Celebrating La Castenyada


Welcome Back to Maren's Abroadventures!

         This week, I wanted to tell you about what the people of Barcelona will be celebrating this weekend, and just as a hint, it is not Halloween like in the United States. November 1st is when All Saints' Day will be celebrated in Barcelona, but sometimes they even celebrate on October 31st as well to combine two holidays as "Castaween."


        What does this mean? This means that this weekend, as we enter the month of November, there will be celebrations marking the beginning of the fall season and the chestnut harvest. Chestnuts were a main source of food in the winter months long ago, as they were easy to store and provided the nutrients people were looking for. The tradition of eating chestnuts is even connected to the practice of keeping vigil for the dead during All Saints’ Night.

           Sometimes on this holiday, boys and girls will dress up as the character who makes the chestnuts, Castanyer/a. The kids wear loose clothing, a sash, a scarf, and socks. The adults usually make foods to celebrate, which include chestnuts, panellets, and sweet potatoes. Panellets were originally offered to the deceased, and now you can also give them to others as a gift. With Halloween being celebrated at the same time, you can sometimes find places to eat the seasonal food while going through a tunnel of terror or other haunted excursions.


          Since Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is around this time as well, on November 3rd, there will be "Catrinas Walk on Las Ramblas." You should expect lots of color, skeletons, flowers, and other Mexican traditions beginning at 10:45am.

         If you will be in Barcelona this weekend, you should make sure to wander around the city, looking at all the different foods and events that will be taking place. There will be a lot of "Castaween" things to do, such as spooky storytelling, tours through cemeteries, and even seeing Barcelona's collection of funeral carriages. 

See you next week!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Maren's Abroadventures

Image
  H ello , fellow travelers !   My name is Maren Smith, and I am a junior at Oklahoma State University, studying abroad in Barcelona this semester . I would like to reintroduce mysel f, as well as introduce you to my new blog starting this week! Fun fact about me: this is my second time studying abroad in Spain. Even eight years later, it feels so good to be back in this country at twenty years old now. Finally, being in Barcelona after just using study abroad as a conversation starter feels surreal to say the least, but wow, I have already made new friends, feel passionate about my classes, and have already made so many memories with the wonderful SAI study abroad group and just by myself on side quests.   I am attending the CETT Tourism, Hospitality & Gastronomy school, located right off the metro stop “Mundet.” While I am the only one at SAI this year studying Hospitality and Tourism Management and a minor in Spanish, I wanted to explain a little about what i...
Read more

Connecting with Families Abroad

Image
  Welcome back to Maren's Abroadventures!          This week, I wanted to discuss the importance of connecting with families abroad and to encourage study abroad travelers to reach out to as many locals as possible.            The picture above includes my host mom and dad, as well as my host sister Nerea. I studied abroad in Madrid when I was in fifth grade, about 12 years old. I stayed with my host family for a few months while attending the same school as my host sister. I had so much fun with them whether it was going out to eat, taking a trip, or figuring out my favorite items at the grocery store. Being able to come back to Spain at twenty-one years old and study abroad once again in a new city feels surreal. I have already taken the opportunity to visit and stay a few days with my host family, and their house looks almost the exact same. It feels like I was just living there yesterday.        Whe...
Read more

Discover how I met my Friend Judith

Image
 Welcome Back to Maren's Abroadventures!          This week, I would like to introduce you to one of my friends from my university in Barcelona, Judith. I met her through the Buddy Program offered when enrolling in CETT Tourism, Hospitality & Gastronomy University. This program offers locals and study abroad students to get to know each other while attending free excursions throughout the semester together . Even when we aren't on the planned group trips together, Judith and I always make time to talk. Whether it is through text or her helping me during class, we continuously try to make the most of our time in the four months I am studying at CETT. We even took the opportunity to try one of the student-run restaurants on campus together, and if it wasn't for her, I would have had no idea where it was in the building. Our lunch included four courses, which included bread, pasta, chicken with salad, and a pastry for des...
Read more