Catalan Pride

For those of you who aren't too familiar with Barcelona, it lies in the region of Catalonia, the Northeaster part of Spain. They are a very proud bunch and do not consider themselves "Spanish." They speak a different language, Catalan, which is a mix of normal Castellano Spanish, French, and Italian. Needless to say, there is a lot of hand gestures and close talking to accompany said language.

Yesterday was the Festival de Libertad in Barcelona, while the rest of Spain celebrated Dia del Blanco. The festival here in BCN is to signify the cultural independence from Spain, something the natives, both young and old, are for. A few fellow Fulbrighters and I joined the festivities by spending a solid portion of the day at the beach, attending the concert/festival at Parque de la Ciudatella, and going out for Tapas...fun night in all.

For many expats, it's very difficult to make friends with the natives here. For one, friendship here is not thrown around as loosely as it is in the US. We will often introduce acquaintences or classmates as our friends when in a group. That doesn't happen here. For a Spanish person to open up to you, it's a pretty big deal. And the reasoning makes sense.

Barcelona is what they call a "cosmopolitano" or cosmopolitan city. There are people from everywhere. And there is no shortage of short term (less than one year) visitors who come for "intercambios" or cultural excahanges. Thus, many people do not waste their time with these outsiders who will leave their lives in a matter of months. It's too much effort with not much to gain. I don't agree with it, but I see their point.

So, how do you make friends? How do you experience the culture? It's tough for sure. I met an American here the other day who spent 1.5 years teaching here and has met only a handful of people, mainly other expats. My flatmate Amar took me out to meet some of his friends...2 Mexican PhD candidates, 1 American, and 4 native Catalonians. They were all friendly and open, but there was some apprehension to letting another American into the group. I would not, however, let them speak to me in English. Part of my goal here is to perfect my Spanish and hopefully leave being able to understand Catalan (signing up for beginner courses shortly). Even though I was stumbling through words and screwing up my verb tenses (there are over 50 different verb tenses depending on the article you use...) they were impressed at my effort. In 5 short days, I spoke more Spanish than the other American girl. The guys invited me to tryout for their soccer team this coming Thursday. I'm pretty excited, but they are a very competitive bunch. Amar played semi-professionally in Germany for the 3rd division...I haven't touched a soccer ball in months. Here goes nothing...