Learning 'autonomy'

For a couple of years I've been wanting to attend this seminar in Barcelona--and the draw was mostly the seminar, with the city being the perk. I finally received funding to attend this year and as I sit in a train station, class finished and taking a couple days to myself, my mind feels ready to explode with the weight of my attendance.

This is where I went to class

The seminar was many things--not quite what I expected, but also, at the same time, more than I anticipated. I think I made some good connections and I have a lot to think about going into my dissertation writing.

The travel itself was both exciting and daunting. I feel as though all I have been doing since November of last year has been traveling. (I set a record for days home the week before I left for Spain--8 days in a row!) I'll have another week at home and then I'm off to Chiapas again for one last reconnaissance research trip. So yes, travel, lots of it. I feel a bit fatigued. But also very rewarded, because I get to be present in all of these really fabulous places and meet new folks and so on.

My only experience with Europe prior to this past month was the UK, which in my memory feels very different than Spain. In fact,

Furnicular

Spain reminds me more of Mexico than either my experience or my imaginary of Europe. I like using the Euro and I love the underground and the other myriad forms of transportation available--in the past two weeks I have been on the metro, the light rail (yes they are different), high speed train, furnicular, cable car, taxi, bus, and my own two feet. And I have to admit I walked whenever it was feasible distance-wise--and more than I meant to due to my awesome navigation skills (more than once I wandered some miles because I took a right instead of a left--I am a brilliant geographer).

My class was at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in a less-touristy neighborhood, which was really nice. Anytime I went to a more touristy venue I started to feel claustrophobic.

Because my visit was only punctuated by short ventures out, there's not the same storytelling to be done. I did take some photos (over here on flickr) and the ones in this post are just a few of my favorites. It was almost impossible to not take too many photos of the rocks in Montserrat and the cathedrals in Valencia--every time I thought I had captured them I saw something new (er...this means, lots of pictures of rocks/bricks and mountains unfortunately)...

I started to compartmentalize things that I liked and didn't about being here.

Un cafe = espresso

Some of my favorite things were:

• espresso to go
• the buildings - mostly just that no matter where you turned there was something fabulous to look at
• the food (meat, cheese, bread, wine...repeat). I had to take myself to the mercado and get some vegetables to feel normal again.
• the transportation (as I've already extolled above) -- also, being whisked through the suburbs, which randomly have 15th century cathedrals or other century castles just hanging out in the general area...

Things I was less enamored by (or at minimum amused by):

Available in cans too...

• dog shit, everywhere. In a city where the majority of green space is defined by trees poking out of patio there's no where to go...
• fashion, there's a whole new level in Barcelona, I felt like a hiker amongst ballroom dancers--also the baring of bras I'm not a prude, but it took a little getting used to
• finding out the hard way that 'clara' translates to 'shandy' and not to 'lager' (as it does in Mexico)
• Catalan. Seriously, I thought I would have a rough time keeping up with Castilian and instead I was faced with not knowing Catalan--oh well.
• getting lost was really easy for me and not nearly as fun as when you're with someone else (read: Joe) 
• Also, when they take all the other place-settings away, which I realize is not necessarily a thing here in particular, but just made my individual travel all that much more visible to me.

  

  single-serving again

I'm finishing this post in a hotel bar near the airport and I feel relieved to be traveling tomorrow.

One last round of tapas and ridiculously cheap and delicious wine. Bed. 3 planes. I arrive the same day I leave, just barely (with 9 hours difference). My major goal this week is to recover from jet lag before I get it again.