Galicia from the inside

It's been a month... It is amazing how time just means nothing - it was really fast month and at the same time so many things happened!

Two days ago we welcomed the third EVS volunteer - Aleksander from Estonia. I catch myself trying to see the things the way he is seeing them now, as if it is for the first time. And this is how I realise I already have the cosy feeling to be at a place I really feel close to me. As we already started working, me and Santa created a pleasant everyday life with working in the office in the mornings and homy afternoons. The interest in doing our work is getting bigger and bigger as we move forward in the information and managing our tasks. She is mostly doing the design work - posters, videos and such for different purposes. And I play the role of office worker, helping for the internet appearance of OMIX, including staying it touch with partner organisations and making new contacts, applying for projects, answering the e-mails, information spreading and more. The last week we also moved big part of the archive of OMIX from the place the office used to be before the reconstruction of the current Casa de la Xuventude. This also led to putting the things in the office in a new order, cleaning up, making recycling bins and decorating. Office should also feel like home, right?

So, the days that we are free to do whatever else are the weekends. And as it is summertime, some of the weekends happen to be even busier than the working days. Busier with getting to know Galicia from the inside. In the months between May and September each village has its festa, also all the musical festivals both for traditional music or contemporary artists, all the events, celebrations, religious holidays and so on are fighting for their place in the calendar. It turns out that there are so many things happening at the same time that you feel it is impossible to chose what to do and where to go. So usually we rely on the choice of our local friends that just bring us to the best place and take a good care of our stay there. One of the weekends we visited a village gathering in the nearby pueblo Barcia. As one day is not enough, the Galicians make the celebrations last for the whole weekend, starting in Friday. On this type of festa all the locals, even the ones that live away, are coming together, eating, showing off with their home-made wine, dancing and simply having fun. The octopus and the Spanish music are essentials as well. You can end up in the middle of the night dancing together with children and elderly people that you just can't separate by the emotions they put in dancing. The noice of people singing and talking loudly just the way the Spanish can do it stays in your mind for couple of days after. More or less this is simply the best way to see the real nature of the local people - the ones, living in the little villages are the ones that have kept the traditions and the true spirit of the local life.

The same weekend me, Santa and Lena also rested from having a party with the first hiking route to explore from the many hiking paths all over Galicia. We got to know about it from a booklet with all of them described. It turned out to be just a walk going around the nearest hill, but some good views and some refreshing rain were all the time supporting our steps in the beautiful forests.

When me and Lena went to pick up Aleksander, we used the chance to go around Vigo, so we visited friends of Lena that have a house nearby Bayona, a sea-side resort that have the atmosphere of common touristic place. But the landscape around it is just amazing, green hills, rocks, sunset over the ocean... Pure beauty. The views here sometimes remind me of the ones I had the luck to see in Ireland. Yes, the Galician culture has celtic roots as the celts had a very strong presence in this land many centuries ago. The most beautiful ancient archaeological sites are of celtic origin. But you can best feel the celtic roots of Galicia mainly when you listen to the traditional music, played by gaita (the Galician pagpipe), tin-whistle or a violin. The rythm just makes you dance, it has the depth of the celtic music and the exuberance of the Spanish and Portugese. The coctail of cultures together with its uniqueness makes this place just like no other... This we felt really strong when visiting the festa in Poio, nearby Pontevedra, also on the coast. It was mainly gathering of bagpipe-players, organized by the local school for traditional music. Food, drinks, music, dances, beautiful landscape - it seems I need to repeat the same things all the time :) But memories stay unforgettable. As is was the first day of Aleksander we just couldn't miss to continue the Saturday evening in Pontevedra, and to experience the crazy night life that Spanish are famous for, guided by our friends, two magicians that had their show on the festa during the day. Kind of magic all the time!