Market Day

June 4, 2010November 8, 2014 ~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Thursday is market day here in Granollers and I went to meet a friend for coffee and then to buy some fruit and vegetables for the week. I have always found it a rather stressful experience going alone – the pressure to speak well in front of a queue of onlookers, not knowing all the names of the vegetables, not really having a good grip on grams and kilos (still? I know we use them now in the UK but I continue to think in pounds and ounces)
In my imagination it is an enjoyable experience – all the colours and sounds and smells of the market and the excitement of choosing from such an abundance of choice. But if I am truthful I have always felt a bit shy in French and Catalan markets and spend a long time choosing which stall to use on the basis of whether the stallholder looks friendly rather than on the quality of the produce. And as I don’t like an audience I often chose one which is quiet – and shouldn’t I be doing the opposite?
But…two weeks ago my experience changed. Perhaps with greater confidence in my powers of speech I took my time chosing a stall with the freshest salads and the greatest variety of potatoes. I was relaxed, I chatted, I took my time like all the other people who don’t hurry this important moment of buying food. I enjoyed the experience.
And yesterday when I went with my friend I had an extra game to play – I had learnt as many words in Catalan as I could stuff into my already very full brain and I ordered everything (well almost everything) in Catalan…..with the help of the very friendly stall holder. Here are some of the words with their castellano equivalents – Eng/Cat/Cast.

Courgette – Carbassó – Calabacin
Onion – Ceba – Cebolla
Potato – Patata – Patata
Pepper – Pebrot – Pimiento
Cherry – Cirera – Cereza
Banana – Platan – Platano
Strawberry – Maduixa – Fresa
Apricot Albercoc – Albaricoque
Peach – Préssec – Melocotón

A Rose for Love and a Book Forever

April 24, 2010December 8, 2014 ~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalunya…….as well as of England and Palestine and many other places. He is also called Saint George!.. April 23rd is the second most important Feast day in Catalunya and is called El Diada de Sant Jordi or El Dia de la Rose or El Dia del Llibre.
It is the Catalan day for lovers and it is traditional for men to give women a rose

and for women to buy books for the men

Children also give roses to their mothers and some mothers give books to their children

So it is book, rose and love day!
Several different celebrations have joined together to create this fiesta and it felt a very happy mix.

In Granollers the central streets were full of stalls selling books or roses. Everyone seemed to be on the streets choosing their books, holding their roses or waiting to meet someone special.As it is a national day there were lots of Catalan flags hung from windows and walls and on the stalls. It is four red stripes on a golden background and is called the Senyera.In one small square there was a poetry reading with a large audience and several poets and in the main square a band playing traditional music for people to dance sardanas.
The association of roses with this day goes back beyond medieval times and there are records of a festival of roses but the book tradition seems to have started in 1923 when a bookseller promoted the holiday as a way to commemorate the deaths of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Half the yearly total book sales in Catalunya take place on this day.

I went twice to the central square to browse the stalls and mill around with hundreds of other people, most of them holding roses or books or both. It felt much nicer than Valentines Day which for me was always a disappointment – the feeling of failure if a card didn’t come, the imposed coupledom of the restaurants in the evening, a sense of isolation whether alone or in a pair. Sant Jordi however was a social event – like so many things here in Catalunya. People were out in the streets, talking to friends, meeting neighbours, watching the band playing sardanas, dancing sardanas, buying books and roses, sitting not in couples but in large groups in the cafes.Of course it is also nice to get a book as well as a rose!

Warmer

March 17, 2010December 11, 2014 ~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

How do I capture the happiness that I feel here?

So many little things that make me smile every day. And how would I photograph that feeling?

Today the sun shone. I took the bike to my first English class and it was still there when I came out after an hour talking about land, inheritance, marihuana and visions – a nice way to earn money. Cycling is such a pleasure in Granollers – there are little back streets to whizz down, you can go on the pavement without anyone seeming to mind, it is flat and within 15 minutes you are out in the countryside.I came home to the back door which is the entrance to Llançadora – the artists association organised by my partner – offering classes in circus, theatre, dance, acrobatics, and more. The space was originally a textile factory owned and run by his family. We are sleeping in sheets at the moment which were made there! Another time I will show you inside.
Later I went to buy vegetables and for the first time in ages it was warm enough to go out without a jacket. Bliss.
I had my hair cut and coloured yesterday for the first time in Catalunya. It went well although I was nervous beforehand about not being able to explain what I wanted in Spanish.

But today I felt much better groomed and less of a scarecrow! People here don’t go out on the street in their slippers like I have been known to do.Small things – sunshine, no coat, new hairdo, shopping with a proper basket, a bike ride to work and crisp clean home made sheets! And coming home – this time to the front door – the blue one! Happiness…

March weather

March 13, 2010November 8, 2014 ~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

On Monday when it snowed the whole town changed. I went for a walk and got very wet as although the snow was spread thick on the streets and in the parks it soon began to melt and before long I was wading through a sea of slush. It would have been a good day for shopping as the town centre was unusually quiet but my trousers were soaked up to the knees and my feet were making squelchy noises inside my trainers so like everyone else I gave up and went home.