Despite cold and rainy weather, I've had a good week with many new experiences. This week is Conference week at IES, so each of our professors has brought in various speakers to talk about relevant topics. Yesterday, I attended a speaker on Entrepreneurship in Spain and a Spanish Marketing seminar. While I was dreading each of these presentations, I ended up learning a lot about Spanish culture that I did not quite understand before.
In Barcelona, there is an extreme hatred for Madrid, exemplified by the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona (believe it or not, it's like UNC v. Duke on steroids). The people of Barcelona are known for being quite stubborn, so I thought this hatred of Madrid and the surrounding regions was just them being stubborn. I learned in my presentations, however, that it has a great deal to do with the Spanish government, particularly during the Franco dictatorship. Following the Spanish civil war ('36-'39), Franco ruled Spain and completely repressed the people of Catalonia (the autonomous region that Barcelona is capital of) until his death in 1975. For instance, he banned the official language of Catalonia (Catalan) and limited the freedom of speech for the citizens. Barcelona is also a huge economic power in Spain, and they have always felt like they pay so much to the government in Madrid and never get anything for their region in return. For these reasons, Catalonians are very bitter towards Madrid and desperately want to be their own country apart from Spain. This little bit of history is probably a total bore to most of you, but I really enjoyed learning about the explanation for this huge division in Spain.
After my two conferences, I headed to the eastern side of Barcelona where my Sports and Society class got a tour of Camp Nou! Camp Nou is the home to F.C. Barcelona, which is Barcelona's most popular soccer team. This stadium is the biggest stadium in Europe and one of the largest in the world with a capacity of around 100,000 people. The people of Barcelona are CRAZY about FC Barca, especially after last years' amazing results. The team won all "6 copas" in 2009, including La Lega, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the Fifa Club World Cup. This probably means nothing to most of you, but Barca made history with these accomplishments. They were the first team to ever win 6 title victories in one year. Needless to say, it was so exciting to see Camp Nou and learn more about the history of the team.
Camp Nou!
6 copas en un ano!
(i.e. Barca is pretty much amazing)
My two conferences today were equally as interesting as Tuesdays. First, we had a speaker from the one of the Olympic committees who gave a presentation on the legacy of the '92 Olympics in Barcelona. I have always heard how proud Barcelona is of the Olympics, but I had no idea how much of an impact it had on the city. The speaker opened the presentation saying, "Had it not been for the '92 Olympics here in Barcelona, none of you would be studying here today." Basically, the Olympics completely transformed the city from a place that was destructed by war to a fine European city to live and visit. According to many experts, the '92 Olympics were the most successful Olympics ever, and this is in large part due to the changes it brought for this city. Tomorrow, my Sports and Society class is going to tour the Olympic museum and stadium, so I look forward to learning even more about this great legacy!
I'm sorry I know I just wrote the most boring blog post ever, I just felt like sharing some of the things I've learned about Barcelona. I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity to get outside of my Charlotte and Wofford "bubble" and learn about the great world around us. Life doesn't get much better than this!!!
Not boring but it does remind me of when you talked to Uncle Butch after meeting Mia Hamm and he thought you had "made me a ham" ha, ha- not sure if you remember that but we have had a few chuckles! Just keep your thoughts comming!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this posting, and had no idea of the history of the city enemnity--thanks! And your last week of postings have been fun. Too bad about figuring out the gay bar thing after you were there. Many years ago, we 'adopteded 'some wonderful young women students from Stockholm, and they told us one Monday about the great bar they had found the previous Sat. There were so many handsome men in the bar, and they were all really good dancers but the (gorgeous) girls were puzzled as to why none of the fellows hit on them--duh. It was a gay bar.
ReplyDeleteKeep having fun, and keep writing---I love your posts. Aunt Nancy