After Castells...

It is the second day that the skies look like they are going to sit down and cry, but the truth is I love it. Barcelona, when, like today, it is isn't raining, the windows are running with droplets. There is so much water in the air.

Yesterday, was a little schizophrenic. The weather.

Between five minutes of intense sunlight, the kind that blinds you to everything farther away than 3 feet. You squint your eyes, and even then, the reflection off the cement, and you´re still crying.

Well, about the Castells.

They have about 200 years in history. According to Beatriz, the daughter of my landlady, the Castells come from a Valencian folk dance--according to most accounts the Moixiganga (Mojiganga). In this dance, the dancers concluded by creating a small human pyramid. Beatriz says that due to the character of the Catalans and Valencianos, one group made a bigger tower, the next a bigger one... forever and forever amen.

The bottom is called the Pinya (piña in Spanish or pineapple? in English). People gather around the help support the weight of the tower, also, to create a softer landing if the tronc is going to fall.

The tronc is the visible part of the Castell--each Tronc seems to be made of any number of people in each story (Pis). The anxaneta is the person (usually a child) who is at the top of the Pom de dalt (the highest story of the tronco). When the anxaneta climbs to the top and raises their hand, the Castell is considered finished.

Afterward, we went to the bar next to Bar Tomas... known for the best patatas bravas (brave potatoes?) in Barcelona. Amazing! I went with all of the colla, the group that does the Castell.

New words:
taparabos (sp): loin cloth
bulla (cat): bronca (sp), argument

I still haven´t been able to find flamenco in Barcelona. I know it is here. I feel a little like the adult who is playing "Where's Waldo?" with a child who has all of the hiding places memorized. I know that I´m smarter than this, but I can´t seem to find the illusive red and white striped man.

No other news about Mickey Blue Eyes, yet... Aside from the dirty, old, nasty, viejo verde asqueroso of the Estació Sants.