The Crane & The Cathedral
Friday, September 29, 2006
Neapolis
This morning I got my first hard hat tour ever, of Neapolis, the new media/technology center in Vilanova. I hadn’t realized quite how big the scope of the center was. It’s going to be the hub for telecommunications in Catalonia—a whole floor for fiberoptics, research, a wifi “zona de chill-out”, training rooms, two sets/studios, etc. etc. Many existing university, community, and government entities will all move their offices there, or at least have space they use. The building is bright, floor to ceiling windows throughout much of it, a bar, maybe even Japanese gardens. It’s going to be pretty spectacular, and have a huge potential. Will be interesting to be here this year and see how it all comes together. 60-70 percent of the funding comes from the E.U., the rest is from the municipality.
Since Neapolis isn't going to be ready until 2007, we also took a look at the multimedia room at the public library, where I’ll probably be leading the first workshop or two. This is more or less your standard computer cluster, and should do the trick. I got to see one of the women I met last year who used to be in charge of senior services, and now is in charge of youth programs. She’s enthusiastic about the workhops, and they’re trying to organize an orientation session for next week. Better work on that powerpoint.
This morning I got my first hard hat tour ever, of Neapolis, the new media/technology center in Vilanova. I hadn’t realized quite how big the scope of the center was. It’s going to be the hub for telecommunications in Catalonia—a whole floor for fiberoptics, research, a wifi “zona de chill-out”, training rooms, two sets/studios, etc. etc. Many existing university, community, and government entities will all move their offices there, or at least have space they use. The building is bright, floor to ceiling windows throughout much of it, a bar, maybe even Japanese gardens. It’s going to be pretty spectacular, and have a huge potential. Will be interesting to be here this year and see how it all comes together. 60-70 percent of the funding comes from the E.U., the rest is from the municipality.
Since Neapolis isn't going to be ready until 2007, we also took a look at the multimedia room at the public library, where I’ll probably be leading the first workshop or two. This is more or less your standard computer cluster, and should do the trick. I got to see one of the women I met last year who used to be in charge of senior services, and now is in charge of youth programs. She’s enthusiastic about the workhops, and they’re trying to organize an orientation session for next week. Better work on that powerpoint.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Settling In-ish
I am now the proud bearer of a Tarragona library card. I have to say, I love public libraries. This one is lovely, spacious and friendly with a decent selection of books in English, loads of DVD’s (including the entire series of Friends from which I abstained), cd’s, and even wireless. Armed with a Saura movie and a few novels, I stopped on the way home for an ant trap for the kitchen. Andrew was just peering over it sadly waving good-bye to the little anties who are invading our trash can. I feel less sad about it.
I’ve also been looking into some sort of exercise routine to complement the natural stairmaster which is Tarragona. Gyms are exorbitant here, but I did see an ad for a pilates class in the cute bookstore café in the plaza near here, and there’s a yoga studio around the corner. Yesterday I went for a long walk along the beach, it’s full of joggers and bikers taking advantage of the only flat area around town.
Wednesday and Saturday mornings are the green market in the plaza just down the street. There were 3-4 stands full of glistening peppers and eggplants, parsley, ripe tomatoes, fresh grapes, etc. Mushroom season is just kicking in and is supposed to be excellent in this part of Spain. Along with alcohol, it’s the cheapest thing we’ve found as well.
Yesterday I spent the entire morning working out some kind of system to get my email to work at my office at the university. Today I spent an hour trying to figure out how to get a phone line and to get my computer to speak Spanish. David and Enric have generously let me use their spare desk, and helped me negotiate ways around the university server. I think we have it figured out, so get your skype on, eh?
I’ve also been looking into some sort of exercise routine to complement the natural stairmaster which is Tarragona. Gyms are exorbitant here, but I did see an ad for a pilates class in the cute bookstore café in the plaza near here, and there’s a yoga studio around the corner. Yesterday I went for a long walk along the beach, it’s full of joggers and bikers taking advantage of the only flat area around town.
Wednesday and Saturday mornings are the green market in the plaza just down the street. There were 3-4 stands full of glistening peppers and eggplants, parsley, ripe tomatoes, fresh grapes, etc. Mushroom season is just kicking in and is supposed to be excellent in this part of Spain. Along with alcohol, it’s the cheapest thing we’ve found as well.
