sábado, 12 de junio de 2010

Dino's Birthday - 29/05/2010

/******English translation below!*******/

----CATALÀ----

Bé, el primer que hauria d'explicar és qui és el Dino. L'he nombrat alguns cops, crec, però no costa gens fer un recordatori. En Dino és un professor de la universitat, procedent de Bòsnia, que treballa al departament on sóc jo. I d'on ve el seu nom? Doncs bé: Edin Omerdic--->E dinO merdic--->dinO. O almenys aquesta és la conclusió a la que he arribat jo. En Dino és un home genial, dels autèntics, sempre disposat a ajudar i fer riure, mai se li acabaran les batalletes per contar. I a banda, és un crack. Alguns dels seus amics el desciuren com: "Si en Dino hagués anat a arreglar la fuga de petroli, en dos dies estaria tancada."

Bé. Doncs resulta que en Dino va nàixer, com tots nosaltres, i resulta que el dia 29 celebrava que feia un múltiple de 365 dies (i cada 4 anys, 366) que havia nascut. Així doncs, em va acovidar a casa seva a celebrar l'aniversari amb una barbacoa de corder (xai). LoPau i l'Anna m'havien comentat que de cara la nit volien fer una brisca de poker, i els vaig dir que no patissin, que sobre les 19-20 ja seria a casa. Res més lluny de la realitat.

En Dino em va dir que sobre les 13 o 14 fes cap a casa seva. Vaig arribar a les 13:30, i em trobo amb el següent:

De Dino's Birthday


Increïble. En Dino havia anat el dia abans a Dublín, en busca d'un pastor, per poder comprar un corder sencer. I sencer l'estaven cuinant! Havien partit un barril de Guiness per la meitat, que era on posaven les brases, mentre al costat, amb una petita foguera, en feien de noves. Vaig saludar als seus amics, molts d'ells de Bòsnia, i a la seva dona, Isela (no ho sé escriure bé!), que va estar vivint la tira d'anys a Girona i parla un català (i castellà) exquisit. No vaig tenir ni temps de deixar la bici que en Dino i jo vam pujar al cotxe per anar a comprar carbó (se'ls estava acabant la rama, suposo) i altres coses.

Quan vam tornar, el Dino va tornar a marxar, i jo vaig estar per allí coneixent a la gent. Els seus amics de Bòsnia vivien a Dublín, però havien vingut a celebrar l'aniversari, també. També hi havia un home irlandès, de Dublín, bon home. I hi havien els pares de l'Isela, que no parlaven més que bosni, "no english".

L'Isela i la seva mare havien preparat menjar per anar engrapant mentre es rostia el corder (necessitava 6 hores de cocció). Una mena d'ensaimades salades plenes de carn picada, bollets amb pepinillo i coses rares per dintre, bollets amb carn picada, formatge tendre (tipo mató) amb ceba, amanida de tomates i mozzarella... Exquisit. Infinitament exquisit.

Vam anar menjant fins que, cap a les 17 i pico, el corder va estar llest. Increïble. Es desfeia a la boca. Infinitament tendre i exquisit. Boníssim! Ens el vam menjar amb pa de pita i unes altres coses rares, vaig disfrutar de mala manera.

De Dino's Birthday

Quan vam acabar de menjar, la festa continuava. Vam jugar al frisby i a intentar clavar un clau a un tronc (un clau diferent per participant) amb la part afilada d'una destral, fent un moviment procedent de la part baixa del genoll. Us dic jo que és difícil. Ens hi vam passar estona i estona. Va ser llavors quan va venir el pare de la Isela, i al primer intent, li va clavar una merla al clau que quasi l'enclava del tot. Ens vam quedar tots: Uhhhhhh... Hehe. Va ser molt bo, jaja.

