Philly

Ens vam agafar 4 dies de vacances per visitar Philadelphia, a Pennsylvania, casa del Príncep de Bel Air, del seu cosí Carlton Banks i de la meva amiga Lia. Dia 1: vam arribar en tren el dissabte al matí. La Lia i en Kyle ens van recollir a l'estació de tren de Media (a les afores de Philadelphia) i ens van portar a casa dels pares d'ella. Com en el cas de la casa del Jun, la casa dels pares de la Lia està pràcticament al mig del bosc, potser no tan aïllada, però envoltada de natura. Allà vam instal·lar-nos i vam fer un breu descans a l'habitació de l'Alex, el germà de la Lia, i vam tornar a agafar el cotxe per anar a fer un "brunch" al centre comercial del poble. Després, la Lia i en Kyle ens van deixar i ens en vam anar altre cop en tren cap a Philadelphia. El transport públic és força car i en el cas dels autobusos una mica deficient. Tot i així, en un parell o tres d'ocasions no vam poder comprar el tiquet perquè només accepten pagament en metàl·lic, però no ens van posar cap problema, segurament per ser estrangers. Vam entrar al Museu d'Art de Philadelphia, no sense abans fer una ullada a l'estàtua d'en Rocky i pujar fent el tonto les mítiques escales de la pel·lícula que estan coronades per una placa al terra amb les seves petjades. Dia 2: vam visitar el port i el monument dedicat als immigrants irlandesos. Després de dinar, vam tornar per caminar al llarg de port i vam veure uns break-dancers. Dia 3: Carlos, el padrastre de la Lia, va ser molt amable amb nosaltres tot el temps que vam estar allà. Entre d'altres, ens va recomanar anar a fer una caminada al parc Fairmount pel costat del riu per veure els clubs de rem i respirar una mica d'aire fresc lluny de la ciutat. Dia 4: Vam apuntar-nos a una de les visites guiades pels murals que s'ofereixen i vam gaudir algunes de les moltes pintures a les parets dels edificis que hi ha escampades per tota Philly. Cap a la meitat de la visita va començar a ploure, primer no gaire, però ràpidament es va transformar en un diluvi que ens va deixar a tots xops. Malgrat les condicions climàtiques adverses, gairebé tothom es va quedar fins a l'últim mural. Després, vam entrar a la primera botiga d'esports que vam trobar i vam comprar roba de recanvi força bonica.

En algun moment durant la nostra estada, penseu que parlo de memòria de fa 2 mesos, també vam visitar el mercat de Reading Terminal i hi vam dinar molt bé, però no vam poder veure els grangers Amish perquè no hi eren aquell dia. També vam veure l'Ajuntament, tot i que no vam poder travessar-lo perquè estava en obres. Normalment es pot travessar l'edifici i admirar-lo des de dins, ja que el creuen dos carrers perpendiculars que es troben al centre de l'edifici en un espai obert. A més, vam veure els vells edificis on els pares fundadors es van reunir per treballar en la independència del seu país.

