Eastern Europe

I took two trips to eastern Europe in April, visiting Budapest and Krakow. Both cities were beautiful with lots of historical sights to see. I really liked the use of color in the architecture, such as the lovely multi-colored tile roof of the castle in Budapest. I also enjoyed the liveliness in both cities. There were many people out in the streets, parks and plazas, and there were outdoor concerts and festivals that drew even more people out. I was able to enjoy an evening spa in both cities - one of my favorite ways to relax. Budapest has natural hot springs and so bath houses have been built throughout the city to take advantage of them. I went to a spa with a range of pools of different temperatures as well as several saunas. It was the perfect way to relax after a day of walking around the city. In Krakow I was visiting my friend Anita, another Fulbrighter I met at the conference in Brussels. She has a hot tub and sauna in her apartment building. Anita, Brenna (another friend from the conference), and I spent an evening there relaxing. Overall, I enjoyed both cities and they were both fairly inexpensive - another bonus. I'm very interested to try more traveling around eastern Europe.

Calxotada

I went to my first calxotada! This is a typical Catalan event, usually during the winter months. The one I went to was at the very end of the season. It's basically an excuse to get together with friends and eat a whole lot of food. It's kind of like a barbaque and typically held outdoors, using an outdoor grill. We went to a house in the countryside outside a town called Sabadell. The house had a huge indoor grill, which is good because during the party it started to rain! The first step was to go outside and collect wood for the fire. We then grilled boxes and boxes of calxots! These are kind of like really long, skinny onions. The calxots were cooked over the fire until the outtermost layer burned and turned black. We then layered every surface with newspaper and put bibs on ourselves, since the blackened layer tends to get all over everything! The traditional way to eat the calxots is to hold the bottom and slowly pull the top in order to remove the outside burned layer. The inner, cooked calxot is then dipped in a wonderful orange sauce, dropped into an upward facing mouth, and then pulled out while the teeth scrape off as much sauce and onion as possible. It's really quite entertaining to watch a room full of people with blackened fingers and faces facing upward, eating one calxot after another. We also had blackened artachokes, butifarra and other types of sausage, beer, wine, bread with tomato, etc... I was so full after the entire event but it was definitely an enjoyable and entertaining experience!

Almost Famous!

I guess I should talk a little about my actual work here in Barcelona. Yes, I am working... from time to time. I'm working at a transportation research center called CENIT - Center for Innovation in Transport. My photo is even on the website as proof: http://www.cenit.es/eng/cv_nf_eng.htm. The center has different focuses including public transportation, highways, rail, and ports. I'm working in the public transportation section and hoping to learn ways to make public transportation more efficient and sustainable.

My main project is to develop a model to design an efficient bus network that takes both user and operator costs into consideration. Reducing user costs would basically mean reducing travel time and providing more direct connections. Operator costs include costs to purchase and maintain buses. The model takes as inputs a street network and a demand matrix (passenger origins and destinations) and produces a bus network with bus routes and frequencies as an output. Ultimately it would be possible to enter the current bus network of a city into the model and adjust the network to see if it's possible to serve the same number of passengers more directly but with fewer buses. That is the type of situation in which everyone would benefit. The model is still in the more theoretical phase and not completely applicable yet to a real city. But it's interesting to study and think about where improvements can be made.

However, since the center also works with the regional bus company on projects, I've been able to work on some applied projects as well. For example, the bus company, TMB, wants to improve speeds on a certain bus line. One way to do so could be to apply transit signal priority, in which stop lights are adjusted when a bus is approaching to stay green a few seconds longer in order to let the bus pass. Of course, this means the light in the cross direction remains red a few seconds longer which could adversely affect traffic in that direction. My task was to study the benefits such a system would have for the bus line and the impact on other vehicles in order to give advice on how to best implement such a system. TMB has a monthly magazine and in the March issue they actually wrote an article about some projects our center is working on, including the traffic signal priority project. The article mentions me and there is even a picture of me and some of my coworkers. Check out Hora Punta (which means rush hour in Spanish) number 89, page 9: http://www.tmb.net/es_ES/tmb/queestmb/revistahorapunta.jsp. The article is in Catalan, so if you can't read it, I'll just let you know that it mainly just talks about all the great work I'm doing. ;-)

