Time to get back home!

I have had a wonderful time in Barcelona, not only personally but also professionally. During this last month I have been immersed in the Catalonians way of living. There are many differences with the American (United States) culture, but not as many from the Puerto Rican’s. The Spanish language is well known in Catalunya, food had a similar taste than that of Puerto Rico, and coffee was as great. The division of time is very different though, from both Puerto Rico and the United States. Work days are divided into two time slots: 9 to 1 and 4 to 8. The long break in between, allows people to go home to prepare a big lunch and to probably even take a “siesta”. Not everybody follow this time schedule, others might start earlier or later, depending on their job requirements and responsiblities. Still many stores close during lunch time and open again in the afternoon.

The presentations I made in the Doctoral Conference (Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK) and the V Multimedia Congress (Institute of Educational Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain) allowed me to further clarify my research project. I feel more confident in what it is I will like to research for my dissertation and if everything goes as planned I already have a good draft of what I would present to my committee members.

Without ILET I would not have had this experience, I thank my professors for allowing me to participate in this incredible and wonderful opportunity.

When I first started this blog I talked about having a more relaxed and slower stay in Barcelona. But I found out that people work as much here as they do in the States, the difference is though they work more as a group and take time to be together and share a little of themselves almost every day. Well, at least this is what I experienced when becoming part of the Multimedia Group. The morning coffee break and lunch time was a welcoming environment to get to know each other. It allowed people to refocus and when getting back to work to do as much. The academia environment has many similarities everywhere I’ve been: people work to develop a research agenda, and they teach and work together to develop a community of learners.