El dia de tornada va ser un sprint. Després de la visita dels murals, vam afanyar-nos, canviats de roba, cap a Media per recollir les bosses. Fins que no vam tornar a ser a Philadelphia no vam menjar alguna cosa en 10 minuts abans d'agafar el tren de tornada cap a New Haven. Un cop al tren vam poder descansar i dormir, però encara ens esperava una última anècdota cardíaca: tot just havíem baixat del tren i caminàvem per l'andana quan em vaig adonar de que no portava la meva inseparable ronyonera (amb cartera, mòbil i claus a dins). Llavors tot va anar molt de pressa: vaig començar a furgar dins les diverses bosses que portàvem i ràpidament em vaig adonar que no hi era. Vaig entrar esperitat al tren altre cop, sense tenir temps per pensar què podia passar si tancaven les portes mentre encara era a dins (me n'anava a Boston!). Però els nervis juguen males passades i en aquesta primera entrada no vaig saber ubicar els que havien estat els nostres seients. Amb el cor sortint-me per la boca, vaig tornar a sortir. Buscava un revisor perquè a Estats Units tenen el costum de baixar a l'andana per comprovar que tot està en ordre abans de donar l'ordre d'arrencar al conductor. I efectivament va aparèixer. Amb el millor anglès del que vaig ser capaç, vaig explicar-li la situació. La seva resposta costarà d'oblidar: "Tens un minut!". Vaig tornar a entrar al vagó i aquest cop sí, amb l'ajuda d'un passatger anònim, vaig localitzar els seients i, amagada sota, la ronyonera perduda. La vaig arreplegar d'una revolada i vaig fer una darrera carrera cap a la sortida on per ben poc no vaig topar amb el revisor que anava a entrar. I estava comptant en veu alta! Li vaig dir que ja la tenia i li vaig agrair infinitament la seva col·laboració. Altra vegada les seves frases de comiat no se n'aniran fàcilment: "T'he donat un minut i has trigat 20 segons! Sigues amable amb algú altre!". I amb aquesta anècdota i aquest bon consell m'acomiado de moment. Sigueu bons!

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We took some 4 days off to visit Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, his cousin Carlton Banks and of my friend Lia. Day 1: we arrived by train on Saturday morning. Lia and Kyle picked us up at the Media station (outside Philadelphia) and took us to her parents' place. Like Jun's house, this one was also at the forest border, maybe not as isolated, but surrounded by nature. There we settled and had a short rest in Alex's room, Lia's brother, and we took the car again to go have brunch at the mall. Afterwards, Lia and Kyle left us and we took the train again to Philadelphia. Public transportation is quite expensive and in the specific case of buses deficient. However, a couple of time we weren't able to pay the ticket because they only accept cash, but they didn't bother us with any fines, probably because we were foreigners. We entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art, only after having a look at the statue of Rocky and climbing the famous stairs in the movie, which are topped by a plate on the floor with his footsteps. Day 2: we visited the harbor and the monument devoted to the Irish immigrants. After lunch, we went back to walk along the port and saw some break-dancers. Day 3: Carlos, Lia's step-father, was very kind to us all the time we were there. Among others, he recommended going for a walk in the Fairmount park along the river to see the rowing clubs and breath some fresh air away from the city. Day 4: We took one of the mural tours offered and enjoyed some of the many paintings in the walls of buildings that are scattered all over Philly. Towards the middle of the tour it started raining, not much at the beginning, but it quickly turned into a heavy rain that left us all drenched. Despite the awful weather conditions, almost everyone stayed until the last mural. Afterwards, we entered the first sports shop that we found and bought some quite nice clothes to get changed.

At some point during our stay we also visited the Reading Terminal market but couldn't see the Amish farmers because they weren't there that day. We also saw the City Hall, although we weren't able to go through it because of the building work that was going on at the moment. Usually one can go through the building and admire it from the inside, as it is crossed by two perpendicular streets that meet at the center of the building at an opened space. Besides, we saw some of the old buildings where many of the founding fathers met to work on the independence of their country.

The comeback day was a sprint. After the mural tour, we rushed, new clothes on, back to Media to pick up our bags. It wasn't until we were back again in Philadelphia that we had something to eat in 10 minutes before taking the train to New Haven. Once in the train we were able to rest and sleep, but one last cardiac anecdote awaited us: we had just get off the train and walked on the platform when I realised that I wasn't carrying my inseparable money belt (with wallet, cell phone and keys inside it). Then it all happened very quickly: I started digging inside our various bags and backpacks and I soon realised that it wasn't there either. I went back in the train, without time to think what could happen if the doors closed while I was inside (I was going to Boston!). But tension plays bad tricks and in this first time back in the car I couldn't locate our seats. With my heart throbbing on my throat, I went outside again. I was looking for a conductor because in the US they usually get off the train to check that everything is fine before giving the order to go to the driver. And there he was. With the best English of which I was capable, I explained the situation. His answer is hard to forget: "You've got one minute!". I went in the car once more and this time, with the help of an anonymous passenger, I could find our seats and, hidden below, the lost money belt. I quickly picked it up and made a quick dash for the exit where I almost run into the conductor who was going in. And he was counting down aloud! I told him I had found it and I most sincerely thanked him for his collaboration. Again, his last words won't be easily forgotten: " I gave you one minute, and it took you 20 seconds! Be nice to someone else!". And with this anecdote and this good piece of advise, I say goodbye to you for the time being. Be good!