La festa va seguir tota la nit. Vam fer un concurs de karaoke (motivats després de veure la final d'Eurovisión) i la Isela i jo vam cantar "Sin miedo a nada" ('Me muero por conoceeeeerteeeeee, saber que es lo que piensasss...'), disfressats amb unes màscares venecianes. En Dino em va comentar que abandonés el projecte i em dediqués a cantar. D'una banda, és un elogi, però si ho penses millor... :P Al cap d'una estona, en Dan va anar a buscar el violí al cotxe i va tocar per a nosaltres, fins i tot una altra noia va tocar acompanyant a les filles del Dan, que són campiones d'Irlanda de dança ilrandesa. Va ser al·lucinant com ballaven aquelles nenes (11 i 9 anys, crec)!

I festa i més festa. La música, genial, millor que la de molts pubs i/o clubs. Em van ficar Nightwish, imagina't. Jo al·lucinant mandarines. No entraré en més detalls, però ho descriuré amb una paraula: DESMADRE!

I bé, no vaig arribar ni a les 19 ni a les 20 a casa, sinó a les 3:45, així que ja us podeu imaginar perquè parlo de "desmadre". Va ser un dia inesperadament divertidíssim. Repetirem!

Dino's Birthday


----ENGLISH----

Well, first I should explain who Dino is. I think I've written about him some times, but it's better to remember something about him. Dino is a professor of the university (UL), from Bosnia, who works in the same departmen as I do. And where does his name come from? Well: Edin Omerdic--->E dinO merdic--->dinO. Or at least that's the conclusion I've reached to. Dino is an awesome man, an authentic one, always ready to help and make you laugh, he always has stories to tell. And, moreover, he is a "crack" (like football players). Some of his friends describe him as: "If Dino had gone to fix the oil leak, it would have been fixed in two days."

Well, it happened that Dino was born some day, as all of us, and it happened that on the 29th of may, he celebrated that a multiple of 365 days (and every 4 years, 366) had passed since that day. Then, he invited me to go to his house to celebrate his birthdat with a lamb barbacue. LoPau and Anna told me that they planned to play poker at night, and I told them not to worry: I expected to be at home at about 19-20. There was nothing less true than that.

Dino told me to go to his house between 13 and 14. I arrived there at 13:30, and I found this:

De Dino's Birthday


Unbelievable. Dino had gone to Dublin the day before, looking for a shepherd, in order to buy a full lamb. And they were cooking it fully! They had cut a Guiness barrel in half, where they put the embers, while they made new ones in a small fire next to it. I met his friends, many of them of Bosnia, and his wife, Isela (I don't know how to write it!), who had lived many years in Girona (Catalonia, Spain) and spoke catalan (and spanish) very well. I had just left the bike when Dino and I took his car and went to buy some coal (they were running out of wood, I suppose) and other things.

When we came back, Dino left again, and I stayed there meeting new people. His bosnian friends lived in Dublin, but had come to celebrate his birthday too. There was also an irish man, from Dublin, a good man. And there were also Isela's parents, who only spoke bosnian, "no english".

Isela and her mother had made some food to eat while we waited for the lamb to be ready (it needed to be cooked for 6 hours). Salted biscuits filled with mince and other things, white cheese with onion, tomatoes and mozzarella salad... Exquisite. Infinitely exquisite.

We ate until, at 17ish, the lamb was ready. Unbelievable. It melted in your mouth. Initinitely soft and exquisite. So good! We ate it with pitta bread and other strange things, I enjoyed it soooo much!

De Dino's Birthday

When we finished eating, the party went on. We played frisby and trying to put a nail into trunk (one different nail per player) with the sharp side of an axe, making a movement coming from the low part of your knee. I can tell you that it was difficult. We spend time and more time. And then, Isela's father came and, in his first try, hit the nail so hard that went almost fully in the trunk. Uhhhhhhh... Hehe. It was bloody funny, haha.

