Summer Camp and Sant Jordi

Of all the things that Europe does well, Erasmus is one of the things it does best. A system designed to facilitate foreign exchange for college students, Erasmus has countless activities designed to promote integration and understanding throughout the world. One of the programs it facilitates is called the Erasmus in Schools Campamento, a summer camp of sorts designed for kids ages 7-13 to spend the weekend with volunteers in Spain's coastal region of Alicante, learning about the different ways in which people live and interact around the world. I saw an add requesting volunteers a couple months ago and decided to give the application a shot, and was lucky enough to be selected as the camp representative for the States. When I signed up for the camp I thought it would be a relatively entertaining weekend and a chance to see another part of Spain, but it was so much more than that.

I arrived in Valencia on a Thursday afternoon, where I met my fellow camp counselors as they trickled in from various parts of Spain. The next morning we loaded two buses with 57 kids and drove to the town of Calpe. Throughout the weekend we tried traditional recipes, made crafts, and did a whole host of activities designed to increase the kids' intercultural awareness. Despite all of these wonderful activities, hands-down my favorite part of the weekend was the team that I worked with. Coming from 9 different countries, we were a slightly international bunch to say the least. Even with the exhaustion caused by wrangling so many kids and getting minimal sleep, we managed to successfully pull off an injury-free weekend and have an incredible amount of fun while doing it. By the end of the weekend it felt as if we had known each other for months, not a matter of days. I'm truly grateful to the Campamento for introducing me to such wonderful people, and this weekend will definitely stick out as one of the best choices of my study abroad experience.

The next weekend I found myself staying in Barcelona to absorb as much of the culture as possible. Living with a Catalan woman who was married to a Basque and who's mother was Valencian means that my meal plan is a pretty rounded representation of typical Spanish cuisine. The fact that her family once owned a restaurant and she still gets hired to cook for people means that I'm at an incredible risk for losing the ability to fit in my clothes (a risk I'm willing to take when the food is this good). It would be a shame to have spent months living with a cocinera and not have learned how to make anything, so my host mom put me to work learning how to make a "proper" paella. Whether it's using the same pan you have for years or adding the rice in the shape of a cross, there's so much history behind this dish. A recipe handed down from her Valencian mother, I'm proud to say I won't be coming back to the U.S. empty handed.

The day after my paella lesson I got to witness one of Catalonia's loveliest traditions: Diada de Sant Jordi. Celebrated on the 23 of April, this holiday is Catalonia's equivalent of Valentine's Day with a twist. Inspired by a fairy tale in which a knight saves a princess from being eaten by a dragon, the day is traditionally celebrated by men giving women a rose, who in return give the man a book. Is it a bit sexist? Yes. But the sentiment behind it is nice — let's try to keep our eyes on the positive, people. Now that we're living in a progressive society, women are gifted books as well but the flowers are kept around for the beauty of tradition. The city goes all-out to celebrate, and La Rambla gets filled to the brim with countless stands selling roses and books. Thousands of people gather to take a stroll and see the roses decorating the city, simply enjoying the day and the happiness that it insinuates.

I met up with some friends and walked around the city center for several hours, just taking it all in and people watching along the way. The day's festivities continued well into the night with El Clásico, the soccer match between archenemies Barça and Real Madrid. We went to La Oveja Negra - my favorite sports bar in all of BCN - and were able to watch Barça win while Messi scored his 500th goal in the last seconds of the game. You could say everyone was a little more than slightly enthused. It was a great ending to the day, and suffice it to say that I was feeling more immersed in Barcelona's culture than ever.