I had been thinking about creating a blog for months before last year but did not find a suitable thing to write about. And finally, one day the idea came up: what did I like that people could be curious about? My own land, my language, my culture: Catalan, Catalonia! I was astonished it did not occur to me before. And I loved the idea.
How did it come up? I was enraged about all the negative things about Catalonia coming from Spain, stereotypes, misunderstandings, intolerance, little respect for our culture and language, biased information. And I was also angry with the vision they give here in Catalonia about Spain. They fed me up and little by little I conceived how the blog would look like. I would talk about Catalonia, but I would not be political, I would not criticize and if I was or did, I would do it in a position of respect and always specifying that it was only my opinion and not something objective. I decided to talk about Catalonia and Catalan with the aim that people who would read the blog would become interested in it, telling them about art, language, food, history; everything I could imagine that would be related to it.
And so I wrote my welcome letter on December 4th 2008. As I am writing new insights, thoughts and impressions arise. I have realised that:
- I am not the prolific blogger I intended to be. However, I decided not to force myself. I am happy because I still have the will to write and write regularly.
- Writing about Catalonia and Catalan language and culture is not as easy as I had thought! Many cultural aspects that are obvious and logical to me because they are my baggage are not so for other people outside Catalonia and Spain. Thus, I often find that my posts are very long and that I have to explain everything from the beginning, so everyone can follow it and build their own opinion and share it. The balance between explaining and staying relevant is sometimes difficult though, as things are always intertwined!
- There are some posts that take me a long time to write, as anger and uneasiness arises. Then, what I have to do is leave the post aside for a while and the re-read it, check it is respectful and continue writing calmly. This is the case, for example, of the promised post about bilingualism, I have retaken it twice and still have not finished it yet.
- When translating songs or poetry, I have to decide if I should stay faithful or be creative to maintain the musicality. As a translator I am pushed to find a balance between the two, but it is not always easy!
- I am happy because my initial aim continues alive.
- I always have things to write about: new, old, future. It is a never-ending source! ;)
- I have more readers and followers than I thought I would have. I am glad to find people who have an interest in what I write and collaborate in the blog by commenting and giving ideas. Many many thanks. You really encourage me to continue writing. :)
And the surprise...
A song called "Anys i anys" (Years and years), that I used to listen to when I was a little kid. It was created by writers working for the child programme in TV3 called "Club Súper 3".
| Anys i anys, per molts anys a la una per molts anys Anys i anys, per molts anys a les dues per molts anys Anys i anys, per molts anys a les tres per molts anys. Volem que súper t'ho passis bufis fort i les apagui! Anys i anys, per molts anys A la una, per molts anys A les dues, per molts anys A les tres, per molts anys A la una, a les dues, a les tres, Súper 3, PER MOLTS ANYS! SÚPER TRES...FIU! | Years and years, happy birthday one, happy birthday Years and years, happy birthday two, happy birthday Years and years, happy birthday three, happy birthday. We want you to have loads of fun blow hard and blow them out! Years and years, happy birthday One, happy birthday Two, happy birthday Three, happy birthday One, two, three, Súper 3, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SÚPER TRES...FIU! |
(Aside: Do you see? I am getting old...I'm always remembering good old times...I am nostalgic ¬¬)
I hope I can write many many more posts. Per molts anys, blog! (Happy birthday, blog!)
8 comentaris:
!Molt gracies per tu blog Anna!
It's nice to see an entertaining and informative spotlight on Catalan culture and language.
Happy birthday to your blog! Really nice to read so many different things about Catalonia. It's good that you try to spread the culture rather than the politics. Way more positive :).
Although I have already congratulated you in person, I think it is worth doing it also on the blog.
I know that your head (and your "drafts" section) is full of new ideas, of new genuinely Catalan things to talk about and tell the readers all around the world.
I know that sometimes it is difficult for you to stay calm, because you mainly write about feelings, and in such a field is very difficult to keep reasonable. But I think that, even you must be respectful (as you are), you have to express your opinions as you feel them. And this is not about politics, but about your own thoughts.
Keep going with your ideas, with your will to explain the good and bad things of this land, your land.
Happy birthday, Anna! Happy birthday. This curious thing called Catalonia!
Anna,
Congrats! This is a great blog and I always enjoy reading it!
As I am moving to Catalonia soon, it is nice to read about it and its culture to sort of get myself ready for it ;-)
Per molts anys!
Happy Birthday to your blog! I've benefited a lot from it and I truly enjoy learning a lot about Catalan culture and the beautiful language.
As a blogger, I see what you mean regarding trying to have some balance. I often wonder myself if I should keep my blog completely free from politics so as not to offend or if I should be able to let people know where I stand. That's why I too take a long time editing and re-editing my entries, especially the ones on Basques.
That song made me smile. The word "anys" was one of the hardest words for me to learn because my brain wants to pronounce it as if the Y was n I.
Isabel, "NY" in Catalan is the same as the Spanish "Ñ", so, as you pointed out and as you can speak Spanish, the problem was associating "ny" to the sound, isn't it?
Thank you all and thanks for reading :)
Now I am thinking of a Christmas traditions series...we'll see what comes out!
Moltes felicitaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats!!!!
@ Anna:
That's partly it. I need to work on associating NY with Ñ and also, the latter is usually followed by a vowel so it's easier to pronounce. I had a hard time pronouncing the word "any" by itself.
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