Spanish New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is a really important day of the year around the world and here in Spain we have some special traditions to celebrate this day.

It is known that we love to go party hard, but before that it is common to have dinner with your family and friends at home, with typical dishes prepared for the occasion, similar to Thanksgiving in America. When the New Year starts at 00:00, it is pretty much the same as in the rest of the world.

The Grapes is the most typical tradition on New Year’s Eve. While in the rest of the world they just do a countdown for the last seconds of the year (and I don’t underestimate that, but dude it isn’t as funny as our stupid grape thing…), here in Spain we have a full ceremony to enter the new year.

In Puerta Del Sol, a famous square in downtown Madrid, there’s a big clock that sets the 12 Strokes of Midnight. That moment is broadcasted in TV all over the country, except for the Canary Islands, where there’s a difference of 1 hour, so they celebrate it later. With each stroke, we eat one grape; with a period of 2-3 seconds between each (for us to eat the grapes, obviously). When the twelfth one is eaten, the New Year has begun.

We could say that without the grapes tradition, the New Year’s Eve would be unfulfilled. The whole country stops to do it and it is quite funny to receive the year with the mouth full of fruit, maybe just to justify all the sweets you have eaten during the holidays...

(Some images will be added soon.)

Thanksgiving Day

     I would like to say thanks to my parents and grandparents for everything they've taught me and the memories we've shared and to every person that has helped me through life.

     To my parents, because they've been there all this time and I hope they ever will. Because of the things they’ve given me and the ones they haven’t because they thought they shouldn't. Because of all the things and places they made me discover and the things they taught me. For all that and more, thank you.

     To my grandparents, the one who are still here and the ones who aren’t. The ones I knew and the ones I didn’t, even if that sounds weird. Thanks for being you.

      And to all my friends, partners, people I know and the ones I never heard of until that moment when they helped me, when they gave support when I asked and also when I didn’t, to me as a friend or as a completely stranger. To everyone I didn’t thank in the past and to the ones I did too, again, thank you.

      For all these reasons and many others, thank you all because my life would be different without you.

White Sparrows

Couple of weeks ago María José, Ria, Andrés and I did a small presentation on a song. Here it is.

Related photos:

Here you can see a man crying at a funeral. This picture describes the song perfectly because in the song the singer’s lover dies. The black and white colors emphasize the sadness of the picture. This picture is very dramatic, moving, and powerful.

In this picture you can see that two persons are holding their hands in the rain. In the song the singer says he was holding the hand of his girl while they were trying to shelter from the rain. The picture is really moving, powerful and romantic in this context.

Here we can see a white sparrow in the ground who wants to fly. In the song the singer tells these sparrows fell from heaven and carried the girl away. This photo is very spontaneous and very beautiful.

In this photo we can see an eclipse over the clouds, with a great contrast between dark colors and bright/warm colors. The relation with the song is that it expresses the sadness of the man.

Song: White Sparrows by Billy Talent

Activities.
Fill in the gaps.

Today I walked down our old (1)______

Past the (2)______ where we'd meet

Now I dine alone in our old seats
The cold wind (3)______ right through my (4)______

And I feel like I'm getting old
But I wish I was getting old with you
I held your (5)______ when we took shelter from the rain

She laughed as we picked out our children's (6)______

White sparrows fell from heaven and carried her away
Black (7)______ cut the strings of my heart, I kneel and pray

Her clothes hang in the closet still
The phone sits on the windowsill
And every time it rings it gives me (8)______

My heart just stopped when I was told
Doctor, doctor, on the phone
Said my (9)______ was never coming home

I hold your casket gently walking to the (10)______

Dark clouds (11)______ the sun won't shine again

White sparrows fell from (12)______ and carried her away

Black arrows cut the strings of my heart, I kneel and pray

They gave her one more day
To say the (13)______ I couldn't say
I'm crying in pain, crying in pain

And I'm not looking for answers
No, I'm not looking for answers
But dear God, why did you choose her?

White (14)______ fell from heaven and carried her away
Black arrows cut the strings of my heart, I kneel and pray

They gave her one more day
To say the words I couldn't say
I'm crying in pain (crying in pain)
Crying in pain
Our love will (15)______
I'm crying in pain