Per Nadal, neules i torrons

A la nostra classe de català parlem de les tradicions catalanes.
Parlem de la mona, el caganer, el tió de Nadal, Cap d'any i la Setmana
Santa. També parlem del menjar típic d'aquestes dates. Per exemple,
per Nadal el menjar típic és l'Escudella i la carn d'olla.
Per a aquest plat tradiconal es posa a bullir tot tipus de carn,
vegetals i llegums, com a mínim 3 hores. El brou resultant es
cuina amb la pasta en forma de galets. La protagonista és la pilota,
una massa de carn picada i espècies. Per beure, cava, un xampany
escumós tradicional de Catalunya. I les postres
tradicionals són els torrons i les neules. Les neules són dolços
tradicionals en forma de palletes. Els torrons són elaborats amb mel,
sucre, ous i ametlles. Aquest dia tota la família es reuneix per
parlar, menjar i sobretot passar una bona estona junts.

OLIVIA ESCOBAR

La mona de Pasqua

La mona de Pasqua is a pastís that is baked during Setmana Santa in which there are eggs and xocolata figurines on top. There are many types of pastís, but the most common ones are made from marzipan and sweet fruit cake, which may have jam. Traditionally, it was a gift from godfathers to their godchildren. The age of their godchildren would determine how many eggs would be placed on top of the pastís. The first eggs were boiled but as this tradition became more sophisticated, xocolata soon replaced boiled eggs. Today there are a wide variety of pastissos that come in all shape and sizes. They can range from simple to extravagant designs. It is estimated that 600.000 mones are sold per year.

ELIZABETH DÍAZ

ON ÉS...?

Esta semana, además de aprender sobre algunas tradiciones catalanas, también aprendimos cómo preguntar dónde están las cosas. Para hacer tal pregunta se pueden utilizar dos verbos: haver-hi y ser.

Se utiliza el verbo haver-hi cuando lo que le sigue es un sustantivo con un artículo indeterminado, como por ejemplo un/una, que se usa cuando no se hace referencia a un lugar en concreto,  y se utiliza el verbo ser cuando lo que le sigue es un sustantivo con un artículo determinado, como el/la, que se usa para un lugar determinado, ya sea porque ya lo conoces o porque la persona con la que estás conversando sabe de ante mano cuál es el lugar al que te refieres.

Para hacer esto más comprensible, aquí abajo hay una fórmula simple de cómo usar los verbos al hacer esta pregunta y algunos ejemplos.

• On – (dónde)

• Haver-hi  –  (haber) [En catalán, como en castellano, el verbo haber sólo se conjuga en tercera persona del singular: catalán (hi ha)/castellano (hay)]

• Ser- (ser) [En tercera persona del singular: és]

ON + ÉS + artículo determinado + sustantivo= On és el restaurant?

ON + HI HA + artículo indeterminado + sustantivo= On hi ha un restaurant?

CHRISTIAN YANAÍ BERMÚDEZ

El Tió de Nadal

Along learning the Catalan language we also learn about the Catalan culture, and one thing that I found very interesting was the common festivities that they have in comparison to Latin America and even the United States. One of the prime examples of this is El Tió de Nadal. This figure in the Catalan culture is similar to the figure in North American culture of Santa Claus. The Tió is actually a wood log that is raised by two sticks from one end and with a face painted on it.
In Catalan culture the Tió is “fed” everyday for some time before Christmas. With this, on Christmas day the tradition has the household sing to it a song that we actually learned in class. As they sing to it they order it to defecate as well as hitting it with sticks. This usually means that it delivers the gifts which are mainly candies and nuts. This was very interesting to me because it resembled the Santa Claus figure in the idea that it was “fed” and then they would deliver the gifts to the children. The origins and what the tradition has become definitely is something that stands out to me from the Catalan culture.

RAFAEL MARRÓN

Montserrat

Montserrat és un dels símbols principals de Catalunya. És una muntanya molt famosa a prop de Barcelona. Hi ha més de 1500 espècies de plantes. També hi ha un monestir famós amb una imatge de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat, que és negra i és la patrona de Catalunya. Una altra cosa interessant de Montserrat és l'Escolania. És un cor de nens i nenes cantors, són uns 50, que estudien i es formen musicalment a Monserrat.

