Last Tuesday I visited La Pedrera (formally known as "La Casa Milá"), one of Gaudi's most famous works and a World Heritage site. Rather than be redundant, I'll let the official website www.lapedreraeducacio.org and my photo album speak for themselves.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
acabem amb la dictadura democratica
I used the translator website Translate.eu to give me a guideline, but when translating its also important to realize the context of the statement. Here are the translations, ordered from what I thought easiest to what I thought hardest, with the website first and my take (if it differs) second:
4. Website: "We conclude with the democratic dictatorship."
My take: "Let us put an end to the democratic dictatorship!"
The website and I differ in our interpretation of "acabem". Spanish speakers, think of the verb "acabar." The nosotros command would be either "acabemos" or "acabémonos" if you wanted to be reflexive. I'm not sure whether "acabem" is only the present tense "we" form or can also be used as the "we" command in Catalan.
I'm not sure when this was written, so it could have been written during the Franco regime (approx. 1939-1975), and that would make the website's take correct. But I suspect that it's been written in modern times as the author's protest of the dictatorial ways of a current or past democratic government. Or, it could be a Catalunya-specific protest of the fact that the central government in Madrid is not allowing Catalunya enough autonomy. Searching "spain democratic dictatorship" and "democratic dictatorship catalunya", I stumbled upon this blog post which I concede is fiercely partisan in favor of Catalunya but nevertheless encapsulates well the ideological conflict between the region of Catalunya and the Madrid central government. This 2005 article from the Financial Times is more grounded, giving specific examples of some of the things Madrid and Barcelona are trying to work through. I had no idea Spain had so many autonomous provinces, it's actually a main regional breakdown of the country (like states in the US) - check out the Wikipedia article Autonomous communities of Spain for a better idea of how they work.
5. "In Barcelona, 1 in 3 deaths in traffic accidents was on foot! Warning! We are all pedestrians!"
Yikes! I've never thought about where such a percentage should lie, but that strikes me as pretty high. Part of it may be because of Barcelona's interesting intersections - most street corners are actually sliced off, to create parking spaces and open up the blocks. Frequently, the city's 4-bin recycling system is placed here as well. This is wonderful for traffic flow, because those who are turning can clear the street they are turning away from, while still allowing pedestrians to pass, because they can sit in the space where the corner would have been and the crosswalks are slightly indented compared to the intersection itself. But, it's not fun for pedestrians, because walking along a street means weaving in and out to access each crosswalk instead of just walking in a straight line. Impatience may cause one to not want to utilize the crosswalk every time, and just walk straight, through a wider swath of the intersection. I suspect this may cause at least some of the fatalities, because with bins and cars parked everywhere, it can be harder to see an oncoming car; plus you are also more exposed to those that are turning.
2. "I am a beach, not a huge ashtray, ok?"
1. "Here next to [this sign] there are trash bins, please use them."
Pretty self-explanatory. The beach is fed up with everyone's cigarette butts, and so it tells the locals to quit it already. The beach where I took this was Platja Passeig Maritim, which is right next to two hugely famous clubs in Barcelona, Opium Mar and Shoko. Thus, the sign may lose a little of its efficacy because a lot of tourists frequent that beach, but as I'm discovering more and more in Barcelona, if a printed statement is in only one language, it's almost always in Catalan. The only time I see printed Spanish-only statements are if its part of a national campaign, like advertising a TV show that is available all over Spain or a campaign against plastic bags; local or regionally-oriented statements are in Catalan.
3. "Closure of the corridor linking L3 and L5 at the Diagonal station...Due to construction of the interchange, starting on May 27 the passageway linking L3 and L5 at Diagonal station will be closed. The link between the two Metro lines will be down the street. The route to follow will be signaled in the street. When entering the Metro again, it will be necessary to revalidate the ticket; without doing so, the ticket will behave as if you haven't already taken a trip (and thus will charge you for another instead of giving you a free transfer). Remember, you can make the link between L3 and L5 at Sants Station. See the network map to choose other alternative routes."
We did this transfer and I don't remember needing to get the ticket revalidated, but I didn't check the ticket the second time, perhaps we were actually double billed. The metro system in Barcelona seems to work pretty well; the lines look like spaghetti in how they cover the city, but it actually does a very good job of covering all the areas. Plus, they have a few other cool features, including a button you have to push/handle you have to pull to get the door to open (which saves energy for the air-conditioned train), and a display that shows the line you are on with a flashing light under the station you're heading to next.
