June 23 is a very important day in Barcelona. It’s the festival of St. John the Baptist. Xavi had been invited to his friends’ house for a dinner party, so he invited Petra and I to come along with him. Excited to meet some other Spaniards, we jumped on the opportunity.
We drove out to the town where his friends lived, and were introduced to everyone. I had forgotten about the traditional salutation in Spain, where you kiss the person’s cheeks. There were about 10 people, so this introduction took some time. Everyone was very friendly, and the food was delicious. The only problem I had was that all the Spaniards spoke Spanish, English, and Catalon. Petra and I speak English and some Spanish, yet these people all chose to have their conversations in Catalon. It would have been nice if they had switched to Spanish to include the 2 visitors, but I guess when you’re crashing a party you can’t be too picky.
Xavi had promised us fireworks, and I must admit this was the greatest display of fireworks I’ve seen. They weren’t all that great, but they lasted for hours. Literally, hours. It wasn’t a professional production, but rather a large amount of individuals who decided to buy fireworks and set them off. As Petra so perfectly summed it up, “It’s a bit concerning to me that you need a permit to have a bonfire, but anyone can light fireworks off the ground in the middle of a densely populated city.”
We migrated to the roof, where we had some very yummy traditional pastry-type desserts. At times, people would light off fireworks down the street. It was pretty cool to watch. At other times, the neighbors would light off fireworks from their balcony, which would go off literally ten feet above our heads. It was pretty terrifying, considering the brightness and the amount of noise they caused. In fact, the first few times this happened I thought some sort of fighter-jet had exploded right next to me. After a while I was sensitized to the noise and the brightness of it, and was really able to enjoy it. I’m still not convinced it was safe, but I was able to relax and enjoy the show. I mean, how often do you get to see fireworks THAT up-close?
Around 2am we decided to go for a walk and find a bar that was open. We walked around for a bit, getting a tour of this city. I was kind of surprised that so many teenagers were out at this hour on a weekday, but I guess it’s Europe and on top of that it’s also summer break. We found a bar and went inside. Two of Xavi’s friends joined us, and Petra and I were able to practice our Spanish. I found mine quickly coming back to me, although I had a bit of a hard time hearing what the other people were saying. It was very loud in there, and when you’re not used to hearing a different language, it makes it a bit difficult to understand what is being said to you from the other side of the table. All things considered, I think I did a pretty good job.
When we were driving to the dinner party, Xavi said something about “if we stay up til the sun rises.” I thought he was kidding. After all, this was my first full day in Espana, and I was still tired from traveling. I assumed we’d be back by 3am at the latest. Turns out, that’s not the case. We didn’t leave to go back until about 5. We had to drop someone off on the way, and then Petra decided it would be fun to go the scenic coastal route. I was tired and cranky and opposed to a 2+ hour drive home, but we did it anyway. I will admit that it was beautiful, but so is my bed. We got home around 7am, after the sun had risen. I slept til 4pm the next day. I definitely need to get on a more “normal” schedule, especially if I expect to do any sightseeing!! But I guess I have 2 weeks for that.
I could have SWORN I took some pictures, but I can’t for the life of me find them. So I’ll keep searching. They have to be on my camera or computer somewhere!!
