Bocadillos

Bocadillos are very common in Catalunya. Most are filled meats, cheeses, tortillas, and other Catalan specialties. They are featured on fresh bread almost always and are very common to eat for breakfast or lunch. In some cases, the bread is rubbed with fresh tomato and olive oil. It is interesting to me that even though there are a lot of places that serve bocadillos, there are still American chain sandwich restaurants like Subway all over Barcelona. I have also noticed that unlike the States, many times bocadillos are served plain without condiments or vegetables.

Catalan Cheese and Iberian Ham

This is a salad with mixed greens, goat cheese, iberian ham, and orange slices. One of my favorite things about Catalunya is the cheese and meat culture, as they are two of my favorite snacks both here and abroad. Both cheese and cured meats are featured in many tapas in this region. Cheeses are often enjoyed as dessert courses with wine. There are a variety of different cured hams made in many different areas of Catalunya and usually enjoyed as a plate by themselves.

Catalan Seafood

Catalan cuisine has long included seafood because of the proximity of the region to the ocean. While the cuisine of the region includes a lot of salted and cured fish, fresh seafood is also an important part. This mean is one I had inside the Boqueria several times, it is one of my favorites. It includes a variety of fish as well as shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, and lobster all grilled perfectly. It is all very fresh and delicious, although it is relatively expensive. At home, fresh seafood can be hard to come by and is often quite expensive because there isn't an ocean nearby.

The Beach

The beach has played an important role in my experience in Barcelona. While in Chicago has the beach of Lake Michigan, it is not nearly as beautiful as the ones in Barcelona. It seems that the beach plays an important role in Spanish culture as well. Barcelona has had a lot of economic success, both in the past and now, because it is a port city which has promoted a lot of trade in the area. It seems common for Catalans to hang out at the beach on the weekends, either relaxing or playing sports like soccer or beach volleyball with their friends. There are also several restaurants around the beaches that specialize in fresh seafood which plays a major role in Catalan cuisine.

La Merce and Catalan Celebrations

Celebrations are frequent in Catalunya as there are many religious and political holidays that take place throughout the year. In the United States, most celebrations are celebrated privately among family and friends. In contrast, while there is a family and friend aspect in Spanish celebrations, celebrations very frequently take place in the streets and plazas as a community. I really enjoyed the community aspect of Spanish holidays, especially La Merce. All of the free concerts and Catalan pride was really fun to be a part of and it was one of the first times in Barcelona I felt apart of the culture and community of Barcelona. In Chicago we always have fireworks on independence day, but nothing on the scale of La Merce. The coordinated music with the fireworks and fountains, as well as the huge amount of people present in Plaza Espana was incredible to witness.

Sports in Catalunya

Sports play a substantial role in the life of Catalans. There is immense support for all things FC Barcelona. Football is the most popular, but there is growing popularity in other sports such as basketball. One of my favorite things to do in Barcelona was go to bars and restaurants during Barcelona soccer games and watch the locals with all their intensity. El Clasico was a very interesting experience because the rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona is very intense. I am familiar with team rivalries, there are a lot in the United States, but usually it has a lot less to do with politics than the situation between Barca and Madrid. Because of the tumultuous past and present political situations, winning this soccer game allowed for a special amount of pride and an important victory.  

Raval Field Study

During this field study we talked about what happened after the revamping of Barcelona for the Olympics. The building that housed the olympians were supposed to become low income housing but instead became rather abandoned. This area started to have an issue with crime. In order to end the crime, the city decided to revamp the neighborhood and make it a cultural and educational center for the young people of Barcelona. The University of Barcelona has a campus around here, there are several signs posted advertising club meetings and small cafes for students to hang out at. There is also a very popular skateboarding area in Raval. I believe it was an interesting solution for Barcelona to revamp this area into a cultural center and how proactive they were in ending the crime in this area. By creating a lot of attractions in this area, people bring their families and young people can relax in this area. Making an area with a lot of traffic and a lot of people hanging around makes people less likely to participate in crime. I feel like this was actually quite a smart approach, but very risky because I do not know if something like this would work where I'm from.