4. Website: "We conclude with the democratic dictatorship."
My take: "Let us put an end to the democratic dictatorship!"
The website and I differ in our interpretation of "acabem". Spanish speakers, think of the verb "acabar." The nosotros command would be either "acabemos" or "acabémonos" if you wanted to be reflexive. I'm not sure whether "acabem" is only the present tense "we" form or can also be used as the "we" command in Catalan.
I'm not sure when this was written, so it could have been written during the Franco regime (approx. 1939-1975), and that would make the website's take correct. But I suspect that it's been written in modern times as the author's protest of the dictatorial ways of a current or past democratic government. Or, it could be a Catalunya-specific protest of the fact that the central government in Madrid is not allowing Catalunya enough autonomy. Searching "spain democratic dictatorship" and "democratic dictatorship catalunya", I stumbled upon this blog post which I concede is fiercely partisan in favor of Catalunya but nevertheless encapsulates well the ideological conflict between the region of Catalunya and the Madrid central government. This 2005 article from the Financial Times is more grounded, giving specific examples of some of the things Madrid and Barcelona are trying to work through. I had no idea Spain had so many autonomous provinces, it's actually a main regional breakdown of the country (like states in the US) - check out the Wikipedia article Autonomous communities of Spain for a better idea of how they work.
5. "In Barcelona, 1 in 3 deaths in traffic accidents was on foot! Warning! We are all pedestrians!"
Yikes! I've never thought about where such a percentage should lie, but that strikes me as pretty high. Part of it may be because of Barcelona's interesting intersections - most street corners are actually sliced off, to create parking spaces and open up the blocks. Frequently, the city's 4-bin recycling system is placed here as well. This is wonderful for traffic flow, because those who are turning can clear the street they are turning away from, while still allowing pedestrians to pass, because they can sit in the space where the corner would have been and the crosswalks are slightly indented compared to the intersection itself. But, it's not fun for pedestrians, because walking along a street means weaving in and out to access each crosswalk instead of just walking in a straight line. Impatience may cause one to not want to utilize the crosswalk every time, and just walk straight, through a wider swath of the intersection. I suspect this may cause at least some of the fatalities, because with bins and cars parked everywhere, it can be harder to see an oncoming car; plus you are also more exposed to those that are turning.
2. "I am a beach, not a huge ashtray, ok?"
1. "Here next to [this sign] there are trash bins, please use them."
Pretty self-explanatory. The beach is fed up with everyone's cigarette butts, and so it tells the locals to quit it already. The beach where I took this was Platja Passeig Maritim, which is right next to two hugely famous clubs in Barcelona, Opium Mar and Shoko. Thus, the sign may lose a little of its efficacy because a lot of tourists frequent that beach, but as I'm discovering more and more in Barcelona, if a printed statement is in only one language, it's almost always in Catalan. The only time I see printed Spanish-only statements are if its part of a national campaign, like advertising a TV show that is available all over Spain or a campaign against plastic bags; local or regionally-oriented statements are in Catalan.
3. "Closure of the corridor linking L3 and L5 at the Diagonal station...Due to construction of the interchange, starting on May 27 the passageway linking L3 and L5 at Diagonal station will be closed. The link between the two Metro lines will be down the street. The route to follow will be signaled in the street. When entering the Metro again, it will be necessary to revalidate the ticket; without doing so, the ticket will behave as if you haven't already taken a trip (and thus will charge you for another instead of giving you a free transfer). Remember, you can make the link between L3 and L5 at Sants Station. See the network map to choose other alternative routes."
We did this transfer and I don't remember needing to get the ticket revalidated, but I didn't check the ticket the second time, perhaps we were actually double billed. The metro system in Barcelona seems to work pretty well; the lines look like spaghetti in how they cover the city, but it actually does a very good job of covering all the areas. Plus, they have a few other cool features, including a button you have to push/handle you have to pull to get the door to open (which saves energy for the air-conditioned train), and a display that shows the line you are on with a flashing light under the station you're heading to next.
Catalossari 1 - Catalossary 1
Yes, "Catalossari" is as invented a word in Catalan as "Catalossary" is in English, but I figured that if I'm going to take the bilingual titles seriously, I might as well try to Catalan-ize any invented words I use.
Here are 5 instances of printed Catalan that for one reason or another I found interesting. If you're trying to figure out what they mean, I find that knowing Spanish may be the most helpful, but knowing French as well will help with certain details. Here's the Picassa album:
Here's the text of the Catalan:
Of these, #2, #5, and especially #4 can be readily tied back to the Spanish equivalents. Now for the context:
If they don't come to you immediately, ponder them a while. Personally, by connecting to Spanish equivalents, without looking at the translation I was able to figure out #4 exactly and all of #5 except the last word. Translations and commentary coming in subsequent posts.
Here are 5 instances of printed Catalan that for one reason or another I found interesting. If you're trying to figure out what they mean, I find that knowing Spanish may be the most helpful, but knowing French as well will help with certain details. Here's the Picassa album:
Here's the text of the Catalan:
- Aquí al costat hi ha papereres, fes-les servir.
- Sóc una platja, no pas un cendrer enorme, ok?
- Tancament del passadís d’enllaç Diagonal (L3, L5)
Amb motiu de les obres de l’intercanviador, a partir del dia 27 de maig quedarà tancat el passadís entre els vestíbuls de Diagonal L3 i L5.
L’enllaç entre les dues línies de Metro es farà pel carrer.
Hi haurà una senyalització específica del recorregut a seguir
A l’entrar de nou a Metro serà necessari tornar a validar el bitllet, sense que això comporti el descompte de cap viatge.
Recordin que podeu fer l’enllaç entre L3 i L5 a Sants Estació.
Consultin el plànol de xarxa per tal d’escollir altres itineraris alternatius. - Acabem amb la dictadura democratica
- A Barcelona, 1 de cada 3 morts en accidents de trànsit anava a peu! Atenció! Tots som vianants!
Of these, #2, #5, and especially #4 can be readily tied back to the Spanish equivalents. Now for the context:
- On the beach, near where one would enter it from the street. Isn't it so cool to just see a talk bubble popping out of the sand?
- The back side of the sign in #1
- On a metro platform
- In the streets of Barcelona; not exactly the nicest area
- In the entrance of literally every other crosswalk in Barcelona. I just love how those that make printed statements here are so good about presenting them in ways that grab your attention.
If they don't come to you immediately, ponder them a while. Personally, by connecting to Spanish equivalents, without looking at the translation I was able to figure out #4 exactly and all of #5 except the last word. Translations and commentary coming in subsequent posts.
Friday, September 4, 2009
atordeixen primers pocs - first few daze
After a 17h journey of flights and stopovers in Dallas and Madrid, I finally made it to the Barcelona airport. For the first day, CEA had all its UPF students in the Hotel Arago. Out of around 22 students in this program, the vast majority are Duke students, but except for a few I´d never met any of the others before.
I dropped my stuff off in the hotel room and joined a few other Duke students for lunch at Tapes Gaudi, a tapas bar that had been recommended to one of us. In my mind, the tapas were so-so except for the olives, which they prepared quite tastily or just that they taste better here naturally. The waiters were clearly trying to get us to rack up a huge bill, calling me out for getting a water instead of a drink, and offering us the "seafood plate of the day" and other individual dishes rather than tapas to share.
With it being the first night in Barcelona for most of us, exploring the city was a must. After dinner we took the metro to the ¨Catalunya¨stop and arrived at Plaça de Catalunya, the center of the city and the beginning of the famous ¨La Rambla¨, a street full of life and famous sights in Barcelona that stretches down to the harbor. We traversed through La Rambla and then walked along the harbor, eventually ending up at Platja San Sebastian (platja = beach), where some of us waded in before we taxied home.
The first week basically served as orientation: we had the CEA orientation Tuesday morning and moved in to our apartments and residences afterwards; Thursday we had our Spanish placement test at UPF and Friday we had a UPF orientation. This left us with a fair amount of discretionary time.
Most of the CEA students living in the Residencia Onix (my residence) didn't move in til Friday because they were with different programs. So, one other Duke student and I explored the area around our residence. Most of our needs are covered by the local supermarket, Mercadona. The exchange rate may be painful, but I feel like we can find a lot of good deals on fresh food at the Mercadona - for example, they sell a bag with 3 baguettes for just 1.20 euros, and many items can be had on the cheap if you buy from the generic brand "Hacendado". The other cool store nearby is Bazaar Oriente, which has the feel of a mini-Wal Mart but one step closer to the factory. The shelves were totally crammed with products, including toys, school supplies, kitchenware, converters, and much more, and again everything was quite cheap.
Tuesday evening we walked down Carrer de Sardenya (the street my residence is on) to the beach Platja Passeig Maritim home to some of the most famous clubs in Barcelona, like Opium Mar and Shoko. That's the same beach where I saw the talk bubble featured in the first Catalossary. The album below here has some photos of Opium Mar and a bar called Sotavento. You can click the Picasa logo in the lower left to view the album in Picasa.
