Personal Reflections

Epiphany

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

The first days of 2011 have passed in a blur. A strong virus took over on New Years Eve and since then I have been mainly in bed, on the sofa, or occasionally staggering outside to take Duna to the little square across the road.

Life in Granollers appears to be carrying on as normal without us.
Large family groups walk by, first in the direction of the town centre and later, back home again  carrying large shopping bags.  Duna and I burst out of the front door usually at the same moment one of these little well dressed groups pass by and we frighten them – me with my uncombed dazzlingly bright hair wearing some strange assortment of mismatched clothes and  Duna just because she is a lively dog of average size and people here are more accustomed to miniature models.

Tonight the procession of the Three Kings passed very close to the house – a cavalcade of floats and music with  Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar throwing sweets to all the children waiting at the side with lanterns. Tomorrow is  Els Reis/The day of the Kings and they will receive  presents in memory of the gifts brought to Jesus.  I like the idea that Epiphany is celebrated as more than just a day to take down the Christmas tree but I pity poor parents who have to think of and buy yet more presents. The people who walk past with their shopping bags don’t seem to be worried though!
And after tomorrow – the Great Sales start.

I wanted to see the Kings arrival this year in Barcelona where there is a huge procession from the port where they arrive on boats. But it was not to be this year – I didn’t even have the necessary oomph to walk the few hundred yards to see them in Granollers!

The Glad Game

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

The time between Christmas and New Year is a good time to look back and remember all the good moments and give thanks for all the gifts this year brought me.
It started with a full moon and a magical holiday in Port de la Selva
   Memories of…..

  • travels to Aiguamolls, Madrid, Delta de L’Ebre, Costa Brava, Prades, Canigo, Llaers
  • trying out new things, skiing, cooking tortilla, teaching children arty things
  • scary bits – driving around here, cooking dinner for the extended Catalan family, dealing with the chicken body parts that the butcher pressed into my unwilling vegetarian hands
  • giving up smoking and taking up yoga – again and again!
  • teaching tango in Castellano and the patience of my pupils
  • bathing naked in wonderful places 
  • hot mineral bathes with my sister and nephew
  • Reiki in the woods with gentle Jordi
  • smiles and hugs from friendly people even though we couldn’t string together a conversation
  • popping up to Barcelona for the day to see friends and potter around
  • fumbling along with Castellano and Catala and……poco a poco /poc a poc… it gets easier
  • visitors from home – so lovely to see familiar faces and be able to share my life a little with them

Huge thank you to all the people who have helped me this year. There are so many who have listened and let me talk, supported me in so many ways, hugged me, smiled at me, written to me, texted me, skyped me, sent thoughts and healing. I wouldn’t still be here without your support and friendship.  My dear friends in Cornwall – Karen and Tony, Margret and Val –  who look after my house and my two dogs – of course without you there would be no Kate walking the Catalan Way – thank you with all my heart.

Living in a new country, in a new relationship and in two new languages is not always easy but I have found it intensely interesting and energising and satisfying. I absolutely could not do it without the love and care of others and I send thanks in bucket loads for that. If you are reading this – this means you! Just the act of reading my blog gives me support and makes me feel connected.

I am very lucky to have a wonderful ‘mother-in-law’ who has been there many times when I needed a hug and encouragement. She spent a year in London when she was a young nurse and didn’t speak much English – she knows how it is.
And huge thanks and love to He Who Does Not Want To  Be Named Nor Appear In Photos!

For all the love and the laughter and the places you have taken me and yes – for the things I have learned from you -and  for your smiley eyes –  Thank you!

How to Beat the Alien Blues

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

There’s no doubt that living in another country sometimes is lonely. There are so many things that are easier to do when you speak the language, know who to ask, can make a phone call without having to practise first.

Things I have found challenging but which I have succeeded in doing include
•  buying cheese from a cheese counter and asking to taste first
•  going to the dentist for an emergency filling
•  having my hair cut and coloured
•  visiting a gynaecologist
•  teaching tango classes in Spanish
•  driving the car alone around town

Things I still find challenging so have put off doing include
•  sorting out my liability insurance so I can practise acupuncture
•  phoning the appropriate agency to find out why I have not been given a health card
•  opening a bank account
•  looking for somewhere to rent out of town that has a garden
•  driving a bit further afield alone – to the beach for example

Perhaps these things seem silly – you wouldn’t find them tricky – or maybe you would have other sillier things that would stump you. But in the end it comes down to confidence and sometimes when you are feeling a little alien it can be the small things that get to you. Like today the little girl laughing and pointing at me when I passed on the bike – I felt the wheels wobble along with my sense of belonging.

So what to do?
1. Accept
Yes I am different. Here amongst all these brown-eyed dark haired people I look like an alien. I can’t hide it so better to walk tall and proud.

2. Keep it in Proportion
When something shakes you, don’t let it bring down the whole building. Maybe I looked funny that moment on the bike, big bag of Catalan books on my back, frowning as I tried to weave between all the children and parents coming out of school. It doesn’t mean I am a total freak – old, fat and ugly!

