Sally Gascoigne

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：25　Years in Barcelona: 2 Months (on and off: couple years while in Spain)

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: Okay. So we’re here now at Barceloneta, which I guess is what you would call my barrio. So Barcelona, like every good Spanish city worth its salt is split up into different barriers and different areas. So we have the Barceloneta, we have the El Gotic, we have Sants we have Eixample. All these different barriers and I live between the Gotic and Barceloneta.

>>>So you live around here?

Yeah! And tonight, I’ve tried to give you a bit of a sample of the tapas bars. (laughs)

>>>A very good thing!!

And some of the cava! (laughs) Yeah so the tapas bars across Barcelona and we’ve ended up here and the reason I’ve brought you here is I first came here in July, and I was trying to find a restaurant to bring a really large group with my work. And these guys that work here are super great. They are Catalonians, they’re Latin Americans. They’ve worked here for X amount of years. They really care about the food. They really care about their customers, and yeah, we’re in a good location. You should be coming here more, definitely to try out the Tapas. (laughs)

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Um…Okay. So I would actually go to the US.

>>>Oh!

Which is gonna surprise you but even though I’ve never been to the US before, I feel I have quite an emotional attachment to it and here’s why. When I was 18, my dad passed away but before then, he had this dream, that he’d had since before I was born, since he was a kid. Since he was a teenager growing up in Liverpool, he had this dream in the 60’s to go to San Francisco. And take part in the 60’s Flower Power movement.

>>>60’s San Francisco. Oooh!!

Exactly. And then he fell in love and then he had a baby and then he took over the family business.

>>>Would that be you or was it a different sibling?

It was me. And then he had the family business and all this. And it was always his dream and he never got to do it and he used to talk about it to me all the time. And that’s something I associate with him and we used to sit together and watch the TV about San Francisco all together. And that was somewhere I always thought, I’m gonna go. I’m gonna go there.

>>>Wow.

Yeah! And he passed on that dream to me. So I’ve always wanted to go to San Francisco and the irony is that I have now ended up working with Northern Californians in my role. (Leo laughs) So all of the 96 Californians that I’m currently working with here in Barcelona are from San Francisco, and they talk to me about San Francisco all the time. They love it. They’re all from the Bay Area, and it’s somewhere that they feel really passionate about and that, in turn, kind of infects me with passion for Nothern California. So yeah, I would go to the California and I would explore and I would go right down from San Francisco down to LA, down to even make my way down to Mexico, and do that kind of a route.

>>>So that would be your one month trip down to California and even the California Peninsula.

Yeah and straight down into Mexico down the bottom. And that would be what I spend my $2,500 on. And lots of Californian street food. (laughs)

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Okay. I’m going to choose Italy. I’m going to choose Italy because I work with an Italian girl at the moment, and the irony at the moment is that I talk with my hands. And every time we’re in the office and I’m getting enthusiastic or angry about something in the office, my boss moves everything breakable out of the way. (Leo laughs) Because I’m the type of person I talk like this [moves her hands]. And the irony is that the Italian girl that I work with speaks with her hands in her lap. She does not move her hands at all, whereas I do.

And every time I go to Italy, I feel very at home. I get into the spirit. I enjoy watching all the Italian men argue with each other in cafeterias. I feel part of it. I love the art history. I love everything about Italian culture. And I want to be a part of it. So that, to me, is somewhere that I feel at home, and also because I lived in Argentina for quite a little while and… they say that Argentinians are Italians that speak Spanish. And that is true. I would say that it’s true.

>>>Buenos Aires is also the Paris of Latin America. It takes all the good parts of Europe! Haha

Exactly. There are many Italians in Buenos Aires, and it’s true that Argentinians are just Italians that speak Spanish. And I think that part of my affinity with that area comes from the idea of being a little bit Italian deep down. As well as the pasta. I’m probably 70 percent pasta, if you cut me open. (laughs)

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
(Thinking)… I’m going to say—this is bad because I can’t remember the name of it—but in El Born, I’m gonna say El Born, the district of El Born.

>>>Yes. Next to the Gothic Quarter.

Exactly. Next to the Gothic Quarter because El Born is really, to me, the heart of Barcelona. And there was a book that was written recently that’s been the top of the best seller list in both Spain and abroad which is called The Cathedral Under the Sea. And it’s about Medieval Barcelona and it explores the origins of Catalonia, it explores mysteries of Catalonia, and how the region was really formed. And set in that area is this really poignant square that I think we were talking about earlier this evening, where there are many, many buried underneath that square. And they died in 1714 or around that time. And they have this monument which has an eternal flame on the top of it, and the fact that Catalonia still remembers that date and they still commemorate that tragedy to me embodies Catalonia. Because they remember and they feel so passionate about their history and about their culture, that they won’t let it be forgotten and they determinately remind you of it. And they are proud of it. Which to me makes it really Catalan.

Some people joke that everything that is Catalan is basically Spanish but with a different name. So they’re like, oh yeah, we have flamenco but it’s not flamenco because it’s Catalan. But in this respect, their history is their own and it’s poignant and it’s real and it’s something that they want to defend and I respect that. And I think that El Born area, with all of its gentrification that it comes through with today, and all of its hipster bars, but the beautiful architecture and the incredible food and the history and the culture that lies in that area, to me is Barcelona.

>>>Wow. Is there a thing? I mean you answered a pretty great answer already so you don’t have to get too much into the thing.

(Laughs) Well people think about Sagrada Família, don’t they? But if you want to talk about Sagrada Família, I wouldn’t talk about the building itself. I mean, the building itself, is more of a testament to Gaudí. I mean, that’s just pure Gaudí. That’s a Gaudí homage. To me, it’s not a religious site, it’s not a Barcelona site. It’s a Gaudí site. But people come to Barcelona, they think of Sagrada Família, and I think about if you want to think about what Gaudí was really aiming for, it was to create something in his version of the image of God— which was nature and protection and shelter and natural beauty. And this idea of one small person creating something that beautiful? Again is very Catalonian. It’s something that they push for. Having the small things have a big influence, and that was one man having a huge influence. And I think, to me, that can represent Catalonia as well.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Well, I actually learned the history of the Catalonian flag quite recently, and it’s a legend.

>>>Red stripes, yellow background.

Yeah. The Catalonian flag is red stripes with a yellow background. And the legend is that a king came across one of this loyal subjects in the field. And he said don’t worry, I’ll bless you. And he dipped his fingers in the man’s blood. And he stroked them across the man’s shield.

>>>Oh.

His golden shield and he said this will be your symbol. I’m giving you the gift of a symbol for you and your family.

>>>So those are four fingers, basically?

Sally: For the years to come. It’s four fingers, straight down. And that became the origins of the Catalonian flag. (laughs)

[Note: Here Sally helps the staff at the restaurant with customers who have allegedly been robbed. Sally returns in about 20 mintues]

Okay. (laughs) Welcome to Barcelona. Getting robbed everywhere. (Both laugh)

>>>Welcome back. So the question was about the flag.