On Wednesday, we walked up to the Sagrada Familia, a famous church designed by Antoni Gaudí, whose name is synonymous with Barcelona because of all the famous architectural works he has made here. Because it was hot we didn't go in, but I took a lot of pictures of the exterior. The church has been under construction for decades according to Gaudí's plan; Gaudí was run over by a tram early on during the project. Afterwards, we went to Park Guell, a huge park that also features the work of Gaudí. Clearly, I'll need to revisit both of these places just to soak in their full magnificence:
Thursday we had a tour of the Old Quarter through CEA. The captions explain what each sight is. One thing to note is with the mailbox: According to our guide, the Catalan's other national sport is complaining, especially against the Spanish. Thus, the turtle you see in the lower right of the mailbox is a jab at the slowness of the new national mail system that Madrid had forced upon Catalunya. The mailbox was made by Barcelona's second most famous architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Arc de Triomf and the bus station (last two photos) weren't part of the tour, but are near my residence and so I stopped by them on the way home:
I dropped my stuff off in the hotel room and joined a few other Duke students for lunch at Tapes Gaudi, a tapas bar that had been recommended to one of us. In my mind, the tapas were so-so except for the olives, which they prepared quite tastily or just that they taste better here naturally. The waiters were clearly trying to get us to rack up a huge bill, calling me out for getting a water instead of a drink, and offering us the "seafood plate of the day" and other individual dishes rather than tapas to share.
With it being the first night in Barcelona for most of us, exploring the city was a must. After dinner we took the metro to the ¨Catalunya¨stop and arrived at Plaça de Catalunya, the center of the city and the beginning of the famous ¨La Rambla¨, a street full of life and famous sights in Barcelona that stretches down to the harbor. We traversed through La Rambla and then walked along the harbor, eventually ending up at Platja San Sebastian (platja = beach), where some of us waded in before we taxied home.
The first week basically served as orientation: we had the CEA orientation Tuesday morning and moved in to our apartments and residences afterwards; Thursday we had our Spanish placement test at UPF and Friday we had a UPF orientation. This left us with a fair amount of discretionary time.
Most of the CEA students living in the Residencia Onix (my residence) didn't move in til Friday because they were with different programs. So, one other Duke student and I explored the area around our residence. Most of our needs are covered by the local supermarket, Mercadona. The exchange rate may be painful, but I feel like we can find a lot of good deals on fresh food at the Mercadona - for example, they sell a bag with 3 baguettes for just 1.20 euros, and many items can be had on the cheap if you buy from the generic brand "Hacendado". The other cool store nearby is Bazaar Oriente, which has the feel of a mini-Wal Mart but one step closer to the factory. The shelves were totally crammed with products, including toys, school supplies, kitchenware, converters, and much more, and again everything was quite cheap.
Tuesday evening we walked down Carrer de Sardenya (the street my residence is on) to the beach Platja Passeig Maritim home to some of the most famous clubs in Barcelona, like Opium Mar and Shoko. That's the same beach where I saw the talk bubble featured in the first Catalossary. The album below here has some photos of Opium Mar and a bar called Sotavento. You can click the Picasa logo in the lower left to view the album in Picasa.
On Wednesday, we walked up to the Sagrada Familia, a famous church designed by Antoni Gaudí, whose name is synonymous with Barcelona because of all the famous architectural works he has made here. Because it was hot we didn't go in, but I took a lot of pictures of the exterior. The church has been under construction for decades according to Gaudí's plan; Gaudí was run over by a tram early on during the project. Afterwards, we went to Park Guell, a huge park that also features the work of Gaudí. Clearly, I'll need to revisit both of these places just to soak in their full magnificence:
Thursday we had a tour of the Old Quarter through CEA. The captions explain what each sight is. One thing to note is with the mailbox: According to our guide, the Catalan's other national sport is complaining, especially against the Spanish. Thus, the turtle you see in the lower right of the mailbox is a jab at the slowness of the new national mail system that Madrid had forced upon Catalunya. The mailbox was made by Barcelona's second most famous architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Arc de Triomf and the bus station (last two photos) weren't part of the tour, but are near my residence and so I stopped by them on the way home:
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Etiquetes - Tags
Some will be kind enough to read every post (Thank you!). But others like to tune into a specific category of my experience, like photos, food, art, etc. Thus, I will use the following tags for subsequent posts. If I add a new tag, I'll modify this post so that it remains a complete directory. If, based on what I blog about, you feel that there is another tag I should add that you'd find useful, and it has nothing to do with nightlife, feel free to comment in my latest post and I'll consider your request:
Album - Most posts will have a photo or two directly within them. But, some posts may have enough associated photos to merit a separate photo album, and that's when I'll invoke this tag. Albums will be posted on Picasa; I'll only upload to facebook if there's nice photos of people I know.
