Anna - Part 2

We have learned more about Anna in the past few days that she's been here. She really is a sweet girl. She is from the Country of Spain as you know. In Spain, she is from the "state" of Catalonia. The capital of Catalonia is Barcelona. The easiest way I can compare Catalonia is to compare it to New York City and it's burroughs. NYC is so large, it's broken up into 5 burroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhatten, Queens, & Staten Island. Catalonia is also broken up into 5 "burroughs": Anoia, Bages, Osona, Valles Occidental, & Valles Oriental. Anna lives in Bages, in the capital city of Manresa, which is pretty much right in the heart of Catalonia. She is approximately 3 hrs from the mountains and 3 hrs from the Mediterranian Sea. If you look at the map, the small picture shows where Catalonia is located in Spain. The larger picture shows where Bages is located in Catalonia and the dot is where Manresa is located within Bages. She said there are approximately 70,000 people in Manresa.

She's been introduced to lots of new things while here. She has learned to stand on the bosu while it's upside down (I'm very impressed with that!). She has been introduced to Wii and Wii Fit and said she finds both to be very much fun. Ashley & a couple of friends took Anna shopping with them at Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines. While there they each found what they thought was the silliest or ugliest dress there and tried them on. Why? Who knows? Does anyone really understand the mind of a teenager? Anna said it was fun and she laughed a lot. They went to Texas Roadhouse to eat and she had fish while there so she was very happy. Her family eats a lot of fish, and we don't so she's probably been missing it. She did comment that she didn't understand why there were peanut shells all over the floor (a tradition at that restaurant is to toss your shells to the floor), and I assured her that I have often wondered the same thing. For "dessert" they introduced her to a fine American delicacy: Fun Dipps. They are powdered candy sugar you lick off a candy stick. She really liked those, so we will have to send some home with her. It has been fun for all of us to try to talk to each other. While Anna has amazingly good english, there are still words that are hard to translate. One such word or phrase is how to describe something. She will say "oohh, umm.. how you say...." and then she'll usually giggle. LOL She and

Chelsea have really clicked and Chelsea teases her mercilessly and Anna laughs and laughs. When they get to chasing each other or wrestling/tickling each other Chelsea shouts "Listen up people ~ The Spanish/American War is back on!" LOL

This morning Anna and I were sitting in the living room when she left and came back with a package that she said was for Jay and I. In it were two beautiful little statues: Gegant and Geganta. She really struggled to figure out how to explain these two figures to us. No they are not religeous and no they are not political and no they are not the King and Queen of Spain (although that one did make her laugh). She said they are tradition and people go inside of them during festivals. So I said "Do you mean they are spirits?" "No". So I said "People go inside of them? In their stomachs?" She laughed so hard and I had no idea why. Finally we got it out. The closest we can figure (and she confirms this for us) they are sort of like our Mickey & Minnie mouse or other characters at Disney parks, or the Cy for Iowa State Cyclones. When she said people go inside of them she means inside the giant costume (they stand at least 10' tall). They are in parades and around the city during festivals and holidays. I still didn't understand their purpose (if there is one), so I was guessing it is like their "mascot" for their city, because she said each city has their own. It had me very curious, so I did a little googling... Typical to Catalan towns are the presence of the "gegants", that is giant puppets, some 4 metres in height, constructed of wood and paste board (papier mache) and made to dance by a man underneath. There have been giants at the Manresa festivals since the middle of the last century. I still haven't found out their significance (if any) or who gets to be the ones chosen to dance inside of them, but from what it sounds like, it's quite an honor to be selected.

Today Anna will get to ride a horse for the first time and this evening she is going to a semi-pro soccer game (Des Moines Menace) and she says she is very happy to do this. I'll let you know if I find out any more about the Gegants.