Yeah. And I wouldn’t change the Catalan flag for that reason. It’s really beautiful for what it represents and we were talking about this before. That you see the Catalan flag everywhere. So it’s the four red fingers on the yellow background with the blue triangle and the white star. And that represents the Catalonian independence and I wouldn’t change that. I think it’s a beautiful statement but in Spain? I’d probably just have a beautiful picture of jamon [spanish ham] carried by a flamenco dancer. (laughs)

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
Okay. Well that’s the Mediterranean Sea, isn’t it? Doesn’t count. The ocean to me is the song. Oh, what’s the song? I’ll have to look it up. Don’t count me on this one because that’s not a good answer. (laughs) Can I look it up and then give the answer? Because I want to find the name. Because it’s a song by somebody.

>>>Will it be the song that Dan said because that’s what he answered. He answered a song too.

I’m checking it out right now. Okay, to me, the ocean would mean “Meet in the Ocean” by John Butler. That’s a song by John Butler and it’s a guitar solo and it’s something that somebody played to me a long time ago. And was very special to me when they played it, and even when I’m at the ocean now, I still think of that song. And when I listen to that song, I think of the ocean. So it’s something that unifies it for me, and the feeling that I get when I’m near the ocean is the feeling of grandness and the feeling of… insignificance. (laughs) Next to this huge mass of water. And sometimes, I think of Brazil as well. Sitting on the beach in Brazil as well and seeing these huge, incredibly large waves that I didn’t even realize was so big after I’d run into them and the lifeguard was shouting, “No, no, no! Don’t you see the flag?”. Yeah, that’s what I think of. Beauty and grandness. Sorry I’m not so eloquent. (laughs)

—The Sun
Madrid! I think of Madrid when I think of the sun because the sun was my enemy in Madrid. Because the sun in Madrid in July and August, it reaches about 42 degrees, 45 degrees on a daily basis. And the sun is so searing. It’s like this huge magnifying glass being held over you. (Leo laughs) You can see the shadows. I’ve never seen shadows and shade so clearly defined as in Madrid.

>>>(laughs) They’re just like, pitch black.

This line where you know that the minute you step into it and you put your bare foot into it, you are going to be seared by this dry heat. It was a decision every time you stepped into the heat of can I do this? Yes.

>>>Wow.

And you would run into the sun and try and cross the square. And I lived on this huge square where I had to cross it through pure sunlight. And rush home every day.

>>>It’s almost like a downpour situation where you had to run through it.

Exactly! It was a downpour of sun, basically. And the sun setting. I think that the sun setting which, again, Madrid, I used to sit—this summer—and watch the sun set from my fourth floor window. And what was beautiful was when the sun set every night, there’d be a different guitar player or a different musician playing in the square. Which is something so typical in Spain, is just something that’s normal. I mean, I feel like in the UK or maybe America, I don’t know, but you see a guitar player and that’s a novelty, and something that people stop and look at. Whereas in Spain, it’s just part of life. Music is the soundtrack of life. And that, to me, was very special in Madrid, and it accompanied the sunset.

—Death
Of course it was. Typical artist! [After saying the choice of death was the original one given to me by my artist friend]

>>>Exactly.

Sally: Death? (Thinking)… Inevitable. There’s my answer.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
Yeah, I'm hopeful and skeptical. (Laughs) Hopeful in the way that… I think thanks to the internet and all the development and technology sort of, really, really gives equal opportunity to everyone and it also sort of brings the world together. That I'm super positive for, this sort of power of people all over the world being more connected. That I think is a great, and it can be a great force for positive things to happen.

Well, I’m far too small to image humankind, and their future. Within my own little mini stratosphere, I hope I see clarity, and I think that’s something young people all over the world, they’re maybe not seeking but they’re waiting for where we’re quite happy to be blurred right now. But maybe you expect by your 30s and 40s to be a bit clearer. (Leo laughs) And then when you’re in your 30s and 40s, you hope that maybe by 60, you’ll be a bit clearer. And then on and then on. And I talked to my 83 year old grandma, and she doesn’t care about being clear anymore. She just cares about her hip.

>>>She was hoping her opacity was a little bit less. More on the clear, translucent side.

Exactly! (Laughs) Moving towards translucence. Moving towards full focus which would be nice, but I’m happy with being blurred right now. And right now, we’re in an interesting time in Spain that yesterday, on Sunday day, they had the—well, not technically independence vote but they had the right to independence vote. And that won by a landslide, basically. Which has a huge resonance for the future. And I’m interested to see where that goes. I don’t think I’ll be in Barcelona for it, but I’m sure I’ll return to Barcelona and it’ll be great to return to an independent Barcelona at some point, and experience it but whether I’ll be living here, I don’t know. Maybe that will become clear.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
In terms of emotions or in terms of...?

>>>Whatever. What’s the thing that pops into your mind?

Friendship. And that’s something that has become clearer for me over the last two years, because I took this job without a second thought. I was offered my job and it was a five month contract, and I took it without even a second thought. I was in a relationship at the time and I thought “ah”.

>>>Really? So you didn’t even think, you weren’t like, give me a day?

Nope! They called me at 5:00 PM on my last day in my previous job because they knew it was my last day, and they called me at 5:00 PM. 5:01, precisely, and they said we’re going to offer you the job and I said yes on the spot. And I didn’t even think about it. So… it was a very spontaneous decision.

>>>That’s about as spot on as you can get.

(Laughs) It was a very spontaneous decision and I just took it. However even though I’ve loved it and I’ve enjoyed the travel and I’ve gained so much from it. And I think we were talking about this before, that Barcelona is a very social city. So is the rest of the world. It’s difficult to get the full experience out of a place without people to enjoy it with, and I think that I underestimated how much I rely on other people to enjoy a place and a city to its full.

[Note: Here, the waiter returns and thanks Sally for her help. They engage in a conversation]

Limoncello, si. Limoncello. Bueno. Okay.

>>>That’s a good choice.

Just getting a free shot. Free shot of limoncello. And you get free water. [Leo asked for water]

>>>Oh, thanks.

So I was talking about, what was I talking about? The future. No, future.

>>>What’s the most important thing.

So it’s friendship. So I kind of realized when I was over here that I missed my friends and I missed those experiences and laughing with them about these silly things that happened to me in Spain. And that’s where I started to blog, and I have a blog and I write the silly things that happen to me down, and the bizarre situations.

>>>That will be on the site.

(Laughs) All the bizarre situations that happened to me and the times when I think “ah, Spain! Or ah, France! What are you doing?” And just the silly everyday situations that I wish I could share with my friends, and that’s been the way that I’ve gotten around with it. It means that when I go home to London, when I go home to the UK, I really appreciate my friends. And I make the most of it.

>>>Hm. That’s really interesting. Wow.

Well, you can travel anywhere in the world, can’t you? And you can be in the most beautiful place. I remember that I was in Brazil. This one time in Brazil. I went to one of the top three beaches in Brazil and it took us a four hour hike to get there over a mountain, over the other side. And we emerged out of the rainforest, onto this beach that was incredible. It was pure white sand. It was huge. These luscious waves that just caressed the beach. And I was there in my swimsuit. Feeling fantastic.

