Not According to Plan

I had written this post on paper yesterday night, but between then and now, it’s disappeared. I went looking for it in the common room, and our room, and other people’s rooms, and the terrace but no luck. The post is missing.  I also thought the portable speaker had been lost. We took it to the beach, and I didn’t bring it back. A few days later, it showed up again. We took it to the beach, and again I didn’t bring it back. This time, the speaker didn’t make its way to me. I had thought it was lost forever. Yesterday, sifting through closet by accident, I realized the speaker was in our room that entire time. I broke the glass of my watch in Valencia. I sat on the adapter for GoPro camera and broke it while trying to nap on my bag. I’m not worried about the things in life that don’t go to plan. I move on, but this trip has reminded me that moving on when it involves other people’s time isn’t the same. I’ll keep it in mind when involving myself into other people’s lives.

Marc

the White Walls of Guardamar

Sitting here in the common room, on the black drab and draped couch, with the gray wallpaper of fake cedar wood paneling, bronze coated stools, and a black curtain covering the window door, I catch the pure light reflecting off the white walls of the buildings across the pension. Why do I often sit in the common room? The light keeps me in a daze. The white has developed a patina and the walls have cracks seeping through, and all this creates a composition. I’m reminded of Mark Rothko’s paintings and his search to find emotion through color. Each layer provokes a reaction, and the layered whole recognizes the complexity of our emotions. Work through one layer and the others still offer another process. Watching the sunlight rise and fall on these walls is a dance, and the form of the buildings is a stage which allows for certain tricks and angles of light to perform. I wonder if we’re looking for patterns. Sitting on the benches on the beach promenade, underneath the shade canopy, watching the waves crash, why do we feel compelled to look, and why does it provoke a moment of reflection? Is it the incongruent repetition where we know it’ll crash but not in the exact way. Why can I look at the wall for hours when the maximum I can look through social media is a few minutes even if both are stimulating in their own right? I wonder if the notion I hold about color allows for the trance? Maybe deep down I believe white is about purity, whatever that may be, and each time I look, it beckons for a response of how I view myself to that nebulous standard. I am still sitting on the common room couch, and all this was written while looking at the wall, and most of what I’ve produced in Guardamar has been with the assistance of those white walls. I feel I won’t find these answers through logic so that’s why I’m pursuing a degree in the biology field. Maybe I’ll find answers there, although I don’t imagine the white walls of the lab room will provide similar inspiration.

Marc

Frustrated gym rat

I wish I could contribute something more insightful and meaningful to the current conversation but my experience in Guardamar has been positive with the exception of the gym situation in Guardamar and throughout Spain.

First of all, most gyms in Spain operate during the most inconvenient hours. Even in larger cities they do not open until 9 am, when most people begin their workday and close at around 7pm. So you can’t get an early morning gym session to start the day. Saturdays hours are typically open from 10am- 3pm, leaving a small window in the day to get a workout. And apparently no one in Spain workouts on Sundays, I have yet to find a gym that is actually open on Sundays although their websites advertise that they are.

Second, the cost to workout at most gyms for a single session is typically upwards of 7 euro, which I am sure turns away many tourists from working out on their vacations.

Third, I am sure that someone has already covered this in an earlier blog but I feel that this needs more attention. Obtaining food with the perfect ratio of protein and carbs is important for living a healthy lifestyle therefore they need to stop overloading meals with carbs. Every meal that I’ve had in Spain thus far has always been high in carbs i.e. potatoes, pasta, or bread while lacking protein. I feel that I am constantly having to find various sources of protein to ensure that do not run a protein deficiency.

I hope that this is useful to someone or in the very least entertaining.

Rodrigo Ramirez

Re-envisioning Rio Vinalopo

Rivers have historically shaped how cities develop, therefore protecting landscapes that are part of a cities natural fabric are vital in preserving a cities identity. It is interesting to see how a river with a diminished water flow has been transformed into a recreation area and outdoor art gallery. Elche turned a river crisis into a transformative urban space for its residents to reutilize. As the city experienced drastic droughts leading to the abandonment of the river. The city of Elche was able adapt to this environmental change and address this issue by constructing hiking trails and bridge pathways throughout the city to connect residents to the river. This intervention circumvented the abandonment of this space and created a new purpose for the river as a public space. As cities become strained by environmental changes, I believe that it is detrimental to our health and well being to maintain connections to the natural world.

Rodrigo Ramirez