I have to say that writing in two languages is occasionally daunting, but having spent almost all day in Catalan, maybe today will be easier. Except I chose to use daunting. Hmmm, how would I say something like that in Catalan.
Haig de dir que escrivint en dos idiomes, de vegades, em descoratja una mica., però que he passat quasi tot el dia en català, potser avui seria una mica més fàcil. Excepte, he decidit d'utilitzar 'daunting'. Com podria dir això en català. Exactament, no puc, però espero que lo que hagi fet pugui fer servir.
Today was a slice of heaven. We went on another hike today...up in Montnegre. With the local mountaineering group. This time a nice small group, we were 11 which meant that I got to walk my own pace much more of the time. I walk fast. I like to walk fast and I have discovered that I like to climb hills. The man doesn't like to break the sweat barrier, which means walking a lot slower than I like to and while the kids are great walkers, they don't want to go at a pace I like to set on my own. Today though?!? mmmmmmm. We had to stop and wait for the group to catch up a lot, but long bursts of walking at a good pace was sweet. The last hour one man and I (the man didn't make the trip) went on ahead and didn't bother waiting for the group. Fantastic.
Avui ha sigut un dia del cel. Vam anar al muntanya un altre cop....cap a Montnegre, amb el grup local de muntanyisme. Aquesta vegada hem estat un grup ben reduït, hem estat 11 que implica que he pogut seguir el meu pròpia ritme per molt més dels temps. Jo camino ràpidament. M'agrada caminar ràpidament i he descobert que a mi m'agrada pujant també- El me home no li agrada trenca la barrera de suar, que vol dir que caminem molt més lentament que voldria, mentrestant, les nenes són molt bones caminadores, però no volen anar amb el ritme que faig quan estic sola. Avui??? mmmmmm. Hem hagut d'esperar pel grup sovint, però gran trossos de caminant amb un bon ritme estava un plaeeeer. Per l'ultim hora un home i jo (el meu home no ha vingut avui) hem anat més endavant i no hem esperat per la resta del grup. Fantàstic.
One of the highlights of the walk was finding a pond (estany! NEW WORD) that was sheeted over with ice. We lobbed rocks at it, very few breaking through. Right at the edge in the sun it was about a cm thick, but as we went on and came around the back side, there was a section that was in an eddy where the sun, literally, never shines and the ice was a good 6 to 10 cm think at least if not more. We went out on it, very gently and somewhat spread out, only as far as a meter from shore. Very cool. None of the Catalans had ever done it before and thought it was seriously neat. Lots and lots of photos.
Un dels moments més recordable ha de ser quan trobàvem un estany (NOVA PARAULA!) que estava just tapada amb gel. Hem tirat (voldria un altre paraula aquí) pedres, molt pocs han trencat el gel i enfonsava. A la vora de l'estany on hi havia sol, el gel era només un cm de gruixut, però quan hem passat més endavant i hem girat per la banda al darrer, hi havia un secció en un remolí (utilitzem aquest paraula per TOT) a on el sol, literalment, mai toca i el gel ha estat un mínim de 6 o 10 cm de gruixut si no més. Hem anat fora a sobre el gel, molt suaument, molt a poc a poc, amb força distancia entre nosaltres i només un metre del terra. Molt guia. Ni un dels catalans han fet una cosa així mai en la vida i ho han desfruitat molt. Han fet moltes i moltes fotos.
They were also pretty impressed by the frozen sand. Sand isn't supposed to be hard, unyielding and rock-like. Till you freeze it.
La sorra congelada ha deixat un impressió bastant fort també. Sora no és dur, inflexible i com una pedra. Fins que ho congelis!
Then there is clothing. The man walking with me, he was wearing two layers and a North Face down jacket. Plus leggings under wind-proof pants and a serious hat. He never took it off, ok, the hat came off for a moment here and there. It was 2 or 3 degrees about zero and we were climbing hard. I would have been SWIMMING in there. He admitted to sweating, but honestly, another form of human. Don't know how they do it. I was down to an undershirt, a turtleneck and a thin fleece I was too lazy to remove cause I new the car was at the top and if I got a little damp it wouldn't be a disaster. Honestly? He wasn't that unusual for the group and I kind of don't understand how they do it.
