Neighborhood Project: Navas

             The neighborhood project that was assigned at the beginning of the semester seemed like an easy one. You find some cool stuff in your neighborhood, take some pictures, talk to some locals, and then tell the class about it. But when it came time do actually doing the project, it wasn’t exactly so simple.

            The neighborhood I live in is called Navas. It is part of the Sant Andreu district, located in the northeastern sector of Barcelona. I hadn’t heard of too many big attractions in my neighborhood, but I was sure that I could find a few. One day after class I decided to take a stroll around and find them. I turned on my ipod, grabbed my camera, and began to walk. I had the borders of the neighborhood mapped out so that I would be sure to cover every block. I first went to the library and town hall, because these were two places I was told I had to go. But after that, I didn’t really see much that I thought would be worth presenting to the class. Of course all of the places were special in their own way to the people of the neighborhood, but nothing so significant that I made them stick out. I got back to my apartment after a two and half hour walk and didn’t really have too much to report. A couple pictures here and there of monuments, but nothing too special.

            I was beginning to feel a little worried about the project. I had seen other groups present and they had well known things in their neighborhood like Barcelonetta or the royal palace, but I didn’t have anything like that. I procrastinated a little bit over the next few weeks, and as the presentation deadline came closer, I was still unsure of what I was going to do. I collected a good amount of research online and through talking to people I had met in the neighborhood that gave me enough to talk about, but I didn’t know if it would be enough to keep the attention of the class or the entire presentation.

            About a week before my presentation, I felt it was time to start organizing everything that I had collected over the weeks since the assignment was given. I then decided that although my neighborhood did not have exceptionally interesting monuments such as Sagrada Familia or Ramblas, I still had plenty to report. This place had become my home, and all I had to do was to explain all of the little spots of the neighborhood that were significant to me. I talked about how it was quiet where I live, a slow, relaxed life; but at the same time, we had everything we needed. We had a bread store, a fruit store, a grocery store, and a coffee shop where I could go to unwind. Rather than present my neighborhood as a tourist book would, I presented it as a local. And although it is rather small, I would not rather live anywhere else.