Dream Essence´s Digital Land

Tonight, we’ve had a really nice dinner to celebrate one of the student’s birthday. It’s taken place at another group of student’s place, which turned out to be a really nice apartment in a peaceful and really italian district nearby the university. We ate outside at the terrace tomato and mozarella cheese and chatted for a while. Then I walked by myself back home through the streets of central Rome thinking how nice this opportunity is for me. Not only have I learnt (I still am, indeed) a lot of spatial stuff, but also I’ve had the chance to meet different people whose only common point is a very rare and specialized field in social science. And whenever very different people meet, there’s a huge lot to learn, both about what you like and what you don’t like from them; about what you’d like to become and what you’d not. All along this time here, that quote from My blueberry nights has come to me over and over again, and I think I couldn’t put it better myself…

First update after a week without passing by this place… Time here is turning great and almost everyday there’s something new to tell about. Anway, I’ll try to zoom out and just put down the most relevant highlights of the week. For now, just two of them…

Certainly, I’ve cut down my amount of walks and pictures, I guess it has to do with the fact I feel more comfortable. Once a friend of mine told me the first days are always somewhat more sad because one tends to feel more lone but they are also those you usually learn the most from. I guess I’ve already get used to San Lorenzo and somehow Rome and don’t feel anymore the need to go out in the street, walk while listening to music and shoot pictures to fill that “empty space”…

Last week, we had Harry Kelejian for the theoretical part. I did learn a lot about spatial econometrics but specially it was the non-tangible part the best. As we say in Spain, “más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo” (it’d go something like “devil is wiser because of his age than because of his status as devil”): he is very young in mind but full of experience and I believe that’s what really makes the difference when it comes to teaching. Analytical stuff and models themselves can be found in a book or a .pdf (of course it’s far better if someone shows you the key parts) but I’m pretty sure the most important and interesting thing I’ll keep from the week with Kelejian will be the last one hour and a half he started by saying: “you know, this stuff I’m gonna tell you about is not in the lecture notes, nor in any book, so you can take it as an extra for your own human capital…“

Alright, so it’s been one more step on the way to the US… Today I bought the flight ticket, which doesn’t imply I’ll go for sure (I will if the guys at the American Embassy think it’s alright and give the visa). It seems July 26th. is the date I’ll get on a plane from Swiss Air in Madrid to, after a connection in Zurich and many hours I’m sure will be everything but happy (iwanttogobuthategoodbyes) I’ll land in NYC’s JFK. Yes, you read well, New York City; and yes you also remember right, I’m going to Tempe, AZ. The reason why i’m stepping out of the plane halfway is I’ll meet my italian friend Ago there, we’ll hop on a car and go for a fast-but-intense coast2coast trip, yeah!
The schedule is not fully set-up but for sure we’ll spend that weekend in NYC and we need to be in the West by Aug. 12th. so it’s gotta be fast In-between, many adventures, landscapes, history… I’ll post more as it comes, but by now I just wanted to make sure everyone knows about the date (specially my American friends, take it into account, this spanish is bangin’ on the US really soon!!!).

After a hard and dense day at class, there’re very little things better than a night walk once the rain is over, encompassed by CC’s Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. Enjoy a glimpse…

By the way, the district I’m living in (San Lorenzo) is very lively and people seem to be very active in many ways. For sure a good index for that is the huge amount of street art that makes the area more human and let the pedestrian know there’re real people living aroung. I couldn’t but start shooting my camera, and here is a good bunch of examples of what you find when walking around (to be increased as I dicover more…)

Apart from that, today I had my first very serious class on spatial statistics by G. Arbia. Though it’s really hard stuff for me (last class on econometrics was 6 days ago, but on statistics was 6 years ago…), I do feel it’s a good chance to get an interesting background and understand where some things one usually assume as given when doing econometrics come from. But for that, i really need o review my notes, which i’m jumpin’ into right now…

One of the things I like the most about going for a month to a city, not specially for tourism, is the possibility to: first, get to know locals in a better way (not only taking one as a touristic target to exploit); second, to have the freedom to do things you’d probably never do if you were in the city because they belong to that group of things you may do everywhere. Another nice point of the course I’m attending this month is the social event, which takes place once a week. Today it was turn for Jazz@Alexander Platz Jazz Club, the oldest one in Italy. Here I drop the pix, not many this time as I was more focused on the music. As a jazz-lover, I enjoyed it very much

Since there was a change in the schedule and Jean Paeling couldn’t come to Rome (great pity…), we don’t have much to study yet. Moreover, the weather in Rome these days is gorgeous. All together, my flatmates and I felt like we had to go out for a tour around the main Rome. Since the main Rome means the touristic Rome, we dressed up (honestly, a japanese with a digital camera, a french with a guide from Michelin in his hands and a spaniard taking pictures all around do look like tourists…) as for the occassion and headed downtown. Nice weather, nice ambiance and amazing ice-cream… main Rome!

[Rome'08]Touristic walk…