Yesterday I spent the entire morning working out some kind of system to get my email to work at my office at the university. Today I spent an hour trying to figure out how to get a phone line and to get my computer to speak Spanish. David and Enric have generously let me use their spare desk, and helped me negotiate ways around the university server. I think we have it figured out, so get your skype on, eh?
Monday, September 25, 2006
Long overdue
¡Saludos!….this first entry took a while to get here. To get to the paper. To get to the web. So here’s a recount of some of the things I’ve been doing instead of writing….
The arrival: There’s nothing like seeing somebody holding a sign with your name on it after clearing customs. Lucy and Liviu, who fled communist Romania for Germany, then fled arthritic frigid Germany for the Spanish coast, were waiting for us with the brand new roof rack they had built on their SUV just for our oversized duffels. They were picking up their two nephews and a girlfriend who had come in for a few weeks at the beach from Transylvania so we all piled in and drove the 110 kilometers down to La Mora. La Mora is just about 7 km north of Tarragona, a sleepy little beach town where we were perched with killer views exactly a five minute walk and 192 steps down to the bus-stop and a 40-50 minute bus ride we got very used to in the search for apartments…
The housing search: We met David, my research colleague, an hour late the first day we got here. Of course, it took us another two days to realize we were late since somehow all our clocks were set wrong. Oops. After tromping around and seeing a few places in the newer louder neighborhoods he had warned us we probably didn’t want to live in, we met his girlfriend Silvia and had a beer and full moonlight plaza dinner in the area we knew right away we did want to live in! Tarragona’s historic “old town” or casco antiguo, is up on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, it’s bounded by a wall built by the Romans a few centuries BC. As you walk through the narrow streets, you stumble upon Roman ruins around every corner. “Newer” additions, such as the medieval cathedral (15th c.), seminary, and rectory are also in this neighborhood. Actually, this morning we were looking for the human resources department, which is in the rectory, and an older gentleman told me “it’s up where they used to kill the animals and now they kill the students, but it’s really all the same thing, isn’t it? “ I need to find out what that means. The animal part, anyway. Evidently the only way to get an apartment in this part of town is through an agent, so we entered the real estate market, and a few lease snafus later I’m writing from the couch overlooking the city on the kind of street that a car can just barely make it through. David and Silvia, who were a tremendous help throughout the process live just a few blocks away. Sea views from the roof upstairs, a fifteen minute walk down to the beach, four flights of stairs up and down, and a gas stove. What more could I ask for? Make sure to take note of photo of extra bedroom.
The fiestas: Somehow we always seem to land places before Carnival. Tarragona’s ten-day extravaganza culminated this weekend. Key here are the castellers, maybe you’ve seen these? Tradition in Catalonia are human pyramids, up to 7 layers high, but people are actually standing on one another’s shoulders. We saw a rehearsal by chance a few nights ago, there were about 40 people huddled together, and next thing you know they start scrambling up each other. It’s amazingly beautiful and so carefully balanced, they go up and down in pairs or groups so as to counterweight one another. Today four teams each composed themselves in various formations, typically with little girls scampering up to the tippy-top. After creating the “static” pyramids, each group had a procession four people high marching from the steps of the cathedral to city hall a few blocks away. We caught some from the base of the steps, and the last bit from the roof.
The “ferias de Santa Tecla” honor the patron saint of Tarragona. I believe part of her arm is in the cathedral, and every year it is taken out and paraded around for the last day. This year, sadly, the arm procession was cancelled due to rain. Other than arms and pyramids, these ten days are jampacked with street performances (saw some incredible aerial gymnastics) concerts of every type, parades with fire breathing dragons and birds with breasts, and public art. Last night was the closing firework spectacle, among the best I’ve ever seen. Shimmering weeping willows of light over the sea. Another parade with the dragons and goblins and rockets along the rambla. We’re right in the middle of it, so it’s join in or earplugs. We’ve been going back and forth between the two:)
The language: Catalonia (the part of Spain where Tarragona and Barcelona are) is completely bilingual, Spanish and Catalán. But most signs, and most people default to Catalán. The Catalonian government is pretty hip to getting people fluent, so there are free classes all over. I’ve signed up for a few, one in the “ancient auditorium” down the street, and the other at the university. (note, the building where the first set of classes is an incredible example of historical conservation, as are all the public buildings here, built right into the walls and with glass floors to see the original foundation below.) Andrew is starting with Spanish and will probably start Catalán in a few months, unless he goes with Turkish since his classmates randomly are all from Turkey. Some kind of university exchange from here to there. Who would’ve thunk it, there’s a doner kebab stand down the street. I’m not going to get into food in this first entry, but there has been plenty of olive eating and bakeries abound and the liquor store downstairs has kegs of wine that you can bring a jug and get refilled for a euro a liter. Nice.