Aquí hi ha un vídeo on es pot veure la muntanya de Montserrat.

MAGDA MATUSKOVA

Més que un club (More than a club)

Is it possible to reach perfection? Most likely not, however, F.C. Barcelona sure does make an argument for it. Their display of football for the past 5 years has left the world of sports in constant awe. It is no shock to see what Josep Guardolia’s men have achieved in the past years: 13 out of 15 tournaments.

Nevertheless, this Catalan club is not only revered by their impressive victories, but most importantly their style of play. Their philosophy on and off the pitch has revolutionized the sport, and it is fair to say that football will never be the same after what Guardolia’s men have done. Més que un club is their motto, and a pretty good one if you may ask me; it transmits the genuine sentiment of what F.C. Barcelona really is. They do not only mold children or young adults into amazing soccer players but most importantly into well educated rounded individuals. La Masia, their football academy, has produced the best football generation of all time; with the legs of Xavi Hernàndez, Andrés Iniesta, and Lionel Messi they have shown that money does not buy you respect or victories, but that having a clear and well defined philosophy gets you one step closer to perfection. F.C. Barcelona is one of the most important cultural ambassadors of Catalan culture throughout the world, hence it is imperative to acknowledge the significance of this football club in the propagation of this unique and beautiful culture.

ESTEBAN CÓRDOBA

FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou

The “Camp Nou” or New Camp, is the stadium where Football Club Barcelona plays. It has been the venue of the team since 24th of September, 1957, the date of its inauguration. The previous host of FC Barcelona was Camp de Les Corts which had to be brought down for the construction of a more specious and state of the art pitch. The stadium is located west of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Originally the stadium was named Estadi del FC Barcelona or The Stadium of FC Barcelona. The stadium has been officially named Camp Nou Since 2001. The Camp Nou can host 99.354 people seated which makes it the largest in Europe. The Union of European Football Association UEFA recognizes it as a five star stadium. This implies that the stadium is up to standards with infrastructure and it can host major sporting events. The stadium offers many different facilities and attractions. The commonly known ones are the presidential box, the VIPs lounge and the media rooms. However, the Camp Nou also hosts a sports medicine center and a fascinating museum. This museum is the second most visited in Catalonia. The name of it is “President Nuñez Museum” who inaugurated it in 1984. The museum has three separate sections with a 3D cinema, audiovisual touch-screen and information on FC Barcelona. The second part is a private art collection on works by local artists Dalí, Miró and Tàpies. The Museum is a technological master piece with a digital collection of the entire FC Barcelona history. It is a really interactive museum where everything you touch becomes a historical timeline.

GERSON LAM

Les falles

There are several extremely interesting traditions celebrated in the Catalan speaking areas. One in particular is an Easter custom that takes place in late March, called the Falles. The Falles are a celebration of Saint Joseph that takes place annually in Valencia, the city for which he is the patron saint. Each neighborhood within the city designates a group of people known as the Casal Faller that spends a year creating a falla (for which the celebration is named) that will get burnt during the festivities. The falles have several different themes that depict aspects of popular culture and every-day life represented in a satiric tone with a ninot (the Valencian word for doll) that is a central point of each falla. Each day of the week long festival has a different event, which range from multitudes of historical and religious processions (where people wear traditional costumes) to humorous and satirical parades and parties. Each day begins early with the despertà, with bands parading down the street playing loud music and the fallers setting off firecrackers. Fireworks are set off on the nights leading up to the ultimate night, the La Nit del Foc ("the night of fire"). On March 19th, all of the falles are burnt as bonfires in an act known as la cremà, which concludes the festivities. The main purpose of the festival, apart from the celebration of Saint Joseph is to mock the celebrants themselves (the fallers).

Here is an example of the burning of a falla.