I've also been able to work on a few other projects, which has been really exciting. Basically I'm trying to learn as much as I can while I'm here and I'm always thinking of ways that these strategies can be applied in other places, like California! With the growing worries about global warming and focus on reduction of carbon emissions, I think improving sustainability of transportation systems is a very important topic. I'm interested in learning anything I can about ways to make it easier for people to use more sustainable forms of transportation (walking, biking, transit) instead of driving cars. And also in how to make the public transportation systems themselves more efficient. There is a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully we can start making the changes that are needed.

EU / NATO Conference

I went to a Fulbright conference in Belgium about a week ago. It was a week long conference for Fulbrighters from throughout Europe to learn about the European Union and NATO. The European Union currently includes 27 countries, 16 of which use the euro. Countries must meet certain criteria in order to join including having a stable decmocracy which respects human rights and a functioning market economy. I like this idea that the European Union attempts to improve the quality of all its member countries, providing a more stable economy and ensuring human rights. But communications can often be difficult due to the sheer number of languages spoken. We were able to see a court session at the European Court of Justice where the lawyers and judges were speaking different languages and interpreters were translating the dialog on the spot into a number of different languages for those listening. The amount of translation that takes place is impressive. In some ways it makes sense to have common regulations, currency, etc. It makes commerce between countries and traveling between countries much easier. But at the same time you are dealing with many different cultures which can differ in their values and goals.

We also visited NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) headquarters in Brussels. This is a collective defense organization which includes the United States and many European countries. At the moment NATO is in charge of the International Security Assistannce Force in Afghanistan, which is their main focus. I think the information they gave us was very one-sided. I personally believe we never should have stationed troops in Afghanistan and I hope we can effectively remove our troops in a way that can cause the least damage to the country.

For most of the conference we stayed in Brussels, but we also visited Luxembourg and Brugge. Brugge is a very pretty city (and, naturally, the location of the movie In Brugge, which set a few violent scenes in what is otherwise a very peaceful town). Brussels is pretty as well, with a very impressive Grand Place in the middle. Most of the sights can be seen in a day, but we spent our nights enjoying the local specialties - chocolate and beer! I ate very well, tried many types of beer (the raspberry mont subit was my favorite!) and met some cool people.

It was nice to learn a little more about some of the politics and policies in Europe. My general impression is that the political approach is more socialistic than the capitalistic approach in the US. There is much more focus on the environment, although I think that is becoming more important in the US. There is a focus on collaboration between cultures and avoidance of conflict. These are stances that I agree with as well. The system, of course, is not perfect, but I think it sets a good model for directions the US could take.

Holidays in Switzerland

I just got back from spending two weeks in Switzerland. I went to spend Christmas with my friend Sebastien and his family. They live in a small town in the French part of Switzerland called Le Vaud. It was my first white Christmas! We ate very well. We had lots of beef and sausage, and, of course, the cheese was amazing!! I couldn't stop eating. Their family owns a cattle ranch, so all of the meat we ate was actually from their ranch. The cattle are treated very well in Switzerland and have lots of space for grazing, unlike many of the industrial farms in the states, where cows are given limited space and are fed corn, which is not the best food for their digestive systems. After Christmas we went hiking with some of Sebastien's friends, two hours in the snow, to a cabin in the mountains. The cabin, called La Perroude, has no electricity, running water, or bathroom!! There is, however, a wood burning stove which we constantly kept burning. We stayed in the cabin two nights, spending the days hiking, sledding, and playing in the snow, and the nights sitting by the fire, playing games and cooking fondue and crepes! It was an adventure, but a bit challenging going to the bathroom in the snow, especially at night! Our next destination was Anzere, a ski resort town in the Alps. This cabin wasn't quite as rustic as La Perroude. We enjoyed the luxeries of electricity, running water, and even a bathroom with a shower! And the cabin was on a hill, right next to the ski slopes. It was a decent size, with four bedrooms and six beds, but with between 12 and 22 people staying in the cabin each night, it was definitely cozy! We had people from all over the world - Switzerland, France, Germany, USA, Canada, Russia, Brasil and Japan. There were even two guys who grew up in Namibia, though had joint Swiss-Namibian citizenship. Our days were spent skiing and snowboarding. I tried snowboarding again, although I think it's just not my sport. I don't really like going down the hill fast and I think that's kind of the point. But at least I tried it. Nights were spent cooking dinner in the cabin, drinking, playing games and telling stories. I cooked tortilla espanola to bring a Spanish influence. It was fun to spend time with such an international group. For New Year's Eve we walked down to the center of the town of Anzere where we drank mulled wine and counted down to New Year's Eve while it was snowing! Afterwards we shook off the snow and went dancing in a club. While I wasn't snowboarding I hung out in the village, enjoyed the spectacular views of the Alps, went to the sauna, and relaxed. It was a lovely vacation, but after two weeks in the snow and with slightly uncomfortable sleeping condtitions, I was very happy to return to Barcelona! It was nice to return to speaking Spanish (I was surrounded by lots of French in Switzerland and didn't understand any of it), to see my friends and to sleep in my own bed! I enjoyed the adventure and I'm happy to be home.