The party went on all the night. We made a karaoke contest (motivated after watching Eurovision's final) and Isela and I sang "Sin miedo a nada" (Spanish duet love song :P), disguised with venetian masks. Dino told me to forget my project and start my singing career. On the one hand, that is a good thing to be told, but in the other one, if you think better of it... :P After a while, Dan went to his car and brought his violin. He played for us and then a girl played irish music while Dan's daughters danced (they are the Ireland champions in traditional irish dance). The way those girls (aged 11 and 9, I think) danced was amazing!

Party and more party. The music was awesome, better than most pubs and/or clubs. They put Nightwish too, can you imagine that?! I couldnt' believe it. I won't go into further details, but I will describe the party in just one word: CHAOS!

Well, I didn't arrive home neither 19 nor 20, but at 3:45, so you can imagine what I want to mean by "chaos". It was an unexpected very funny day. We will repeat!

Dino's Birthday

Volleyball Day - 23/05/2010

/******English translation below!*******/

----CATALÀ----

Com ja vaig dir, tinc algunes coses per explicar, el que no tinc és temps per fer-ho!

El diumenge, el dia després del viatge a Lough Gur, vam quedar al pati de casa nostra per fer un partidillo de volley. Érem: Clemens, Andrea(2), LoPau, Anna, Nando i jo.

LoPau i l'Anna van construir una xarxa improvisada amb un fil i unes quantes bosses de plàstic, tal i com podeu veure a les fotos. Actualment, el veí que s'ha instal·lat ens ho ha conquerit i hi penja calcetins i calçotets... :(

De Volleyball Day

Feia un solet exquisit, com el dia abans, tot i que vaig intentar mantenir-me a l'ombra perquè portava una cremada que feia por.

Ens ho vam passar molt bé, vam beure llimonada i vaig adeprendre el funcionament bàsic del volley. Vam passar una tarda genial!

Volleyball Day


----ENGLISH----

As I said, I have some things to explain, but what I don't have is time to write them down!

The Sunday after Lough Gur trip, we met in the back courtyard of our house to play volley. We were: Clemens, Andrea(2), LoPau, Anna, Nando and me.

LoPau and Anna built an improvised net with a line and some plastic bags, as you can see in the pictures. Currently, this net is used by our new neighbour as a tender line... :(

De Volleyball Day

It was an exquisite sunny day, as the day before, nevertheless I tried to stay in the shadows, as I was totally sunburnt from the day before.

We had a really good time, we drank lemonade and I learnt the basic way of playing volley. We had an awesome afternoon!

Volleyball Day

martes, 1 de junio de 2010

Lough Gur Trip - 22/05/2010

/******English translation below!*******/

----CATALÀ----

Feia dies o mesos que no actualitzava ja, i ja tocava. Últimament m'han tornat a passar coses que m'han fet tornar a posar els dits sobre el teclat, com va ser el viatge amb bicicleta al Lough Gur (Llac Gur).

Quan vaig arribar aquí no tenia bici, i no va ser fins farà unes setmanes, quan va marxar el David a Suècia, que li vaig comprar la seva bici. M'ha estat molt útil per anar a la universitat, però m'ha obert un munt de portes per visitar Irlanda, de la millor forma possible.

Parlant amb el Clemens va sortir el tema de la bici. Ell també n'havia comprat una, així que em va comentar que teníen pensat una mena de viatget a un llac i tal, i no vaig dubtar en accedir.

Ens vam llevar ben pronte, si no recordo mal cap a les 10 em vaig trobar amb en Clemens (Alemania) i vam anar cap a l'Aldi. De camí se'ns va unir Miriam (Alemania). Vam comprar lo bàsic: pa, pernil, formatge, xocolata i nous. Quan ho vam tenir tot, vam anar a buscar a la Paula (Polònia). No era a casa, estava comprant al Dunnes, així que vam fer cap allí. Vam aprofitar per fer un rierol, però llavors vam veure que els frens de la bici de Paula no funcionàven. Fent ús de tècniques ultraavançades i d'una habilitat increïble, en Clemens va ser capaç de dotar a la bici de la Paula amb un fre ABS que feia por.

