in business

I am officially in business and working on my first project. It is a web site for a local bus company here in the Costa Brava area. Th company is names Girotransfer and they provide charter buses for groups all over the area. The specialize in groups doing tours, school field trips and senior citizen excursions. Here, more than back home, I see more senior citizens coming together as groups to enjoy their retirement and traveling everywhere within a bus trip´s reach. It saddens me to think that so many senior citizens in America seem to be in the work force. I am sure there are some that just enjoy working and meeting other people. But still I am sure there are those who work to afford health care or receive it in the first place. Still I am sure there are those who did not invest well (I am soon to be a victim of such events) and social security is just not enough.

Part of my trip here is to see things on the other side. It´s not necessarily "the grass is greener" as Spain has just as many issues as we do in America. The common denominator:humans. It´s human nature to create and fester some of the social issues we have. Carme and I got into a spirited debate on guns and weapons. We also finally got a chance to see the movie The Kingdom with Jamie Foxx and Jason Bateman. I was commenting on American´s 2nd amendment, Spain´s culture where guns are not freely available and Saudi Arabia´s miltary controlled state. 3 sides of the same lopsided coin. Based on culture, politics and current events, they shape the world we are in. Still I will take the restful night of no gunfire over a years lease in Gilpin Court.

So is my mission to fix the ills of the world? Certainly not. My mission is to experience and see human nature from the perspective of cultural standards. Still the more I look, the more things stay the same.

In America, there is a hot political issue with the influx of immigrants from Mexico and Latin America. Here in Spain, it is mirrored by the influx of Moroccans who cross the Strait of Gibraltar to find work and a better life for their families and children. The poor into the country looking for opportunity they can´t find in their own country due to corruption, violence and just plain bad luck. Spain has a thriving tourism industry since the death of the dictator Franco. Morocco has the misfortune of being in proximity to many Islamic states and some serious civil wars in the Sub Saharan regions of Africa. Still they come here to do work that most Spaniards don´t want to do. Much like the doctors and lawyers of Mexico coming to America to pick oranges in the orchards of southern California.

Do these African get a bit of appreciation? Are they welcomed with open arms? Well one day I may look into those questions as I have more and more conversations with the locals here. But how does this affect me being of African decent? I am not sure, since this is a small town and most people know I am from the United States rather than Africa. Still they look at me with a bit of confusions trying to read my life story in my eyes. Right now I cannot argue that I am being mistreated or handled when no one really initiates conversations with me knowing how poor my Spanish is. Still it´s quite amusing if I saw a bumper sticker which read¨"If you live in Spain...speak Spanish!!!"