>>>Which area was it?

It was on an island called Ilha Grande. Not far from Rio.

>>>Yeah, yeah. One of the islands off Rio.

Yeah. Yeah. And I was with this girl in my hostel, and we both realized at the same time that we had absolutely nothing in common. (Leo bursts into laughter) Apart from the beach that we sat on. (Leo laughs) We had nothing to talk about. Gracias.

>>>That’s quite the limoncello. (laughs)

Yeah (laughs) And we had nothing in common apart from the fact that we sat on this beach. And I suddenly had this feeling of I would much prefer to be in a bar in Liverpool with my best friends right now.

>>>Very interesting.

It’s interesting. Yeah.

>>>I mean, again, it becomes part of my project but what’s so fun about this is because I meet so many people like this.

>>>Yeah.

And these are all, whatchamacallit? Burgeoning friendships is what each of them are. And that’s why it makes this so much fun, because yeah, this is the first time I met you. It’s the first time I’ve been meeting all the different people but, for me, it’s like I’m making a new friend everywhere I go. And that’s why I’m sharing these experiences. And that’s what makes this so much fun. So I’m glad you say that. (laughs)

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
>>>We talked about girls that a bit today…

Confidence.

>>>Oh, shit!

Which is a difficult one to find. Confidence. Confidence in himself.

>>>Oh, shit.

Confidence in his ambition. Confidence in his purpose. Confidence in me. But that is a fine line to tread and one often overspills into ego or often overspills into…

>>>So not cocky, as they say.

I can deal with cocky.

>>>Oh, really?

I can handle cocky. I’m good at managing cocky, but arrogant, I can’t. And I’m learning not to confuse the two. But confidence is one. I think in a group, I’ll never go for the guy that’s the center of attention. I’ll go for the guy that’s his best friend, and ordering drinks.

>>>Wow. I sometimes get these… but I should just make a t-shirt collection of all the good quotes I get.

(laughs) That was a good quote?

>>>That would be a t-shirt quote.

Yeah. Yeah.

>>>That’s actually a good idea. I should do that.

(laughs) That’s an off thing of the project.

>>>Yeah. Huh. Very cool. Random tangent question is, out of the people you’ve dated in your life so far, how many would you say were actually confident?

Confident? Very few. I’ve mistaken a few. There’s one I’m dating at the moment and he’s pretty confident. I like his confidence. I like it. I respect it. Oh, I dumped the most wonderful guy about a year ago. (Leo laughs) And he’s now one of my best friends. He’s great! And we both say ah, you were a great person to date but we both made the mistake that we didn’t realize that we were dating our best friend.

>>>It happens. It happens.

It happens, and we made that mistake and we realized, you’re just my pal. Yeah, of course you are. And he’s the most confident man I’ve ever met. And I love him for that. I think he’s great. So I’m gonna say two out of the rest.

>>>Two.

Two out of a number I’m not willing to disclose. (Both laugh)

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Ummm…Interesting because I’ve actually been talking about this with my friends recently. Yes, this is a very relevant question.

>>>You’re only going on 25.

I am, but when you get to this age, my old ripe age, you get to people that have maybe stayed at home and not moved away, and are marrying their childhood sweethearts.

>>>Yes.

You get the age of people that panic and marry straight out of university. They’re old school friends that are now married university sweethearts, et cetera.

>>>It happens in every culture.

It happens in every culture, and you’re reaching that age, but it’s interesting but I do not want children, myself.

>>>Oh. You answered the next question. So you can just talk on now.

Yeah, I don’t want children. It’s something I don’t foresee in my future right now, and a lot of people say to me, oh, you’ll change your mind and your womb will turn on. (Leo laughs) And I say oh, that’s insulting. (Both laughs) Yeah, let’s talk about misogyny.

But no, I do want to get married and I have dated a guy in the past who said that he was actually really against marriage, and it was something he felt really strongly that he will never do. And I realized in that moment, I was like, you and I are not meant to be. And I’m not a religious person at all. I will not be having a religious ceremony, but there’s something about that commitment that I need. I need that mutual commitment. It doesn’t have to be a big wedding. I’m not looking for a big wedding. I recently attended a wedding that was 30 of us in a gite? [CHECK] which is a converted barn in the middle of rural France, with no internet signal, no phone signal, an hour from the nearest village. And 30 of us went and cooked breakfast together. Cooked meals together and went on a hike on their wedding day, and that, to me, was the perfect wedding of just close friends celebrating commitment. So I need to get married. It’s something that I will be disappointed if I don’t.

But in terms of biological children? No. I’d be open to fostering or adopting in the future, but biological children, it’s not something that I can commit to just yet. But in my lifestyle, a lot of my students ask me, “oh my God, Sally, do you have a boyfriend?” Do you think I have a boyfriend in this job when you are calling me at 3 AM to tell me that your lock has been superglued? (Laughs) Which happened recently.

>>>Or when you’re helping out Dutch people that have just been robbed.

Yeah. “Excuse me, I need to go and translate”. We could be on a date right now and I’d have to go and translate for some Dutch girls who just got robbed.

>>>I hope I’d be confident enough with all your sudden disappearances (laughs).

(Laughs) That’s the test!

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
(Thinking)… That’s a good question. Umm… Let me think about that one. I could be cliché and say I want to see the love of my life when I wake up in the morning. But I wouldn’t because I get really bad bed breath. (Leo laughs) Yeah… morning breath, I wouldn’t want to do that. (Leo laughs) Because I’d just stink them out. (Leo laughs) But maybe…

>>>Let’s hope he has the confidence for that. (Both laugh)

[Uses deep manly voice] “Girl, I love your morning breath” (laughs). Let’s be cliché and say I want to see a new opportunity every day. I want to wake up and this is something that I’ve been trying to work on recently. That I can see each day as an opportunity and see each day as a new reason. Not a new reason, just a new purpose and a new goal. And I try and set myself a new goal each day and at the moment, my little project, which is not as exciting as traveling the world, but I want to try and learn something new every day. So I’m trying to set something aside, every day to reading at least three articles about a specific subject or news story or event or historical event or cultural aspect. Anything that just kind of catches my eye.

>>>Could you give us an example of something you’ve read in the past few days?

The past few days? Yesterday’s... Sometimes, it’s just trivia, okay? But, for example, there’s a film that’s just come out called Everest.

>>>Oh, yes. And it’s about, yeah, okay. And I went down a bit of an internet black hole about that story. And I was learning about the guy who ironically, his surname is Weathers. (Laughs) So he got caught in some really bad weather. Weathers got caught in some bad weather. (Both laugh) And he was left for dead twice. (laughs)

>>>Twice?

And he got really severely frostbitten on Everest, and they left him and then he made his way down and his face had turned entirely black. His arm had turned entirely black. And they put him in a tent and left him again because they said, oh “he’s made it down the mountain but he’s not going to survive the night”. And they left him again and he went into a hypothermic coma, which something like 0.01 percent come out of, and he did, naturally. He lost his nose, his right hand, his left forearm, his foot all to frostbite. They regrew his nose and they gave him prosthetic limbs, and he’s now a motivational speaker. And he’s written books and everything about his experience. And I was learning about all these people that have gone back to Everest and reclimbed it and I was thinking about our mutual friend Dan, who is going to go and climb –

>>>Again.

