FC Barca vs FC Mallorca

I cannot put a reason behind it, but since about 9^th grade I’ve always had a thing for FC Barcelona. Me and my friend Tim used to play Fifa 2001 as if we were getting paid for it, and for every game, I made sure that FCB was my team. This was in the day when Pep Guardiola was still a player. I never expected at the time that some day I’d be going to see a game live.

I have always been a fan of futbol, and it intensified as I watched Spain win the World Cup this summer. I became familiar with all of the players and found out that the majority of the players on the Spanish National team also play for FCB. By the time I finally got here, the FCB game with CEA was one of my highest priorities.

The game was scheduled for October 3^rd. They were set to play FC Mallorca. I didn’t know anything about FC Mallorca, however I assumed that because of the size of Mallorca, it’s location in the middle of the Mediterranean, and the fact that CEA was able to buy a hundred tickets to the game, that FCB would have no problem getting the win. Unfortunately I was wrong.

From the moment I stepped into Camp Nou, I couldn’t help but compare the whole experience to sporting events back in Philadelphia. The first difference I realized was the fact that they only served non-alcoholic beer there. I know that back in the states, the pre-game drinking is more important to about 90% of the fans than the actual game is. I really respected the Catalans for having such passion for their team that they didn’t need to get shitfaced before hand. It’s really annoying back home when someone you’re with is too drunk to get into the game and you have to stay out in the parking lot with them. Yea, that happens.

Another interesting thing about the fans at Camp Nou is how they watch the game. Back in the states, fans converse throughout the whole game and get up numerous times to get food. For some, going to a sporting event is nothing more than a social event with a field in the middle. But in Barcelona, once the whistle is blown to start the game, every fan is zoned in on the field. They clap when their team does something good, and they jeer when the ref makes a ‘bad call’. I stood up with about 10 minutes left in the first half and went to get a 4euro hotdog. But I didn’t seen anyone else stand up until it was halftime, then it seemed like the stadium emptied out in minutes. They all came back for the second half though.

My favorite player on the team is Andres Iniesta. He won me over when he scored the game winning goal of the World Cup final. I know that Catalan's were kind of indifferent to the Spanish victory because of their Catalan pride, but I can't help who my favorite player is. The game was very enjoyable. It was one of the number one things I wanted to do while over here, and I was happy to see Messi (the best player in the world) play. Even though they tied, it was still a good night. I hope to get to at least one more game before I depart this lovely city.

El born again virgin

The trip started out the same as the other two. We gathered at the stop light directly outside of the “global campus” and made our way down Via Laietania. This time, however, instead of making a right towards the cathedral, we made a left, into an area I was not as familiar with. We were entering the Born area, with is located on the opposite of Via Laietania from the Cathedral, the Jewish Quarter, and the initial site of Barcino. This area was started by merchants and workers, and became very important to the city structure as time went on.

The first thing that stuck with me from the trip was that each of the different guilds had their own street. For example, the iron workers guild had their own street, as did the wool workers guild. And each street was marked by a tile painting of its respective guild. All of the workers agreed on the price of their product, so that it would be the same in all of the stores. This left no room for competition between store owners. I like this idea because it gave everyone an equal chance to make a living and not have to worry about competing with the other members of the guild. However, it seems like an impossible system because of the natural tendency of a market to follow ‘supply and demand’. I think it could work in a very small system for a short period of time, but in a growing city, eliminating all competition could not last.

It was nice to see that some people still carry on the family tradition and maintain their shops in this part of the city. However, almost all of them are gone and bars, restaurants, and souvenir stores have since moved in. There is still evidence of the old shops though. If you see a store window with little windows going up the building, that is an old shop. The shop would run from the street, and the family and workers would live above. The small open-air windows are the stairwell. It’s a shame how difficult it is to preserve the past, but teaching newer generations about how things were is a good way to preserve the memory of those old ways. There is not much else you can really do.

