Epilogue: The End to one of the Best Chapters of my Life (so far!)

I thought about hundreds of stories or memories that I could share from this semester but none of them sum up the experience that I have been lucky enough to have and share with friends over the last four months. Words probably aren't a very adequate way of describing my adventures traveling across Europe and learning the very nooks and crannies of Barcelona so rather this is a very brief reflection on my time here! I would say my capabilities, interests, and personality was stretched to the limits this semester from extremes such as skiing in the Swiss alps to something as simple as being pushed in my photography class to take unique photographs that wouldn't be found plastered on a postcard. I traveled to six different countries if you include Spain and in doing so learned more about myself and the world than I could have imagined. Friends appeared in my life in each country whether they were old friends from home or new acquaintances such as the ones from Australia I met and still stay in contact with today from Lagos. I learned that I like testing myself, I love traveling and exploring, and finally that much to my parents dismay I am actually completely capable of doing almost everything and anything for myself. With this new-found independence however I have also learned the insignificance of distance in relationships both with family and friends. Yes, I am thousands away from most of my best friends but I have also spoken to them every single week and still know what color their dress was from our last sorority formal and other silly anecdotes like that. As far as family goes I can't say I am surprised that I still have the urge to skype with them for hours every day and when my family experienced two huge losses within the last two weeks of my time here I can honestly say I've almost never felt closer to them. Even though they're across the ocean all of their support and love extends all the way to my little apartment in Barcelona. To say the least, I feel as if I have been living in a dream world and have spent many hours reminiscing on how much I will miss this lively city that I have come to call home. On second thought however, I have realized everything from my experiences that I am taking back to my real home with me and that puts a smile on my face. I am no longer sad to be leaving Barcelona but purely thankful for everything the city has given me and excited for what is to come in my next chapter!

Adios!

Liz Romanczuk

El Raval & Medieval Barcelona, April 14th 2011

Unfortunately I had to miss this field trip because I planned a flight leaving on this day but I still wanted to include it in my blog so I'll cover a little bit of the information we discussed in class about El Raval. This neighborhood was known and famous for it's high rates of crime and prostitution. There was a huge debate over whether to privately or publicly reconstruct the area to try and lessen both the crime and prostitution so they settled on redoing the North publicly and the South privately. I think that this is a great concept and an interesting way to experiment with the best way to restructure. This area now holds many landmarks of the city of Barcelona. In the North there is UB University which I really like and seems like a pretty place to attend classes.

http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0024774

 Also, the area surrounding the University seems devoid of the negative aspects that used to dominate El Raval. When I was around the university I noticed mostly students our age grabbing food or coffee, lots of skateboarders, or other individuals who did not seem set on crime or prostitution. As Xavi discussed in class bringing in this public university makes people from all over have to come to this area thus making these other types of individuals feel more uncomfortable in their previous "stomping grounds". The north also holds the MACBA museum, the Modern Art Museum of Barcelona, the Boqueria market, and CCCB, the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona.
I have become absolutely obsessed with the Boqueria since coming here choosing to make trips there whenever possible in order to pick up ingredients for my dinners. Here are some personal pictures from the market.

Finally the Southern area of Raval was redone privately adding lots of hotels and nice restaurants to attract tourists and to disperse the crime and prostitution. The main attractions from this are the Hotel Barcelo as well as the Rambla del Raval. Behind the Hotel Barcelo used to me the highest rate of prostitution. I have never visited this area unfortunately so I do not know how much it has changed but I know that the North has changed a lot!

Japan in Crisis:March 11, 2011

The global news story that I chose to write about was the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami because I believe it was one of the biggest global events during the semester that we have been in Barcelona. Estimates of the costs of the damages incurred by the earthquake and tsunami place this tragedy as having the possibility of becoming the most costly natural disaster in history.
By the beginning of the following week officials had accounted for:

• 3,400 deaths
• 7,000 missing
• 500,000 in shelters due to damage to their homes

This tragedy reminded many people in American as well as individuals around the globe of the crisis that was Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as support and aide rushes to assist in the recovering of Japan. These events in Japan also bring about large problems because of the nuclear plants. I believe that this was an important to topic to touch on and discuss in my blog because of its significance and impact across the globe. It is always interesting to see the actions that the rest of the globe takes when another country is in crisis. Also, it has been interesting to see the coverage of these events in all of the newspapers in Barcelona where they truly do censor less in their photographs than what would be seen in the United States. I also find this event of importance as it's effects transferred to the United States as well showing truly its global effects. I remember right after it occurred a friend of mine in Barcelona talking to her sister who had a good friend that was in Japan for work. Fear pumped through her families body as they waited to hear from her and determine if she would make it back to the United States safely. Luckily she was completely safe and met no harm and now is safely home! I will be curious to watch what happens with this crisis in the future and to see the nuclear as well as natural effects of this tragedy.