Everest despite various adversities. Yeah, that he faces. And I hope he doesn’t get frostbitten. I like his nose. I’ve been a fan of Dan’s nose. He’s got a good nose. I wouldn’t want him to lose that.

>>>(Laughs) I hope he doesn’t either. Yeah.

But things like that. I like to learn about human stories and the fact that Michelle Obama has just started. I was learning about her education for all girls that she’s just started recently. And because I’m a little bit of an education nerd and a bit of an art history nerd, I try and read an article about trivia and an article about art history and an article about women’s issues each day. So if I could open my eyes to some kind of Google Glass, with some learning to start my day every day, that’d be really cool.

>>>What about before you go to sleep?

Yeah, to go to sleep. Oh, the love of my life. Of course.

>>>Now you’re going back to the cliché.

Yeah. Now I’ll go back to the cliché. The love of my life… holding a bacon sandwich.

>>>(Laughs) Is he holding a bacon sandwich for himself, or is he holding one for you?

Holding one for me, obviously. (laughs)

>>>I just had an image of him, like munching on a sandwich.

No, he wouldn’t be the love of my life if that was the case.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
Both very personal questions. (Thinking)… Happiest moment? Probably… one of the times that I knew I was really good at my job. That I knew that I was really…because my job is part of making a difference. It’s one that I have a very, very close relationship with people. And I have a very direct influence on their experience of a new country. So every time that I see them really reacting really well to something that’s a cultural trope or a cultural staple, or I see them really connecting with it. Or connecting with each other and making friends because I’ve introduced them. A lot of the time, my job is kind of active networking. So I’ll say go and talk to this person or go and talk to this person. And trying to match people.

There was a time recently where I—it’s a small thing, but there were these two girls that I put together in Paris because I did the rooming list. And these girls are going to live together for three months. It’s a long time. So I went through all the applications. I matched them up. My boss was saying I’m taking way too long on this and I was like no, I wanna do this properly. And I put them all together. And there were these two girls that came up to me in the first week and they said, did you do the rooming for this? And I said yeah, yeah. And they said oh, it’s just that one of the girls said that her granddad lives down the street from me, and for the last four years, I’ve been walking his dogs. And they’ve never met. (Leo laughs)

So since she was like 16, this 20 year old had been walking the dogs for the old guy down the road and like, coming back and having a cup of coffee with him. And his granddaughter, she ended up rooming with her in Paris. And a couple of weeks ago, they went traveling around Latin America together for a month. And they have a friendship that’s gonna last forever. And I’m not gonna say that it’s all down to me, obviously. (laughs) But I made it happen. And I’m like yeah, I did that and I had a part in that.

>>>You were a very big helping hand.

Yeah, I had a part of that and that means a lot to me and that makes me happy. Happiest moments tend to involve food.

>>>(Laughs) Come to Japan and I’ll show you the food.

Yes, please. Great meals with great people. Sharing ideas, sharing thoughts, sharing perceptions over dinner is great. Any of those experiences have been fantastic for me. I’m happiest in that scenario. And the most frightening moment? …I think I’ll pass on that one. (laughs)

>>>I sort of have an idea…but of course, you can pass.

Sally: Yeah (laughs)

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
That’s a good way to think… My childhood person was very materialistic. (Leo laughs) No, very aesthetic. Very… like I want to be thin. I want to be a model. I want to be… super cool and trendy. And I had to work through that phase where I accepted that I was never going to be thin and cool and trendy. And I had to work the slightly chubby, geeky face.

>>>You’re pretty cool, though, no?

(Laughs) I had to work the slightly geeky phase to my advantage, which I did in the end. So during childhood actually wanted to be a vet. That was my thing. And my mum took me to one side when I was like, 12, and she said, are you sure you want to do this? Because I’ve heard that it’s really hard. And she’d been to a talk with her parents about veterinary surgery. And the vet said if your kid wants to be a vet, tell them not to do it, because it was so competitive. And he said I see people crying. I see people, their lives are ruined because they don’t get to be a vet. And my mum was like, you sure you want to do this? And I’m like, 11. (Leo laughs) And I’m still playing imaginary horses in the playground and I was like, okay. Maybe I don’t want to be a vet.

And I never had this idea of what I wanted to do. I never knew what I wanted to do until my final months of university when I suddenly realized what I was meant to be doing, which is this. And I think the childhood me would be pretty happy. I’m still slightly chubby and geeky, but I’m wandering the world and meeting really cool people. And seeing really amazing things, and I’ve gained so many different interests. I remember when I went to university and my dad was like, you should take a course in art history. So okay. I took this course and I didn’t really dig it in at university, but I knew that I loved it deep down, and I’ve kind of pursued it since I got this job. And I’ve been really lucky that I have a pass here in Barcelona that gets me into every museum in Barcelona.

>>>Ah! Lucky girl.

It’s only a few euros. I’ll tell you about that. And I use and abuse those privileges and I love it and I get to see so many incredible things in my job. And I learn something new every day and that’s the only thing I can hope for really. And in Barcelona, just walking around? It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you’re learning something and you’re seeing something different. Whether it’s a dog walker with ten dogs. Or you’re seeing a couple falling in love on the beach, or you’re seeing… what I saw recently was an elderly naked amputee man winking at me with his beer. (Leo laughs) On the beach. Or your trying paella for the first time or you are experiencing flamenco or experiencing La Merce festival. No matter what you’re doing, you’re trying, you’re learning and you’re trying something new, and that’s what I would have wanted to the younger me to hope for so, I’m pretty happy with that.

>>>What about your dream now, then?

My dream now is just to keep learning. Keep being happy. Keep moving forward. Keep developing. Get to the point where people think I’m Spanish. That would be great! (Laughs) If people didn’t realize for a little while that I was Spanish. Every now and then, I get it and that’s the cusp of the dream and they say “where are you from? “And it all falls apart. (Both laugh) If that could just keep going for a little while. The waiter just asked me, you speak English, right? And I was like yeah, I’m English. And he’s like, oh, you’re English?

>>>Nice.

Probably thought I was German. (Leo laughs) But that’s fine. That’s fine. At least moving away. So, small goals.

Shoko Tsuji

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：27　Years in Barcelona: 3

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: Well, it’s still my second time here, but the first time I came here I really liked the food and the atmosphere…The main reason I chose it is probably because it’s really international. It doesn’t just represent Catalunya -it’s like a bit of every country. And it kind of coincides with my background because I’m Japanese, but I’m living here and I’ve lived in a bunch of other countries. So that’s why I chose it.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
I would go to Rio de Janeiro.

>>>Oh, very interesting.