We made our way through the slender streets towards Santa Maria del Mar. This church was built directly next to the beach in the 14^th century, but since then the beach has been moved out a little bit. It’s a pretty massive looking building in the center of a small square. There are some decorations surrounding the portal, but aside from that it is pretty plain. We were told that the Castilian church built around the same time was covered in decorative elements and gold. The Castilian church was built to show the wealth of the empire at the time, but the Santa Maria del Mar was built by the merchants of the town as a place to worship. They did not need to build anything flashy, just something that was theirs. I like that.

Jew.75

It wasn’t the first time that I had been in the area. But just like every other class trip I have taken so far in Barcelona, I learn more with a teacher than when I go by myself. We made our way alongside the cathedral (which unfortunately, is under heavy construction due to some poorly chosen limestone) and made our first stop in Placa San Jaume. On one side stands the Ajuntament of Barcelona (I believe) which is the center for the Barcelona government. Across the way is the building for the Catalan government. I was a little surprised to see how low key it was outside this building. Back in the states, government buildings are heavily guarded by security and usually have hoards of people walking in, out, and around it. It just seemed weird.

            We left Jaume and headed down the narrow streets of the Jewish quarter. I never really thought about it, but I guess I kind of assumed that the streets were so narrow because the people didn’t really have a need for wide streets at the time, because obviously they didn’t have any cars or things like that to take up space. But the tour guide explained a more reasonable and more obvious reason: the streets are so narrow because in order to fit as many houses within the city walls, they had to build very close to each other. However, living in the city walls came at a price. And when some decided that they didn’t want to pay the taxes to live within the city walls, they began to expand. It was at this point that the city began to grow. The first areas were on the north side of Via Laetiania, and also up on L’exaimple.

            I assume the most common thing written in these journals is about the placa where we saw the kids playing futbol. As we entered the area, I noticed the holes in the wall, but I wasn’t really sure what they were. Then our tour guide told us that it was an area where Franco used to execute people during his reign. It was very eye-opening to think about how many people were murdered in this square at one point, and now there were children playing in it. I’m glad that they holes remained unfilled. It is a good reminder of what Franco did to this city, and the people that died opposing him.

            One thing that I noticed on the walk was the level of disdain that the tour guide had for the new development projects going on in this part of the city. We saw some buildings that have been erected in recent and relatively recent years, and they looked like a sad attempt to fit in. I could tell by his face that the tour guide is deeply bothered by these awful looking buildings. It sucks that ugly modern buildings get erected in areas of such history and architectural beauty, but is there really anything that can be done? Time goes on and things change; maybe in 1800 years the ugly, plain buildings of today will be considered historical beauty. But probably not.

Barcino

We met in front of CEA. It was relatively hot, and I was sure that an oval sweat-stain would appear on my back as a result of my bookbag rubbing against it. Oval sweat-stains on my back seemed to become an everyday occurrence in this city. No matter how far we pushed into September, the heat remained the same. Can’t complain though. Our tour guide twisted up a cigarette as the rest of our class mates made their way to the meeting point, and in a few minutes we were on our way.

The route chosen was down Via Laietani and to the right. Via Laietani shot straight through the city from the beach. If the city were to get open-heart surgery, Via Laietani would be the incision. To this point, I had only been down this way to a certain place: Bar Ski. It was a place that I found one day between classes to have a plate of ‘bravas’ and a beer. We passed Bar Ski and made a right towards The Cathedral of Saint Eulaila. The massive gothic cathedral cannot be missed from the street, mainly because of the insane amount of scaffolding covering it like a blanket. The cathedral sits between the remains of the Roman walls of Barcino, which are the only ancient structures to survive.

Our first stop was a quick pop-in on the three columns from the Temple of Augustus. Luckily for present-day Barcelona, when so many other buildings were disassembled to recycle the materials, these columns were left intact. At first glance, the columns appear to be exactly what they are: stone columns. But after a few seconds I thought about how old these things really were. And how many people have been in the same spot that I was looking at them. And how so much has happened in this city over the past 2000 years, yet they still stand. Kind of amazing.

