Festas, fiestas, feiras, festivals, festivities, friends…. (part I)

The best way to discover a new culture is to join as many festivals as possible. This has become my moto, created especially for the needs of the Galician summer. In the little notebook I have, the events calendar had been filled from the same start of my EVS. With the time they grew to an unbearable amount, as up to four-five things usually happen at the same weekend somewhere around.  In the same notebook the list of tasks and work To Do is usually not any smaller than this. The combination of both things makes it not  a surprise that my time here in Ribadavia is just running faster than I could even imagine.

It’s been a long long long time ago (somewhere in the end of June) when we had to say Farewell to Lena, the previous volunteer, who finally had to go back home. She was our guide in the beginning and our strong support in adapting and getting to know the people, so we couldn’t let her go without a proper party. Which happened to be also the Welcome party for Aleksander, our Estonian volunteer. As we are becoming better and better in celebrating the occasions in the Spanish way – with good food, we made quite a colorful dinner at home, containing of Estonian starters, Bulgarian mish-mash, lyutenitza and white cheese, Galician marisco (sea food), German salad and Latvian desserts and gathered all Lena’s close people from around to help us eat them after all J

Soon after this private little fiesta came the big one – the night of San Juan, which is strongly celebrated in Spain and even some regions have it as an official holiday. Me and Santa decided to see the real way this night should be spent – on the beach, jumping over the fire for health and fortune. So this idea brought us to Vigo, the big city nearby on the coast. After a nice dinner at friends of ours we went together to one of the many beaches in the city and what we saw there was already hard to explain. People - huge, enormous amount of people, in the middle of the night going around, dancing, talking, making fires… And the amount of fires was not less impressive! Youngsters, children, but also adults – everyone was making The Jump and staying awake until the sunrise… Unforgettable!

Next week came together with the next fiesta – this time it was the week of Ourense, the other big city close to Ribadavia. I couldn’t really see anything of the daily program, full of events, but it is understandable when remembering after all that my project was not called “join as many festivals as possible” J So, at least I visited the celebrations on Saturday, when one amazing Galician female singer (Mercedes Peon) had her concert on the main square. We also could enjoy one medieval market with a fairytale atmosphere, had a good stroll, spent the night as sheep in the big city and went back home happy…

And prepared for the next weekend and for the next fiesta. From 2^nd until the 4^th of July Ribadavia (as a capital of the wine region Ribeiro) hosted the famous Feira do Vino. On the squares of the town you could try numerous quality wines, both white and red, while listening to the Galician bagpipe soundtrack live … Around it this little place got filled with life, guests, events, concerts, markets. People forgot their everyday life in the name of the wine magic. The same way we did J

The reason I may sound so impressed about all these fiestas could be the big difference that exists between here and Bulgaria. In my little country the summer is all about holidays, it is just the time to go to the sea or the mountains, and if it happens that you stay in the city... there is simply nothing to do. Cities die in the summertime. And here it is exactly the opposite - the summer is the active season in each village, town, city… obviously.

And in the end, the recipe of how to relax after such a busy program: the nature around Ribadavia knows what to offer for each case. It became more and more often just to hit the road together with Aleksander and to visit either Prexigueiro (the hot thermal springs in the forest 3km away from Ribadavia), or to have a swim in the paradise waterfalls of As Mestas, 7km away from here, or, if we are in the mood only for a walk –the nice hills around offer really precious views… I really wonder if I could ever get bored here!

On-arrival training @ the heart of Spain

Even though some time already passed after I have arrived, just like every volunteer going to another country for an EVS, I had my on-arrival training. This is a gathering of all the volunteers hosted in the country , or, in the case of a big country – only a part from it, organized by the National Agency in Spain to prepare the youngsters for their project and long term stay.

Ours was in Salamanca, the province of Castilla y Leon, and it welcomed the volunteers from Galicia, Asturia, Castilla y Leon – mostly the Northern part of Spain. It was me, Santa and Aleksander going together for five unforgettable days. We took a bus from Ourense and on the way we met another volunteer, staying in A Coruna that was going to the same seminar. When entering the neighbor province of Castilla y Leon we could already see why all the local people first associate Galicia with “it is green”. The middle of the country is a never ending plain landscape with dry fields, at some spots agriculture, but mostly … just never changing view of brown-yellow land and bushes. I would say I liked it, seeing it as something new for my eyes, but at the same time I felt lucky staying in the wild Galician county, which matches my idea for nature much more…

