While I was living in Seattle, Pau came and couchsurfed at my house. He told me to come visit in Spain, which I took very literally. It was so amazing of him to host me and Rachel in his hometown, El Vendrell. We had an incredible time with him and his friends and we really got a taste of the local Catalonian culture. Rachel and I were so intrigued by all of their customs and traditions. (Pau leads me and Rachel along the dark streets and into a garage to see "the dragon." His friends are all sitting tightly inside smoking, listening to metal. They charge 25 cents for a beer. They're speaking a mix of Catalan and Spanish, and I'm lucky to catch a few words. Rachel and I exchange lots of glances, eyebrow raises, as we sit and soak in the moment. After a while, Pau gives us a tour of garage, which hosts the massive dragon. He and his friends have inherited the responsibility of the dragon from their parents who built and operated it ages ago. They, like their parents did before them, parade the fire-shooting dragon around in festivals. Pau lights one firework to give us an idea of the massiveness of the show; in a festival there would be tons of fireworks going off continually. During the festivals, little "flys"- as Pau first described, but which we later learned were fleas (I mean I wouldn't know the difference in Spanish, let alone any insects in Spanish)- swarm the dragon, and they all dance together. (See videos below for my attempt, and Pau's correction.) After a few hours hanging in the garage waiting for the rain to subside, and many quiet exchanges between Rachel and me noting how hungry we secretly were, we all go to a neighborhood fast food joint for some pizza. (Spaniards eat LATE.) It is a wonderful night.
^^ Pau's cute voice in the background :) ^^ If only you could have seen us running through the metro station to meet up with Pau after our stay in Barcelona... We weren't exactly sure where we were supposed to meet him (It's like we never learned or something! 😉); we had thought it would be some obvious location, but what is obvious to everyone else is never obvious to me and Rachel (see all the future blog posts to come.) So I circled the station a good 14 times looking for Pau, while Rachel stayed at the entrance trying to contact him via Facebook, asking me what he looked like to which I kept replying "brown hair, brown eyes, like every other freaking person here." The train only runs once an hour to El Vendrell , and we were sure we'd missed it- and Pau. But! He came running up and we had just enough time to hug and kiss kiss before we piled through the turnstile, one ticket between the three of us, ran down into to the steamy station, and jumped onto the train as the doors shut behind us. ^^ Human castles- another Catalonian tradition. This was such a fun night too! We watched the human castle practice, and then stayed around for a huge town dinner outside. I felt such a sense of community there which was amazing, but also illuminated the absence thereof at home. Other not-pictured, but equally cherished moments from El Vendrell:
Going to a tiny local anarchist bar, where we listened to revolutionary Catalan songs and laughed to find ourselves unknowingly involved in a song/game about which we were totally cluless. The game involved each person adding a word to some Catalan song (i.e. first person says "la nena" second person says "la nena estaba contenta" third person says "la nena estava content perquè...." etc.. Other than Pau and a few of his friends, no one else in the bar knew that Rachel and I were foreigners, and so when it it got to me, I just stared blankly drawing out a long "uhhhhhhhh." But it was so fun just to be there and see what kinds of similar things can draw people together all over the world, even if we don't always understand each other. Having a barbecue with Pau's friends where we ate delicious food, drank all sorts of exciting drinks, played a funny game called Pim Pom Poom, and hung around for hours. Walking along the beach and dipping our toes in, even though the locals thought we were silly. What I learned about El Vendrell is that no one seems to be in a rush. Friends gather and talk for hours; people essentially just enjoy each others' company. It was so so lovely, and I want to go back. Thank you Pau (and friends) for the most amazing stay!
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ELLEfeminist. linguist. traveller. foodie. crafter. ARCHIVES
January 2018
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All photos are the property of Elizabeth Cheney and may not be used without permission.
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