In about a week, my life will change in a very significant way. Chris will be moving to Europe. This will be a huge change for the both of us, and we can't wait!! For Chris, this is a big leap. He has sold or given away almost everything he owns, other than what he is bringing with him. He has requested a sabbatical from his job in the U.S. (rather than just quit his job, he has wisely decided to take this option, as he explores and settles into a European lifestyle). He is leaving family and friends, many of whom he has known most of his life. I think this move is even more momentous for Chris than it was for me when I moved over a year ago because the idea of moving probably entered his mind just a couple of months before I left for Barcelona. To be honest, I was shocked and amazed when he began to talk about his desire to move here and then even more shocked and more amazed at his persistence in trying to find a way to do so. And of course I was very happy that he found a way to continue his teaching career in Europe. This puts us on the same continent and will increase our frequency of seeing each other fourfold.
Chris will be here in Barcelona most of the summer before he starts his teaching job in Kiev in mid-August. We will have even more opportunities to deepen our relationship and our love, expand our Spanish as Chris will be taking an intensive Spanish course in July and we will introduce more and more Spanish into our conversations, and continue to explore the city and the beaches around Barcelona together.
To say I'm the luckiest man alive is an understatement. I would not have imagined this possibility a year and a half ago. But the love of my life will be more physically present in my life in just a few days, and for that I am both humbled and grateful for this incredible new chapter in our lives.
Passed Driver's Test
Yes, I passed! And I passed both the written and driving tests the first time around. As I talk with more people here, I realize that this is the exception and not the rule. For many, it takes two, three or more tries before they pass and obtain their driver's license.
What I learned later, however, is that almost all car rental agencies here will not rent cars to drivers who have their license in the first year. I will need to investigate this further and see if in my case, since I have my U.S. driver's license as well, they will make an exception. I can't use that license to drive, but I could possibly use it to rent a car but when driving the car, use my Spanish license.
Spanish Class
I have not mentioned much about my latest Spanish class, which started in February and ended with our exams last week. It was quite a different classroom experience than the class I had last semester, and not for the better. The teacher was diligent, friendly and dedicated. But he was neither skillful nor capable of teaching at this level. He confused more than clarified and did not have a coherent pedagogic structure to present different topics and skills, which left most students lost and frustrated. At the very least, I have a better appreciation of the excellent teaching skills of my former Spanish teacher last Fall and have a better understanding of what is needed to increase a student's language level.
The exam consisted of five parts. Speaking was done on a different day and was about an hour in length. The other four parts, reading comprehension, listening, grammar and writing took place on a different day and was four hours in length. It was grueling. I won't know if I passed until June 26, when they release the exam results.
Shambhala Retreat
It may seem odd to most, but two days after Chris arrives, I will be going to France for a week retreat. It's a program that has not been offered for a number of years and will not be offered again for quite a while. Chris and I talked about this before I registered and he will be just fine here at our home while I'm gone. He has been here three times already and knows his way around, has friends here, and will be very busy with his intensive Spanish class, which starts the day I leave. There are two other non-Spanish friends of mine who will be going to the same language school in July and we will be getting together before I leave, so he'll have even more new friends, besides those that he will meet in his class.
This particular program that I will be taking in France at the Shambhala Retreat center Dechen Choling requires me to do some study and contemplation on the topic of meditation before I arrive. I have been doing that over the last few months and have found it to be very enriching and is helping me deepen my practice. I am looking forward to the retreat but will be missing Chris immensely.
Over the last few weeks I had the opportunity to have some in-depth discussions with two Catalans, a man and a woman, regarding how they feel about themselves and their land in relationship with the country of Spain. This isn't the first time that I've had discussions about this topic. But what was different about these latest conversations was it was more about the heart than about the politics. And I began to appreciate more the unique struggle that many Catalans feel in the current environment that they are in.
Sense of Identity
In talking with Miquel, one of the first things that he brought up was how much he does NOT feel
like a Spaniard. He does not identify with being a Spanish citizen, although technically he has been one all his life. He grew up in a pueblo outside of Barcelona. There his family and his pueblo all spoke Catalan. He learned Spanish (or Castellano) in school, but it was an academic language that he learned, not a language that he lived in. All that changed when he moved to Barcelona, where as many people speak Spanish as they do Catalan. What shocked him was how difficult it was for him to speak fluently in Castellano. It took a while for him to feel comfortable expressing himself. When meeting new people in the city, he always starts off speaking Spanish, because that is usually what is expected, but as soon as he knows that the other person can speak Catalan, he'll immediately switch to his native language, where he can speak more from the heart. It irritates him a little bit that although he is in the capital city of Catalunya, he is not able to freely express himself in his own language. Catalans, especially in Barcelona, are always adjusting their choice of language, especially in group settings when not everyone can speak Catalan, reverting back to Spanish, in order to be understood.
How Some Spaniards View Catalans
Miquel is weary of the demagoguery that some Spaniards express, especially politicians, of the character and integrity of Catalans. Catalans are a gentle, peaceful people, who simply want others to respect their language and culture and their right to self-determination. But some people and politicians accuse Catalans as being terrorists if they are pro-independence. He believes that Catalunya will someday be an independent nation, but it will only happen by peaceful endeavors, at least on the part of the Catalan people.
My Conversation with Isis
Isis lives in Barcelona but she and her sister own the house where their parents lived in a town near Girona. I went there with a friend to be part of the main festival of the year in this village. Isis was having a dinner party prior to the festivities, which was right down the block from her place. We got there a little late, and when we entered, she immediately started talking to me in Catalan. My friend Oscar explained that I can only speak Spanish and English. She immediately switched to Spanish and the first thing she told me was that I needed to learn Catalan.
Isis was a very gracious host. She introduced me to her sister and her friends, all from Barcelona and were there to enjoy the festivities. They were all speaking in Catalan with each other, but were very kind in switching to Spanish when I joined in on the conversation.
Even before I got to speak with Isis some more, it was obvious how her life and her friends were immersed in everything Catalán: the food, the drink, the festivities with Catalan music and dance (la Sardanya). When I got to chat some more with her, she talked about the long history of injustice between the Catalan people and Spain; how their rights to self-govern, at least on a local level, and to speak their own language have been suppressed time and time again, for centuries. Even in modern times, regardless of the political stripes, socialist or conservative, the central government of Spain has rarely supported or respected the life, language and culture of Catalunya. In this last year, the current conservative administration has passed new laws to cut back the amount of Catalan that is spoken and taught in the Catalan schools, requiring more time to be spent teaching courses in Castellano.
Isis also is pro-independence and feels strongly that based on the economic strength of Catalunya and the disproportionate tax contribution that Catalunya gives to the Spanish state, that her country would survive just fine if it separated from Spain, but that Spain would not fair as well and would struggle with it's own survival without Catalunya.
I cannot say that these views are correct or not. I can say however, that there is a deep wound that has continually been exposed and festered, fed by prejudice, usurpation of power, injustice, and lack of understanding and respect. I don't see much evidence today of this changing. What is changing is the growing swell of voices speaking more boldly about being an independent country. Those voices are somewhat muffled in the cosmopolitan city of Barcelona, but they are much clearer when you go out to the smaller towns and pueblos of Catalunya.
La Patum de Berga
On the day of Corpus Christi, this year was on June 4, the town of Berga, a pueblo near the Pyrenees and Andorra, has their century's old tradition of celebrating this day with music, fire and dance, in the plaza in front of the town hall. It was an incredible event! On the town hall building were a few Catalan independent flags and a count-down clock to the next elections on 9/27/2015. They believe that these next elections will determine the future direction of Catalunya.
Personal Thoughts
What I have attempted to capture here is not a summary of the issues of Catalunya and Spain. It's a complex issue with many different perspectives and facts to consider. Nor am I choosing sides. Personally, I believe that a permanent fracture between these two states would make my life living here much more complex with lots of unknowns. But I am convinced that Catalans are longing to be understood and to receive the respect that they deserve. If that doesn't change, I believe more and more of its citizens will seriously consider annexing themselves from Spain in a peaceful way, if given the chance.
Addendum
This topic is a sensitive one for almost everyone who lives in Catalunya. I have only given the perspective of two individuals who's ancestors were from this region for generations. However, there are many other voices who love this land including sons and daughters of immigrants from other parts of Spain and Latin America as well as other Catalans who want to continue to be part of Spain and yet seek to feel the freedom to express themselves fully as Catalans. I hope to write more about these other viewpoints in future articles.
Below are a few of the videos that I took of the amazing festivities in Berga.
Yes, I passed! And I passed both the written and driving tests the first time around. As I talk with more people here, I realize that this is the exception and not the rule. For many, it takes two, three or more tries before they pass and obtain their driver's license.
