¡TRACA!

Watch the video (below) before reading on...

¡TRACA!

How would you like one of those coming down your street? Tracas are very popular in this part of Spain, near Valencia. Smaller tracas, 10 to 50m long are laid out on the ground to celebrate weddings, communions, birthdays, just about anything. Giant tracas (this one was about 500m long) suspended in the air, are used for big town celebrations.

Can you see a few people 'racing' the traca? One is carrying a torch in case the traca goes out along the way.

This one was in Vila-Real to celebrate the end of their San Pascual fiesta. San (Saint) Pascual is the town's saint, so they have a week of parties, dancing, bull-running and fireworks.

If you're ever in Spain, especially in the Valencian area, check out on the internet whether one of the towns is having a fiesta. Spanish people are very proud of their traditions and very welcoming to visitors. They'll be particularly impressed if you can speak even a little bit of their language.

Grab the programme from the oficina de turismo, or check it out on the internet, and look out for a TRACA! They often have one on the last day to celebrate the end of the fiesta. 

As we'd say, 'Go out with a bang!'

What's Your Favourite Toy? 2

Is it a Pompa Pirula? 

Thought not. Although you might be surprised...

This craze hit our school last lunes. By miércoles there were a couple of dozen twirling in the playground. This semana, the footballers are complaining that they're being distracted by all the reflected, flashing sunlight. 

'What is it?' I asked my class.

'Ees Pom-pa Pee-roo-la,' they chorus back.

I google it and find this... 

Pompa Pirula

'You no have eet een Eengland?' they continue, with undisguised shock. By now you might know that you do have it 'een Eengland'. I know this because having inspected the packaging, I discover the words 'Hippie Stick'. Google gives me this...

Hippie Sticks

My class are entranced by 'Hippie Sticks', and decide that as they're learning in English, they're not going to call them Pompa Pirulas any more. They're going to call them Hippie Sticks from now on. 

So, if you're learning Spanish, and you have Hippie Sticks, why don't you do the opposite, and rename them Pompa Pirulas? 

You have to admit, it's got a certain ring to it! But what does it mean? Well, 'pompa' is a bubble, and 'pirula' means a trick. So it means something like 'bubble tricks'.

Have fun!

Just Don't Wipe Your Feet!

What do you think these are? How do you think they're made?

Uno

Dos

Tres

Cuatro

Here are some more pictures to help you with the second question. The numbers link the lower pictures to the upper ones to show you which picture each detail comes from.

Uno

Dos

Tres

Cuatro

Cuatro

I'm sure you spotted the leaves and the flowers, but did you also see the rice, sand and the grass cuttings? They're nice, aren't they? I heard a number of people saying, '¡Qué chulo!' '¡Super chulo!' and even '¡Chulisimo!' as I was snapping them.

So, what are they and what are they for?

Here's a final clue...

 Well, they're made outside the front door by family members on the morning of a child's first Communion. They're called tapizes (pronounced, tap-ee-thes) or alfombras de comunión and each tapiz (tap-eeth) spells out the child's name. 

I spoke to some of the Spanish teachers in my school and they told me that they think they are unique to this region. I took these photos in Vila-Real (you might know it from the football a couple of years back). 

Let's finish with those names shall we? Can you pronounce them?
1. Arnau. This is a Catalan version of Arnold. Cataluña is the part of north-eastern Spain that includes Barcelona. Pronounce this name Ar-now.
2. Laura. Careful how you say this. Rhyme the 'Lau' bit with 'cow', Lau-ra.
3. Giulia. Very similar to Julia, but pop a little 'ee' sound between the 'G' and the 'u'. Gee-oo-lee-ah.
4. María. Just like home, although as María is a Spanish name, home is here!  

A final thought, I wonder if every child prays that it won't be windy on their communion day? 

A Stranger on the Corner

I'm back in Madrid. Just walking around (paseando), when I spot this...

Quite a few people are stopping and looking up as it sparkles in the sunshine. I hear, '¡Qué chulo!' and even '¡Súper-chulo!' from the bystanders. (Pronounce that 'Sue-pair choo-low'.) It really rolls off the tongue and you hear it all the time when something looks great, like a snazzy-looking bike or a cute dog. '¡Qué chulo!'

Then I walk a bit closer... 

I've put this bit on video so you can maybe see how I felt when I began to realise what it was made of. Can you guess before you watch the video? If not, who's the first to spot it? Guess quickly, it's a short video. (Link to YouTube.)

Zoom in...

If you're ever lucky enough to visit Madrid (it's a great city), you'll find it in Calle del Leon on the corner with Calle del Prado. 

And don't forget to gasp, '!Qué chulo!' when you see it! You'll feel so Spanish!

N.B., A longer version of this post, but without the video, is available on my secondary 'puzzle' blog at http://zenkyumaestro.blogspot.com.es/ You might find that more suitable for year 6. (Puzzle No.2)

What's Your Favourite Toy?

Let me guess... Well, better not. I've been living outside the UK for nearly seven years and I'm a bit old to be playing with toys. Instead, let me show you something that is all the rage out here, especially, but not only, with the boys.

That's right. Bulls. (Or, toros, as they say around here.) You probably know that bull fighting and bull running are famous in Spain, but you might not know that they are also controversial. Recently, the parliament in Cataluña (capital, Barcelona) banned bull-fighting. 

It's not an activity that I like, but I'm interested in why it's still popular. Are these toys part of the reason? What do you think?

        

There's even a lorry to move the toros around the place...

So, guess what Santa (or, Papa Noel as he's usually called around here) has stuffed in his sack around Navidad in Spain...

A Walk en el Parque

Do you like to go to the park? I do. My favourite park in Spain is in Madrid, the capital city. It's called Retiro Park (or Parque de Buen Retiro en Español) and it's enormous. It has a large lake which you can hire paddle-boats on. My favourite part of Retiro Park is next to the boating lake. Here, all sorts of performers come to show what they can do. You'll find magicians doing tricks, singers singing and musicians playing songs. But my favourite performers are the puppeteers.

Now there are many groups of puppeteers who come to Retiro Park, but my favourite are the sheep.

Here are two examples, and I hope that if you ever get the chance to visit Madrid, you'll make time to stroll in Retiro Park, maybe take a boat ride and, if you're really lucky, get the chance to see Michael Jackson, the sheep. It's thrilling!

(Videos link to YouTube.)

Michael Jackson the thrilling sheep. 

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