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Arnau

2011-12 Inbound from Spain

Sponsor: Rotary Club of Vic-Osona, District 2202, Spain

Host: Rotary Club of Boca Raton West & Boca Raton Sunrise, District 6930, Florida

Arnau's Bio

My name is Arnau Palau Rierola and I was born in Spain, specifically in Catalunya, which is an Autonomous Community placed at the Northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Even so, it is a nationality with its historic rights, its own governmental institutions and its language, named català (Catalan) that is in its own right. El català is also a Romance language derived from Latin and is spoken by more than nine million people in part of Aragon, the País Valencià, the Balearic isles, French Roussillon and the Italian city of Alguer.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, and is provided by different cultural, artistic and social currents from outside (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Venetians merchants, other Spanish people from Murcia, Andalucía, Extremadura, Castile, and lately from Morocco, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Yugoslavia, Russia, Africa or Asia) that give her beautiful contrasts, which we share with our traditional stuff like Saint George Day, when we present roses –as a symbol of love- and books –as a symbol of culture-; the sardanes, which is the national dance that is danced in a circle while the instruments of the cobla sound out; the human castles; the delicious aliments from Catalan lands (fruits, fish, meat, vegetables…); and, of course, our flag.

There I lived in Vic, a little city close to Barcelona, during five years. This city is the capital of Osona’s county, well known for its excellent sausages, which are considered the best in the world, the Pa amb tomàquet (bread spread with grated tomato, oil and salt), and also for its spectacular Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance and Modernist buildings.

One year after my sister was born, my family and I moved to Serrabonica, which is a neighbor situated in Gurb. This village right next to Vic is surrounded by fields, rustic farms, meadows and forests, so I grew up next to those.