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Got up early to finish my Spanish homework, which involved walking around Las Ramblas at 9am. Fun. My Spanish class went a lot better today - I felt more comfortable and even answered some questions! I also realized that the people in my class aren't as good as I thought. We had to do a group thing and the girl who was next to me was recording our group work and she kept kind of rolling her eyes if I didn't know an easy word, but then later I had to read to the class what she wrote and I kept having to correct it as I went because she was mixing up "usted" and "tu" and the teacher could tell she wrote it wrong and that I knew the difference and told the girl she needed to fix it. I could tell she felt that one. Ha.
So here's a story: I was in the elevator and there were two young British guys in there talking... it went a little something like this: "My flatmate wants me to get him a job here." "Really? Isn't he American? They won't hire him." "Yeah but I think he could do it." "A Yankee? Really?" At that point I just kind of laughed and they looked at me so I kind of said, "Umm... I'm American..." So they were embarassed and apologized and tried to explain that they didn't mean it "like that" because the guy would have to talk to clients, who wouldn't want to hear an American accent - you know, I understand where it comes from, but honestly. Would you ever hear an American in an elevator in public say "I don't think they'll hire that Mexican, he has an accent." No. Hell no. Why do people think it's okay to trash-talk Americans? I mean, I know why they do it, but why is everyone so okay with it? News to my international friends: It's not okay!! Especially when you have American friends. Discussions, fine, but generalizations, no thank you. If you want us to leave our stereotypes at home, then please do the same.
Whew, sorry. Okay, next I went to La Sagrada Familia, an enormous basilica designed by Gaudi that is so intricate it has been in-process, being built, for over 120 years and will continue for somewhere between 30 and 50 years until it is finally finished. Gaudi died in 1926 and he is burried in the building itself. From an artist's perspective, it is almost impossible to comprehend: to be burried in your own work of art which has continued towards completion years after your death and through multiple generations... Wow. It was easily the best single "place" I have ever been. I didn't think I would like going into an unfinished building, but to see this beautiful architecture rising from creation right in front of you, to be able to see it again in 50 years finished and say "I saw them build that" - that is an experience. Artists: Come to Barcelona, even if it's just to see this.
I don't know if everyone has that reaction - of course, I love Gaudi. He draws so much inspiration from nature and works in this Neo-Gothic style that combines elements of predictable geometry with the irregularity of nature. Ahh. I could go on, but you really have to see it to understand. So good!
After that I went to meet my friends for the IES walking tour of Barcelona, which me and my friend Jen promptly separated from when we saw a good sale. We have four months to see Barcelona; rebaixes end in a couple weeks. We also got some good tapas while we were out. It's so so so so nice to finally have someone who I can really experience the city with. Mom was right - I just had to be patient!
So here's a story: I was in the elevator and there were two young British guys in there talking... it went a little something like this: "My flatmate wants me to get him a job here." "Really? Isn't he American? They won't hire him." "Yeah but I think he could do it." "A Yankee? Really?" At that point I just kind of laughed and they looked at me so I kind of said, "Umm... I'm American..." So they were embarassed and apologized and tried to explain that they didn't mean it "like that" because the guy would have to talk to clients, who wouldn't want to hear an American accent - you know, I understand where it comes from, but honestly. Would you ever hear an American in an elevator in public say "I don't think they'll hire that Mexican, he has an accent." No. Hell no. Why do people think it's okay to trash-talk Americans? I mean, I know why they do it, but why is everyone so okay with it? News to my international friends: It's not okay!! Especially when you have American friends. Discussions, fine, but generalizations, no thank you. If you want us to leave our stereotypes at home, then please do the same.
Whew, sorry. Okay, next I went to La Sagrada Familia, an enormous basilica designed by Gaudi that is so intricate it has been in-process, being built, for over 120 years and will continue for somewhere between 30 and 50 years until it is finally finished. Gaudi died in 1926 and he is burried in the building itself. From an artist's perspective, it is almost impossible to comprehend: to be burried in your own work of art which has continued towards completion years after your death and through multiple generations... Wow. It was easily the best single "place" I have ever been. I didn't think I would like going into an unfinished building, but to see this beautiful architecture rising from creation right in front of you, to be able to see it again in 50 years finished and say "I saw them build that" - that is an experience. Artists: Come to Barcelona, even if it's just to see this.
I don't know if everyone has that reaction - of course, I love Gaudi. He draws so much inspiration from nature and works in this Neo-Gothic style that combines elements of predictable geometry with the irregularity of nature. Ahh. I could go on, but you really have to see it to understand. So good!
After that I went to meet my friends for the IES walking tour of Barcelona, which me and my friend Jen promptly separated from when we saw a good sale. We have four months to see Barcelona; rebaixes end in a couple weeks. We also got some good tapas while we were out. It's so so so so nice to finally have someone who I can really experience the city with. Mom was right - I just had to be patient!
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