We then went to visit the underground ancient Roman city of Barcino. Barcino is Barcelona in the present day. Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya. However, it was not always the biggest city in the area. It was built between the already established cities of Emporium to the North and Taraco to the South. Barcino was formed in a pocket, between two rivers on each side, mountains behind and the sea in front. It seems it was destiny for this city to flourish. The first thought that went through my head when I got down into Barcino was how uncomfortable it looked. They carved their houses out of stone, which cannot be the most comfortable way to live. However, I was amazed to discover some of the advancements these people had almost 2000 years ago.

First, they had system of storing wine in ceramic orbs in the ground. Apparently the love of wine has not burnt out over the years, for it is still a very much adored aspect of culture today in this area. Second, they used of garum to keep fish fresh and edible. Third, they used urine as bleach to get stains out of clothing. Finally, and most important, the Romans are historically known as skilled engineers. They were able to develop a sewage system that would allow them to get rid of dirty water and bring in clean water. Without this aspect, cities would have never been able to evolve as they did.

The trip eventually ended, and my classmates disbursed, but I hung around for a little. I walked around the area to site-see a little bit more. Because of what I learned about Barcino, I was able to see the city in a different way than I did before. And as each day goes by and I learn more about the city and where it came from, everything has begun to make a lot more sense to me.

Piles of People and Chasers with Fire

The weekend was only a few days away. My plans to go to Valencia had fallen through because the girls me and my roommate were going to go with aren’t too reliable. They were American. I remembered seeing on my CEA calendar of events that there was a bank holiday on Friday (the 24^th of September) called La Merce. With plans for the weekend hanging in the balance, I went to the internet to do a little research.

La Merce was started in 1871 as a Roman Catholic holiday to honor the feast day of Our Lady of Mercy. I learned that it was the biggest of the festivals that Barcelona holds each year; a giant street party from Wednesday-Sunday night. The festival was composed of two main cultural components: correfuc and castellars; and on the last night there was to be a firework show on Montjuic. I soon forgot about my broken plans for Valencia and began to get excited for the coming weekend.

The correfuc was the first event that I went to. I was told by one of my teachers to wear thick, cotton clothing and some kind of head gear. My art teacher even told us that when she was younger, she and her friends would douse themselves with water and run to and from the blazing creations. I decided against wearing heaving clothes and dousing myself with water, but I did go to see what the correfuc was all about. It turned out to be a little more than I expected. There were drummers pounding beats as sparks and flames spit out of the man-made creatures. I was amazed at some of the little kids that were right in the action, but I didn’t see anybody get hurt.

The next morning, my roommate and I woke up extra early (11am) to go see the Castellars in Placa San Jaume. We got there about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to start, so the square was packed with people. Somehow we were able to mosey our way through the crowd and get a good look at what was going on. I had seen a video of them in one of my classes, but I knew that seeing it in person would be ten-times better. Each team made their way to the area of the square right below the mayor’s balcony. We watched all of the teams assemble their castles successfully, with the little child climbing to the top and raising his hand. It must take months and years of practice, not to mention tremendous strength to stack people up like that. I thought about how hard these people must have to work in order to pull this off. You don’t see that kind of devotion to culture back in the states.

Finally, to cap off the weekend, me and a few friends went to the firework show at Montjuic. It was by far the best fireworks show that I’ve ever seen. It lasted about 40 minutes, while playing a lot of British and American pop songs that I was very familiar with. Plus the fountain changing colors in front of the beautiful museum added to the aesthetics. I swear it seemed like the entire city of Barcelona was crammed into Placa Espanya that night. Again, it was cool to see how important culture still is over here. In the US, we have our holidays, but they usually revolve around something commercial or getting really drunk. Perhaps after living over here for my time, I will try to concentrate on my culture a little more when the opportunities arise.