I les robes. El home que ha caminat amb mi, portava dos capes i una jaqueta de North Face fet de ploma. També portava mitjanes a sota pantalons a prova de vent i una gorra molt calin. No deixava rés- d'acord, la gorra ha tret per alguns moments. La temperatura? Estàvem a 2 o 3 graus sobra zero i estàvam pujant ràpidament. Jo seria NADANT en aquest roba. Ha confessat que estava suat, però, de debò, ha de ser un altre forma d'humanitat. Jo no entenc com aguanten. Jo m'he quedat amb un samarreta sense mànigues, un samarreta amb un coll alt i un polar molt primet que em feia pal treure perquè sabia que arribaríem a les cotxes molt aviat i no em feia rés si estava una mica mulada. De debò? Aquest home era molt típic pel grup i jo, sincerament, no entenc com ho fan.
New words/Paraules noves
Estany: pond
Falguera fern
Pit-roig (havia de buscar aixó quan tornava a casa, ningú sabia el nom) Robin
Cidera de muntanya: mountain cherries, a local fruit
Alzina de suro: cork tree, but I never realised it was a kind of oak
Trestar o com aixì, haig de preguntar un altre cop....something like hiking
Cadena: a ridge, be it roof or mountain
Cadenar: to ridge walk....English speaking parts of the world are flatter and have fewer beaches, there are words for activities in mountains, like cadenar, that don't exist in English, we don't need a single word for it, and there are separate names for different kinds of beaches too. We have one. Beach. If your in the UK...Brighton or Spain.
8 comments:
hi there sounds lovely. can't believe noone knew pitroig!
We went up that road over the mountains towards mataro and took one of the pathes you recommended. Was totally beautiful. found an abandonned and derelict masia and daydreamed about buying it and doing it up. We saw a large group of people coming along the ridge - singing - was it your lot?
Hope to meet up soon
kate x
Okay, my walk today with Mac (I’m dog-sitting Christopher’s dog for a week) pales in comparison! Although it was cold and there were patches of ice… ;)
djakdaj
WTF?!!! I just wrote a diatribe - erk!!! In a nutshell, congratulations on a bilingual blog - I am truly impressed. As for the sweat/layers vs non-sweat/layers, perhaps it has to do with your more reptilian Canadian blood (no offence meant there, of course) and that you are more able to adapt to wildly varying temperatures because your body is more accustomed to the extreme fluctuations whereas a Catalan's body likely doesn't have the history of adjusting, so to speak. Am I digging myself into a deeper hole as I keep typing?!
Bilingual writing can be daunting, for sure, but at the same time I find it a very fulfilling exercise. Also, it is a way bigger fun when you discover a new word, or remember an expression you were starting to forget in your own native language... isn't it?
No sadly, t'wasn't us singing, it is gorgeous up there isn't it...and pretty nearby for you as well! We were up at Montnegre.
Beth, we got patches of ice too, one area just perfect for that run and slide that you can do on the roads and sidewalks at times. I was censored for being reckless on the ice. Catalans are pretty cautious, at least this group was....I pointed out how many years I had been doing this and they let me alone. It is such fun and so FAST!
Bodhi! skreoiasehrie to you too! What on earth happened? That looks like the captcha!?! Not offended by reptilian Canadian blood, know just what you mean. I think we also are more afraid of getting wet and sweaty inside as it can be so, well honestly, deadly so we strip off faster, while they don't fuss about getting damp...though I think he wasn't sweating till we pushed the pace.
ElP, I totally agree, it's why I've taken it on, it is good for my language skills and I do get to learn things every time. Though it would be better still if some Catalan grammarphile would come on and help me out. Live in hope! A nice one, not a trollish one.
Wow, this does sound fabulous! Pace is so important, isn't it? Hard to find others who want to go on just as you do, and who take the same pleasure and surprise in discovery -- so when you do meet up, it's especially sweet. (Not to mention double fun in two languages!)
It was indeed a fabulous day, I am not sure when I'll find someone to walk with at my pace again, though I can do it on my own when I want. Love it tons.
The language was a bonus, though we didn't talk all that much....I really don't know him all that well and small talk in another language is a pain. I don't even like it much in English.
Post a Comment