La Diada de Catalunya

September 11th is a Catalan national holiday because in the eighteenth century Catalonia was almost an independent state. On my day off I decided to go and see what this whole Catalan thing is all about. Anyways, it was really cool to see all the emotion evolved in a separatist movement. In the center of Barcelona by the Arc de Triomf there was giant Catalan flag in the center. The whole plaza was filled with the little kiosks selling Catalan memorabilia and handing out literature on the the issue, but I couldn't read any of it because it was all in Catalan. I ended up buying a shirt the said "independencia" with a red star, but my favorite was as shirt that said in English, as well a Catalan, "Make no mistake - I am Catalan therefore not Spanish." There were also groups from all over supporting other separatist movements. The people in the kiosks were so happy to see people form other places (I went with a Japanese friend of mine) interested in their cause. Moral of the story is I'm a nerd and had a great time.