Moving, Mountains, and Moving Mountains

Moving 

Que emoción!  I finally moved to a place that I can call my own.  After way too many visits to dingy closets advertised as apartments, we found a newly renovated flat in a friendly neighborhood called Gracia (which, aptly enough, means Grace).  The we I refer to is our troublesome international trio: Jackie, another Rotarian scholar originally from Chile, Angela, una compañera Colombiana from Jackie's masters, and me, the gringa especial.


There's no need to go into our harrowing moving/IKEA experience, because ya pasó--it's over.  The important thing is we have sweet digs with an even sweeter view of the entire city.  Needless to say I will be spending lots of time up on this terrace:

Mountains

Patron saints seem to be a recurring theme in my trip--and oh the work they inspire!  Montserrat is the patron saint of Cataluña, and there's a spectacular mountain-top monastery built in her honor.  A few weeks ago I ventured up with some frisbee friends, opting to hike up the hill instead of taking the gondola.  


Expecting to arrive tired and humbled at the doorstep of a 10th century monastery, we were surprised to find a strip mall and a hotel complex welcoming you to the top.  Oof capitalism.  After getting over the initial eye pollution, not to mention the irony of putting a mall next to the holy site of a bunch of ascetics, we spent a lovely afternoon checking out the church and playing frisbee in the square.

If anyone has any suggestions about other patron saints worth learning about, or how to become a patron saint, please let me know.


Moving Mountains

Studying immigration is like peeling an onion--each layer of injustice makes you cry a little on the inside.  As we delve into the different disciplines related to immigration, I get the feeling that creating an equitable immigration system (in any country) is like trying to move a mountain.  But if we have to start by moving pebbles, so be it.


Right now we're studying health and immigration--our latest class was about how to improve cultural competency in the Spanish health system. I'm wired to expect anti-American sentiment, so I found it curious that the Spanish look to the United States as a model for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS).  There are very few places that comply with the full list of CLAS requirements, but the most developed models are at NYU and Colombia health centers.  It's nice to hear there are spots of light to be found, and that some of them shine from the U.S.






Thanks for being patient while I was in internet limbo.  More to come soon my friends.  AND CONGRATULATIONS TO BARCA FOR BEATING MADRID!!!!!!!!!