Excursions

I’ve gone on a few excurstions to towns around Barcelona, including Vic, Espinelves and Premia de Mar. I went to a Medieval Faire in Vic, which is somewhat like the Renaissance Faires in the states. One key difference is that this faire was actually set in a city that dates back to medieval times. It was cool to walk around the narrow streets and see booths with crafts, dried spices, freshly baked bread, cured meats, cheeses and pastries. There were people dressed from medieval times, dance performances and even animals such as hawks, horses and camels. Like many cities in Spain, the original city was focused around a central cathedral. This central part has narrow streets and cobbled roads, with buildings becoming more modern moving outwards.

Espinelves is an even smaller town and due to its hilly, cobbled streets, it is impossible to drive in the central part of the city, making it a permanent pedestrian zone. Espinelves had a Christmas tree festival, with food, crafts and even trees for sale. However, in Catalunya rather than Christmas trees, families more traditionally had nativity scenes set up in their houses. Another unique tradition here is the Caga Tio. This is a log that can be decorated with a face and hat that sits in the living room during Christmas time. The children feed it and then on Christmas morning hit the log with sticks until it “poos” gifts. I’m not kidding. More recently families have begun setting up Christmas trees either in addition to or instead of the Caga Tio. Some families give presents on January 6th instead of December 25th. The 6th is the day of the three kings.

I also visited friends who live in Premia de Mar, a town along the coast, about 20 minutes from Barcelona by train. There are many towns along the coast, between the mountains and the beach, connected to Barcelona by train. These towns are surprisingly dense and it’s possible for practically anyone living in the town to walk to either the beach or the train station within 20 minutes. This provides an extremely walkable city with easy access to Barcelona without needing a car. While I did take the train to Premia we then took a car in order to drive into the mountains to go rock climbing! Although I’ve gone climbing in a gym, I’ve never gone on an actually mountain so it was really exciting to try it for the first time!

Mis Padres!

My parents came to visit last week! My mom hadn’t been to Barcelona for over 30 years! She said a lot had changed, especially the Sagrada Familia Catedral which is constantly under construction. Also, within that time the waterfront had been renovated and many neighborhoods in the central part of the city have been revived, largly as a result of the Olympic games in Barcelona in 1992. It was nice to show them a glimpse of my life here in Barcelona. I even cooked a Thanksgiving dinner while they were here and invited some of my friends. It was the first time I had ever prepared a dinner that large by myself. I bought the turkey down the street at a local butcher shop. It was fresh the day I bought it and even had some feathers on it still that the butcher had to trim! It had never been frozen or thawed. I was a little nervous about under or over cooking it, but it turned out well! I also made the regular fixings like stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy. My dad brought cranberries from the states because I haven’t been able to find them here. Also, they don’t sell canned pumpkin here, so I made pumpkin pie from scratch! Needless to say I spent the entire day in the kitchen but in the end it was all worth it. My friends were excited to try some traditional American holiday food, and my parents were happy to learn that I can cook.