The training was really well-done, perfectly organized and so on, I could continue with more good words, but in brief – thanks to the four girls in charge to keep us satisfied and well-informed all the time. In the program we had so many things included, that my head was feeling like a swollen balloon at some stages. From bare necessity facts and explanations about the insurance that we have, the documents that we do, the expectations and fears part and so on, to a well-kept language course, it was all at the right place. Nevertheless, a big part of the educational topics were made to be as interesting as possible, interactive and involving – we created the town of our dreams, in which everyone had their house of the dreams and shared their perspectives with the others. Sharing was the other really pleasant part. All the volunteers made a short description of their EVS project. And that was the moment I felt really thankful again. As most of them were feeling not really happy to be where they found themselves, due to problems with language, integration, the work, their boss or whatever, neither me, nor Santa or Aleksander were able to say anything bad about our life by that moment in Ribadavia. Of course, there were more good examples for volunteers in the right place, it is not that the world starts and finishes with our sweet village, but I definitely realized how much I love it!

This type of meeting is also an amazing chance to make contacts and to get to know so many great people from all over Europe! We had a presentation of Spain, including cooking traditional dishes in the kitchen of the dorm, but also we presented each other our home countries. And had fun, has to be mentioned! On the same training I met the other Bulgarian on a project in Spain, which is my good friend Aleksandra. The never-ending conversations with her brought back my native language in my mind again, on the top of the English-Spanish-Gallego-Russian mess that was already existing. But precious times… Discovering Salamanca with its purely Spanish spirit, with the sound of flamenco, with its night bars, student life, young spirit and beautiful architecture, with walks along the river and sightseeing…

In the last day of the training we went on an excursion in Segovia, a historical town North from Madrid, full of tourists taking pictures of the Aqueduct, the Death woman hills, the Alkazar prison and more and more. A trip in the heart of Spain indeed!

On the way back, when everything was supposed to be finished, the adventures just kept on going. We travelled with the trains, changing in Medina del Campo, truly a town in the middle of nowhere, but at the same time a stop on Camino de Santiago, the pilgrims’ way. For this one hour before the next train, we managed to walk all over the village, to see the waterless river, its churches (of course) and not least – the shop for Bulgarian foods where I bought some white cheese, lyutenitsa and sharena sol to cook for my foreign friends. Running for the train was the normal way the things go when you take your time as a tourist, but after some more emotions on the way it is so much sweeter to be back home.

Home indeed. I actually missed my Ribadavia during this week. Especially the green hills and the deep fresh rivers. Also the feeling to be safe and happy on a place where I was so welcomed and able to adapt in no time. The same evening when we were back another party was taking place in Ribadavia – the Flower Power, when everyone gets dressed as a hippie and the 60s and 70s music is on the stream. Good way to see the same old lovely faces in a new manner :)

The week ended on the streets of Ourense where I took part in the local events on the national-wide protest in Spain, probably also because of feeling more and more connected with this country with every single day here…

Carrilanas

In our strive to be active volunteers, me and Santa got involved in one quite unusual event called “Carrilanas”. This is a race for self-made cars, which turned out to be not so rare in Spain and also Portugal.  Ribadavia is one of the proud hosts of this type of car competition. In the first couple of weeks working here, we were helping for the popularization of the event – from poster and video making (Santa’s part), also facebook maintaining and adding daily new information on the web, to “posters and leaflets” mission around the town . When the big day came (11 July 2011), we were also asked for some help on the place – carrying bottles for example, quite a stressful work J So, in case to be on line all the time if help is needed, we spent most of the day hanging around the town and watching the crazy rally, similar to the one in the “Wacky races” animation … ANY type of cars, bicycles, vehicles and moving objects in general could be seen all during the afternoon going down the steep little streets of the town, trying to take the dangerous curves … and of course not without crashes and spectacular turn-overs! The emotion was big, mixture of real Formula 1 experience and the idea that people are doing it all just for fun! Still, there were real professionals in car construction and driving. Halleluiah! J

And just like every car race should finish, in the evening there was a celebration in one old church, nowadays used for any type of public events and meetings. Local white wine and traditional empanada, video memories from the day and Santa kissing the winners when getting their prizes, this is a true volunteering …

At the same time the town was celebrating the days of San Antonio. Every saint needs a day in the calendar for the villagers to gather, eat something in their honor and have fun. We could enjoy the amusing concerts of two bands that took us back to the early 80s as well as a park-house-party (what a combination). Viva el verano!

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!

