Student Occupation of the University of Barcelona

We stumbled upon the occupation of the Universitat de Barcelona by a student group. They had already been occupying the main campus building for more than a month with the aim of transforming higher education. Their press release from their blog (translated version) reads:

We are committed morally to be the new martyrs of the transformation of higher education, and we are prepared to suffer the consequences of the new titles of their degree and devaluation in the world of work.

There was a feeling of change in the air as the students slowly came to life from their mattresses cluttered across the foyer around noon, the typical wake up time in Catalonia. One British exchange student spoke to us about how education should be free, since the graduate will spend the rest of his or her life in service and paying taxes anyway.

Squatting the school. And perhaps a fun way to be with your friends over the holidays?

The computer is the tool of choice for activists. Blogging, press releasing, and facebooking get the message out.

Hitchhiking trip report

We are back home in Wageningen safe and sound after spending about 2 weeks hitchhiking through France, down to Spain, and around the Pyrenees mountains. We spent most of our time in 'Spain' in the Catalonia and Basque regions which have their own languages and seek independence. Nevertheless, I was able to happily practice my dusty high school Spanish. For a while, we followed the Camino de Santiago through some of the pilgrimage towns of Jaca, Pamplona, Logrono, and Burgos which all had well persevered stone town centers and churches.

Once again, the generosity of the world and strangers has surrounded us on our travels. Special thanks to...
Sjef & Jose in Margraten for being great hosts
Willem for the ride from Limburg to Paris and the lavish supper you treated us to
Manu for hosting us in Paris over Christmas and showing us the fun Paris nightlife
Max Amosov for joining us to Paris with your guitar and good humor
Julian for hosting the Saint Jean-de-Monts frisbee tournament
Jerome & friends for driving us all the way to Barcelona from Pays-de-la-Loire
Chris Bentley for joining us in Barcelona from Australia with your mystic ways
The city of Barcelona for putting on a wild New Years Eve street party
Our Basque Angel for driving us to Jaca and for being beautiful
The owners of the La Casa del Arco in Jaca for giving us a room above the restaurant for cheap
Louise from Seattle for driving us from Jaca to Pamplona
Daya & family for hosting us in Burgos and making sure we had a way home

Movie: Vengo (2000)

Vengo (2000) is a beautiful drama/musical about gypsy flamengo music with a Shakespearean family feud. The characters and acting are touching, the music is jaw dropping; seeing it made me even more excited to visit Spain this December. Watch this movie!

Here is a scene with Calle Del Aire singing "La Caita", what a voice:


Thanks, Chris!