Last time I wrote, I told you all of the approaching Fiesta de Barcelona and everything that it promised… well it delivered! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in the same place in all of my life! The parts of the fiesta that I remember most (or just remember (sangria!)) are the Cataluñan folk music, the flamenco music, the fireworks over Plaza de España, and Lou Reed. Yes, the Spanish seem to love Lou Reed! It was probably the most widely attended part of the week (although I didn’t get to see the crowd at Ace of Base and Des’ree). I had these 4 Spaniards singing Walk On the Wild Side right behind me during the entire concert. Their accents made it funnier and funnier each time I heard it. During the Cataluñan folk music concert, all of the old people (and some others) joined hands in these large circles and everyone did the same exact dance. It was so interesting to see them kick and bow and jiggle. I guess it’s like their version of the Electric Slide. I’d never listened to real Flamenco music before, either. It’s basically one guitar player and a singer who sings and moans and wails with this incredible pain and emotion that you can’t help but feel if it’s done well. The entire plaza was silent for that one. I loved it. But the most memorable for me were los fuegos artificiales over Plaza de España. The fireworks were choreographed to be synchronized with music and the colored lights in the huge fountains there. The spectacle ended with a Frank Sinatra medley that offered me my first chance of the night to sing along. Good Times. One of my new friends from here in Barcelona asked me if we had anything this large in the United States. I told him that I really don’t think we do and that bothered me at first. Having all these people get together and celebrate this common cause is a wonderful thing for nationalism and moral. But then I realized that the reason we don’t have anything this huge is because the US is made up of so many different types of people and the cultural variety more than makes up for the lack of one gigantic festival. Happy thoughts.
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