Nikki Christina Barcelona

Eastern Europe

2009-07-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-01-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-09T04:58:00.000-08:00

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.

Sustainable Transportation

2008-11-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to a sustainable transportation conference focused on transportation in Spain and South America. Sustainable transportation is often described as “meeting or helping meet the mobility needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” and typically focuses on ecological, social and economic factors. The conference focused on strategies and current projects to improve public transportation systems and walking and biking facilities in order to move people from cars to more sustainable modes of transportation. A focus for both Spain and South America was the need to reduce traffic congestion and motor vehicle emissions. The South American presentations also included information about the impact of transportation on economic development and safety. A high portion of the population in many South American countries can't afford cars and rely on other forms of transportation. However, these countries also often lack funds to provide high quality public transportation systems. There are a few success stories, such as the TransMilenio, a bus rapid transit system in Bogotá, Columbia and a bus rapid transit system in Curitiba, Brazil. These systems have been able to provide fast, reliable public transportation service to millions of residents and have provided a focus on pedestrian and biking spaces in the cities. However, in many cities without high quality public transportation, residents are switching to motorcycles or scooters. This has greatly increased the accident rate in many areas and also increases pollution. It is frustrating to see the need for more sustainable transportation systems and realize that funding is often a huge barrier. It was reassuring to meet other people focused on this issue and hopefully as problems such as rising fuel costs and global warming gain more attention, investments in sustainable transportation will increase.

GOBAMA!

2008-11-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

I was able to vote using an overseas ballot that I sent off a few weeks ago. That was the first time I voted by mail instead of going to the polls. It was such a big election, of course I couldn't miss voting. The elections have actually been a common topic of conversation here. Most people here would be considered liberal by American standards. Everyone supports Obama, and I've even seen pro-Obama signs in store windows! Everyone (including me!) seemed happy and relieved that Obama won. I think more than that they are happy that Bush won't be president anymore and hopefully US-international relations will improve. Also, people were surprised (as was I)that there was actually a referendum to ban gay marriage in California. Personally I'm really disappointed that it passed. I guess we still have a ways to go to have universal acceptance and equality. Gays can legally marry here in Spain. As far as I know, Spain and the Netherlands are the only two countries in Europe that allow gay marriage. Also, I've talked to a few people about the proposition for better treatment of farm animals. This is still not a huge issue in Spain, although I think farm animals are treated better here in general. However, I think there is a growing trend among young progressive-types to buy organic/ecological foods. One of my roommates, for example, won't eat meat unless it is classified as ecological. Global warming is a common issue here, as it is across the world. But my friends here are surprised that some people in the US still don't believe global warming is really happening. Here it is typically accepted as a common fact. I've been happy to share my views on the elections and various issues with people here, and I hope I can help at least some people here realize that not all Americans are Bush-supporting, anti-gay conservatives. I'm very happy to see that many liberal, progressive ideas are accepted here and hope that those ideas will become more mainstream in the US as well!

Cadaquez

2008-11-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Jared came to visit! Having a visitor was a good excuse to see some sights that I haven't seen yet. We took a trip to Cadaquez, a small coastal town north of Barcelona. Dali had a house there where he spent many summers. The views in Cadaquez inspired many of his paintings. It was a relaxing trip, walking along the beach and eating great seafood.

Back in Barcelona we went to the going away party of my friend Ana. She's moving to Australia to work. She's the friend I've been hanging out with the most here, so I'm sad to see her go!

My roommates and coworkers never tire of teaching me Catalan traditions. One popular activity during the fall here is to go searching for setas (mushrooms). I still have yet to go, but my roommates went and brought back a good selection of setas. They were generous enough to share, and we all enjoyed a seta feast.

London!

2008-10-15T06:52:00.001-07:00

I spent the weekend in London visiting my friend Jenny! It was almost relaxing to be able to effortlessly speak and understand what people were saying! It made me realize how much I have to think when I’m speaking Spanish. But I can’t complain because I definitely appriciate the opportunity to live in Spain and practice Spanish. With time I know speaking will come more easily. The weather was actually nice and sunny in London – a rare event. People seemed to be taking advantage of the nice weather, and the streets and parks were full of people enjoying the sun all weekend. My first night in London Jenny and I went salsa dancing! We danced with people from Colombia, India, Iran, Lebanon... I don´t think I danced with a single native English speaker the entire time, and I even spoke Spanish with the Colombian. It was lots of fun and I’ll definitely have to find some salsa clubs in Barcelona. Jenny and I spent a lot of time walking around the city – Portobello Market, the waterfront, the grounds at Kensington Palace. We had high tea near Kensington Palace, and dim sum in Chinatown. I was able to experience the train, metro and bus. My favorite was sitting in the front seat on the top level of the double decker buses! You feel like you own the road and the views from there are great. We visited the Tate Modern, and while Jenny was at work, I made a stop at the London Transport Museum, where I learned about the history of the London tube and other bits of transportation knowledge. I ended my trip with a visit to the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. Another Fulbright Fellow is doing research there, and he gave me a tour. I was even able to talk to the director Hank Dittmar. The Foundation focuses on sustainable planning and development, a field in which transportation plays an important role. Overall it was a lovely trip and I hope I have a chance to go back!

The Berkeley Connection

2008-10-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

It’s nice seeing familiar faces far from home. My friends Ryan and Ray (from Berkeley) were traveling around France and Spain for their honeymoon! I was able to meet up with them in Barcelona one night for dinner. It was great to catch up and show them around my neighborhood a little. Also, Joan, my roommate in Berkeley from January-August, is from Barcelona. He came back to Barcelona in August and is about to move to Switzerland to start his PhD. Joan and Ana (who I also initially met in Berkeley) came over the other night for a dinner party. It was kind of strange seeing those familiar faces in a different setting. While in Berkeley we generally spoke in English, (I meant to practice Spanish more, but was usually lazy about it) here the entire conversation was in Spanish. Well, Joan is moving to Switzerland this weekend and Ana is moving to Australia later this month, so soon I won’t have any Berkeley connections left in Barcelona. However, there are plenty of new connections to be made!

