LiftPort Staff Blog

The edited (much shorter) version of this post is here: http://twurl.nl/4zuun5  The Discovery Channel blog

has a hard limit of about 600-800 words.  As some of you know, I’d rather write essays, than news-pieces, so I tend to run very long.  While I am glad DCB is covering my stuff, Iike my original versions better.  They are more ‘my voice’.  So here is the painful  and excruciatingly, detailed and rich version.  (Comments appreciated (also comment on DCB site, if relevant.  Thanks. PS the beginning of this story starts here: http://twurl.nl/omfjff)

First impressions of Barcelona

Advice to anyone traveling to another country, especially if the trip involves a stay of almost 3 months… learn the freak’n language.  Learn something, anything.  I got lost the moment I left the airport. I’d like to say that the cabbie drove in the wrong direction, but I have no doubt that he was trying his best to be helpful, and it was the ‘stupido americano’ that caused the problem.  I would like to be able to blame the taxi driver, for getting lost and driving in completely the opposite direction than I wanted to go, but that blame isn’t fair.

So, $70, 12 hours and a different taxicab later (after complete exhaustion kicks in, I finally direct him to a hotel – any hotel – and sleep) I arrive at my correct destination.  I will live in this dorm for about 5 weeks, until mid-terms. Note to ISU summer session planners:  while it is important to have the information packet contain the destination of the place we are staying in English (because the full course is taught in English), it would also be helpful to have taxi directions in the native language of the host country.  I will try hard to pick up some of the language.  In my head I’ve got the typical words most Americans know, but giving directions in Spanish is completely beyond me.

As soon as I arrive, I am greeted by people that I had corresponded with.  Halit is in charge of logistics and Rafael worked with me as I gathered up my funds and paid tuition.  Both jumped through some hoops on my behalf, and it was nice to meet them face to face, the moment I arrived.  I thanked them for the extra effort they made for me.  It wasn’t any big deal, but it was the kind of ‘customer service’ that I appreciated, and is so rarely rewarded.  So I made sure they knew I was grateful.  They have a rough job – coordinating 120 people from 26 countries, and I am sure that each student has their own issues, problems and dilemmas.  They handled mine with grace and simplicity.

Then it was up to my room, for a much needed shower.  I had gotten one the moment I hit my hotel room last night (after 36 hours of airplanes and airports) I stank.  I had showered that morning, again, before I caught the taxi, but that was hours earlier, and the humidity and temperature warranted another before I subjected myself on to the company of others. I put my stuff away, organized a bit from my suitcases, and then headed down stairs.

There were about 40 students checked in by that time, and some of them were sitting around the lounge.  So, what do you do in that situation?  You dive in, start shaking hands, and asking:  What’s your name?  Where are you from?  What are you studying/working on? Why do you like space?

What was your name again?

Simply put, at this stage, the first few minutes, there are way to many people to remember all their names.  I will try hard to describe some of these people, as I get to know them better.

Then, the first, the adventurous group, decides they are tired of waiting around, and step out toward the front door and the awaiting city.

First, it is beautiful.  No question, everywhere I look, I see heavily peopled footpaths, both ancient and modern sculpture, and I see beautiful women.  Each of these has dangerous curves.  I enjoy the view.

If you want a walking tour of Barcelona, I suggest: (http://www.amazon.com/Top-Barcelona-EYEWITNESS-TRAVEL-GUIDE/dp/0756623901)  If you want my impressions of what my friends are calling “send Mikey to space camp”, and I am calling “my adventures at Star Fleet Academy”, read on.

While I will give a flavor of Barcelona along the way, my main goal is to chronicle my class – the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Barcelona, 2008.