MEGAN ROGERS

Obrint pas

En nuestra clase estudiamos el grupo musical Obrint Pas, que es una clara muestra de cómo la musica y el arte pueden ser usados para transmitir un sentimiento revolucionario. Obrint Pas es originario de Valencia, España, y su música está influenciada por una combinación de géneros como el rock, rock catalán, ska y reggae. El grupo fue formado en 1993. Aunque participaron desde esa fecha en diversos festivales, no fue sino hasta el año 1997 que publicaron su primer disco llamado La revolta de l'ànima. Las letras de sus canciones tocan problemas políticos en su país, al igual que proclaman una unidad entre los pueblos y la defensa de la identidad cultural y lingüística de Valencia. La canción que estudiamos en clase y que llevó a Obrint Pas a ser muy conocidos, se llama “La flama” (la llama), y habla de un sentimiento hacia su pueblo querido. La canción trata de una cultura en movimiento hacia el progreso a través del tiempo, no olvidando sus orígenes. La llama también refleja la lucha de un pueblo por conservar su identidad y costumbres (“Viure sempre corrent. Avançant amb la gent. Rellevant contra el vent. Transportant sentiments. Viurem mantenint viva. La flama a traves del temps. La flama de tot un poble en moviment”). Otro dato importante que cabe recalcar es que Obrint Pas es una clara muestra de el uso del catalán occidental, diferente en pronunciación que el catalán oriental.

LORENA MÉNDEZ

Castells

Castellers de Sants

We learned about the language, we heard some of their music, but one thing that stood out for me the most about the Catalan culture are the famous and breathtaking castells or human towers. This Catalan tradition of building human towers originated in Valls, near the city of Tarragona, in the southern part of Catalonia towards the end of the 18th century. Later this tradition developed with other regions of Catalonia following, such as in Vilafranca del Penedès, Tarragona, Terrassa, Mataró, Barcelona, etc., and even got popular in the Balearic Islands.

This Catalan tradition of the castells includes people of all races, sexes, religions, social classes and most importantly ages. Indeed it brings a whole community together to build a magnificent form of art that not only shows teamwork, unity, strength, but also power and bravery to reach to the finishing point. The structure of the tower is composed of different stages: first, in the tower there are the members of the pinya or the bulk, which set the base of a tower. These individuals are much older and mostly composed of men. The middle base is composed of both men and women and finally the top base with the lighter members of the team climb to the top. For the finishing touch, there are the enxaneta or the rider that usually is a young kid in a big helmet that climbs at the very top of the tower, like a star in a Christmas tree, and raises one hand with four fingers to symbolize the four stripes in the Senyera, the Catalan flag. Towers can be up to ten levels and in the end the castellers descend in highest to lower order until the tower has dismantled. All in all for fun and to strongly maintain a piece that demonstrates the Catalan culture.

JOHANNA AVELAR

Catalan in a broader context

One of the interesting things we have done in class is talk about the history and presence of the Catalan language and culture in a global context. Before taking this class, I did not know that it was not only spoken in Valencia and Catalonia, but also in other European countries like Italy, France, and Andorra. I had often heard that it was a variation of Spanish or dialect that was very similar, but it is actually its own unique romance language just like French and Italian. In fact, it was the first European language other than Latin that was used to write about philosophy.

Interestingly, despite the relatively small population of Catalan speakers in comparison to other languages (7 to 11 million), there is a very strong Catalan internet presence, particularly in the blogosphere. Not only that, but there are multiple Catalan TV networks and newspaper publications. I was also surprised to learn that one of my favorite basketball players, Paul Gasol, and favorite artist, Salvador Dalí, are also native to Catalonia.

All this is to say that the Catalan language and culture has a much stronger historical and general cultural presence than I had originally thought.

SERENA ABREGO

Bienvenidos a nuestra clase de catalán

Antes de hablar de algunas cosas interesantes aprendidas en nuestra clase me gustaría darte una idea del idioma que estudiaremos. El catalán, al igual que el español, el francés, el italiano, el portugués, entre otras lenguas menos conocidas, es también una lengua romance, lo cual significa que el catalán es una de las lenguas derivadas del latín. Se habla en algunos territorios de España (Cataluña, Comunidad Valenciana, Islas Baleares, Franja Oriental de Aragón y en el Carche (Murcia); Francia (Rosellón) e Italia (ciudad de Alguer), así como en Andorra, donde es la lengua oficial. En España, la ley dicta que el español y el catalán son los idiomas oficiales de Cataluña, Valencia y las Islas Baleares. Además, el catalán es uno de los idiomas con más presencia en el internet.

LORENA MÉNDEZ