The project: Amidst the signing of bank contracts in Catalán, figuring out how to get DSL, a residency card, and generally bumbling around trying to get administrative things done before siesta, I did get a chance to have a few meetings about the digital storytelling project I’m going to be working on here. I'll be collaborating with David Domingo, of the University Rovira i Virgili here in Tarragona. David got me a space in his office, which is in the seminary. Since there’s a shortage of monk students, half of the seminary is rented out by the university’s communications department! I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of this yet, but picture an old wide building with a huge courtyard with a little church in it, they built the seminary around the church since they didn’t want to destroy it. A five minute walk from the apartment past the cathedral.
I went to Vilanova y la Geltrú on Wednesday, about 40 minutes north of here, where the bulk of my workshops will be. The local government there is funding the building of a new communications/media center called Neapolis. It’s mostly built, quite impressive from the outside anyway, I need to get a hard hat and a tour next week. It has an auditorium and a huge amount of space, and should be ready in January. The goal is to increase citizen participation in public media production, and we’re going to look at digital stories as a possible model. Like most places in the world that have plunked down computer labs, they explained that typically kids come in to play videogames in existing centers or to chat online with the kid sitting next to them. They’re really interested in getting youth and other marginalized groups to create content for the web, rather than just absorbing it. Nice fit – hence the project. It looks like the first workshop will be in November, and most likely it will be a train the trainer piece to get a group of folks that I can support throughout the year. In the winter there will be a series of thematically based workshops, potentially including immigration, domestic violence, youth, and seniors. All big issues in Spain. I am also going to explore the potential of doing a workshop here in Tarragona this fall, and will probably be teaching a course/workshop at the university in the spring. Maybe even in Catalán
¡Saludos!….this first entry took a while to get here. To get to the paper. To get to the web. So here’s a recount of some of the things I’ve been doing instead of writing….
The arrival: There’s nothing like seeing somebody holding a sign with your name on it after clearing customs. Lucy and Liviu, who fled communist Romania for Germany, then fled arthritic frigid Germany for the Spanish coast, were waiting for us with the brand new roof rack they had built on their SUV just for our oversized duffels. They were picking up their two nephews and a girlfriend who had come in for a few weeks at the beach from Transylvania so we all piled in and drove the 110 kilometers down to La Mora. La Mora is just about 7 km north of Tarragona, a sleepy little beach town where we were perched with killer views exactly a five minute walk and 192 steps down to the bus-stop and a 40-50 minute bus ride we got very used to in the search for apartments…
The housing search: We met David, my research colleague, an hour late the first day we got here. Of course, it took us another two days to realize we were late since somehow all our clocks were set wrong. Oops. After tromping around and seeing a few places in the newer louder neighborhoods he had warned us we probably didn’t want to live in, we met his girlfriend Silvia and had a beer and full moonlight plaza dinner in the area we knew right away we did want to live in! Tarragona’s historic “old town” or casco antiguo, is up on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, it’s bounded by a wall built by the Romans a few centuries BC. As you walk through the narrow streets, you stumble upon Roman ruins around every corner. “Newer” additions, such as the medieval cathedral (15th c.), seminary, and rectory are also in this neighborhood. Actually, this morning we were looking for the human resources department, which is in the rectory, and an older gentleman told me “it’s up where they used to kill the animals and now they kill the students, but it’s really all the same thing, isn’t it? “ I need to find out what that means. The animal part, anyway. Evidently the only way to get an apartment in this part of town is through an agent, so we entered the real estate market, and a few lease snafus later I’m writing from the couch overlooking the city on the kind of street that a car can just barely make it through. David and Silvia, who were a tremendous help throughout the process live just a few blocks away. Sea views from the roof upstairs, a fifteen minute walk down to the beach, four flights of stairs up and down, and a gas stove. What more could I ask for? Make sure to take note of photo of extra bedroom.
