On one of my hiking trips, a fellow-hiker and friend thought that I would really enjoy the movie "La Gran Belleza" (in English "The Great Beauty"), an Italian film which won the best foreign film Oscar this year. He thought that the movie would show more or less the European attitude about life in the last half of the 20th century and that I would gain a better appreciation of the European view, at least up until this last recession. He also told me that it was showing in the movie house "Maldá" in the Gothic section of the city. The unique part about this movie theater is that it only has one screen and shows 8 different movies a day. With one ticket, you can see 8 movies or less (you can leave, take a break, skip one or more movies, and then come back for any remaining movies). On Mondays, the ticket only costs 5 euros.Being the cheapskate that I am, I went the following Monday and "binged" on 5 of the 8 movies that were being shown. Granted, not all of them were recent films, but I found that I enjoyed all 5 movies, one of them being "Nebraska". The other interesting tidbit was that only one person worked in this theater. The same employee opened the ticket booth and sold me and others the movie tickets. He then closed the ticket booth to open the door to the theater. He then went in and started the movie. I imagined he later left the movie booth and went back downstairs to sell more tickets for the remaining shows (still at a cost of 5 euros on Mondays). I was surprised and impressed that one person could do it all.
Well back to "La Gran Belleza", my friend was right. It is a great film, an amazing score, magnificent filming of the city of Rome, excellent acting, and, in my view, a profound message about post-modern life, very much from the perspective of Italian and European experience, but I believe it also connects to the experience of many citizens in most First World Western countries. It also struck a nerve for me personally, as I transition to living as a retired person with plenty of free time who is receiving a reasonable pension in an affordable city in Western Europe. How will I spend my days and invest my life? How frivolous or meaningful will my life become and what kind of contribution or difference will my life have here? I don't have answers to these questions, but I'll continue to carry these questions with me for some time, I'm sure.I highly recommend the movie. Since I saw the film in Italian with Spanish subtitles, I watched it again with English subtitles and was able to catch more of the movie and its nuances (I found this version on the internet).
International Friends, Health Care, Eurovision, etc.
There were so many other things that occurred last week, that I'll only be able to briefly mention them here. Barcelona is such an international melting pot and the backgrounds of people here are fascinating. Two people in particular that I met last week are Bernie and Jordi (a different Jordi than my good friend here). Bernie is currently living in London, is Swiss, who speaks at least 9 different languages, and who comes and visits Barcelona and has some good friends here who I know as well. Jordi has an American father and Catalan mother and grew up in Barcelona learning Spanish, Catalan, English and German. And then through relatives in Portugal and Italy, he learned those languages and then later learned Arabic and Russian. He currently works for the United Nations and is back here in his home town for a bit of R&R for the week and is also good friends with some of the same people that I have gotten to know here. Both of these individuals exemplify how people from relatively small European countries (compared to the U.S.) have exposure to various cultures and languages, which shapes their own world view.
A couple of weeks ago I must have dropped my little money pouch near the Bread shop that I frequently go to. At that time I asked one of the women about whether someone had returned it. There really wasn't much in it, but I liked the pouch and I was hoping it had been found. The woman behind the counter said that no one turned it in. I thought that was that, but at least two other times when I visited the shop, this same woman asked me whether I had found the money pouch. I was touched by this inquiry and the thoughtfulness behind it and I believe also reflects a bit of the culture here.
In terms of health care, this week I had my first dental check-up and cleaning with a private dental firm. It turned out that the check-up, x-rays, and cleaning were entirely free. They usually make their money on the problems they find and set up a plan to address them. However, in my case, they couldn't find any. I was happy with that outcome!
A friend had a 2 day visit to a private hospital and had a stomach operation. I was able to visit him with some of his other friends and I got a glimpse of the private health care system here, which seems to be of high quality and gives excellent care.
The Shambhala meditation group was hosting one of the weekend programs here in Barcelona. I had the opportunity to sit in on some of the program (I had taken this same program in DC). It was great to be able to have some longer meditation sessions with other practitioners and to hear some in-depth teachings on meditation and basic goodness. I was feeling a little dry in this area of my life and so this was very helpful and inspirational.
Finally, I had my first experience with Eurovision!! I was invited to a gathering to watch this annual show at a