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Visitar aquests dos llocs és complicat. Encara més si no t'estàs a Nova York, sinó que vens d'un altre estat i tens un viatge en tren de dues hores. Primer, més val agafar les entrades aviat i a través d'internet o pots acabar veient l'estàtua des de Manhattan. I millor que ho facis amb antelació, especialment si vols entrar al pedestal o pujar a l'estàtua. Segon, un cop allà, estigues preparat per una cua i un control de seguretat al més pur estil aeroport. Portava el meu portàtil i em van portar a part un cop passat el control per fer alguna cosa amb l'ordinador, probablement prendre nota d'algun codi d'identificació. La única cosa que no era com en un aeroport era el transport. El vaixell és força ràpid i, en la meva opinió, el trajecte fins a Liberty Island ofereix les millors vistes de l'Estàtua de la Llibertat. A Liberty Island, a part de l'estàtua, també es pot gaudir l'impressionant "skyline" de Manhattan, un panorama per recordar. A continuació, el nostre viatge continua cap a Ellis Island que és força més gran. Agafem un altre vaixell que ens porta al cèlebre centre federal d'immigració on tantíssima gent que escapava de la pobresa d'Europa, arribava per veure com el seu somni d'una nova oportunitat es feia realitat o era destruït.

Allà vam fer una visita guiada amb un noi força peculiar, un "ranger", que s'esforçava molt i molt per ser políticament correcte. En conseqüència, el seu discurs resultava infantil i no convencia ni a una part clarament conservadora de l'audiència ni a la resta. Els seus acudits eran especialment dolents. Vam pensar a escapar-nos un parell de vegades però ens vam quedar perquè l'experiència resultava divertida en un sentit "friki". El "ranger" semblava molt interessat a deixar ben clar que la versió oficial era que a ningú li havien canviat els noms durant el procés de registre al centre. De totes maneres, hi havia algunes persones al grup que no hi estaven d'acord i van citar alguns exemples. Però la discussió no es va convertir en un conflicte. Cap al final de la visita, vam haver de decidir per quina banda d'un tram d'escala dividit per dues baranes baixaríem: esquerra, centre o dreta. Vam escollir dreta i ens van dir que de les dues possibilitats per a la gent acceptada, havíem escollit la dels que no es quedaven a Nova York sinó que anaven a alguna altra banda. Exactament com nosaltres.

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Visiting these two sites is complicated. Even more when you are not staying in New York, but coming from another state and the train trip takes almost 2 hours. First, you better get your tickets soon and through the Internet, otherwise you might end up seeing the Statue from Manhattan. And you better do so in advance, especially if you want to go inside the pedestal or up the statue. Second, once you arrive, be prepared for some airport-like queue and security control. I had my laptop with me and they took me aside after the control to do something with my computer, probably note down some identification code on it. The only thing that's not airport-like is the transportation. The boat trip is pretty quick and, in my opinion, the approach to Liberty Island offers the best views of the Statue of Liberty. In Liberty Island, apart from the statue, one can enjoy the impressive skyline of Manhattan, a sight to remember. Then our trip continues to the far bigger Ellis Island. We take another boat that brings us to the famous federal immigration station where so many people escaping poverty in Europe landed to see their dream of a new opportunity fulfilled or crushed.