Un cop llestos, vam anar cap al Lough Gur. Es tracta d'un petit llac d'uns 500 metres de diàmetre, que està a uns 20 km al sud de Limerick. Vam anar tirant tirant. Vam fer una parada a una gasolinera per comprar de beure (feia un sol que badava les pedres!) i... vam arribar!

Així sembla molt fàcil, però vam haver de fer els nostres quilòmetres, i saludar a més d'una vaca, però al final vam arribar. Cal destacar que no ho haguéssim aconseguit si no hagués estat pel mapa d'en Clemens. Sofisticat i precís, tal com podeu observar al seu àlbum de fotos.

Vam fer cap a un cercle de pedres molt antigues, i allí vam jeure sobre les margarides a prendre el sol una estona. En aquell moment, em vaig sentir com al paradís. Vam estar una estoneta allí, vam fer 4 fotos i vam seguir, perquè tot i que érem a la zona turística del llac, no érem de fet al llac en sí.

De Lough Gur Trip


Vam rodejar el llac però no trobàvem cap accés al mateix. Llavors, va ser quan Paula va dir que havia vist un camí al costat d'una iglésia que estava per allí perduda. Vam tornar cap enrera i vam haver d'obrir una valla (suposo que en aquest punt vam entrar a una propietat privada, no ho vull saber) per poder arribar, per fi, al llac.

Era petit però era ben bonic! Una gran recompensa, després de tot. Estava rodejat per un alambre de ferro. En Clemens va fer la broma de si estaria electrificat, i per no tentar a la sort vam passar per sota. Ens vam descalçar i vam entrar una mica al llac. Va ser llavors quan al Clemens se li'n va anar la castanya i diu: jo em banyo! Es va treure els pantalons i el jersei i ale, a l'aigua! Míriam i Paula el van seguir, així que no vaig poder ser menys! Va ser el bany en calçotets més bo i refrescant que he pres mai! Aigua "neta" (tot i que plena de me que venia del fons) i ben freda, que bé sentava amb el sol que feia!

Va ser llavors quan en Clemens em va dir que podria fer una foto de tots dins de l'aigua. Així que vaig tornar on tenia la càmara i vaig anar a posar-la amb temporitzador sobre un dels pals de fusta per on passava l'alambre del costat del llac.

PZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! Flas! Toma chispazo! Sí, estava electrificat. Us ho puc confirmar. Sense voler vaig tocar amb el maluc al cable, i al principi em pensava que m'havien llençat dues pedres a les cames, però va ser en veure la cara del Clemens quan vaig veure que acabava de sofrir una petita electrocució. Jajaja! Igual m'ha arreglat una mica la matèria gris, qui sap!

Un cop ben banyats, ens vam posar al sol a secar, mentre menjàvem un àpat ben merescut. És en aquest moment quan em vaig cremar de tal manera que encara avui se m'estan pelant braços i cames :P

Quan ja en vam tenir prou, cap a les 17, vam iniciar la tornada a casa. Va ser molt més curta que l'anada, en una horeta i mitja érem al lloc. Miriam va mirar el comptaquilòmetres abans de separar-nos: 58km (no vam anar per la carretera principal, sinó per secundàries). Que si comptes el camí que encara em va quedar fins a casa, uns 60km ben aprofitats.

Realment va ser un dia genial, ens ho vam passar bé i vaig conèixer a la Miriam (tot i que ja ens havíem conegut a una sessió de cine domèstic) i a la Paula, dos noies genials. En Clemens ja el tenia més que conegut, però no va deixar de ser una bona oportunitat per fer el cabra amb ell.

De Lough Gur Trip (Clemens' Pictures)


Un dia perfecte, en resum. Ni un núvol, solet, bon temps i bona companyia! Què més es pot demanar? :)

Lough Gur Trip


Lough Gur Trip (Clemens' Pictures)


----ENGLISH----

It's been days or maybe months since last time I updated my blog, and now it's the time to do so. Lately, some things have happened to me that have me made to put my fingers on the keyboard again, like last bike trip to Lough Gur (Lake Gur).