Travessia al Port de Barcelona

2008-09-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

As a farewell to San Francisco, I participated in a swimming event from Alcatraz to shore and then a run across Golden Gate Bridge and back. Upon arriving in Barcelona, I learned of a swimming event here in the port of Barcelona! It seemed like a perfect introduction to the city. There are a few differences between the San Francisco swim and the Barcelona swim... First of all, the Barcelona swim was free, whereas in SF I had to pay to subject myself to the open water. In San Francisco I had to pry myself out of bed at 5am to check in for the swim, while it was still dark outside, and waited for the ferry to take us out to the starting point while shivering in my wetsuit. I checked in for the Barcelona swim at a leisurly 9am and then hung out in the port, sitting in the sun, listening to music, wearing just a swim suit. The race was set to start at 11am, but ended up starting a little late, as is customary here, at 11:30am. In San Francisco I had to sign a waiver upon checking in, whereas in Barcelona I simply told them my name and they gave me my cap and number without even asking to see an id. Both events included a ferry ride to the starting point of the race. In San Francisco, the start was very organized, with 3 people jumping off the boat at a time, under the direction of event staff. In Barcelona, the whistle was blown and swimmers began jumping off the boat from every side, anywhere they could! In SF the water was cold with a 2mph current and plenty of waves, making it difficult to maintain a direct course. In Barcelona the water was warm and tranquil, with no current or waves. The Barcelona event was slightly longer at 3km versus 2.4km for Alcatraz (1.5 miles). In the end, both events were enjoyable yet challenging. Each seemed to have its own culture. On the ferry in Barcelona I met some of the local swimmers who told me about swim teams and swimming events in the area. The swim went well and I ended up getting 15^th place among the women (with a time of 51 minutes). Afterwards there was a party on the beach for all participants with free butifarra (traditional Catalan hotdog) and beer. It was an enjoyable event and exciting to see what swimming events are like in a different culture.

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

I moved into my apartment on Sunday. I had been staying with my friend Ana and her parents, which was great. They took very good care of me and I felt like part of the family! However, it was nice to finally unpack my suitcases and move into a place of my own. I´m actually living in the same apartment I lived in last summer. It´s fantastic place. I have four roommates, all from Spain. There is a lot of open space including a large kitchen and plenty of room for dinner parties. We even have a piano. The move wasn´t difficult since I only have two suitcases, but I´m already accumulating more stuff! My second night in the apartment two friends came over, my friend Ana and another friend who is about to move to San Francisco. That night all of my roommates happened to be home too and we ended up having a dinner party with seven people! Those unplanned dinner parties are the best. We had homemade pumpkin soup, Spanish omlet, and pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato)! The apartment is located right in the center of the city (near La Rambla), and it´s easy to walk to restaurants, bars, stores, plazas. There is a festival going on right now in Barcelona called La Mercé and many of the events are very close to where I live. It´s been easy to walk to concerts and other events. Nights can be a bit noisy, but it´s definitely worth it. I´m very happy with the place.

Work Life

2008-09-24T03:25:00.001-07:00

I started working last week at CENIT, a transportation research center associated with Universitat Polytecnica de Canalunya (the technical university here). I worked there last summer too, so I somewhat knew what to expect coming in. Most of the people working there are PhD or Maters students from UPC. I recognized many faces from last summer, so it was nice to see people again! I´m slowly getting settled in the office, meeting new people and getting used to the daily routine. I´m working with the same professor I worked with last summer, who specializes in public transportation projects. I´m working on two projects right now. Last summer I helped develop a model to create an efficient bus network, and they have since updated the model. I am updated the paper, describing the new attributes to the model. The paper is in English, and being the only native English speaker in the office, I´m the ideal person for the job. My other project is applying a similar bus network efficiency model to the city of Barcelona. Right now there are many intercity bus routes that operate between nearby towns and Barcelona. We are going to recommend route changes to those routes that will hopefully improve the efficiency of the overall transit system. For me it´s really exciting to be able to actually apply some of these technical models to a real world situation. But it hasn´t been all work. Last Thursday night many of us from the office went out to a good-bye dinner for someone who is leaving CENIT. Afterwards we went out to a bar and ended up dancing until 3am (my professor included). Somehow everyone made it to work the next morning, but I definitely came in late! It´s a fun group in the office. I´m looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I´m also happy to have found some interesting projects and I hope I can be productive!

I´m Back!

2008-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

After just about a year away, I´m finally back in Barcelona. Whereas last time I arrived knowing no one in the city, this time I arrived to find friends waiting to greet me! Three friends came to the airport to give me a warm welcome. I´ve been staying with my friend Ana and her parents while I look for an apartment. Staying with a family is the perfect way to start my stay here and get accustomed to the culture. They´ve been very welcoming and I´ve been able to speak Spanish everyday. I spent the first weekend hanging out and going to the beach. If I´m going to live in Barcelona, I need a tan! Then I took the new high speed AVE train to Madrid for some Fulbright Commission meetings. I met all of the other American Fulbrighters in Spain. Most of them are teaching English in Madrid and the rest are doing research in various parts of the country. There are about five of us here in Barcelona. The research topics range from music to immigration, biology, art, law, etc. I´m the lone engineer in the group! Well, at least I´m unique. It was interesting getting to know everyone and hearing their stories. I was also able to meet up with a few friends who live in Madrid and go out for tapas, of course! So far, so good!