An Expedition to do Good
When I was in college, I toyed with the idea of studying archaeology. I didn’t really have any practical experience with the field so I wanted to try it out before I devoted several years of study to it. I found an excellent nonprofit called Earthwatch. In return for a donation, you’re able to go on a specific scientific expedition of your choosing. The money goes to funding research worldwide, and you get an excellent, interesting trip while also contributing to the greater scientific knowledge. There’s all sorts of interesting things you can do, from studying the migratory pattern of dolphins in the Mediterranean to social surveys in Eastern Europe. How many chances do you ever get to hang out with say, elephants?
I participated in a trip that sadly no longer is funded through Earthwatch. We were studying the migratory patterns of humans in Europe. The most common belief now is that humans migrated from Africa up through the Middle East and Turkey before settling in mainland Europe, but the theory was that it was possible for them to cross over the Straits of Gibraltar. Not too many human bits have been found, but there’s been evidence of African species in Spain and vice versa. A few years ago, they excavated an entire rhino jaw that was intact, tooth enamel and all. It was 1.2 million years old! And I had the good fortune of being the one to attack it with a dental pick!
These trips are interesting because you get to do something useful with your vacation time, and have a purpose for being there. Depending on the project, you do get some time off while you are there to see the sights and get a feel for the area. I like it because it’s also an extreme cultural immersion. On my Spain trip, all of the scientists were Spanish and liked to do a little cultural introduction. We ate fantastic Spanish food, did something called the Quemada (which involves flaming liquor poured into a bowl), and had a flamenco night. I really got a feel for what the culture was like there, minus all of the touristy stuff.
All in all, it’s a great time. I’d highly reccomend it if you’re looking for a change of pace for a vacation, or you want to do good with your time off. I’d be happy to answer any questions anyone has, as well as I can. If you’d like to learn more about Earthwatch and what they do, plus the trips that they offer, please click here. And if you want to see a picture of me that ended up on the Earthwatch brochure last year (gulp, didn’t even know about it) click here.
They have practical benefits as well. The Moors brought fountain work to Spain in the 8th century, and it’s become somewhat of an art form there. You can find them in every public square and private garden across the country. Here’s why: between shade and a bit of running water, you can create temperatures up to 40 degrees farenheit below the outside temperature in the sun. In the scorching desert heat, that’s quite the improvement. But you don’t have to live in the desert to take advantage of this cooling effect. Perhaps you have a side of the house that gets constantly hot in the afternoon? Try some trees or vines and a small fountain. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.
That’s it. I’m moving. See you all in the mediterranean.
Though often considered part of the Art Nouveau movement, I heard the term “bizzarchitecture” the other day and found it to be perfectly fitting. His works are known for pushing the boundaries, for turning the everyday object (such as a chimney) into a fanciful illusion (such as a mask-like face). Perhaps his seminal work is the Sagrada Familia, an enormous cathedral in the heart of Barcelona. It has been continually worked on since his death in 1926. It is the only grand cathedral in the world that is being built in our lifetimes, and it is possibly the last. I always felt a great sense of awe when viewing this building, to see something so vast and know that you won’t live long enough to see it completed. The project has been plagued with problems, mostly funding-related, since its inception, but it seems that they are predicting the main part of the cathedral to be completed very soon. It is so shockingly tall now, and then you find out that the last piece of the puzzle, the icing on the cake, is another layer of tower that will at least double the existing building in height. It’s amazing to think of such a thing being so tall not being built out of modern materials like steel in glass but instead stone. I think that it is a testament to his incredible building that the work continues in his (mostly) original vision.
I think that he really shows his Spanish background by incorporating tile into his design. Far more interesting than the traditional Spanish tile designs (which are in themselves stunning) he relied on the centuries of tile production the region to find castoffs, break them down and turn them into these wonderfully intricate, colorful, mosaics. The scale of these is just astounding – 12 foot tall chimneys, entire ROOMS. Instead of using paint to create the interiors, this mosaic tile creates a sense of depth that is otherwise unachievable. Plus, he was an early recycler! It’s inspiring to see waste turned into beauty on such a large and widely accepted scale.
The intricacy of his designs weren’t just limited to tile work. He built entire buildings that lacked a single right angle (!). The fronts of his apartment buildings often featured fanciful motifs, such as skulls and bones. Often times balconies would look like masks or faces, whole buildings taking on the image of something more sinister, but also delightfully wicked. What I find most compelling about his work is that no detail was overlooked, no element so small as to not deserve a special treatment of it’s own. He’s like Tim Burton in that way – he created entire worlds according to his singular vision. What’s most shocking about his work, especially in an incredibly modern city like Barcelona, is that you will be walking down the street, one modern-looking building after the other, and then you will see it. A skull smiling back at you, or a mosaic wall guiding you along. The best part is, these buildings (mostly) aren’t set aside as museum pieces, to be looked at, and not touched. They are a living,breathing part of the city, with people occupying the buildings and being able to walk in and around and touch. Can you imagine this being your apartment?
What I find most interesting about his work is the way that he conceived and modeled these incredible buildings (most notably the Sagrada Familia). He literally hung strings upside down from big matrices and weighted them with lead weights to form the characteristic curves and arches. This insured symmetry and balance – but can you imagine the amount of work that would go into that? The delicate touch? Some of these models still survive today and are absolutely mind-blowing to look at.