Yeah, because actually I was in Brazil last year for the World Cup. I took a ten day vacation, and I worked for one day, but the rest of the time, I was just travelling. So I was in five cities in Brazil and I was in Rio for four days and I really, really liked it. I didn’t have enough time to see the whole city so that’s the main reason why I want to go back. I want to live there and see it in more depth. Also, since I went during the World Cup, there was a lot of security and lots of tourists, so I didn’t really get to see the real Rio. So yeah, I’d love to go back. There’s just so much nature. So many mountains, beaches, lakes…but there’s also a lot of city life, culture and good food too.

>>>That’s true. Good food? What did you like about the food?

The feijoada. Well, it was a bit heavy. I wouldn’t eat it every day. And lots of fruit juices.

>>>The juice stands are everywhere. Something I had every day.

And flavors that you never see in Europe, like acerola!.

>>>Starfruit.

Exactly. Yeah. And the coconut juices, of course.

>>>And the mate tea lemonade.

I didn’t try that. (laughs)

>>>Oh! We’ll talk about this later. You HAVE to try it!! (laughs)

Okay. (laughs)

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Well, I’m in Spain. So it would be kind of boring to say Spain. I would say Holland because I spent four years of my childhood there. I was actually there last week for vacation, and even though it’s been more than 20 years since I last lived there, when I walk along the canals, I feel this connection. It’s like, even if there were some things I’d forgotten about, walking along the canals, I started remembering them. And it’s not a city I would like to live in again, because the food isn’t good, and there aren’t any job opportunities that I’m interested in, but it’s always a place where I feel at home. I wouldn’t mind visiting it every year. It’s not like there’s anyone I know… My friends from my time in Holland are all in different countries now, but still, it’s like a second home to me.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
Place? I would say the Camp Nou.

>>>The FC Barcelona stadium.

Yeah. Well, it really represents Barcelona and I think it’s like the most visited museum in Barcelona.

>>>Oh, really?

Yeah, it attracts more tourists than the Picasso museum.

>>>Oh, really? (laughs) I didn’t know that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I also think it represents Barcelona because you see lots of tourists but at the same time you see lots of old locals, who have season tickets, who go there every game and it’s a ritual for them. So you see a bit of both and I think that’s kind of what Barcelona’s like.

>>>That’s so true. You’re right.

Yeah, you see lots of tourists but you see also a lot of traditional Catalans in the same place.

>>>The match I went to, I remember, sitting on both sides were this really hardcore old grandfathers who probably have been seeing this for 50 years or something.

And they listen to the radio. (laughs)

>>>They’re in a completely different mood than everyone else.

Exactly. Yeah.

>>>Do you have a thing?

I would say the flags. The red and yellow flags with the blue star. And maybe pan con tomate too, because it’s the typical Catalan dish. And the Gaudi details that you see everywhere. Those are representative, yeah.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
I was thinking more of the Japanese flag, but…

>>>You could say that too.

Yeah, well if it were the Japanese flag…well it’s very simple and I’m kind of grateful too because when I was a child, we had to draw the flag of our own country. And it only took me a minute to draw the Japanese flag. It was very easy for me, whereas my friends from Brazil or the US, for example, they would take ages.

>>>All 50 stars.

Yeah. But then at the same time, I feel that Japan is more blue than red. Probably because of the soccer uniform and the fact that it’s surrounded by the ocean. So I think I would maybe add a bit of blue and put the outline of Mt. Fuji or something. But at the same time, I’m pretty satisfied with the current flag.

>>>What about the Catalan flag?

The Catalan flag? I think it’s fine the way it is and I see so many people in the streets with the Catalan flag, so I guess they’re happy with it too. I wouldn’t change it in any way.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
Ocean? Mediterranean Sea. Possibilities. Hope.

>>>Why possibilities?

I think it’s because whenever I look at the sea, I think of what’s on the other side of it. Especially, for example, if you’re in Japan, you’re on an island. So looking at the sea, you think of all the other countries that are on the other side. Even when I’m here, here in Barceloneta, I think about Italy and all the other countries.

—The Sun
Energy. Vitality. Power. Life. Yeah, I think it’s pretty straightforward.

>>>Simple stuff.

Yeah. Simple stuff.

—Death
Darkness. Farewells. Tears. I don’t know, I just imagine the underworld. (Laughs) I think I’ve just read too many Greek myths growing up, but I imagine a river and someone rowing a boat, you know?

>>>Hades and the three headed Cerberus.

Yeah, exactly. That’s what I imagine.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
Well, personally, my future is… completely unknown. So… I think it’s something that you have to create yourself. In the end, your life is about making decisions. Every day, you’re making a decision about what to eat, what to wear, where to go. Whether to say yes or no to an appointment or whether to travel, not to travel and in the end, your future is the result of all the decisions you make. So yeah. I think that’s what my future’s gonna be like. The good thing is that I get to be in charge of making the decisions so if things go well, great, and if things go bad, it’ll be my fault. So in a way, I can control the way I live.

>>>Wow. I don’t really get that viewpoint that much. Do you have something in general?

Well, until now, for example, coming here to Spain and moving to Barcelona were both my decisions. I could have chosen to go back to Japan. Maybe it would have been better. But in the end, it’s like, you never get to know what would have happened if you had taken the other decision, you know? But as long as you make your own decision, you feel responsible for it, because you don’t want to regret it or you don’t want someone to tell you, “oh, you should have taken the other decision”. Obviously, you will be somehow influenced by the people around you and the environment and everything. But in the end, it’s you who creates your future.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
For me, I think it’s staying motivated. And having passion. Doing what you want to do, being in the place you want to be, but having “the something” that keeps you going forward. Having something that’s “worth it”, to keep you going to the office every day. Staying motivated, I think, is the most important thing for me.

>>>Interesting. Is there something underlying that keeps you motivated?

Well I’ve worked in a few workplaces until now… and I think in the end, if you’re working, you spend at least eight hours a day at work so it’s much more exciting when you’re doing something that you feel passionate about. Otherwise, you wake up in the morning, and you think about going to work but you’re just not motivated enough to go. Whereas, if you have something exciting going on, you’ll always be thinking about it and you’ll have lots of ideas and even in your daily life, you’d be thinking “oh, I could do this, I could do that”.

>>>So it’s like there’s a work factor to it and there’s also sort of a hope factor to it?

Yeah, exactly.

>>>The possibilities.

Yeah.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
I look for someone who I respect, who I admire. Someone who I can learn from. I think it’s important to share the same values about the basic things, but I don’t need that person to share the completely same hobbies. It’s okay if we’re different. As long as we can learn from each other and stimulate each other, and obviously, I look for someone sincere. Someone honest. Someone who I can laugh with, and share stories with, but basically, I think the most important thing is someone I can respect. Someone I can admire.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Yeah. Definitely. Getting married? Yeah. And having children too. I mean, not necessarily in the near future, but it’s something I picture when I imagine my future.

[Second part of the question]

I think… Well…. When I imagine myself with my children, I think I want to raise them the way my parents raised me. I want to travel a lot with them and I want them to be exposed to different cultures. Obviously, get to know their own culture but also get to know people from other countries, so they can understand different perspectives.

