Collect Experiences. Not Things. :')

December 31, 2013

Day 6 - Seville – New Years Eve




Morning city tour included the exterior of Seville Cathedral, the Santa Cruz Quarter and the Maria Luisa Gardens. The afternoon was open to explore, I headed back to the hotel, because I had to complete my self-performance review. It had to be uploaded before midnight.   For New Years we celebrated in the town square, but there wasn’t any place to go out after. Nothing was open. Seemed like everybody partied before New Year then went to the town square then headed home.

December 30, 2013

Day 5 - Bus from Madrid to Cordoba






Traveled through the land of Don Quixote, the Man from La Mancha. In Cordoba, we toured of the Mosque and Jewish Quarter - very impressive architecture.

December 29, 2013

Day 4 - Train to Madrid



First half the day was travel from Barcelona to Madrid. Second half of the day, I spent checking out Museo del Prado and walking around Madrid.

December 28, 2013

Day 3 - Barcelona

Highlight of the day: Park Güell and Breana Hula hooping at sun set.

Day 3 - Barcelona






In the morning, I spent at the National Museum of Catalonia Art (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya).

December 27, 2013

Day 2 - Barcelona Las Ramblas




We decide to be a tour and had dinner on La Rambas. You pay for the atmosphere. The food was less then desirable.

Day 2 - Barcelona

First full day in Barcelona, we visited all the main Guadi sights: La Sagrada Família, La Pedrera (a.k.a. Casa Milà), and Casa Batlló.  We also visited the Salvador Dalí museum.

December 26, 2013

Day 1 - Arrived in Barcelona




A short day, we just arrived. We tried to check out the Picasso childhood Museum, but it was closed.  Spent the time walking around and visited the Fredric Mares Museum. Stumbled on an authentic hole-in-the-wall Spanish restaurant -Paella, Anchovies, Oysters, etc. for dinner.

December 23, 2013

The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain

Getting ready for Spain, watching documentaries on YouTube. Ten years ago this last minute research would have been limited. I might be able to rent some videos from Netflix, but not a lot free docs on YouTube. Twenty years ago, I would've had to have gone to the library to find information for Spain. Today, there seems to be such a proliferation of knowledge and information.

December 01, 2013

Twitter vs. Facebook

"Facebook is for connecting with the people you went to school with and Twitter is for people you wished you had gone to school with."

"There will always be a high degree of overlap between the two, but Facebook is more about personal connections and Twitter is more about public "broadcasted" conversations and emphasizes real-time trends in the world."

Twitter is the best for watching TV shows with funny people. People you've never met, but are some of the funniest people you'll interact with.  Some are so spot on with their comments. Often there are times when I laugh the next day at someone's tweet. Twitter is also the best when News items are trending. It was huge in the last election. It'll be even bigger in the next. I'm sure. Twitter cuts out the News organizations, celebrities and politicians can go right to the public. Similarly, music producers or political handlers can state their views, without have to be filtered through a News organization.   

Twitter is a lot more addicting that Facebook. A LOT! The discussion of race and culture is phenomenal. When in history did people from a certain culture get to hear the inter-thoughts of others from another culture - like Dominican, Mexican, African-American, White-Anglo - blasted over the internet. Pre-internet, these conversations and comments were only shared within families say at the dinner table or family gatherings. But it's like you have access to that dinner table conversation. People tweet their inter-thoughts and feelings. It's very revealing. 

People on Twitter are always calling each other racist, but it becomes a learning experience.  People have the chance to explain themselves, but aren't allowed to make long speeches.  You get to know other people and start to respect their opinion.  If you don't respect their opinion, you just unfollow.  After a while, you can really get to know the spirit and humor of a person, without all the baggage and personal you'd be susceptible to if you met them in person. If you're hanging out with a friend in "real life" you have to be engaged, but on Twitter it doesn't matter.  People are just there. Yet, there's is always someone to engage with. Moreover unlike in "real life", where you are stuck with the geographic limits of your family and friends, in the Twitter universe there are no geographic limits. You communicate with people all over the world, provided you are interested in what they are saying and their humor matches your own (critical for me). 

The world is changing fast. New virtual communities are being created everyday. The geographic limits typically defining culture and traditions are crumbling fast. It's a brave new world! Kids are no longer asking their parents or grandparents for advice they seeking this advice from the internet.