Bright side of the financial crisis

In Spain the most common word you hear daily is the "Crisis". The famous crisis which created unemployment, which doesnt allow that people could eat in restaurants daily or travel as much as they could before, have to survive by getting unemployment benefit or in extreme cases loose their homes. 

As in my home country always had been a "crisis" I am used to search a job for 4 months with a diploma  in my pocket, or not to have money to travel to India for one month, to eat and drink my coffee at home but I can understand those who were grown up here it is a big change now. Instead of all these obviously negative effects the crisis has a bright side I think. It brings people closer and the society becomes more caring.

 Solidarity grows in the bushes and you breath in the air. Having no money makes people to use shared cars  - I have been to Madrid this way. You registrate at a web site, travel together with other people so that you are sharing costs and the way. Really different can come together in a car, who in normal circumstances never would meet up. Not only students, but businessman, musicians, tennis players, tatooed officials working at museums, technicians .... and me:). Having no money makes you to search alternative and economic ways to learn languages. Instead of paying an expensive language school you do exchange. Like as I do with a 50 year old architect who wants to learn English and is "paying" for the lessons with teaching me French. Having no money makes you learn new professions so that you are creating employment for yourself by offering something new. Having no money makes you feel more careless, you are not worrying about your car because you go by bike and train, you dont worry to loose your phone because you have a shit one, you dont worry about destroying your clothes because it is already second hand ... 

In Amsterdam I really felt that in Spain people care more about the others and sharing that they have is in their blood, which is even stronger with the crisis. I was stucked in the train station before going to the airport. It started to snow heavily so that all trains were cancelled, the station was like an enormous ant hill, 500 people making queue trying to get in a taxi .... I was also rushing up and down searching someone who could share his taxi with me because it was impossible to get one, and if I got one would be impossible to pay it alone. I crossed two duch who were in the same situation they told "it would be nice" if we shared the taxi and then dissapeared in two different directions at a zebra crossing. They could get one. They could pay one. They didnt give a shit if I miss the flight or not. How did I get to the airport? With 4 spanish in a little cab, sitting and crushing our bones at the back seat because when they got the taxi and I thought I wouldnt fit in one of them just told me to shut up and get in! ;)

 One of my favourite sentences from the film "Into the Wild" is when Chris, - who is more attractive then 10 George Clooneys and Brad Pitts together for his way of thinking and for his beautiful eyes - says: I have always enjoyed to travel. But when I have most enjoyed was when I went without any money. (Even though I have to add if you wouldnt like to get in trouble never go to the north without money, just to the south!!!!)

10 cents every day

I put my pink "gipsy" bike a bit away with the cold weather, and I go by metro to work every day. I dont like it too much because people are bored, the lights should be good enough to illuminate a whole football field so that your eyes are burning and with these burning eyes you try to search something interesting. You only find shoes, bags, signs, and faces to explore so that you can entertain yourself a bit, and then suddenly you get a schock! You slightly elevate two milimeters from your seat because someone in the middle of the metro car starts to sing. But SING "oh when tha saiiints! oh when the saiiiiints! ohhh when the saints go maarching iiiin tarattta ta ta ra ta tata ..." Fully equipped with a microphone with background music.  (other favourite is "Ai se eu te pego aiiiiiii ..." but imagine femalevoicce and three times slower rhytm as the original one) 

But sometimes you hear the wonderful sound of the oboe or accordion "la cumparsita"  and you get in a trance. I noticed that these "musicians" are always playing the same songs, maybe dont know more, but they really put a smile on my face and help to survive the retina-killing conditions. Ok, except when you are with a terrible hedache or didnt sleep well, the last thing you wish - even to your enemy - would be to listen to the accordion ..... 

These people are inmigrants, they come from Romania, Serbia I guess, and they are earning money this way. Usually tourists give them some cents, locals are a bit fed up with these metro-car concerts and think as I do: if I gave them every day a coin I would spend a lot in a month for that, I can not afford it. 

Somedays ago, when I had to go to the other point of the town and had nothing with me - neither books, nor music - nothing to be entertained with I was really missing them. Then I felt a bit ashamed. I expect them to play but rarely give 5 or 10 cents .... 10 cents a day in a month would sum up to ... 3 euros! So yesterday I gave my first 10 cents. 

The wonderland of portraits

Portraits are one of the most interesting way of photographs to me. Seem to be the most difficult to take also ... I have to learn it "poco a poco" - little by little (spanish mentality, that I like so much;). I have found on fubiz.net a gallery and I saved the best ones here to share it with You. They are marvellous, can tell the story and move the imagination, describe the person without words. You get an impression in one moment of the person: the eyes, background, colours, clothes - they all tell you their story while leaving something for the imagination. They are forced in a way, as the model is posing but seem to be the most natural and calm at the same time. The good ones. I am having difficulties first with the technical part, my photoes are always blur, and the second step is the connection which is something to be really learned by practice and luck, and trying a lot. An inner connection between model and photographer makes the portrait seem to be natural. When I make my first good portrait you will see it here for sure;)

Girl showing her scarfs which she has for giving birth to her children. She is proud of it because it means  the miracle of  birth and represents that she is a strong woman. (I see her beautiful and powerful especially that nowdays the 90% of women are so occupied to maintain their "beauty" and would think their body is destroyed if they have scarfs. But you see it really comes from inside: happy and harmonic people are the most beautiful.)

Miradas - ways of looking

 I shot this photo in Buenos Aires when I visited my aunt, just next to her apartment. How many way of looks do you see?

There its normal that you have your shoes cleaned in the street. In Hungary or here in Spain I didnt see it before so for me it is strange, and seemed to be humiliating for the first glance. But if I think it well it isnt - it is a way of earning money, and if women go to beauty saloons to pay for a manicure - which they could easily do themselves at home - why couldnt you give money for someone to cleans your shoes? I put below the original photo where I cut from the "way of looks" and another scene where client and shoepolisher seem to be almost in love, they are talking and smiling so nice at the other one:) Dont watch the quality of the second photo, I still didnt have my supercamara that time ... ;)

B.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.

 from fubiz.net

Happy, beautiful, gyonyoruuuuuuu!

Flexibility and chaos

3 times changing apartments, 9 different flatmates, 6 different types of jobs from cleaning yachts to english teacher, 58 plans (which always change), thousands of people you know then lose as fast as you knew them. Sometimes I think it is me, who is chaotic and deep inside I love to be in a mess because otherwise would be bored, but I reached the point to dream about some kind of order. This makes me think that this city really helps  to create chaos around yourself. Barcelona does not seem to be a huge metropolis, but it is always changing. People who come here then go in some months, jobs where they take you then fire because they know there are 10 people for your place to start immediately, places, bars, possibilities, friendships ... everything is going fast and if you are a bit open the vawes catch you finding yourself in the middle of a mess. I really love Barcelona and the life here but starting to dream about some kind of order. I tend to be lost but to tell the truth Im happy to be lost here. Why? Because it is a creative loss, searching goals, plans, and dreaming. At home I was paralized and here I feel that it is me who is organizing the life, I am alone but not lonely, a lot of persons and their ideas support me without telling me what should I do, simply observing their life help me. So now I am learning to make decisions, be flexible and to ... take it easy! ;)

Hello tourist

The funniest photo exhibition I saw in Barcelona was the one of Martin Parr, english fotographer. He is incredible, really makes you laugh while watching the photos. He is capturing the moments you see in everyday life, but with an incredible sense of humour. Simple but exactly that makes him a genious for me. I just say one expression: socks and sandals. ;) Hello tourists!