Spain's prime minister punched in the face!

Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy

Mariano Rojoy Punch to the face

Above is a screenshot and link to the ridiculous punch to the face Spanish prime minister Mariano Rojoy experienced on campaign trail. None other than a 17-year old teenager decided that this was a good idea.

The attack took place is in Galicia, which is Rojoy's hometown area. Rojoy was walking through the large crowds on the street due to campaigning for Sundays election. He was struck among a teenager from Pontevedra, with no known causes alleged.

In the video, the prime minister's glasses fall off, and he begins to lunge toward the grown. I would say it is a graciously large punch that must have a very deep political hatred tied toward the action and Rojoy.

Rojoy was a positive public figure as he moved forward and reassured his focus on continuously building Spain into a great nation. Below is a tweet he posted the next day after the incident, showing his determination and how he keeps on working (even though he is indeed working out instead below)

Field Trip #3: Adventures in El Rival

The class field trip to the El Rival district was my ultimate favorite trip. It consisted of discovering many new areas that were previously untouched by me before, and very compelling information to go along with that. Not to mention, it was also Xavis birthday, so how could Thursday not have been the best day!

Above is a picture of Johnny being the beautiful angel he is in class, Ben eating his digestive biscuits. Johnny is exemplifying the history of this plaza, as behind him used to be a convent that is called convent dels Angels. This used to be a convent for nuns, and now is turned into part of the museum- Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. 

I loved how you can see somewhat of a skyline off of this modernized designed building-- which is part of University of Barcelona.

Here is a a better view of the Convent del angels plaza, which reiterates a really important fact I learned about city planning in Barcelona. Making free public space was a really big project for Barcelona during the Exhibition. This was an important mission to create safe, happier spots in Barcelona to eliminate future crime. I also thought it made a lot of sense that crime does mainly occur in commercial areas, and Barcelona tended to plan out more residential spots so there wouldn't be deserted spots at night in the city that could be taken advantage of.

FC Barcelona was created in this office just off of Ramblas in 1899!!! The 19th century...  

This plaza used to be a huge drug center, but has been changed into a family friendly area with good food, little stores, and a playground.

This is where babies used to be abandoned to the chapel...how terrifying, doesn't seem to comfortable for the baby in there that is for certain. 

Catalan President helps non-official independence vote?

On October 15th, the President of Catalonia gave testimony at Spain's superior court of justice. The charges were that he misused his office in the "participatory process" that allows Catalans to overwhelming vote for Catalan independence.

Above is a photo of Artur Mas, speaking his testimony in front of the Catalan government building. Here he took full responsibility for the vote, but refused to accept any criminal accusations.

I believe that this was overall a very controversial matter, and the Catalan government was overly accounted for the "crime", while the Spanish government tended to be disregard. Also, it seems unfair that the Spanish government has disobeyed many Constitutional court rulings on several occasions, and never had to take true responsibility for their actions.

Overall, 2.3 million people voted, and the unofficial process allowed for an overwhelming majority of Catalans to vote for independence. Citizen volunteers are the ones who organized the process, and only further reassures my new knowledge of how much pride and dedication Catalans have to strive for their goal-- as I see it on a day to day basis here in Barcelona 

Field Trip #2: Life in the Guilds and more

In this trip to El born district, I felt very integrated into Barcelona's history, specifically in the Ribera Quarter. These guilds we learned about were prominent in Barcelona's society during Medieval times, particularly beginning in the 13th century. What was most interesting was being able to use your imagination to bring you back to these times, especially with all the traces of people in the past.

One of the first aspects that stood out to me is that there are several roads named after certain guilds, where each guild produces a different good. Names I observed were the wool makers "Placa de la llana", candle makers "career de les candeles", hat makers "San Antoni dels Sombrerers, rope makers "Carrer de Corders", and wheat producers "Carrer de Semolers". This reassured my learning about the medieval guilds, and the importance of each of these groups of workers to Barcelona, and how these groups not only represented a business, but also social status. The building was both a home and workplace, as the upstairs is where the workers lived, and the poorer they were, the higher up they lived.

Below are some of the streets that are a reminder of the guilds historical presence and the examples of of the different guild workshops...

Looking at the exterior, here's what the area looked like that contained most of the guild buildings The buildings were made of stone and wood to ensure a long life expectancy. I thought it was very interesting that owners bough metal terraces for their building to show off their wealth and make a statement to competition. 

 Lastly, I found Placa Jaume I to be a very powerful as the old heart of Catalonia. Now it is the City hall of Barcelona and is currently where the President and parliament of Catalonia live.

Field Trip #1: Museu d’Història de la Ciutat

Field Trip #1: Museu d’Història de la Ciutat

Roman Monumental Influence

Something I thought was very staggering about the History Museum was realizing how large of an influence the Romans had on Barcelona’s architecture. These Roman ruins illustrate some of their best innovations and engineering, consisting of things like a winery, public bath, and plumbing systems. The sewerage system is particularly interesting and very  similar to how it works for Barcelona people today, as there is isolation of plumbing water that runs in streams seperate from drinking water. Since there is no worry for invaders like back in Roman times, towers are not in present day Catalan culture architecture. Lastly, there is no such thing as public baths in the Catalan culture is, it is now private bathing in the comfort of your own home. This is something that used to be valued as a very social time for Romans back in the day.



 

     
 
Roman Religious artifacts

At the start of the Roman Empire, the people of Spain believed in polytheism, then shifted over to Monotheism when the Romans conquered and forced everyone to change worship. This took very long to instill in the spanish culture, and some people would still practice polytheism secretly. The pictures below all represent artifacts the experienced this cultural change. Christianty led them to believe in one god and saints, so this style was portrayed through artifacts versus Roman gods and goddesses.
              
                                                 



Roman Catalan Architecture

Many Catalan culture buildings stem from Roman influence, as you can also very much observe with the rest of the world. Some standout characteristics inclue pillars, arcs, inverted roofs, columns, stained glass designs, and colorful paint. As you can see below, many of the pictures have these exact characterists. For example, the Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona is a giant, ornate arc with a large roman influence and the way the structure is built.
 
                                      

Domestic objects

Tic Tac toe game
Pottery glasses/pots
Ipad

Habits:
Wine: Inapropriate to be drunk; made wine stomping with their feet for one method

Washed clothes with lime juice and urine
Organizing , cleaning, and maintaining fish


The most surprising facts to me for objects was the tic tac toe game because I find it so sad that such a boring game was one of their best forms of entertainment. The very astounding fact with habits was the fact that they cleaned with urine and lime, even though it is a very Smart first idea with using very acidic fluids.

Roman Wine Influence 

Romans brought wine influence to the catalán culture very quickly as it is a integral part to their identity. They produced wine in two methods—one requiring a lot of manual labor with stomping on the grapes to juice them. Below is the Roman remains of a winery. Wine today is almost expected at dinner, and Spain produces better White wine than red wine. Wine also plays a huge role in the christian religion as it is often referred to as “the blood of christ”.  Two popular brands are Faustino and El Coto de Rioja.