Author: Kate Wilson

Beautiful Girls

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

I’ve just been on an interesting and surprising educational journey.

I started doing some homework (surprising to me as I hardly ever study, hoping just to soak in Catalan with the sunshine and light)
The lesson in my book Passos Elemental 2 was all about a choir and the book printed several traditional childrens songs. I picked one out and looked for it on YouTube so I could sing along.
Here’s the words

Les Nenes Maques

Les nenes maques al dematí
s’alcen i reguen, s’alcen i reguen.
Les nenes maques al dematí
s’alcen i reguen el seu jardí.

Jo també rego el meu hortet,
faves i pèsols, faves i pèsols.
Jo també rego el meu hortet,
faves i pèsols i julivert.

Julivert meu com t’has quedat,
sense cap fulla, sense cap fulla.
Julivert meu com t’has quedat,
sense cap fulla i el cap pelat

Without translating it word for word, it is saying that beautiful girls get up in the morning and water their gardens. Also they water their vegetable plots which have beans and peas and parsley. The third verse is about how the parsley has ended up without leaves.
Ahhh – how sweet and a nice tune too.
But another web site which looked interesting had an article saying that the song is actually about teaching girls feminine hygeine. And the last verse is referring to the loss of bushiness in later life.

You never know when you are reading things in another language. Was it a joke?  I found another reference so perhaps the song is generally seen this way but what about all those children singing innocently in school while other older ones giggle behind their hands? 

Bonnie takes the train to Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Bonnie and I travelled down to Barcelona yesterday to stay with our friend Cristina.
We took the train from Granollers Canovelles station which is the third railway station in the Granollers area and is on a different line – the one that goes from Vic to Hospitalet.

As far as I know you can’t take dogs on the metro or the buses so if I travel with Bonnie I need to aim for somewhere on the railway line. Cristina lives in Nou Barris so we were trying out the route  to Sant Andreu Arenal which is only 30 minutes walk from her flat

I like the station at Canovelles – it feels like a country station – out in the open air and you even have to cross the railway tracks to get to the right platform which they only announce a few minutes before the train arrives.
(By the way. another person asked me for directions as we walked to the station. It is one of my callings – being a town guide either in Barcelona or Granollers! I don’t feel like a local but obviously something in my manner gives confidence to strangers!)

Bonnie has to wear the muzzle on the train. We don’t mind as it stops stray children from trying to touch her – they actually give her a wide berth ‘Mira mama! Un perro malo!’
She was really good on the train and all the way through Nou Barris to Cristina’s house. I used to think it incredible that she would go to Barcelona. What a grown up dog! But it’s no different from any other collection of shopping streets. She doesn’t seem fazed at all by the thought of Gaudi or the Sagrada Familia!

We went for a walk later up the Turó de la Peira which is a rare public green space in this very built up district. It used to be larger but pre-democracy there was a lot of building in this area which ate into the park. Many of those flats later had to be pulled down due to their poor construction which made them unsafe.  The park is a much needed breathing space in the city and all the better for being on a hill.

there are wonderful views from the top over Barcelona to the sea

and in the other direction, the Collserola Natural Park. We sat together on a bench and took photos of ourselves! She is such a great companion.

Thank you to life

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

This felt like a week crammed full of different and lovely things

I woke up on Monday morning still in beautiful Sant Nicolau – the sun was streaming into the bedroom and the wind had dropped – but it was time for us to leave

Helen has lost two of her dogs and it felt hard going knowing they are still out there but we don’t know where. She has been incredible – there are posters of them at every corner in an area stretching from Bascara to Figueres and all around. I went out with her every day exploring new corners of the region, to speak with people and pin up posters and scan the fields

But apart from one possible sighting there has been a resounding silence

I drove back to Granollers and almost immediately caught the train down to Barcelona to go to my Swing class in Gracia.  I even stayed on afterwards to eat in a Syrian restaurant with two other beginners.

After the class we wanted to try out the late Jam session at Swing Maniacs as we need to practise as well as learn new steps. But there was time to eat inbetween and what a pleasure to have falafel and hummus and pitta bread – the sort of food that feels like a real treat here.

And then a quick dance before catching the last train home.

I met Tiffany for coffee one morning – but it wasn’t coffee – it was the Catalan chocolate drink that is rich and thick and warm like a pudding and comes with whipped cream and little sponge fingers for dunking. If you want to order it is called a Xocolata Desfeta and if you want the cream it is a Suìs
Don’t go to that link if you are on a diet!

On the way home the man with the accordion was out again beside the newspaper stand. He recognises me now (as one of the few people who throw money into his bag and stop to listen!)
So when he had to start another song he looked at me and said ‘Danny Boy?’  Of course I sat down on the bench to listen – and cried a little for the strangeness of it

What else?  We have just been to the CineClub which shows films in original version. Tonight this was a Catalan film called Fenix. A really amazing and good film about a young boy who, under the influence of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, wrote emails to supermarkets telling them to put their labels in Catalan and not just Spanish. I really must be careful what I write here because this is a true story and what happened to him was horrific. Armed police rushed his home and he was charged with crimes under the terrorism laws. Worth seeing this if it comes to your alternative film club!

And lastly we took our seed potatoes over to the farm where a new friend has offered us a space to plant them. I brought over Pentland Javelin and Charlotte and am looking forward to real potatoes this summer!

Bonnie loved being in the countryside again and I have promised  both her and me –  ‘Soon!’

 

Spam Spam Spam

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

I am going to do something that I absolutely hate and detest and I am so sorry – please forgive me!
I have suddenly been getting a lot of spam on the blog and so for ONE WEEK ONLY I will put a  ‘collons quina merrrrrrda‘ word identification on the comment box.

February 15th or even before – it will be removed, I promise. And if spam continues I will just deal with it myself. Just want to see if I can stop it by blocking it. 

Meanwhile here is Bonnie – having a lovely time in the Empordà.

Tramuntada

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

It is getting windy here at Sant Nicolau. It’s not very strong but the trees are moving and my front door just swung open making me jump.
I haven’t yet experienced the Tramuntana – the wind from the NE, from across the mountains –  which is famous in the Empordà. Perhaps this weekend I will get a taste?

Here is a short and interesting article about it from the web site of Iberian Nature.
I have now learnt a new word,  ‘atramuntanada‘ to describe someone (female in this case) who is crazy, touched by the wind.