Today, we attended a class of Castellano, which is what we Americans would call Español. Here, the word Castellano is used to differentiate it from Catalan, as they are both languages spoken in Cataluña. At any rate, the teacher of the class was Natalia, a charming veteran teacher here at Pare Manyanet. Teachers here are called by their first names, and the pronoun ´tu´is used almost all the time, even by small children with their teachers. Since the country was liberated from fascism over 30 years ago, social mores have become much more liberal, and one of the aspects of this liberalsm is this important change in the use of language.
After Castellano, the group was split up, and Pingree students went to the English classes of the younger students to answer questions about their lives at home and their attitudes toward Barcelona. Standard answers in this case must be that their favorite Spanish city is Barcelona, and their favorite sports team Barça!
These activities were followed by an introduction to the field trip of the day which was a visit to Gaudí´s famous masterpiece, Sagrada Familia, the modernist cathedral started over 100 years ago and still a work in progress. From Sagrada Familia, we went to one of Gaudí´s other buildings, the Pedrera, an apartment building in use even today. Barcelona is the home of Modernism, and there are many modernist works here designed not only by Gaudí, but also by his pupils and imitators. As a result Barcelona is world-famous for its beautiful and original architecture.
Tomorrow will feature a trip to Sitges, a popular coastal town.
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