La Vida Continua

As short as this month is, Febrer is a month that really knows how to pack in life.

To my US readers: Happy Valentine's Day! Do yourself a favor and use this day as an excuse to have yourself a bit of chocolate and reflect a moment over someone you love. Don't like chocolate? Then this year you can try Dia de Sant Jordí! El Dia de Sant Jordí is the catalan equivalent to the romantic Valentine´s Day, only instead of the standard exchange of flowers, chocolates, etc. it is the conventional tradition for the woman to receive a rose and in exchange, gift a book to her lover. This day is celebrated April 23, however, so you´ll have to wait another couple months for those socially acceptable displays of commercial affection.

A pleasant surprise: there is a Saint who blesses animals. His name is Antoni. This past month I went to the town St.Eugenia, where the Tonis came through! Tonis are a parade of horses that circles through the town three times. There were horses, ponies, and riders of all shapes and sizes, and one cart was dedicated to Saint Antoni. Many people brought their dogs in order for them to receive the blessing for the year. The Tonis will continue to pass through many of the smaller towns throughout these next couple of months during the different weekends.

The weather here has gotten colder, and I even had a couple of snow days (it normally only snows about once or twice a year in my town), which were very welcome for more than one reason. This month my beloved Grandma (Dorothy Miller) passed away. The mother of my mother, she was a very strong spirited woman of good faith and work ethic. I love and will miss her very much, but have accepted that it was her time to part from this Earth. Before I crossed an ocean, I discussed with my parents what I would do should this very probable event occurr. The answer is: I stayed here. Needless to say, it was the worst part of my exchange and I wanted nothing less than to go home IMMEDIATELY! The snow days were placed so that I ended up having a good four-day period to make myself active with my host family, have a good skype session with my own family, and catch up on some necessary sleep.

However, now that everything has passed la vida continua and I'm having as normal a time being myself as ever. This weekend is Carnaval and I'll being dressing up as a hippie! The celebrations of this weekend will be a very welcome break for many people in my class now that midterm exams have finished up. I´ve also finished my Catalan 2 class and will be starting level 3 this week!

Sidenotes: Spain had two dictators during the 20th century (the first was known as Primo de Rivera). Irish (250,000 estimated speakers) is an official language recognized by the EU whereas Catalan (over 7 million speakers and a very prominent part of literature, theater, daily life, etc.) is not (it is only considered regional). Anti Fascist does not necessarily mean Anti Violence, Lily Allen has an amazing voice, Pío Baroja is a great author who creates very blunt and amusing character descriptions,  Betty Crocker is appreciated on an international level, and the economy is carrying on in its typically troubling way.

Until next time: Adéu i Vagi Bé!