Sant Jordi Day

Sant Jordi day, one of Catalonia’s biggest holidays—and by far the most romantic—will be celebrated next week, and we will be in Berlin.  Fortunately, because next week is Semana Santa (holy week) and no one works or goes to school (hence our trip), the kids’ school celebrated it today.  Preparations have been in the works for weeks, with every grade learning a special dance.

Jordi is Catalan for George, and St. Jordi—of George and the Dragon fame—is the patron saint of Barcelona.  It’s hard to keep the saints, the sardines, the parades, straight.  I feel like I’ve written these words before—but no, George is the one and only patron saint.  Sant Jordi day is celebrated every April 23 here in Barcelona, to commemorate the saint’s death in the year 303. 

According to the Barcelona Sant Jordi website, the Catalan version of the familiar story goes like this:

"Once upon a time, a terrible dragon terrorised the inhabitants of a small village in Catalonia called Montblanc. The dragon wrecked havoc among the population and devoured the animals put out to pasture until there were none left. To calm the dragon's anger, the inhabitants of the village decided to sacrifice one person every day, chosen by drawing lots, and to offer that person to the dragon as a sign of their good will. "However, one, dark day, the person chosen to be sacrificed was the king's daughter. Just when she was about to be swallowed up by the dragon, a courageous knight appeared and confronted the evil beast. This was Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan). He thrust his lance into the dragon and, out of the blood that spurted forth, there grew a red rose bush. Since then, it has been the custom in Catalonia to present a rose to your loved one. Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia, as well as England and other countries, became the symbol of Catalonia during the Renaixença, a nineteenth century political and cultural movement that sought to reclaim the symbols of Catalan identity."

The original celebration called for people, especially men, to give a red rose, wrapped with a stalk of wheat and tied with a little red and yellow "senyera", the symbol of four red stripes on a golden background, which is the Catalonian flag along with the message “t'estimo," - “I love you” in Catalan to their loved ones on St. Jordi day.  In 1923, the practice began of women giving a book to the men in their lives was added.  Interestingly, this Catalan practice inspired UNESCO’s World Book Day. 

We had to get the kids all white clothes to wear today, right down to their shoes.  Some wise person had the kindergarten parents send in a bag with their kids’ white clothes earlier in the week.  If Milo had gone to school in his white outfit, it would have been black by noon.  I swear he gets the Dirtiest Kid award every day (he claims that his friend Jonas always comes in second place).  One day Milo’s teacher told me I should star in one of those laundry detergent commercials in which the exasperated mother of Dirty Boy finds the Miracle Product, and happiness and peace are restored to the household.  The only problem, I told Miss Margarita, is that I have not found the Miracle Product, nor have I spent much time trying.  I just stick everything into the washer and hope for the best.

C.C., meanwhile, has been griping about Sant Jordi day for weeks.  Here are her major problems with it:

1.     Sant Jordi kills the dragon, and C.C. loves dragons.  Why would we celebrate a thing like that?

2.     It doesn’t make sense for the boys to get books while the girls only get roses.  C.C. would rather have a book.  I see her point.  Personally, I’d like to have the rose and the book, thank you very much.

3.     The dance they’ve learned is totally stupid.

When Alec picked up the white tennis shoes and white shorts for Milo at Carrefour, he also bought C.C. a white skirt.  My daughter does not wear skirts or dresses.  I did trick her into wearing a jumper at Christmas, but only by telling her it was a Knight’s tunic.  So when I saw that skirt come out of the bag, I had a bad feeling.

This morning whe woke up convinced it would be an awful day—a Friday that would be worse than all of the Mondays combined.  I gave her the choice of the skirt or white pants, and was shocked when she came out dressed in the skirt—a short little number that makes her legs look like stilts.

I arrived at the school at 2 pm, just in time for the festivities to start.  Teachers dressed in white, with yellow and red striped aprons—were grilling butifarra (local sausages), making tomato bread, and selling roses.  Flags were flying and the energy ran high.  The program began with the pre-K and nursery kids, dressed as knights and princesses—and a dragon or two—parading around the patio with their teachers.  A few of them, overcome with stage fright, were bawling, and bolted as soon as they caught sight of their parents.

Milo had to dance with another boy because there were not enough girls.  He towered over his partner, Adrian.  C.C. and her partner remained stone-faced throughout their dance, but they were awfully cute.  When I found her in the crowd afterwards and asked her if she had had fun, she held her thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart and said, “A tiny bit.”

Well, I loved it.  It’s fabulous that the school is teaching the kids about local culture, and you could tell that the Catalan teachers and parents were really proud of the event.  There may not be any Sant Jordi day festivities in your neck of the woods, but do buy your sweetie, or yourself, a book for World Book Day.