
• inexpensive and effective public transportation
• the solitude of my running routes
• digestive biscuits
• festivals!

It is good to unpack and get rid of things we should have not saved in the first place and savor some of the things we did save. It is good to go to the library and run into friends. It is good to cycle to the pool and swim with friends.

I am grateful for the chance to learn to love where I am.

Hidden treasures

Actually, it isn't so hidden because I found it when we were in Sant Cugat in December 2015, but my Spanish teacher recommended a visit so I made my way over there one day about three months ago.

This little church, also called a hermitage, was built recently but it was
mentioned as early as the 10th century, according to information from the city.

I don't know why there were flowers on the windows.

These tiles are on the side of the church and I came up with two different translations.

1) Please, ask yourself good beggars
or
2) Discover yourself a good beginner

and pray to the Holy Christ of Lloseres to give us a constant well and Heaven at dying hours.

Carrer de Llaceres is a relatively wide street and has a real bike lane. The houses lining it are beautiful, but are mostly hidden away.  Here are a few pictures.

This one has some sort of day care on the property.

This is my favorite, but I could not really capture it.
You can see other people's pictures here and here.

Even though I had been there for I hadn't really paid attention. I appreciated the reminder to get out and see the city.

More fest

On our way to a fire event 

We came across a go-cart type race. I am so sorry I don't have a picture of the hill,

but maybe it is like Cain Park, my childhood sledding hill? Pretty exciting!

Today in the sporting park we saw beach volleyball, bubble

football, and badminton in addition to the games from the day before.

I was most looking forward to the junior version of
the fire devils and the accompanying drum corps.

I was not disappointed.

The truth is I could do many more blog posts about the festival.

Instead I'll give you a few more pictures to wrap it up.

Not shown are Sunday morning's bastoners, the stick dancers.

Dancing in the pop-up restaurant near us.

Traditional Catalan sardana dance.

Loud music and lots of color - popular event with teens and adults, too.

Human towers - like nothing I have seen other places.

My favorite - the devils dancing with fire!

Festa Major

When planning our trip back to the US I saw that 29 June was the major festival for the town. It seemed like a good idea to make sure we stuck around for that. I didn't know much about it, but assumed it was something like Village Venture, which has organizational booths, food, artists' booths, and a parade. I was completely wrong!!

The festival is more than four days long! Streets are closed a week ahead of time in
order to build a temporary restaurant (shown here just before the festival started).

One night (about 11:30pm) traditional Spanish was being played.

Another night there were flamenco dancers performing.

Thursday's activities, organized by different organizations, included a Settlers of Catan (board game) tournament, rhythmic gymnastics demonstration, and a graffiti art project. There is also a Frank Sinatra tribute band performing at 11:15 p.m.

Does 11:15 p.m. sound late for a concert? Hah! Check out these events
that start at 3 a.m.! Glad I don't live near these venues! 

A park near us is the sport zone and activities include

table tennis, chess, flag tag, climbing, KanJam (made in the USA, it says, but it was new to me), bicycle course (bicycles, helmets, and lice protectors provided), gymnastic demonstrations, basketballs to borrow, tandems to borrow, and more. This was just one park, one tiny section of the festival.

We made our way over to the monastery for the traditional celebration.  My favorite part was 

after the people (including a monk?) gave the warning shots

there were simultaneous devil fire people, 

human towers, and giants dancing amid the confetti.

In this video you can see the giants dancing and the woman is holding a fan. Each year the fan has a different design, which is revealed just before the dance. Afterward pairs of children have their turn dancing, including their own fan and bouquet. Because it was so crowded we did not stick around to see the adults dancing. 

If only we were here one more year I would know where to stand ahead of time to get a good view. The truth is there is so much going on that it is not possible to see everything!

So lucky!

Barcelona has many fantastic events, museums, and beaches, but I love living in a smaller town that hosts events that I can walk to and don't have to fight the crowds to enjoy.

This weekend was the 42nd Meeting of the National Bastoners of Catalonia. I tried to capture the variety among the 55 groups,

There was definitely an independence theme among the groups.

Some groups have several musicians, one had an amplified
violin player, but this group had a single musician.

An unusual title for a piece!

The range of ages among the performers was large.

but you can find a lot more amazing pictures of the 1000 bastoners here.

You might also enjoy this video.

Lucky to be able to live here!

More giants

For the last festival different towns came with their symbolic fire-breathing animals and everyone joined the parade. Today there were twenty groups gathered with about seventy giants participating in another festival. 

Nice to see that some giants travel in style!

One of the two gathering places was only a few blocks away.

The people in white are the band members who play the dance music.

The parade toward the monastery began and the giants danced along the route.

I am guessing these big heads represent people, but I don't know.

Each group had a chance to make a grand entrance and 

then they gathered by the monastery before performing.

The video is a great summary of the event.