For the past 6 days I have been in the lovely city of
Barcelona. It’s crazy to think that I’m
visiting this amazing place for a fourth time, but there’s something about the
region of Catalunya that I find so attractive.
Living in New York City can be intoxicating, but sometimes you need a
moment to rewind and see how others live.
The quality of life in the area of Spain is so wonderful and that is
definitely emulated in the Agusti Vallejo family.
My “Spanish family,” as I call them, always takes me in as
one of their own. Surrounded by friends
and family, I am always sure to have a wonderful experience when visiting.
This past weekend I went to their beach residence in Sant
Pol, just a 45 minute drive from Barcelona.
As I was packing for the beach rendezvous, I discovered a very severe
problem. I had no camera charger.
I ransacked my small gathering of clothing and supplies for my month-long trip, but no
charger. Flustered and embarrassed I
started to try to figure out what to do next.
I needed a camera. No pictures in
Africa with the kids just seemed unimaginable and surely not an option.
On the drive to Sant Pol I decided to email a friend coming
to Rwanda to try to find a universal charger, but I still faced quite a
predicament… I only had 1 battery for
the next week in Spain. I had to choose
what moments were worth capturing versus wasting battery life on unimportant
ventures.
Saturday came and went.
I got to spend some time with the lovely Te Perez, a Simonson teacher,
and her family on the beach. Anna Agusti
and I talked on and on about her new choreography projects, the human body, and
more. I watched Joan, Anna’s son, play a
hockey/futbol game. I saw PT’s
rowboat. I drank a Clara with friends as
the sun set and the moon rose.
I didn’t take a single picture.
I realized that I didn’t need to. The memories were appreciated on a much
deeper level. I wasn’t hiding behind a
camera lens.
As I was rearranging my backpack for the ride home, I found
my charger in the bottom of my bag. As
the emotions of embarrassment and relief came flooding in, I also gathered a
new understanding of how to best use my photographic tool.
Are you a tourist or a visitor? That is my question to you.
As I walk through the touristic locations in Barcelona, I
now see that too many people miss the important moments and struggle to capture
them forever in a stationary image. Some
moments are not to be frozen as tangible photo paper. Some moments are to be entirely enjoyed.
I think that if four years ago I’d come to Spain with the
preconceived notion to solely be a tourist, I wouldn’t have such amazing
connections in Catalunya now. I didn’t
merely attempt to obtain evidence that I’d visited Spain, but rather I chose to
create relationships and maintain friendships.
Next time you venture somewhere near or far I challenge you
to leave with more than pictures.
Until next time,
Chelsea