     

the work and the working place

Now it is already time to say couple of things about the work...
My hosting organisation is called OMIX Ribadavia, which stands for "Oficina Municipal de Informacion Xuvenil" (Youth Inromation Centre of the Municipality of Ribadavia). Its main activities are connected with programs and happenings that give the young people in the area the information they could be interested in - about travelling, education, employment, leisure time and more. The aims of the NGO are to provide chances for personal and social development to the youth community through non-formal education and accesible information. It is also an active part of the cultural life in the town, supporting its partners'projects or organizing its own events such as exhibitions, mucical happenings, art workshops. The main working team consists of Manuel, the coordinator of the organization, and the EVS volunteers they host, which means me, Santa and Aleksander (the Estonian volunteer we are expecting the next month). So the daily work takes about 5 hours a day, five days in a week (either morning or afternoon) which we spend mainly in the office, dealing with the current activities. As we are in the beginning of the project with not even basic level of Gallego or Castellano language, it is still hard for us to do many of the tasks... But this is also how you learn. :)))
The office is in the Youth House of Ribadavia, which is quite new - it was officialy opened about 6 months ago. It is a nice and tidy tyipical house in the old part of the town with three floors, enough space for everything, with computers for free internet, lots of informational materials and an exhibition hall. A beautiful one.
As far as the organisation is connected to the council of Ribadavia, we were already introduced to the local authorities that we will often cooperate with.
So! Young people of Ribadavia, be ready, we are here to work hard for you!!! :)))

places, faces, around and so

It has been two weeks since I am in Galicia and I have the mere feeling I already managed to see a lot. The area around Ribadavia is rich with small villages with population less than 300 people, and the distance between them is usually couple of kilometers. So, most of the people here use their car or motorbike and take the curvy mountain roads with amazing views to visit their favorite places or to discover new ones. This is also the usual connection to the big cities – Ourense is the closest one, it takes about 20 minutes with a car or with the train to get there either because of some business or just for a walk and some shopping. To reach Vigo takes some more – the distance from Ribadavia is about 70 km, but then you find yourself in the most populated city in the area with the biggest port; may be a little bit industrial, but still really beautiful place on the ocean coast. And speaking of ocean, it is just awesome how the hilly land dives into the waters of the Atlantic at the waved coastline with white sandy beaches and monumental rocks. The first time I dived into the same waters I simply felt lucky. One of the beaches I visited was close to Cangas, north from Vigo - an area with paradise views from the vertical  shores, definitely worth visiting. There we went together with Santa, Lena and a local friend, famous for his energy and sociability - Manuel, who has made his voluntary service in England some time ago and usually plays the role of the kind host for the new volunteers (the fact that he also speaks English helps for sure J).  In a moment of hesitation about what you can do in a lazy Saturday afternoon, he would be the guide to a new experience. This is for example how I also visited the dam on the river Mino, also few kilometers from Ribadavia, well-known among the Spanish for the water sports. We took a sail-boat and enjoyed the lovely view and the sunny day from the surface of the lake.

The way the locals spend their free time sometimes reminds me of my hometown, Gabrovo, where it just as normal as here to go around to the nearby beautiful places for a walk or for a swim in the rivers. The people are also quite similar (may be only in this region of Spain, I still can’t say more) - warm and friendly. Hm, feels like home…

esta una vida buena

The people in Ribadavia and all over Galicia simply know how to enjoy life. 

From what I have seen by now there are no sad faces on the streets, no rudeness, no stress - especially in the small town, where you have time for everything and all the people know each other. It feels like in a big family, with all the lovely feelings and of course the drama J Many of the locals spend their free time in one of the four café-clubs, almost all of them on the same corner of the street, so that the distance when you change them won’t be exhausting. Aljama is my favorite by now – good music, live concerts sometimes and good terrace for long conversations with the young Ribadavians in “Spanglish” or whatever way of communication you can come up to. The situation with the language turned out to be a bit more difficult than I expected, because it is not that the people here haven’t studied English – they did, they know some things, but most of them just won’t say a word. Still, everyone is really friendly and communicative, random boys and girls just come and meet you, try to make you feel comfortable, a part of the place and its crazy society…

The other thing that gathers the people here are the parties, based mainly on food. How they love food! It surely takes an important part in life and meals are often shared with a good company. It will either be a private barbeque in the forests around or one of the typical fiestas in the region, connected with a traditional type of food – bread, peppers, different meat stuff… Twice a month in Ribadavia is the market day which turned out to be mostly connected with eating pulpo/octopus that is being prepared in many places on the street. The tradition brings everyone out this day to become part of the celebration of life over and over again. We also organize small cooking parties at home, so that the hosts are showing us their cuisine – sea food, toasts with goat cheese and caramelized onion and more and more; and me and Santa, both vegetarians (which simply equals to aliens here) are trying to seduce them with well-prepared vegetarian food J

After the food and the drinks the time has come for a midnight bath in the hot thermal springs, few in the region, where you can simply lay down in the healing waters and forget about everything but the stars upon…