The fiestas: Somehow we always seem to land places before Carnival. Tarragona’s ten-day extravaganza culminated this weekend. Key here are the castellers, maybe you’ve seen these? Tradition in Catalonia are human pyramids, up to 7 layers high, but people are actually standing on one another’s shoulders. We saw a rehearsal by chance a few nights ago, there were about 40 people huddled together, and next thing you know they start scrambling up each other. It’s amazingly beautiful and so carefully balanced, they go up and down in pairs or groups so as to counterweight one another. Today four teams each composed themselves in various formations, typically with little girls scampering up to the tippy-top. After creating the “static” pyramids, each group had a procession four people high marching from the steps of the cathedral to city hall a few blocks away. We caught some from the base of the steps, and the last bit from the roof.
The “ferias de Santa Tecla” honor the patron saint of Tarragona. I believe part of her arm is in the cathedral, and every year it is taken out and paraded around for the last day. This year, sadly, the arm procession was cancelled due to rain. Other than arms and pyramids, these ten days are jampacked with street performances (saw some incredible aerial gymnastics) concerts of every type, parades with fire breathing dragons and birds with breasts, and public art. Last night was the closing firework spectacle, among the best I’ve ever seen. Shimmering weeping willows of light over the sea. Another parade with the dragons and goblins and rockets along the rambla. We’re right in the middle of it, so it’s join in or earplugs. We’ve been going back and forth between the two:)
The language: Catalonia (the part of Spain where Tarragona and Barcelona are) is completely bilingual, Spanish and Catalán. But most signs, and most people default to Catalán. The Catalonian government is pretty hip to getting people fluent, so there are free classes all over. I’ve signed up for a few, one in the “ancient auditorium” down the street, and the other at the university. (note, the building where the first set of classes is an incredible example of historical conservation, as are all the public buildings here, built right into the walls and with glass floors to see the original foundation below.) Andrew is starting with Spanish and will probably start Catalán in a few months, unless he goes with Turkish since his classmates randomly are all from Turkey. Some kind of university exchange from here to there. Who would’ve thunk it, there’s a doner kebab stand down the street. I’m not going to get into food in this first entry, but there has been plenty of olive eating and bakeries abound and the liquor store downstairs has kegs of wine that you can bring a jug and get refilled for a euro a liter. Nice.
The project: Amidst the signing of bank contracts in Catalán, figuring out how to get DSL, a residency card, and generally bumbling around trying to get administrative things done before siesta, I did get a chance to have a few meetings about the digital storytelling project I’m going to be working on here. I'll be collaborating with David Domingo, of the University Rovira i Virgili here in Tarragona. David got me a space in his office, which is in the seminary. Since there’s a shortage of monk students, half of the seminary is rented out by the university’s communications department! I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of this yet, but picture an old wide building with a huge courtyard with a little church in it, they built the seminary around the church since they didn’t want to destroy it. A five minute walk from the apartment past the cathedral.
I went to Vilanova y la Geltrú on Wednesday, about 40 minutes north of here, where the bulk of my workshops will be. The local government there is funding the building of a new communications/media center called Neapolis. It’s mostly built, quite impressive from the outside anyway, I need to get a hard hat and a tour next week. It has an auditorium and a huge amount of space, and should be ready in January. The goal is to increase citizen participation in public media production, and we’re going to look at digital stories as a possible model. Like most places in the world that have plunked down computer labs, they explained that typically kids come in to play videogames in existing centers or to chat online with the kid sitting next to them. They’re really interested in getting youth and other marginalized groups to create content for the web, rather than just absorbing it. Nice fit – hence the project. It looks like the first workshop will be in November, and most likely it will be a train the trainer piece to get a group of folks that I can support throughout the year. In the winter there will be a series of thematically based workshops, potentially including immigration, domestic violence, youth, and seniors. All big issues in Spain. I am also going to explore the potential of doing a workshop here in Tarragona this fall, and will probably be teaching a course/workshop at the university in the spring. Maybe even in Catalán