3. Remember there are people who love you
Today I was feeling alone and vulnerable but there are people in my life who like me, who smile when they see me, who want to spend time with me. Without this backup support it is normal to feel fragile.

4. It is Normal
In a new life, living in a different culture, surrounded by voices speaking another language it would be strange if you didn’t sometimes feel like an alien. The important thing is not to take it too personally – there will be days when everything lifts and excites you and others when there seems a conspiracy to defeat you. In some ways I AM different. I have had to change some habits, to modify the way I behave. After all it is my choice to live here and….when in Rome….
The good thing is that here I have an excuse for feeling like an alien – when this happens in the UK perhaps it means that I really do come from Mars!

5. Find a Cake
Today I wobbled on into the town centre, noticed all the people meeting and greeting friends and family, decided not to run for home, went into a cafe and ordered a coffee and a cake. I didn’t have my camera so can’t show you how delicious and beautiful it was but…..it was soft and sweet, on top was a layer of yellow creamy custard and the woman who served it started to chat with me about learning Catalan. I cut it into small pieces and ate it slowly, remembering how lucky I am to be here.

PS For the sake of the blog I went back next day and took a photo of the same cake!  Before eating it.

What things do you find a challenge in another country?

Is there anything you miss?

~ Kate Wilson ~ 7 Comments

People often ask me what I miss about Cornwall. After more than a year in Catalunya I am getting clearer about my answer although probably it would change depending on when you ask me and on who is asking! I am back in Penwith for a week. It stirs you up coming back and at the same time you have so much to do that you hardly have time to sit back and think let alone feel.
Here is my answer for today and I’m not including the obvious answer – friends and family.


It is not easy to buy flowers in Granollers. Not just a normal ordinary reasonably-priced bunch of garden flowers for the house – which I like to do every week and used to do here when I lived in Penzance.  The florists in Granollers have posh flowers and houseplants and they are expensive.

I really really miss second hand shops and charity shops. They don’t seem to exist in Granollers. I miss being able to rummage through books and china and clothes. I also miss having somewhere convenient to take things I want to get rid of. What do people do with their old stuff?  Dump it?

Here is the wonderful Honeypot in Penzance. Not only is it a great place to meet friends and to watch the world go by but they have fantastic food. There are always several vegetarian dishes. This day I had delicious sweet corn fritters with a spicy sauce and cornish potatoes and salad. I just wish it was easier to find vegetarian food in restaurants in Catalunya. Interesting, tasty and spicy vegetarian food.

I love the cliffs here – I love the landscape in Catalunya too but what is lovely here is that I can drive for no more than ten minutes along quiet country lanes and end up here.
And of course I miss my dogs – two border collies who can bark too much, don’t really know how to behave in town, sometimes growl at strangers but are intelligent and loving and beautiful. I want to pack them in the van ( which by the way broke down as soon as I arrived here) and take them home with me to Granollers. But what sort of a life would they have without a garden? And what sort of life would I have with three dogs to walk twice a day in town?
Tomorrow I go home, I say goodbye to my dogs and my house and the cliffs, rain, wind and mud. I feel I am going home – I look forward to arriving back in my life in Granollers – so much awaits me.  Each time I make the journey it is another letting go, another chance to make the decision and to say Yes. But it is complicated and making the choice doesn’t mean that one is better than the other. Just different.

High above Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 9 Comments

 

I took a walk this evening up to the derelict tower that sits on a hill overlooking GranollersThe tower Torre de Pinos is an old fortified defense tower built in the 14th century and now half in ruins it is protected but not really cherished.
But the place is magical. I took these photos on a sunny afternoon last week, walking along flower lined paths while trying to take photographs of the swifts. It is not easy to catch one moment of their flight path as they are the ultimate aerial birds. I had many photos of empty blue sky! Swifts eat, drink, mate and sleep on the wing and only come to earth for long enough to nest and feed their young. Barcelona is full of the sound of their excited cries and from our terrace here I can watch them at night. In Catala they are called Falciots, not orinetes which are swallows. Up in the fields around the Torre, high above Granollers, in the evening when the air is full of flying insects, I am able to feel as if I am in their world.
Tonight I went to the Torre just before sunset. The sun was hiding at first behind a large cloud and I watched it slowly emerge like a luminescent red balloon to glow with midsummer fire before settling down behind the hills. I had no camera and could only wonder and marvel at the dance of the swifts, the rays of purple light spreading across the sky and the wildness of this place so close to the city. So often I stand with my neck craned to watch them high above but tonight I had the amazing experience of having them whizz past my head so close I could hear their wing beat.
Life sometimes throws at us ‘momentos malos’ and it was in this kind of mood that I climbed the hill tonight with Duna as my companion. I felt very aware that nowhere within miles or kilometers was there anyone I could talk to freely in my own language. I was missing not so much ‘home’ but the feeling of ‘being at home’. If you ever imagine living in another country, include this in the fantasy, it can be hard! Small things can feel like the last straw and it is easy to feel inadequate when you can’t freely do the most normal thing – talk. So,what to do, where to turn?
For me it is to nature, which exists outside frontiers and customs, languages and barriers, frustrations and misunderstandings. All exists in the moment and tonight as the light was dying it was beautiful to be part of that moment.