When I came here I had no bike at all, and it has been like this until some weeks ago, when David left to Sweeden and sold me his bike. It's been very useful so long to go to the university, but it has also offered me many ways to visit and explore Ireland, in the best way ever.

Talking to Clemens, the bike topic came to the conversation. He had also bought a bike, so he told me that he planned to go to some kind of lake with friends, and I didn't hesitate to join them.

I got up early, if I'm not mistaken at about 10am I met Clemens and went to Aldi. In our way we were joined by Miriam. We bought the basic things: bread, ham, cheese, chocolate and nuts. When we had bought everything we needed, we went to fetch Paula. She wasn't at home, she was actually shopping in Dunnes, so we went there. We didn't waste our last chance to go to the toilet, but then we realized that Paula's bike breaks weren't working. Using ultra-advanced techniques and an amazing hability, Clemens managed to provide Paula's bike an awesome ABS break.

Once ready, we departed to Lough Gur. It's a small like of about 500m of diameter, which is at about 20km from Limerick. We rided for a while and stopped in a petro station to buy something to drink (the sun was really hard that day) and... we got there!

It looks pretty easy, but we had to ride for some kilometers and say hello to some cows, but we finally got there. It should be taken into account that hadn't it been of Clemens' map, we would have never got there. Sophisticated and precise, like you can see in his pictures.

We arrived to a circle of ancient stones, and there we lay on the flowers to sunbathe for a while. In that precise moment, I felt like being in heaven. We spent a little time there, took some pictures and went on, because although we were in the lake's area, we weren't actually next to it.

De Lough Gur Trip


We rided circling the lake, but weren't able to find any access to it. Then, Paula said that she had seen a small path next to a curch which we had already passed. We went back and had to open a door (I suppose that in that point we went into private property, I don't really want to know it) to arrive, finally, to the lake.

It was small but so wonderful! A great reward, after all. It was surrounded by some iron wire. Clemens joked that maybe it was electrified, and we passed below it, just in case. We took off our shoes and went into the lake. It was in that moment that Clemens got mad and said: I'm bathing! He took off his shorts and shirt and went directly into the water! Miriam and Paula followed him, so I couldn't say no! It was my best and most pleasing bath with underwear I had ever taken! The water was "clean" (despite of the shit that came from the bottom) and cold, it felt so cool in that sunny day!

It was then when Clemens asked me to take a picture of our four in the water. Then I went to the shore, where I had left my camera, and put the timer on. I was about to place it on one of the sticks holding the iron wire around the lake when...

PZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT!!!!!!!! Yes, it was electrified. I can confirm it now. Without realizing it, I touched the cable with my waist. In the beggining I thought somebody had thrown two stones at my legs, but when I saw Clemens' face I realized I had just suffered an electric shock. Hahahaha! Maybe now my brain works correctly, after all!

After having a good bath, we stayed in the sun for a while in order to dry ourselves, while eating a really deserved meal. In that moment I got so sunburnt that currently my skin is still falling of my arms and legs! :P

When we had enough of it, at around 17h, we initiated our trip back home. It was shorter than the "going trip", in about one hour and a half we arrived home. Miriam looked at the meter before leaving us: 58km (we didn't ride through the main road, but through secondary ones). Adding the distance which I still had to do to go to home, 60km.

It was an awesome day, we had a great time and I met Miriam (although I already knew her from a home cinema session) and Paula, two really nice girls. I already knew Clemens, so we had a good chance to do crazy things.

De Lough Gur Trip (Clemens' Pictures)


A perfect day, to sum up. No clouds, sunny, good weather and good company. What else can I ask for? :)

Lough Gur Trip
Lough Gur Trip (Clemens' Pictures)