There we took a free tour with a quite peculiar guy, a ranger, that tried very very hard to be politically correct. This resulted in a kind of childish speech that convinced neither some very obviously Conservative part of the audience nor the rest of it. His jokes where remarkably cheesy too. We thought of sneaking out of the pack but we stayed because we found the experience to be quite fun in a freakish way. The ranger seemed to be very interested in making it clear that the official version was that no one had had his/her names changed during the registration procedure there. However, there were some people in the audience that disagreed and cited some examples. But the discussion didn't turn into an argument. To end the tour we had to decide which way to go down a staircase divided by two handrails: left, center or right. We took right and were told that of the two ways for accepted people that was the one for those who were not staying in New York but going somewhere else. Just like us.

Fotos ben aviat - Pics coming up soon.

BBQ at Jun's place

El meu tutor ens va invitar a la Laura i a mi a una barbacoa a casa seva el dia 4 d'agost. M'havia "insinuat" que li agradava molt el vi i alcohols similars, així que li vaig portar una ampolla de cava (vi català escumós, similar al xampany francès) que vaig aconseguir a "The Wine Thief" a New Haven. En Jun viu fora de la ciutat en un poblet proper. De fet, la seva casa està gairebé al mig del bosc. És un lloc realment bonic. L'única pega seria la gran quantitat de mosquits, però res que no es pugui solucionar amb un bon anti-mosquits. El menjar era molt bo, vedella i conill (o similar) fumats, amanida, blat de moro i pebrots, cogombre, etc. a la brasa. En Jun també havia convidat dos post-docs, el Florian i la Cécilia, i va demanar al primer que ens portés en cotxe. Així doncs, ens vam trobar a les 16:30 davant del laboratori i vam esperar 15 minuts a que la dona d'en Florian arribés amb el cotxe. Pensàvem que arribaríem tard, però tot just vam ser el segon grup en aparèixer. La vetllada va ser divertida. Vaig tenir l'oportunitat de parlar amb en Jun i els altres estudiants sobre idiomes, pel·lícules i campanyes. Vaig descobrir que el japonés no utilitza subjecte i que s'ha d'"endevinar" a qui es refereix el verb pel context. Ja sabia que el Jun i jo tenim un gust similar per alguns tipus de pel·lícules. I per a la meva total sorpresa, el Jun va invitar la Laura a acompanyar-nos a una campanya científica l'any vinent. Tinc mig any per convèncer-la però ho veig complicat. Finalment, després de 3 hores, l'esdeveniment social va donar-se per acabat i vam tornar en cotxe cap a casa.

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My supervisor invited Laura and me to a BBQ at his place on August 4th. He had hinted that he loved wine and similar alcohols, so we brought a bottle of cava (Catalan sparkling wine, similar to French champagne) that I got at "The Wine Thief" in New Haven. Jun lives outside the city in a nearby village. Actually, his house is almost in the middle of a forest. It really is a very beautiful site. The only drawback might be the huge amount of mosquitoes, but nothing that can't be solved with an anti-mosquitoes spray. The food was yummy, smoked beef and rabbit (or another similar animal), salad, corn, and grilled peppers, cucumber, etc. Jun had also invited his two post-doc students, Florian and Cécilia, and asked the former to take us all there in his car. So we met at 4:30 pm in front of the laboratory and waited for 15 minutes for Florian's wife to get there with their car. We thought we would arrive late, but we were just the second group to show up. The evening was fun. I had the opportunity to chat with Jun and his other students about languages, movies and cruises. I learnt that Japanese uses no subject and that one has to "guess" who the verb is referring to by the context. I already knew that Jun and I have a similar taste for some kinds of movies. And to my absolute surprise, Jun invited Laura to join us in a scientific cruise next year. I have half a year to convince her, but I think it will be complicated. Finally, after some 3 hours the event was over and we drove back home.