Catalossary - As one might expect, written Catalan is present throughout Barcelona. When there's a sign or other posting in Catalan that I find humorous, unexpected, revealing about Catalan culture, and/or otherwise interesting, I'll photograph it and upload it to Picassa. The game is this: Catalossary posts will feature a Picassa link at the top of the post, so you can see the photos and try to guess the translation AND/OR the context of the image (e.g. "Turn left" posted on an ad for the Communist party). Below the link will then appear the context, which may be helpful in deciding the translation, and at the bottom of the post will appear the translation itself. Catalossary posts will also always be tagged "Album" if you just want to enjoy the signage.
Gaudi - Antoni Gaudí is Barcelona's most famous architect, and his works are so famous and synonymous with Barcelona that they warrant a separate tag.
Trips - For when I go on trips out of Barcelona
Album - Most posts will have a photo or two directly within them. But, some posts may have enough associated photos to merit a separate photo album, and that's when I'll invoke this tag. Albums will be posted on Picasa; I'll only upload to facebook if there's nice photos of people I know.
Catalossary - As one might expect, written Catalan is present throughout Barcelona. When there's a sign or other posting in Catalan that I find humorous, unexpected, revealing about Catalan culture, and/or otherwise interesting, I'll photograph it and upload it to Picassa. The game is this: Catalossary posts will feature a Picassa link at the top of the post, so you can see the photos and try to guess the translation AND/OR the context of the image (e.g. "Turn left" posted on an ad for the Communist party). Below the link will then appear the context, which may be helpful in deciding the translation, and at the bottom of the post will appear the translation itself. Catalossary posts will also always be tagged "Album" if you just want to enjoy the signage.
Gaudi - Antoni Gaudí is Barcelona's most famous architect, and his works are so famous and synonymous with Barcelona that they warrant a separate tag.
Trips - For when I go on trips out of Barcelona
benvinguts al meu blog - welcome to my blog
I am Karna Mital, a current junior at Duke University studying Econ and Math. I am spending the Fall 2009 semester studying abroad in Barcelona, España; I will be studying at Universitat Pompeu Fabra through the Advanced Liberal Arts and Sciences program run by CEA (Cultural Experiences Abroad). This blog is intended to document my experiences: in the class room, in the city, and around Spain and Europe. From this time in Barcelona, I expect 1) a better understanding of Catalan, Spanish, and other cultures, 2) academic knowledge, 3) improved Spanish language skills, and 4) a better understanding of myself and my peers that only comes from living outside one’s usual context.
Beyond getting a guidebook, talking to past study abroad students (study abroad alums of Barcelona and other Spanish cities), and other standard preparations, here are a few different things I did to prepare for the trip:
Movies – Many of you may have seen Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” a tale of two friends who spend a summer in Barcelona. I chose the title of my blog to Both are at transitional points in their lives, and their experiences in Barcelona force them to question the fundamental choices that govern their lives, but ultimately each continues on the same path she was originally on. Despite my personal disappointment at this, I still feel the movie asked interesting questions about relationships and this was worth the time.
The second Barcelona-related movie I saw was “L’auberge espagnole” (the Spanish Apartment), a story of a French college student who spends a year studying economics in Barcelona through the Erasmus exchange program to prepare for a stable government job back in France. Though the time away causes his love life to go awry, the experience ultimately allows him to break from the confines of others’ expectations and fulfill his childhood dreams. The movie comes in spoken French or Spanish, with Spanish and English subtitles, but the English subtitles occasionally dropped out when I watched, so it helps to know one of the spoken languages.
Cooking – To save some Euros and practice for bachelor life after college, I’ll try to cook here and there while in Barcelona. I’ve spent some time recently learning basics like pasta and omelets, and mechanics like chopping and peeling.
Chile – I spent June and July 2009 on a Duke Engage project in Santiago, Chile; I was working with 5 other Duke students. The last post from my Santiago blog explains what I was up to, while the official project blog written by Grant Alport discusses both our work and non-work experiences. Essentially, I’ve experienced “living in Spanish” as opposed to just studying the language, and this has helped both my comprehension and my fluidity in conversation. Also, I feel more comfortable living abroad, and have had both positive experiences and mistakes that can guide me to a better semester in Barcelona.