April 27th, Salgo Denies Funding to Madrid, Catalonia, Murcie, and Balearic Islands

For my final local news story I decided to make sure to use one which I could only find in Spanish so that I got the true experience of trying to read it and decipher what was happening in the article and thus in the local news from it. With this article the Vice President and Minister of the Economy and State, Elena Salgado rejected to provide Madrid, Catalonia, Murcie, and the Balearic Islands with a fund of competitiveness. The problem with this decision is that these areas felt as if they had been assured this compensation and had now been cheated out of this funding. The government stated "legal reasons" as well as not wanting to break their allotted spending ceiling as reasons for not granting this fund. The government also ensures that Catalonia specifically has already received more than 11,000 million euros under the new funding system. This system was created and planned in order to re-balance a number of these communities and get them on the right track monetary wise. I selected this local news story because at home I am a Finance & Economic Consulting major so this is the type of story that I would typically study and the information that I follow in the United States for my classes. In class typically we would discuss this article and speculate on what would happen as a result of this financial decision. Reflecting on this article has made me realize how much I have grown in regards to cultural and other areas of knowledge not related to finance or economics. Here in Barcelona I have had the opportunity to study Photography, History, Architecture and Painting, and Communication and all of those topics has diversified me a lot as a student and in general as an individual. I am so very lucky that I got to experience this diversification in Barcelona of all places!

Hobby #3 Running

Treadmill, elliptical, weights, abs....all of these were typical of my trips to the gym at home. I have always loved working out but normally I shy away from long grueling runs up and down hills in the heat or cold of the Indiana weather outside and head for the gym whether at school or at home. Here the price tag on a gym membership was out of the question and I at first timidly pondered the idea of picking up my running shoes and exploring the city on a jog. After a couple weeks of bocadillos and tapas I needed no more convinced it was time to hit the pavement. I ran to wherever looked interesting or picked a building in the distance that I wanted to see up close and ran there, really wherever my twist and turns took me. The first few times I found myself in areas I had never seen or visited before and maybe took an hour to find my way back home but it became not only a great form of exercise but also a great way to explore the city and my surroundings. Finally one day I decided to check out the accommodations for running on the beach and after a short fifteen minute jog had reached the beach and discovered an entirely new expanse for my new hobby. A wide expanse hugged the coastline dotted with pedestrians, bikers, roller-bladers and allowed for running by restaurants, clubs, cafes and best of all miles and miles of the vast blue Mediterranean.

 I could officially say I was hooked. It is hard for me to tell if this hobby will continue when I return to the states but I know that it is something I have explicitly enjoyed during my time in Barcelona. My thoughts and mind sort of tunes out as I listen to the playlists on my Ipod and soak in the views, maybe I am a runner at heart and just had yet to find the perfect place to let loose. All I know is that I hope I continue this new hobby and have already signed up for a half marathon in Chicago at the end of the summer....let the training begin!

The Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter is a very interesting section of the city as it was the center of Jewish life in the 13th century. Today this quarter houses the main synagogue in Barcelona which almost went unnoticed never to be discovered but luckily was found in the end of the 20th century and restored. This was an important discovery as the synagogue is the largest in Europe and also because there are Roman ruins of their city wall underneath the synagogue as well. The entire area has faint remnants of the Jewish culture and era that once inhabited those streets. Unfortunately the few pictures that I had from the field trip were lost when my memory card was damaged so I discovered some from the internet and have included the links to them as well.

 Here is a picture inside the synagogue on the left and on the right a visitor looking underneath the glass floor at the city walls:

 http://htprivatetravel.com/ht/jewish_heritage/barcelona.php

I found it useful to look at where we took our field trip on a map in order to better identify exactly where the synagogue is too in comparison to my known landmarks:

*Compliments of Google Maps*

I thought this field trip was interesting as this section of the city seems to be pretty consistent with how it may have been in years past as if not much has changed. I liked the quaint-ness of the area and have found information about the synagogue and history of the Judaism in Barcelona very interesting!

April 27th, 2011 Victory for FC Barca

Yes, on the eve of our blog being due I still was in need of another local news story and what a better night to need one than on such a huge victory for FC Barcelona. Just an hour after the end of the game El Periodico already has a rather large photograph of Messi in celebration after one of his goals as the main item on its website's home page. The headline reads "El Barca habla en el campo con dos goles de Messi (0-2)." This was a huge game as Barca clutched a 2-0 win over Madrid in this semifinal Champions League match. This was also a huge game for Messi beyond scoring the sole two goals of the game it also marked him becoming the third highest scorer ever for Barca at the ripe age of twenty-three. I picked this local news story because as I have lived in Barcelona over the last four months I have truly become a fan of futbol and especially the FC Barcelona team, and I mean really how could you not? Barcelona has changed me from an avid anti-soccer fan in America to a futbol jersey wearing avid supporter of all of Barca's games even interrupting out spring break to watch the games at small pubs in the Canaries. Also whether a converted fan, or not a fan at all it is impossible to not notice the vast influence that futbol has on the culture in Barcelona. As the semester winds to a close my friends parents have started showing up in the city to visit and travel some before leaving back to the United States and tonight I went out to dinner with a friend and her parents. As we enjoyed a fine Catalan meal the employees all served our food and then hustled back to huddle around a small T.V. in the front of the restaurant and happily reported scores when we questioned about them. After learning of the victory from our server we saw the effects in the streets of the city as I headed to take the metro back home. Fans clad in Barca attire roamed the streets, bars were cleaning up from the celebrations after the victory, and cars were honking like crazy to what sounded like fireworks being shot off in the distance. I love the enthusiasm that Spain has for their futbol and thought that it has affected most all of our experiences here over the last four months that it was an appropriate topic!