Calçotada

Last Sunday I went to my first calçotada with my friends and my lovely boyfriend Samuel in the countryside just out of Barcelona. Calçots - spring onions - are seasonal right now, and in Catalonia it's traditional to get together with friends either to cook them or to enjoy them in restaurants. This celebration of spring onions is known by the locals as a calçotada and although I'd heard all about them, I didn't really know what to expect from my first "spring onion party".

We were invited to a calçotada hosted by Jade and Brent, an american couple from Church who along with their team of helpers did an amazing job with all the preparation, cooking and hosting - it was a lovely afternoon and the food was delicious! Once cooked, it is traditional to eat the calçots by peeling them with a very skilled technique (which I didn't quite learn, despite the demonstration), dipping them in sauce, tipping your head back, holding them above your head, and then lowering them into your mouth. The tables were lined with bundles of calçots wrapped in newspaper to keep them warm, pots with the dipping sauce and lots of napkins - and this was just the first course. During the process of spring-onion-eating, it seems pretty standard for your hands to turn black from the outside of the calçots, which at our calçotada resulted in consequent, and inevitable face painting during the meal. What fun!

Teacher

Rushing down to Gran Via to catch the bus I thought I was going to be late. At this hour I'm usually sleeping, but the city was alive with the sound of traffic, businessmen, school children and people who like to get up early starting the day. The bus pulled up to the bus stop and at 8:30 I was on my way, the man in the red uniform jumper indicated out of the bus stop and we set off out of the centre and into the outskirts of the city.

Just after 9am I set foot in a Spanish secondary school for the first time. We went to the staffroom, collected photocopies and waited for the class to calm down before entering. It felt strange to walk into a classroom, to stand at the front of the class, in front of twenty odd intrigued teenagers in uniform who were looking at us, paying attention, showing us some kind of respect. My friend Giselle had asked me to help her do a class about myths and legends of the British isles, following on from St Patrick's day last weekend and we were about to begin the day talking about Robin Hood, patron saints, the Loch Ness monsters, Mermaids, Leprechauns and King Arthur. Not a bad way to start the Easter holidays!

Mumford&Sons

Mumford and Sons 

20th March

Montjuïc

“Cause I’ll know my weakness, know my voice. 

I’ll believe in grace and choice...”

Girona m'enamora

As the train approached Girona, snow covered mountains came into view in the distance. Strolling around the cobbled streets near the river and through the Jewish quarter there was a calm and sense of peace that's hard to find in busy Barcelona. We climbed up through beautiful gardens up onto the the ancient walls of the city and enjoyed our picnic lunch sitting on top of the city with panoramic views and brilliant sunshine.

My friend Zipporah and I found the square outside the Cathedral and sitting under the sun in the shadow of this vast building I caught sight of the date 1733 written on the front. This building is 256 years older than me and it's still there. Generations move on passions and trends change; fashions and customs move on, different countries have their own languages, people, history, culture but some things are bigger than time, language barriers and georgaphical borders.

20ºc in March