My parents also did a lot of outdoor activities, like hiking and camping, and I think I want them to experience that too, because right now in this really modern world, where kids have phones and Internet, you don’t really have contact with nature. I also want them to experience different activities, like I did when I was a child. Play the piano, learn languages, etc…In the end, when you grow up, you’re gonna have to make your own choices. You’re gonna be like, oh, I prefer doing this or I’m better at this.

>>>We’re going back to the choices.

Exactly… I think if you have lots of options, in the end, you can decide what you’re better at. But if you don’t have those options, you’re kind of guided towards one or two things. So if you have more options, you can discover what you’re good at, what you’re not good at.

>>>Very cool. That’s so true. So basically, opening a lot of doors. And letting the children choose which one you enter.

Yeah. I think, for example, when I was in Japan, they really put a lot of emphasis on doing one thing. Being a specialist. For example, in terms of “bukatsu” [after-school clubs hosted by the school], when I was in high school, I was only allowed to choose one sport and had to do it all year. Whereas in an international school, you have season sports.

>>> Basically the American way of doing things.

Exactly. And you don’t have to be a specialist… They train you to be good at more than one thing. Unless you wanna be an Olympic athlete or something, it’s better in the long run to try different things.

>>>I mean, even most American Olympic athletes played multiple sports all through high school.

Exactly.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Okay. Well… (thinking)… Right now I live in a flat which is on the mountainside of Barcelona. The house itself is pretty old, but the terrace is amazing, and from there, you have the view of the whole city. You have the Sagrada Familia, and you can even see the sea. I really love that view and luckily, I get to see it every day and every day it’s different. The weather is different, the colors are different, the lights are different…

>>>It’s very interesting to be able to see Barcelona. The farther north you get, the higher you get.

Exactly. Yeah and luckily there aren’t skyscrapers like in New York or Tokyo, so you can really see everything. And going to sleep, I like the sound of waves. I’ve stayed in a few hotels right beside the beach, and it’s the most relaxing sound you can listen to while going to sleep.

>>>That’s so true.

And I wouldn’t want to see anything before going to bed. Actually, I need a few minutes to relax in the darkness before going to sleep.

>>>And hear waves.

Yeah.

>>>That means you gotta go to very specific places.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
I’ve had happy moments in every chapter of my life. There are too many to list but for example, at university, one of my happiest moments was definitely winning the national championship with my soccer team, in my third and fourth year. Because, in the end, only one team gets to win the nationals. We trained for it the whole year, and it was rewarding in a way because we had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to play soccer. We couldn’t travel, we couldn’t party, we got injured, we got tanned.. (laughs)

>>>Tanned because of being outside the whole time!!

Exactly. The horrible tan lines. (laughs) But it was all worth it in the end, and I felt that everything paid off. I’ve had a number of happy moments in Spain too. For example, when I finally got to do interviews that I had spent months trying to achieve. Also, it’s always nice to interview the same person a second time in a different situation.

>>>Because they know you?

Yeah. Also because, for example, one time, I had to interview a coach who had been sacked the week before. He accepted the interview but it was obviously not his best moment. And then this summer, I interviewed him again, and he was coaching his favorite team—the team that he had played in when he was a player.

>>>Who is it?

Pepe Mel. He’s the coach of Betis. So yeah, the first interview was a week after he got sacked from Betis and then when I interviewed him again in August, he was coaching in Betis again. So it was like two different situations. And it’s nice meeting the same person in a different situation.

>>>Very interesting.

Yeah and what else? Obviously, well, growing up in different countries, it’s always nice to reunite with a friend in a different city, when you’re older. Even if it’s been 10 years, 20 years since you last saw each other, you just click the moment you see each other.

>>>Wow. I’m glad you have a lot of happy moments. Let’s hope you don’t have as many terrifying moments.

Terrifying moments? I had one two weeks ago when I was arriving to Bilbao by plane. The plane was about to land. I could see the airport. I was going down and suddenly, the plane started going up again into the clouds. And then a minute later, there was an announcement saying there was a technical problem and that they had to retry the landing. It was really scary. The director that was with me started to panic because he’d just gotten married the month before and he thought he was going to die.

>>>Gonna die in the Basque country!!

Yeah, yeah. But another scary moment was last November, when I woke up and had a dozen messages from my mom saying that my dad had had a heart attack while I was asleep. Luckily, the surgery went well, but it’s so terrifying when there’s distance between you and your family and you have to wait a few seconds before they reply. And especially waking up, to have so many messages and not knowing what’s happening, it’s the scariest feeling.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
Okay. Well, my childhood dream was to become an author. And then after a few years, when I was in elementary, I wanted to be a teacher. I remember I used to make worksheets for my friends. (laughs) I used to pretend I was a teacher and I’d make them do homework.

>>>And they’re like, “What? More homework?”

(Laughs) Yeah and I’d invite them to my house and they’d be doing worksheets and stuff, so then I finished that phase.

>>>When did you think you wanted to do things with soccer?

That was when I was in junior high, high school, I think. Yeah, there was this phase when I wanted to be married to a soccer player, then I was like no. (Leo laughs) And then when I was in high school, I wanted to become an interpreter or translator in the sports world. And then in university, I wanted to work in the sports media, as a journalist. And yeah, that’s kind of what I’m doing now. But what would I tell myself? I would tell myself to just listen to your heart. (laughs)

>>>(Laughs) It’ll lead you.

Yeah, it’ll lead you. It’s okay to make mistakes. Just try it. If you don’t like it, you can always change. It’s never too late to change the direction. Try new things. Meet lots of people! Make sure you always have the light footwork to take you to places you want to go to, to see new things, go to events, talk to people…Because in the end, well, they say that you have to have luck, but in the end, if you don’t take action, you won’t have luck. You won’t have the opportunity to seize the moment.

>>>Your dream goals now?

Well, I remember the World Cup in Japan when I was in eighth grade. In 2002. I was there as a spectator, but I want to see it happening one more time in Japan while I’m alive. I want to see the World Cup being hosted in Japan, and I want to form part of it, working in it in some way. I don’t know how but –

>>>Well, the Olympics is coming up.

Yeah, the Olympics too but well, in the soccer world, I think more important than the Olympics, is the World Cup. So yeah, I want to take part in bringing the World Cup to Japan in the first place, and during the event, work there. But it’s a long term goal. It’s not anything I hope to accomplish in the next few years, because I mean, they already know where they’re gonna host the next few tournaments, but still.

>>>You got a FIFA connection.

Exactly!

Maria Ilka Azêdo

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：28　Years in Barcelona: 2.5

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: We are in a square in Gracia which is a very Catalan neighborhood in Barcelona, and lots of local people just spending their afternoon. Some parents who took their children out of the school for a while to be with them. And grab a beer or a coffee. So it’s a very chill environment to be in on a Monday afternoon.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Well, I have many places I’d like to go in the world, because I love travelling very much. So it is kind of hard to pick one specific place when there are many places I would want to go. But maybe I would just take this money and go do a backpacking trip in South America, because I’m 28 now. Almost 30, and I feel I don’t know enough of my own continent. I’ve been travelling here in Europe since I was a teenager. To the US… and I’ve been to many European and American cities. And here’s your churros. (Both laugh) And I don’t think I know Latin and South America enough. So maybe I would just get this money, and do a big backpacking trip across Chile, Peru, Ecuador, or every place in South America. It could be done within this budget and money.

