Carnaval 2012

Carnaval time!

The theme for the year at Lili's school is 'Get out in your neighborhood. Do things for your neighborhood." (It sounds better in Catalan - Mou-te al barri. Mou-te pel barri.) Thus, the suggested costume choice for carnaval was People in the Neighborhood.

Lili was a pastry chef.

We had ordered a super cute pink polka-dot hat and apron...but 2 days before carnaval, the company sent me an email saying they were out of stock and waiting for it to come. A shame since we were going to make Lil into a super sweet pinkalicious pastry lady. Alas, we came up with this at the last minute and were still pleased.

And as ever, her class participated in the neighborhood carnaval parade :)

Colònies 2011

So colònies is like camp in Catalunya. Kids as young as 4 go on overnight camp trips (staying in buildings, not tents!) with their classes. Lily will be going on her first one next week, to a seaside camp.

There are a vast number of companies that have rural or coastal houses or complexes where schools can take these trips. Sometimes they include 'monitors' or camp counselors that can lead the kids on different activities, sometimes the school staff do this. They also usually have a cafeteria with staff who provide the food.

Some of these places also let families pay to come for weekends or weeks and hang out/meet other families. Think Kellerman's in Dirty Dancing.

Some of the parents in Lily's class thought it would be fun for a bunch of us to go do this....and we did.

We went to Pou de Glaç (Ice well), one of may complexes run by a company called Rosa dels Vents.

The kids went off with a monitor in the mornings and afternoons to do things like bake pastries, go on a zip line and do an obstacle course in the woods. Parents did a higher zip line, wall climbing and archery. It was all very laid back, so if a kid wanted to stay with his or her parents, or if you preferred to go on a walk instead of doing the activities....it was just fine.

We ended day one with a post-dinner birthday party for some of the kids from Lily's class, and a dance party hosted by the camp monitors. Lily had some MOVES out there on the dance floor with her little friends. I was having fun dancing, too, but at 10:40 she stopped dead and said quietly, 'Mom, I just can't dance anymore. Can I go to bed?'

Check out all the Colònies 2011 photos here.

Loft bed

I've changed Lily's room...AGAIN.

This time, there's a loft bed involved.

See photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202282&id=659342526&l=46bab63edf

Good day

POINT NUMBER 1: Caga Tio

Yes, I already posted this Caga Tio video on Facebook. Now I post it on my blog (not everyone is on Facebook!) with extended detail.

Talking to a neighbor the other day, I finally got what I think is the straight dope on Caga Tio. Why a log that we feed, then beat until it shits out presents?!!?!

Well, back in the days of the pagès (pah-zhes), the peasant farmers who populated the valleys of northern Spain and Southern France, etching out a living where no invading Moor bothered go, leaving behind massive stone houses (masias) that have endured 700+ years, man's dependence on and subjection to nature was foremost on the collective mind.

So, at Christmas time, or possibly pagan holiday time, families took to wandering the woods to find a hollow log to love and care for as a way to give back to Nature. On the big night, they may or may not have hit it, but certainly would have filled the hollow log with dry fruits, nuts, bread and other simple foods that "Nature" would then give back to them, possibly by shitting, as a reward for their weeks of care. This was Christmas dinner.

I like this tradition more and more each year, and this year, for the first time, we plan to get our own Caga Tio (today in the Christmas market near the cathedral!) which we will take to England, hide and the woods, and take Lily and other to go find. Yeah!

POINT NUMBER 2: What a great day.

It's confirmed that I have the job with this indie record label, correcting their English lyrics and artists accents when they sing. Sweet.

I spent the morning making pumpkin/carrot cream soup and egg croquetas (so we can stay out late as a family later and have food to warm up for dinner), am off to work to collaborate on developing a resource wiki (fun!), and then to meet Oli and Lily at the Christmas market.

Life is good.

~

Mas Peras - FAT II

Some friends here have a 700-year-old house in the country. I visited for a party in the summer and knew that Oli and Lily had to go there.

Luckily, last year they started an annual Festa de l'arribada del tardor (Arrival of Fall Party), which is a weekend-long party inculding a film fest called FAT, and required guests to bring an under-5-min home made video, so they got their chance to visit this past weekend.

Here is a taste of what the Baix Empordà region of Catalunya is like:


And HERE are even more photos.

Streamlining

The house has been needing some tackling: removal of junk we don't use and general washing of surfaces. Today I went at the family room and Lily's bedroom, hotbeds of straggling superfulous toys and craft materials. Surfaces were wiped, un- or mis-used things were recycled or binned. Furniture was rearranged. The end result was a much cooler room for Lil, I think.

Yesterday, before the cleaning began, Lily and I strung up some string and used mini wooden clips to hang some first-word flashcards all around her room. I stole this idea from Simon Hartrich's bedroom in the Kedzie apartment, where, if I remember correctly, the alphabet was strung around the room.


Anyway, it has taken away some of the bareness caused by the high ceiling in a room filled with small-person furniture.

Other new features include:

A revised kitchen area, that now has a baby's bed on the kitchen counter. Not sure about how that works, but....it does. Note the string with clips for Lily to hang artwork. That moon is her symbol at nursery school.


Bedside trinkets - IKEA lamp, souvenirs Georgia and Mircea brought Lily back from China, a Mentink original stencil, and a plant recovering from our time away at the holidays.


A closeup of the Mentink.


Fun hangy things: A felt mobile from IKEA and a wooden spinner found in a shop in the old section of town. Two faithful friends, Elmer the Elephant and Bouncy Black Sheep top the bookshelf. They're waiting for the right tallish lamp to come along to sit behind them.


A cleaned up Marmite jar to hold the marbles and bouncy balls that populate the corners of our home.


I quite like the boudoir I've created. Oli found that little chest of drawers in the street on his way home one evening. The mirror was left by the girls who lived in our apartment over the summer, the musical jewellery box came from Santa, and the dreamcatcher was purchased for one euro today in Barcelona. All-in-all, a good space for a Lil to get herself in order.



My favorite part of the room: the bookshelf flanked by a reading chair and baskets of bags, baby clothes, aprons, ballet slippers and tutus. Ask yourself why you don't currently have these things in your bedroom. Consider the improvement they might make.