Culture and Customs

A Pick Up in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

Conversation in the street.
Translated into English but it was all in Spanish.

(and I mean Spanish – not Catalan)

Man:   Boy or girl?   (indicating Bonnie not me)
Me:     Girl
Man:   I have one like that – they’d be a good pair. What about getting them together sometime?
Me:     She is beautiful isn’t she?  But she’s had the operation you know.
Man:  You mean she can’t fuck?
Me:     No, she can’t
Man:  Oh well, that’s a shame. Bye then.

If you ever have this type of conversation on the street it is useful to know these words:-

Macho, Hembra, Ligar, Follar, Guapa y lo mas importante – NO!

Santa Montse – the black virgin of Montserrat

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Today is Santa Montserrat!
Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain very close to Barcelona.
It is one of the sacred mountains of Catalunya.
On a clear day you can see the jagged tops from Granollers.

High on the mountain is a Benedictine Abbey

Santa Maria de Montserrat houses the statue of the black virgin of Montserrat and has a world famous choir school which sings every day in the public area of the monastery.
Here is a video of them singing Virolai, words by Verdaguer (our little square is named after him)
When I first played this Someone Else in the room joined in with the singing!
‘All Catalans know this’
Montserrat is one of the patron saints of Catalunya  (Sant Jordi being the other)

Many many women are named after her.
The shortened version of the name is Montse and I would need all my fingers and toes to count the number of Montses I have met since moving here.
The statue is made of wood and is probably Romanesque.
She sits at the back of the monastery where people queue to visit her.
The story of her discovery is that a group of children were playing near a cave on the mountain and suddenly saw a light coming down from the sky and angels flying around them.
People came from the village and looking inside the cave they found the statue of a black Madonna.
Why black?
Here are some stories about that.
There are also stories about the connection between Montserrat and the Holy Grail which some people believe is hidden somewhere in the mountain.
You can get married in Montserrat monastery and in fact my partners mother, named Montse, had her wedding there.
There are wonderful walks around the mountain.
Most important of all – Happy Saints Day to all Montses!

Sant Jordi

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

The Valentines Day of Catalunya!   Saint George’s Day and Shakespeares birthday too.
I just had a look at last years post and saw that it was cloudy and wet then too.
Roses and Books all around and as it is Monday the celebrations began at the weekend.
But today is the day.
Happy Saints Day to all Jordis – those who I know are both healers – one creates Reiki in the woods and the other practises Ito Thermie, the Japanese art of moxa massage.

Roses come in all colours!  But here they rarely have a smell which is sad.
For me the scent is a vital part of their identity

Instead we have a book with a smell – Olor de Colònia  by Sílvia Alcàntara.

We can start it now as I am in my week of Catalan!

Caprabo

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

We tend to try out different supermarkets each time we go – no loyalty I’m afraid!
But I was impressed by a couple of things at Caprabo last time we went.
First a bit of history – it is a Spanish owned supermarket chain started in 1959.
The name comes from the first letters of the surnames of the three founders, CArbó, PRAt and BOtet.
Bet you didn’t know that!  It now

Thing Number One
One of my pet hates here is that when you arrive at the check out with perhaps 150 euros worth of shopping, all they want to do is rush your through and get the money before you’ve had a chance to sort and pack your stuff. this brings on an attack of passive aggression in me so I take my time and refuse to pay until it is all in the bags. But I notice most other people, including those close to me, practially having a heart attack trying to get it all out of the way before the next persons Vi and Pa comes shooting down the belt.

But yesterday the guy in CA/PRA/BO was very chilled out, he even came out from behind his till to help load some stuff.
This is unheard of here!
Normally you hear nothing of ‘Would you like a hand packing your shopping madam?’
It is more  of a ‘ Now we have your money can you please now Piss Off?’
But at least in Caprabo Granollers there is someone who does it differently. I even thanked him for not rushing us.

Thing Number Two

Here it is – a magnifying glass attached to the trolley so you can see the small print.
Isn’t that amazing?

Smiling in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Today everyone was happier in Granollers.
Is it Springtime?
Someone smiled at me in the street. She was smiling as she got closer, perhaps at the sight of my beautiful border collie Bonnie, and then she looked at me and nodded.
That is really unusual in a town where normally people look at me with a slight frown or a blank stare.

Some boys down by the river were throwing stones at something.  I stopped and asked what they were doing.  Two boys ran off at the sight of Bonnie while the others said ‘rabbits’.  We talked a little about why it is unkind to try and hurt rabbits then they asked me where I come from and we had a nice chat for a few sunny moments. They were just little boys, bored and thoughtless but pleasant enough.

Then, ignoring my resolution to not shop in the Chinese store (the cheap shops that are in every town in Catalunya selling things made in China) I went into the very one which usually treats me like a shop lifter by following me silently around the aisles. I picked up some photo frames and went to the counter and the woman smiled and said ‘Hola’. Then she asked me where I was from!

Incredible, why do you think today was so different from other days?