Epilogue: Paris

International News Story; El Pais, Jueves Deciembre 2,"Maxima presión contra Wikileaks y su fundador"

This article discusses how Wikileaks could be in danger of shutting down. Barrack Obama has designated someone in control of all infiltration, someone to prevent more documents from being leaked, and the FBI as well as the Pentagon are investigating how these leaks were even possible.  Amazon was wikileak's original network provider, but recently it withdrew its support, and denied users access to the page. Now, Assange is being accused of sexually assaulting two Swedish women last summer. A red alert, for the arrest of Assange  had been released by Interpol in November, before the massive leak of secret documents. This crime might put an end to Wikileaks, which would make many governments around the world rest easier. 

     Many members of government see Wikileaks as a threat, admiral Mike Mullen said that Assange has hands stained with blood, he does not believe that the general public should have access to such sensitive material, because this material could also get into the hands of U.S enemies.

  I think that Wikileaks is the result of a government that is far from transparent. If governments were more willing to reveal the terrible things they have done, as well as the good, the public would not have to resort to a whistle blowing website for the truth.

El País, Jueves diciembre de 2010; España: El Caso Couso

    This article discusses the tragic event in 2003, when Spanish cameraman José Couso was killed when American soldiers bombed the hotel he was staying in, when they were aiming at enemy soldiers. José Couso's death caused a public uproar. People protested in Spain, claiming that the soldiers responsible for sending the hotel bomb, should have to answer for their actions. The investigation into Couso's death was closed when the court claimed that his death was an act of war, and therefore those involved could not be put to trial. The family was able to successfully appeal this decision, and the appeal was excepted by the Supreme Court of Spain. The case was reopened by Santiago Pedraz, and he sent out   a search warrant for three U.S soldiers.
   This article received information from wikileaks that reveals the U.S government put pressure on the Spanish government to close the court case.
  This is a significant issue because if roles were reversed, an American cameraman was killed by Spanish soldiers, it is likely the U.S government would ensure those responsible were put behind bars. It is unsettling that the U.S government can threaten the Spanish government in way that denies them the ability to seek justice for their own citizens. 

El País, Jueves diciembre de 2010; Cataluña: Asesinado un 'latin king' en Eixample

      This article discusses how there was a death among one of the latin American gangs here in Spain. 

A 17 year old boy was killed from a mortal stab in the stomach, during a gang fight in a park of Eixample. The boy belonged to the gang known as the 'Latin Kings,' which is one of the gangs with the most power in Cataluña at the moment. The victim was peruvian had been in similar fights before. This fight took place in the park 'gardens of Montserrat'. The police are often able to prevent or break up one of these fights because gangs organize themselves and alert members of the gang by communicating online. While this tactic often makes it easy for police to be forewarned, they don't always arrive on scene in time to prevent tragedy. The fight occurred for no known reason. The articles finale statement discusses how Latin American gangs are very territorial and like to occupy public spaces such as parks and warns that the 'gardens of Montserrat' in area frequently occupied by Latin American gangs.

      

      I thought it was interesting how the article emphasized that the gangs are latin American. How long have the youth and gang member been living in Spain I wonder. It seems that Spanish are always described as a nonviolent and when outbreaks of violence occur, generally it is Latin Americans who are involved. 

Food in La Garrotxa

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the wonderful food I ate at this  majestic place, but I will do my best to give the meal a worthy description. The first course was a  salad of mixed greens, nuts and raisins topped with a slab of gooey goat cheese. Then there was a choice of sausage, fish  risotto, or different savory crepes. I chose the risotto which was delicious. It was an artfully arranged pile of warm creamy rice and vegetables. There were also basket of soft fresh bread to eat. The desert was a classic flan; it was fist sized and a had clear maple syrup hue. While there are Tapas in Barcelona, a long sit down meal is a more traditional Catalan meal.

Roman Barcino Field Trip

The city museum in Barcelona allows you to see Roman ruins underneath walkways of glass. It was amazing to see this crumbling stone, because hundreds of years ago, they were part of the infrastructure of a powerful city. There were also exhibits that introduced us to an aspect of ancient Roman culture. Through the exhibit I found out that since Romans did not have the laundry detergent we use today, they used urine and ashes to clean their clothes. The urine was used to sanititize the clothing, while the ashes scrubbed away stains. Another thing I found interesting was that the architecture was designed so that buildings had large windows on the first floor and and smaller windows on the second level. Roman's homes, interestingly, also had central heating. Throughout the museum there were references to both Athena the hunter  and Minerva, among other gods and goddesses. In Roman art, women tend to be some of the most famous goddesses. Athena was an important goddess who was an inspiration for many women, as well as a protector at the time, and Minerva was the goddess of intelligence.
Baths played a major role at the time. They were not only used as a place to clean oneself but were  also places where members of society would gather.
   This is also the time period where eating becomes a social activity, where people will throw extravagant parties and orchestrate grand feists to laugh and be merry over. At the time, people drank wine more like the way we drink water. It was not quite as strong as the wine we have today, and most likely more sanitary than the water at the time. Since the refrigerator was not available, Romans covered yesterday's meat in a coating of salt, this allowed the food to be edible the next day, otherwise it would rot. It was fascinating to see Roman artifacts that have lasted throughout the centuries and see foundations of what was once one of the world's largest  empires.

Rudimentary sketch of Roman columns.

Barca V.S AD Ceuta

Fans and Cameramen get ready for the  game

On November 10th, the Barcelona futbol team played the autonomous region near Morocco,  of A.D Ceuta. It was a wednesday night in Barcelona.  Hundreds of fans  prepared for the game by going to their favorite bar, and getting inebriated.

 It is important that drinking needs are fulfilled before a futbol game, because the stadium is probably the only place alcohol is not served. Along with standard sports watching snacks like hotdogs and  nachos,  you can also buy warm chocolate croissants. Study abroad students hurried to buy a turquoise jersey so they would blend in with the passionate crowd, but many at Camp Nou were bedecked in their everyday wear and used only their throaty cheers to express their enthusiasm. Each time  the Barca team scored  another goal, a roar of chants would flow from the crowd. Along with cheering, fans showed their support by making "the wave" when a goal was scored. This expression of support is also common in the U.S. I have not been to many futbol games, but it was thrilling to watch a ball slide just out reach from the opposing team's foot, and the barcelona team passing the ball back and forth to create a final score of 5-1. A.D Ceuta's did not play badly but the Barca team is on a different tier of competition. 

Soccer is a huge part of Spanish and Catalan culture and it is one of the things that can put Catalans and Spaniards on opposing sides. Barcelona does not have their own team, so when Spain played and won the World Cup, was  controversial. Many of the players were Catalan so many Barca fans supported the team, but some felt that since the Catalans were on a Spanish team, they were playing for Spain which fundamentally goes against Catalunya, so they chose not to support the team.

Just stretching before the game

Man down! But he was up a few moments later.