Mindset – Barcelona and Catalunya have a unique history, one which I cannot do justice to in the space of this post; suffice it to say that Catalunya was a distinct kingdom for several centuries, and retains a strong sense of identity even after having been subjugated by Castille (the kingdom which, once united with Aragon, then formed the basis of modern Spain). The first thing to know is that the native language of this city and region is NOT castellano, the language we know as Spanish in the rest of the world, but rather catalan, a distinct language spoken only in Catalunya that hybridizes Spanish, French, and perhaps other neighboring languages. Barcelona is surely a bilingual city, as many menus and other posted items are written in both Catalan and Spanish (and now English to cater to tourists!), but to fully appreciate this city and the rest of Catalunya, it helps to know Catalan or at least acknowledge the cultural difference from mainstream Spain (i.e. Madrid).
P.S. the title of this and subsequent posts will be in Catalan with English translations.
P.P.S. Names of languages will be written as they are conventionally referred to in English, unless I italicize them (i.e. "Spanish" and "French", not "español" and "francés"). Proper nouns that originate from Spanish will appear as they do in Spanish (except when I write "Spain" rather than "España"), and those that originate from Catalan will appear as they do in Catalan - this is why, for example, I write "Catalunya" because this is the Catalan spelling; " Cataluña" is the Spanish spelling.
Beyond getting a guidebook, talking to past study abroad students (study abroad alums of Barcelona and other Spanish cities), and other standard preparations, here are a few different things I did to prepare for the trip:
Movies – Many of you may have seen Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” a tale of two friends who spend a summer in Barcelona. I chose the title of my blog to Both are at transitional points in their lives, and their experiences in Barcelona force them to question the fundamental choices that govern their lives, but ultimately each continues on the same path she was originally on. Despite my personal disappointment at this, I still feel the movie asked interesting questions about relationships and this was worth the time.
The second Barcelona-related movie I saw was “L’auberge espagnole” (the Spanish Apartment), a story of a French college student who spends a year studying economics in Barcelona through the Erasmus exchange program to prepare for a stable government job back in France. Though the time away causes his love life to go awry, the experience ultimately allows him to break from the confines of others’ expectations and fulfill his childhood dreams. The movie comes in spoken French or Spanish, with Spanish and English subtitles, but the English subtitles occasionally dropped out when I watched, so it helps to know one of the spoken languages.
Cooking – To save some Euros and practice for bachelor life after college, I’ll try to cook here and there while in Barcelona. I’ve spent some time recently learning basics like pasta and omelets, and mechanics like chopping and peeling.
Chile – I spent June and July 2009 on a Duke Engage project in Santiago, Chile; I was working with 5 other Duke students. The last post from my Santiago blog explains what I was up to, while the official project blog written by Grant Alport discusses both our work and non-work experiences. Essentially, I’ve experienced “living in Spanish” as opposed to just studying the language, and this has helped both my comprehension and my fluidity in conversation. Also, I feel more comfortable living abroad, and have had both positive experiences and mistakes that can guide me to a better semester in Barcelona.
Mindset – Barcelona and Catalunya have a unique history, one which I cannot do justice to in the space of this post; suffice it to say that Catalunya was a distinct kingdom for several centuries, and retains a strong sense of identity even after having been subjugated by Castille (the kingdom which, once united with Aragon, then formed the basis of modern Spain). The first thing to know is that the native language of this city and region is NOT castellano, the language we know as Spanish in the rest of the world, but rather catalan, a distinct language spoken only in Catalunya that hybridizes Spanish, French, and perhaps other neighboring languages. Barcelona is surely a bilingual city, as many menus and other posted items are written in both Catalan and Spanish (and now English to cater to tourists!), but to fully appreciate this city and the rest of Catalunya, it helps to know Catalan or at least acknowledge the cultural difference from mainstream Spain (i.e. Madrid).
P.S. the title of this and subsequent posts will be in Catalan with English translations.
P.P.S. Names of languages will be written as they are conventionally referred to in English, unless I italicize them (i.e. "Spanish" and "French", not "español" and "francés"). Proper nouns that originate from Spanish will appear as they do in Spanish (except when I write "Spain" rather than "España"), and those that originate from Catalan will appear as they do in Catalan - this is why, for example, I write "Catalunya" because this is the Catalan spelling; " Cataluña" is the Spanish spelling.
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