enyorança (p: [ə ɲu 'ran sə]) - catalan: n. a state of longing
Chronicling the ex-expat life and the desire for something greater. Experiences, thoughts, and ideas formed because of a former lifestyle that's disappeared. Global culture, domestic lifestyle. Consolidated into an outlet that may or may not be interesting to anyone else. Also a kind of travel blog because sometimes I go places. All photography is mine unless credited otherwise.
I downloaded the new Ken Zazpi album (released late last year) a few days ago, and while I've liked the Basque band since I started listening to them in 2008 with their album Argiak, they far outdid themselves with this one. I am in love with every single track on this album, particularly "Hel Nazazu Eskutik" ("Take Me By the Hand") and "Hemen Gaude" ("We're Here"), as well as this one, "Ihes Betean" ("An Escape").
This song actually caused me to have a bit of an emotional breakdown this morning, something that rarely happens (but it's the second time in the last couple months, so I am starting to worry), mostly snowballing from the lines "itzuli den etxera", which in Basque means "returning home".
"Returning home"
Those two words, repeated over and over again at the end of the song, started a chain reaction that got me to thinking about the people, or lack thereof, in my life. The fact that my two best friends are on opposite sides of the globe with me in the middle, the fact that one of them is going through a tough situation with her family and the other who has a boyfriend in Madrid who she never gets to see (and who I've never met). The fact that I haven't been in a situation to be able to just call up my best friend and say "Hey, want to hang out?" or to have a literal shoulder to cry on since the middle of 2000 (yes, that's 11 years).
It just makes me feel so helpless, so useless. The internet's done a great job at bringing me closer to these people because I'm able to chat with them, but as anyone can tell you, it's just not the same as having someone down the street or across town you can call up and meet up with each other at a given spot at a given time. I have to wait to visit my friends till I have money, or till they can come visit me, and it's been over a year since I've seen both of them.
And with this it got me thinking about my social life, and the fact that I haven't had a solid social life since possibly high school, and even that it was debateable because I didn't really have any close friends in high school either. I just have to wonder if I really will be alone, on a physical level, forever. Because it's been so long since I haven't felt utterly alone I don't know if I'll be able to handle not being alone.
An article was just brought to my attention today via Facebook. In it, the writer (subtly) complains about a proposal by major Spanish conservative party PP (Partido Popular, or Popular Party) that schools in Catalunya will, under their direction should they be elected in the coming months, switch to a trilingual system in which Catalan, Spanish and English will be in the curriculum until the bachillerato, the optional two years after the mandatory eight years of schooling and before university in the Spanish public school system.
What gets me is that people are complaining about this. Now, I understand that linguistic freedom is a huge issue in Catalunya right now. Catalan as a language has been under fire by the Spanish government since 1716 (with a brief revival during the Renaixença period of the late 19th century and early 20th century) and even since the Caudillo's death in 1975 Catalan still does not have the respect it once had. Whereas other multilingual countries such as Canada and Belgium allow people living in certain areas to speak whichever language they will and not speak others, Spain makes sure that Spanish is still the dominant language throughout the state. Many Catalans believe their language is still being oppressed because of this. I don't take issue with this.
I was reading a document I’d found that was published by the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC) on philological information on the language (spelling, grammar, pronunciation, etc.), and at the end I saw a section called “Defending Catalan in the European Union”. This section was particularly fascinating because it presented, in list form, various reasons why those at the IEC wished Catalan to become an official language within the European Union. At the moment, it is recognized (it has some status, but is not considered official by any means), but as it is not the primary language in any one member state, it is not given the status that many within Catalunya feel it deserves.
Here are some of the most notable reasons I found:
On the way to Ikea yesterday afternoon with my parents, I was listening to an episode of La Competència, my favorite radio program ever which airs on RAC1 in Catalunya (it is in Catalan), which I get through podcasts. It was from last Tuesday, and featured a discussion on an article written by Catalan journalist Quim Monzó for La Vanguardia, a Barcelona-based newspaper which publishes in Spanish (it's going to start publishing in Catalan in May). It's an article about the coach for the Girona football team, Raül Agné, who walked out on a post-match press conference he was giving because he was told to answer a question in Spanish instead of Catalan, when the question had been asked in Catalan (something done all the time by journalists and coaches in press conference; if the coach speaks the language a question is asked in, he responds in that language).