>>>Sounds good. I think you basically explained everything. Getting to know your roots. All right. You know, you can speak Spanish so you can go everywhere.

Exactly, right? And I think one of the most special things about them, is I’ve been to many different placed in the world, but the people with whom I’m most connected were always the Latin people because they have so much warmth in their hearts. And they have this instant energy to share with you. They’re not suspicious of what you can bring to their life. They’re just open to have that. So I have many, many good friends in South America, so I think it’s more than necessary to know what are the places and the environments they came from.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Okay. Well, I don’t know why exactly but I feel like very, very much connected to Africa somehow. I don’t know if it’s because we have a lot of African culture in Brazil, and we have a lot of heritage from African tradition. And also their way of treating people with very… respect and this… I think one of the most amazing things I admire in their culture is their ability to think as a whole. Not thinking in this individualist mindset where there is me, and the things that I need. They always think there’s we and that’s what we need as a group, as a people that are connected with each other, and we depend on each other every time. And I think in Western societies, we are constantly losing the ability to put ourselves in different places of other people. And I think this is something they really have to teach us, and I would love to be there sometime, and feel this energy in a more close way.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
I think one thing that represents a lot of Spanish cultures, is this very thing we’re having here. Today is Monday. It’s 4 in the afternoon. Supposedly, people should be in the office, working, but you see a lot of regular folks, not only tourists or children. They’re here just having a coffee or having a beer at the square and getting to see their friends before their work shift. So I think one thing is very nice about Spain and Barcelona, apart from places or things specifically, is their ability to take a good advantage of their time, and their experiences in time. They have a very good lifestyle. Being able to be in the square and to see their kids in a quick break from work, to catch up with a friend that you don’t see in a while. Some things in our crazy routines of hard workers, we lose touch, and I think Spain somehow manages to keep their attention to the basic stuff. What you were saying, to be with your family and spending time with people you like, and seeing the magic in small things. Like small experiences and small gatherings, and I think this is one very, very bold feature of Barcelona. Knowing how to take a good advantage of life, and the season, and the people and the experiences you can have.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Okay. I have interesting remarks on both. [Regarding to both Catalan and Brazilian flag] (laughs) I think the Catalan flag, I wouldn’t change it.

>>>You wouldn’t?

I wouldn’t. Because I wouldn’t have the balls to do it. (laughs) Because people here are so serious and committed about this independence, that I think that redesigning or touching any feature would be a huge deal for them. Because this is a very serious part of identity for them. Those striped red and yellow banner. So, for Catalan flag, I would leave just the way it is because I wouldn’t have to get more conflict with that they already have. And for the Brazilian flag, I really, really like the Brazilian flag.

>>>You like me wearing green, so. (Laughs)

Yes! I like the colors. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the colors meaning? Yeah, the blue for the sea. The green for the forest and all of that. And I also think that the shape itself of the Brazilian flag. They’re very pragmatic. They’re not just like every other banner with stripes or squares. It’s like [speaks Portuguese]. How do you say that?

>>>Like a diamond shape?

Yeah, diamond shape! You don’t see this very much. This circle in the middle. So I think this is a flag that you instantly recognize, so in the design and marketing side, this is a very good feature. Or one design item is to be easily recognized. But at the same time, I’m very, very bothered by what is written.

>>>(Laughs) Yes, yes.

In the stripe that says in Portuguese "Order and Progress". And this is what really doesn’t happen at all in Brazil. Especially for the first one, “order”. That’s completely wrong. Brazil is a huge mess. So maybe this order thing is just a hope. Something that they really want their future, but I don’t think it’s connected for our ideals. So maybe, I don’t know, love and progress. (Leo laughs) Or union and progress. Or I don’t know. Worrying about others, and for anything that reflects more of personality like warmth and progress, than order because order is not about Brazil. It’s about other places. Not us.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
Ah, nice. The ocean is the stomach of the world. (laughs)

>>>Is the what of the word?

The stomach!

>>>Interesting!!

Yes!! We heard this. Me and my friends, we heard this from the father of a friend who really loves the ocean. And he has a boat and he has a house on the beach shore, and he always says that to us. That the ocean is the only thing that can chew everything. Because it is, right? The oceans can even melt the rocks. So the ocean is the stomach of the world.

>>>That’s so cool.

It’s the thing, it’s the place where you can drag all energies and give them back in another way. So it’s like a very bold and powerful agent of our environment.

—The Sun
The sun. “Here comes the sun. Da, na, na, na”. (singing) You said I could sing!

>>>>I’m just saying what song is that?

Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. I just learned how to play the riff on the ukulele yesterday. (Both laugh) That’s why I’m singing it. “Everything is alright!” And it is true because the sun is the source of everything we have. So it’s heat. It’s life. It’s everything. So I think people who don’t live in the sun, they’re sadder, and it is a fact.

>>>Welcome to my hometown, Portland OR. (Maria laughs)

You know those places that you wake up and it’s always this white sky? Every day is the white sky? It must be so depressing. You don’t get to feel warm and I think sun is really necessary for you to feel better, even though you don’t like heat, or even though you’re a cold mountain, introvert person. I think everyone needs the sun to feel better. The body is in within their inner selves. Even if it’s in a very discreet way, I think sun is our basic energy.

—Death
[Does hand gesture]

>>>(Laughs) What is that? Is that hang loose?

That’s Death metal!!!

>>>Death metal!! Okay.

Well, death. What is death? I love poetry. I read poetry lots and this is a very common subject for all writers and poets, and it is our greatest fear. And the thing that we can’t completely understand because we don’t get an idea what is it like to be dead? So I don’t have a clear idea of religion or spirituality at this point in my life. I know I’m almost turning 30, but I don’t think that the experiences I have so far were enough to determine which path I should follow spiritually. So I don’t have any religion for my basis.

I was raised in a very Catholic country, and right now, Brazil is a little bit more evangelic as well. But I was born in this environment with all this mixing religions. African religions, Spiritism, and Catholic church. Maybe this is why I grew up with so many different inputs. I didn’t get to choose one specific religion, and I don’t know if it’s too harsh to say this to your video but I don’t believe in God, or life after death or anything like this. I don’t have any specific religion because I believe they are all based in dogmas and old-fashioned concepts. They just don’t translate what human essence is, and what we really feel towards the others. There’s so many prejudices and so many mean things that are still done in the name of religion. Even Pope Francis said recently that in the history of humanity, most of the lives that were taken were in the name of God. So what is God in the end? Is he killing or is he making people live?

