It was the best of times...

I've just seen a much acclaimed film called 'Babel' and it has left me with many random thoughts.The Bible's 'Tower of Babel' was a place where all nations spoke the same language, and so all countries, all cultures, understood one another.But once they all divided into separate entities there was 'confusion'.And we today think of 'Babel' as meaning just that: confusion.This film was made in a bewildering array of different countries: Morocco, Japan, the USA and Mexico.It was written by a Mexican, Guillermo Arriaga, and directed by the Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu.In the film the people shown spoke different languages and had entirely different everyday lives. They were each living in their own cultures and these were in seemingly parallel different epochs.

What has all this to do with us in Catalonia? Well, I think “How lucky, how extraordinarily lucky we are, who live here!” Why?Because we live in both 'modern' and 'medieval' times.

Modern, because we have all the accoutrements of technical advance and living standards – instant communication throughout the world, with the internet, emails, and Whatsapps, etc.

“Yes”, you readers might respond “but medieval? Never!”Dear reader, I live close to an area that has a Camí Real that saw medieval trading, Napoleonic soldiers in their advance from France into Spain, the Spanish Civil War and the attics and cellars where Catalan priests, and young men had to hide. And this pattern is still alive all over Catalonia with13th centrury farm houses, some lived in and thriving , some in ruins, but an integral part of our experience.We have the great good fortune of living in the medieval and modern worlds!