Progress

"When I was a girl, I used to have to go the square and get water for our home,"The 86-year old woman writer spoke to the crowd gathered at the Argeles movie theatre to see a documentary, Quatres Femmes des Roussilion, a documentary filmed over thirty years before. Four women, including this writer who was already a teacher spoke of their individual lives as a shepherd, a driver of a car that took local children down the mountain to school, a young Parisian that wanted a simple life living off the land, a farmer and the women before us who participated in the project. All lived in the mountains in tiny villages. Their lives were hard, but there was a contentment. All had a thick Catalan accent and sometimes it was hard to follow what they were saying.

This event was just once of the many activities, most free, that are the result of community organization in the town. There are movies, forums and buffet for International Woman's Day. There is a class in calligraphy. The last parade of the Carnival will kick off at 21:00 to be followed by a ball.

The woman talked about her life as a teacher and writer. She had been offered payment by the mairie to come, but she refused saying she had enough money, she was just happy to share with others.

"Although I stand before you looking old, my head is as young as in the film," she said before launching into the importance of saving the planet, community sharing, etc. Then she mentioned progress. "When I was a young girl, I used to go to the fountain in the square to get water for my home. Now I go to the supermarket and see people carry bottle weather even though the water in our homes are certified as good drinking water. They add to the pollution of the planet with the plastic bottles, and spend money they don't need to spend. This is progress." Her eyes sparkled as the crowd applauded madly.