Barcelona, Spain
El Fin o Sólo El Principio?
August 1, 2012
I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find
Without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
- The Shins
As the bus from Italy drives through the pastel colored smoke filled air and past charred trees, both courtesy of raging wildfires just across the Spanish border, the surreal atmosphere seems fitting. Later, the distant outline of some of Barcelona’s iconic buildings is somewhat comforting, something familiar, albeit vaguely, after months of experiences in countries whose names are little known and borders even less traversed. After traveling for 15 weeks and 18,000+ miles through 20 countries I have finally arrived in Barcelona from Chicago, the long way around. From the futuristic skyline of Shanghai, across the ancient cultures of the Silk Road, and through developed, developing, and conflict ridden countries it has been an amazing trip in many ways.
Seeing the influence that the past, no matter how distant, has on the course of daily events and how it continues to shape the future of so many countries, for better and worse, engenders both hope and despair. This contributes, in part, to the millions of people living contently under a tenuous peace that for the majority of us would be completely unthinkable and unacceptable. The shadow of warfare seems to lurk dangerously close, with ancient grievances and rivalries poised to unleash new waves of devastation and destruction. Too many people still carry fresh memories of living under siege, amidst gunfire and mortar attacks, courtesy of a desire to control land, power, and resources. Yet despite the publicity and awareness these cycles seem bound to renew under the heavy handed oppression of totalitarian governments and the unequal distribution of wealth and resources.
As countries like these grow and develop so do the demands they place on the land within and outside their borders. Mining, oil and gas extraction, logging, and power generation, amongst others, drive the development that has brought better lives to many people but at the same time has damaged the environments that many of them depend on for survival. Our technological advances have enabled us to transform the natural world around us not only as expected but also in ways that often have unintended consequences that we still fail to fully understand and are less able to control or even undo. It seems we are walking a tightrope between development and destruction, wandering an aimless path on a trip to an unknown destination.
While it is anyone’s guess where, when, or how that trip will end, my trip is drawing to a close in a much clearer more finite way. The physical trip is at an end; from the Pacific shores of China I have reached the crowded Mediterranean beaches of Barcelona, the city that will be my new home for the next two years. However the greater journey is just beginning. I find myself here in Barcelona, like immigrants all across the world, across all ages in time, arriving with little more than the clothes on my back and looking to begin a new life. And even though it is only Spain and not somewhere more exotic, it is still a daunting task to establish a new existence in a foreign country in another language with unfamiliar political, social, and economic structures.
It is challenges like this that force us to grow, and success in the face of these challenges has built and shaped many important people and nations. I suppose my hope is that nearly two years of life abroad and a rigorous business school education will do the same for me. Perhaps then I will be better equipped to deal with some of the important issues facing our people, our civilization, and our planet; before it is too late. After already seeing and experiencing so much in my life I feel well prepared for the journey ahead and a week in Barcelona has me excited and looking forward to the possibilities that lie out there in the great wide open.