Cool Catalans

The last two weekends brought more street entertainment.  There was a modern dance festival going on but I didn’t attend any of the free performances that were scattered around town.  I did attend the castells (human towers) as I always try not to miss those.  They are simply splendid, one of the best examples of Catalan culture.   There is no violence, it is a sport of many people working together to achieve a common goal.  There is no competition between members of the same team (each has a role to play but no one is a star and individuals earn no points) but of one team against the other.  And even though the teams are competing for points throughout the season, members of the different teams help each other to form the pinya, the central mass that holds up the tower.  If you want an expression of community spirit and cooperation, you won’t find a better one.

Starting to form the pinya

You can see by the different colored shirts that
other teams are helping

Everyone has a role to play.  His is
a stepping stool

Then there was the Designers' Fair.  I always like to see what artisans and designers are up to, and this fair was no disappointment.  There was all manner of cool stuff – the coolest of which was the company Cool Catalans with their Be Cool, Be Catalan tee shirts.   There were workshops for kids to learn craft skills such as printing and jewelry-making, there was music, there was a cool granny-square enhanced old Renault, and there were even some cool dogs for me to photograph. 

Festa Major, Part 2

La Santa Creu, the festa major, wasn’t all food.  To help work off calories there was dancing, parades, and castells – the human towers.  The public doesn’t build those towers, but it takes some energy to stand for more than an hour and watch the teams that do and then to applaud each time they succeed (as well as those times when they don’t).  The public does, however, dance the sardana, and yours truly, twinkle toes, joined in for one.

 

Festivals here are not particularly commercial.  There may be food to buy and this one had arts and crafts stands, but there is no corporate sponsorship (or if there is, it isn't visible), no souvenirs are sold, and few, if any, activities or performances charge an entrance fee.   The money to put it on comes from the town hall and the Catalan government, and many of the activities such as the parades with the giants and the castells, are put on and manned by the public. 

 

The band that plays the sardanes
is called a cobla

Don't look for me, I'm not there

 

 

 

The parade had a police escort at the head and end.
The tail end officer made entertaining some of the
children part of his duties. 

He made a few kids very happy

 

Getting ready.  Wrapping up to protect
his back and to give those climbing over him
somewhere to get a toe hold

The musicians who accompany castells
always play the same tune once the castell
is partially built and has been deemed
viable by the cap de colla (head of the team)

 

Castells on Sunday

It just isn’t the same living out in the middle of nowhere and living in town.  In town, if you want to stay in your nice little apartment, you can do so.  But if you want to go out, even if just for a walk, the possibilities are many.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time just walking up one street and down another, sometimes looking for a specific place, but mostly just to see what’s there so later when I need it, I’ll know where to find it.  Today I found a shop that sells only things from France – things like pates, all sorts of stuff made from duck and goose livers, cassoulet in a jar, nougat, callissons, jams and jellies, and wine.  This wasn’t something I was looking for, and I didn’t buy anything, but I’ll be back.

The other night my friendly neighbor Ines invited me to join her in going to a free, open-air band concert.  At first I declined, but then I thought again.  Band music isn’t my favorite, but why stay home when I have a chance to go out, develop a new friendship, and who knows, maybe the music won’t be too bad.  And in fact, the music wasn’t too bad.  The big band repertoire was fun, the rest was OK, there was a great full moon beaming at us through the trees, and I even ran into someone I knew!  Who would believe it when I just got here.  But I had spent some time chatting with the Argentine owners of a nearby eclectic shop and they called out to me from behind.  That was a real surprise.

Before that, on Sunday, I had gone to La Rambla to see castells, the human castles.  There was a good audience, but I wouldn’t say it was crowded.  The teams were from Figueres, Olot, and Suria -- none of them high-rankers in the national competitions.  But that didn’t make the spectacle any less enjoyable and it did allow me to get closer in to take photos.

Building a castell looks like this -- layer upon layer of people:

Fer pinya -- making the base

The same music accompanies all castells,
and begins once the base is formed and the first layer is stable

Team members come in all sizes

and all ages, each with his/her function to perform

Lookin' good