Art, Food, and Dance Oh My: A Week Chock-full of Culture

¡Hola a todos!

Welcome again to another trip update!

This week started off strong with a great visit to La Sagrada Familia on Monday (click the hyperlink to read about our visit) and promised to be an eventful week of cultural events based on our agenda. This week, divided into groups of three, we took part in three distinct cultural activities that were enriching to different parts of ourselves: a graffiti tour through the neighborhood El Revel, a cooking class to learn how to make some traditional Spanish tapas, and a Flamenco class to learn about the art form and to have fun dancing. 

My group began with the graffiti tour in El Reval headed by Martín, who also gave some of us a tour of the gothic quarter the week before. During the walking tour, the students learned about the tumultous and fascinating history of the neighborhood and were able to see where it is today. Largely a neighborhood of immigrants, El Reval offers a sense of community and a platform for artists whose voices are not heard as loudly in the rest of Barcelona. While the neighborhood has seen a spike in tourism, it remains authentically itself and provides a wide variety of graffiti and street art for passersby to take in and enjoy. One of the important pieces that we saw was the Keith Haring replica (group photo pictured in gallery above). During the 80s, that area in particular was one of the epicenters of the AIDs crisis in Barcelona. Along with the figures, there is a translation of the original phrase: "Todos juntos podemos parar el SIDA" (Working together we can stop AIDs). Apart from this mural, the students were able to see one of Barcelona's most well known street artists' work which feature tin cans with messages of love. 

On the second day, we took a cooking class to learn how to make some traditional Spanish tapas. ¡Ñam! The students cooked some very traditional tapas such as tortilla española, croquetas, and patatas bravas as well as a few other less typical ones such as makis and brochetas. While cooking the tortilla, the students had the chance to flip the tortilla like a real chef! We had lots of successes... and a few failures; however, as we learned, you can also add more mixture to the tortilla and fix it. There's never a wasted tortilla. 

Lastly, we participated in a Flamenco class. The students danced, clapped, and learned how to channel the passion of the music through their bodies and into their dance. Our instructor provided a bunch of props and outfits for the students to try out in order to really get a sense of the spectacle. While we focused primarily on classic style, the students also had the opportunity to listen to current Spanish music sensation Rosalía, whose music is a mixture of traditional flamenco, pop music, trap, and hip hop. With the confluence of these different musical styles, our instructor showed the students how to bring the classical moves into 2019 and how they pair well with the contemporary music. ¡Olé!

Next week we're in for even more cultural immersion and more adventures. 

¡Hasta pronto!