I took a trip to Costa Brava this past weekend, and I have gained so much insight from it. But first:
I have been busy with classes. Henceforth, why it has been a week since I have posted. The classes I am taking are really sucking up what little academic motivation I have left from initiating my capstone. Observations seem to not suffice for what I am learning here in Catalonia. My classes have been going quite well, and I am liking them more everyday. I recently completed some homework for them, which took me on a completely different route then I would have probably taken at Warren Wilson. I had to work with real life concepts of economical productivity, exports and imports, welfare, and manufacturing, and remember a completely different list of terms that I will probably never use at Wilson. I am working with algebraic equations and graphs that show real life situations, and how to prove them using numbers. What a life an economist must have.
My international business class is still not what I thought it was going to be, but I am modifying it to fit my needs and wants for my studies. Once again, there are terms and processes I have never used, and gives me an entirely different prospective on globalization, and the businesses that participate in globalization. We research many different countries for right now, and we will probably move onto companies later on in the semester. I really appreciate my professor's dedication to showing how important culture is in international transactions, and how important it is to keep in mind for doing any kind of business abroad.
As for my individual studies, this is a third realm I need to work on, and organize some of my thoughts in. Catalonia is simply a wonderful place, and brings to mind so many questions and so few answers. I say Catalonia, because I believe that is where I am, not exactly Spain. A friend and I had a conversation today in class about how she wanted to go see "the real Spain". I replied with "What exactly is the 'real Spain'"? Spain is made up of many autonomous communities. Catalonia is one of them, along with Valencia to the south, which also speaks Catalan, along with the many other areas of Galacia, and Basque Country, to name a few, which both have the Galacian and Basque languages, respectively.
So what is Spain? Is it just an assembly of autonomous regions? And why are they not their own countries? It seems like they would all be good being their own countries, but is that too much? How have they stayed together for so long? I will continue to research these, and try to find an answer, and see how identity has played a role in the history of the regions.
As for immigration... I plan on trying to see why and how people think about living in Barcelona, see when and why they moved here, and I am going to try to travel out to examine more of Spain and its rural communities. I completely fell in love with the Catalonia countryside this weekend when we went to Costa Brava. I'm not sure why, maybe it reminded me of home, or maybe it was just something I prefer to the bustle and congestion of the big city?
What do other people think? Do they like urban living, especially in Barcelona? Or do they like rural areas where there are little tourists and calm lifestyles? I think I'm going to start by trying to ask the bakery lady downstairs. She and I have started to get to know each other, in Spainsh, so maybe I'll be a little adventurous and go out on a limb. Who knows what I'll find?
-Nick Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment