Wow my new years....San Bennet, the church in the sky was to become our new year's headquarters-with a little preparation first.
I actually did nothing all day to help. By now I have told Ruben many times that I must work 30 hrs a week-6 hours a day on the computer if I am to visit him in Spain. So today like everyday he asks, “what do you make today, you need work this day?”, and so my response, “yes I should stay and work”. So today I stay in the apartment so I can get work done as he drives all over Barcelona running errands.
About 7pm he arrived with a handful of friends to make the initial climb by car 10K up the mountain where we will park and continue the trek about another hour by foot. I was handed a backpack and a speaker. I joke and say that I am the American pack mule. After about 2 minutes of confusion and translation errors...they finally get my joke. A speaker....hmmmmm. I recall no electricity the last time I made it to San Bennet.
When I arrive an hour later, all sweaty and completely worn out, I hear the hum of a generator that will power our new years celebration. I arrive to a dozen familiar faces and another dozen strangers’ faces. A 20-foot table with a couple of dozen chairs centers the room.
I actually did nothing all day to help. By now I have told Ruben many times that I must work 30 hrs a week-6 hours a day on the computer if I am to visit him in Spain. So today like everyday he asks, “what do you make today, you need work this day?”, and so my response, “yes I should stay and work”. So today I stay in the apartment so I can get work done as he drives all over Barcelona running errands.
About 7pm he arrived with a handful of friends to make the initial climb by car 10K up the mountain where we will park and continue the trek about another hour by foot. I was handed a backpack and a speaker. I joke and say that I am the American pack mule. After about 2 minutes of confusion and translation errors...they finally get my joke. A speaker....hmmmmm. I recall no electricity the last time I made it to San Bennet.
When I arrive an hour later, all sweaty and completely worn out, I hear the hum of a generator that will power our new years celebration. I arrive to a dozen familiar faces and another dozen strangers’ faces. A 20-foot table with a couple of dozen chairs centers the room.
Old wine bottles with candles line the table to illuminate the room. The smell of something wonderful cooking in the kitchen makes me smile in the anticipation of a Spanish New Years feast. A wood-burning stove heats the church turned climbing refuge. I am instantly welcomed as I arrive. The speakers that I carry on my back are also welcomed. Ruben and a few of his friends put together our entertainment for the night. I am thinking to myself, thank goodness these guys mix cd’s and not records. I do not think I could be talked into carrying1 records up the mountain.
Grapes ….I look down in my plastic cup to see grapes. If I counted-12 exactly. I look around and all have plastic cups gripped in their hands. We migrate around the radio that is playing celebration music in the anticipation of the Spanish New Years count down. I look over at Ruben and take a grape and begin to eat it. He yells no- and then grabs my hand, smiles and says, “No, you wait till midnight and then eat one grape at the sound of each bells”. “This is the tradition from the old Spanish king to wish good luck in the next year for grape harvest.” I am instantly pleased to find that I just unknowingly came across a total foreign custom.
(ya first new years wearing workout clothes, with no makeup and a shower)
No cork popping-champaign fizzing all over on the floor- maneuvering of the plastic puzzle champaign glasses-I am not fighting confetti-covering my ears due to the ear piercing horns and whistles-my breath is not taken away by a new years kiss……… I am frantically trying to shove 12 grapes in my mounth, I am hunched over with laughter and try not to choke on sweet Mediterranean grapes. I stand, slobber/grape juice is streaming down my cheek; as I resume my composure, I am attacked with grapes. I find my attack position and retaliate with the few grapes that remain in my cup because they did not make it in my mouth.
Sesenta besicos or 60 little kisses follow. One on each cheek. Two from each person. They make their rounds, kissing grape juice covered cheeks and wishing their friends a happy new year.
Spainsh like kisses and throwing food. My kind of place.
Sesenta besicos or 60 little kisses follow. One on each cheek. Two from each person. They make their rounds, kissing grape juice covered cheeks and wishing their friends a happy new year.
Spainsh like kisses and throwing food. My kind of place.
Feliz ano nuevo
Happy new years
Dos besicos,
Katelyn
Happy new years
Dos besicos,
Katelyn
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