So a small group from my class, about 10 of us, step out to meet the city, and more importantly, to get to know each other.  The crowd morphs, greetings take place. We while away time, together.  Something catches the attention of someone and the crowd morphs again.  At times we head this way, at times, that way.  Sometimes we stop and admire street performers, sometimes we pass, externally oblivious – because we are so caught up in the conversation we are having with a new friend we’ve just met.  That happens when you put 120 very smart, committed and passionate people in the same place at the same time.  Sparks fly; I can’t wait to get in a classroom with these people!

Then it is time to head back, and grab dinner.  It’s cafeteria style, and the food is pretty good.  I aim for a table, and as luck would have it, I sit at the only table in the whole room that does not have an ISU student at it.  Two Spanish girls look at me as if I’ve lost my senses, when I ask to sit down.  They are polite, and accept me.  I sit.  Only then does it occur to me that this is not my class.  They chatter on in a language I don’t know, oblivious to me. I eat my meal.  I am essentially alone in a crowded room.  It’s peculiar.  I glance across the aisle at my classmates getting to know each other.  As soon as I finish my meal, I get up, grab dessert, and head in the right direction… and join in the conversation.

There are 5 people around me one each from: Spain, Ireland, and Israel, and two from Canada.  I can assure you, it is a very strange life, as the “Space Elevator Guy”.  In an environment like this, it is inevitable that most of them have heard of the project (with a strong bias toward anyone that regularly watches/reads English media.  I notice that we have strong ‘market penetration’ in any culture where English is really stressed.  In cultures were it is less important, the Space Elevator has barely connected.  This is an important detail to keep in mind for the future.)  Anyway, in an environment like this, the reactions when I say I am working on the Elevator to Space vary from: “Oh, I’ve heard of that”, to “OH!  I’ve heard you on The Space Show! (Hat tip to Dr. David Livingston! (http://thespaceshow.com/) ).  There are puzzled expressions, and faces that practically scream incredulity – but here, in this setting, the person is too polite to laugh in my face. (That happens some times – wait ‘til I tell you of Professor Tolyarenko’s flying carpet.)  The variety really is entertaining.  I’ve seen all this before, and am expecting it.

Then it is off again, for the informal welcoming session.  All the staff line up, and introduce themselves.  I am surprised and very glad to see Jim Burke there. (More on that later.  I don’t know anyone else.) He has been with ISU / SSP from the very beginning, 20 years now!  He gets a round of applause when he is introduced.  Finally, as a country is called, each student stands, gives their name, and where they were born.  We could have saved a lot of money, collectively, if the class had been held in Montreal, because over 20 are from Canada. I am surprised by this.  There are over a dozen Americans, but I hadn’t met any yet.  This also surprises me, as I thought there would be fewer.  I don’t know why.  When I write about the makeup of the class, I will try to get some details on this.  I think ‘internationalism’ is an important aspect to a program like this, and it is one of the primary reasons I chose this school.

Finally, we are excused around 10, and let loose upon the Barcelona nightlife…  Many of us head back down town to find a drink or two.  I follow along, however I have no intention of making it a late night.  I leave just as soon as the crowd gets to the destination bar/night club.  The moment I get there, I realize “this isn’t my scene”, and head back to the street.  The nightlife on ‘La Rambla’ (at the heart of the touristy part of Barcelona) is “world class people watching”.  Families walking dogs, couples making out, friends ‘fighting’, grampas drinking beer, working girls asking if I want a date (I pass, but they are remarkably attractive and persistent!  Remember the comment, earlier, about women with dangerous curves?  I’ll tell you  more about active pick-pockets later, too… Yikes!)

So then it is time to head home.  The crowd from school is still in the club, and I feel a bit of a gulf between them (average age, 23?) and me at 40.  I USED to go clubbing, and I certainly will while I am here, but not tonight.  Tonight, I want to get my thoughts down on paper, and get to bed.

It’s 2am, and we’ve got a lot to do the next day.

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Written by Michael Laine and posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under 2. Communicate, 3.1. Media / Social, 4 Pillars, 5 C's, International, MJL Personal Comments, Where in the World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.