So my thoughts about death, they’re very mixed up. I’ve always seen death like this distant event until I had it in my life with my dad, which was a very, very difficult experience. Because when he was very sick and ill, in the end, I was hoping that in the end… when you get almost no hope, you feel like maybe I can try the religion. Like your last resort. I have to have something to believe in, to have my heart a little bit more comfortable. So I kind of looked for some answers at that time, but even so, I didn’t feel like I was getting what I needed to hear, because I always thought a lot and I always questioned a lot of things, and I was always interested in science, so I will never take that anything people say to me as a truth. I would always doubt and question. So by that time, when my father was seriously ill and almost dying, I saw myself questioning like, “Hey. Are you really not a believer? If you don’t believe, what are you sticking to in such a hard moment?”

And that’s when I understood what religion is to most people. It’s some sort of comfort, of some sort of spiritual resort for you to be in when you have no faith and you don’t believe anything, and you think everything will be wrong, you just stick to religion because it’s the only thing you have. So I sort of tried to do that. I search and I was praying for my dad to believe or anything but of course, it didn’t work, because that’s how life is. So I just got back to my atheist position again, where I think there’s no God. There’s no one judging what you’re doing, and what you’re not. And I just believe that we have to do our best. People spread love, and spread good messages, and be kind and do not treat people badly because everybody has feelings. And this is it. I don’t need religion or anything to practice some of the Christian ideals. So death, it’s our only certainty in life. Nothing happens anything afterwards, in my opinion. And meanwhile, while it doesn’t happen to us, let’s just have lots of fun.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
Okay. Well future is a thing that I always think like in a daily basis of many things. What are we doing with our lives? Is this the right thing to do? Should I take this project because it’s affecting other places? So I think I’m a little pessimistic about the future. But I don’t want to get too depressed talk about this, because whenever I start talking about this, it’s just sad. There are so many fucked up things happening on the planet right. So much inequality, and there’s so many people who are suffering for the other one’s comfort sake and commodity sake. People just live their lives.

Here, you actually see a little bit homeless people, poor people, refugees. When you live in a country like Brazil or in South America, you’re more exposed to the poverty in a more direct way. So it is very, very impressive and shocking to see how poor people are ignored by society. You’re passing through the street and there’s this guy over there and he’s starving. And you’re looking at him, but just pass because you gotta go to the drug store, go to work and get your life going. But there’s some people here who are suffering. He could be your cousin or your dad. Like your shirt, it’s just purely coincidence that we’re here. [Referring to Leo’s T-shirt with the print “It was purely by chance you were born here”] And I’m not related to him.

So I think one thing that is really missing in humanity right now is sympathy. The ability of putting yourself in someone’s place. Someone else’s shoes. So I think our future might be a little doomed, because the egos are taking over. The egos are prevailing over the ecosystem, and I don’t think we have a very limited path if we don’t do a very significant change. Like right now or in the next five, ten, or 15 years. I think some bold changes have to happen, not only in sustainable projects or the environment but mainly regarding our behavior, and our attitude towards people. I think we have to be more human.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
The most important thing. I won’t say “be happy!!” because tacky, right? And what is happiness? You know? Such a subjective concept. I think the most important people thing…(Thinking)… I think we don’t take anything from this life, right? And since I don’t believe in life after death, or magical stuff or anything, you have to believe in what you have in here. You know? This connection I have with you now, and people I like and people I love, so I think in the end, what matters is not what you get. It’s not what you’re told. It’s what you feel. So I think maybe most. I don’t know. So maybe the most important thing for me, must sound a little cliché as well but being loved and being good to people, and treating people well. Just that and having significant connections and deep connections with people. Not being plain, and just staying in superficial layers. Just having important and significant relationships with people.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
And have a good sense of humor because if you don’t have a good sense of humor in this life, you’re screwed because life can be pretty annoying and shitty sometimes. So you have to have a positive attitude towards everything. So what I look for in a partner is someone that has this positive attitude towards life, and towards experiences. Someone that sees life in a very light way. Not in this material way, like gathering and accumulating stuff. And light-hearted, free. Free will. The person that I would like to be with should be able to live anywhere, and being open to every kind of experience because that’s how I feel like right now. I feel like I could be anywhere, and I could meet many different people. So I have to have a partner who would be able to share these sort of things with me. So basically… and he must have a Ferrari as well! (Both laugh) No, no, this is it.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Marriage: No. Never.
Children: Well, this has to do with another question, which is what do you think about the future? And whenever I’m getting into this age, I’m 28 now, and I’m being confronted with pictures. All of my friends having babies, and getting married and all these key frame moments in their life where they’re making these big changes. And I’m very happy for them but at the same time, I don’t feel connected to this idea. This traditional idea and motto. Getting married, making this expensive party, then having a child, putting a child in a private school, then getting your nanny to take care of the child for the whole day, then you work your ass for 12 or 14 hours, and then when you get home, your child is so tired from spending the whole day doing activities, you just say “okay, night night”. And then there’s another day when you don’t connect with anything or anything else. Your child, your home, your partner. Anything. So I believe some of these traditional models… they’re fake and hypocritical and I don’t want to follow them. And so by this, this means I won’t have a traditional marriage or maybe I don’t have children, and this is okay.

I see it in a very natural way. Instead of thinking oh, “I want to have a child because I want a pretty little creature with my face on it”. I don’t want this. I’m pretty aware from having a child, I’m having a human being which I have to pass values, and beliefs, and I have to be fair and provide a very good life quality. So whenever I think about kids, I think about all of this serious stuff and values and… I think about the future. I think about our planet. How it’s developing the situation right now. Will it be a good environment for your children or will they be fighting for water or resources? I think this is the basic thing that people should think, about but instead you’re only worrying about putting cute clothes on them and cute pictures on Instagram or Facebook.

So… I don’t have a clear answer for you right now about kids, but it has to do with the future. If I see we are turning into a brighter future, with more human practices, and better sources of energy, better use of our planet, maybe it’s a good place to raise a kid. But if it’s turning into this dark thing it might turn into, I don’t want to. So it’s a situation that depends.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Sometimes….

>>>Sometimes?

Sometimes, I feel like I’m still dreaming.

>>>Oh. (Maria laughs) That’s actually a pretty cool way of interpreting it. But you can use other senses, other feelings, whatever.

The first thing I would like to see when I wake up? Well, I have problems waking up. (Leo laughs) I’m a very night, how do you say that? Nocturn?

>>>Nocturnal.

Nocturnal person. I feel like all of my ideas, creativity, and energies, they are flowing way much more in the dawn or late hours. So mornings…well also, in my family, I was raised by a journalist, and my father was working doing the newspaper the next day. So he would always get back home at one or two in the morning and we would always wait for him to be together. So I was always used to going to bed super late. And I always had trouble waking up in the morning. So for me, morning time is suffering. (laughs)

>>>When I say morning, it doesn’t have to be “morning”. It can be when you wake up.

Okay. Okay. So, in general, when I wake up, which is morning because I have to work, I like to see something that is really comfy and nice because I’m so pissed by the fact of being awake. (Both laugh) I just wanna see something that makes me happy. So maybe it’s my cat coming closer and wanting to snuggle or cuddle a little bit, that would be the greatest first vision in the morning. Just to be a little bit like nothing much, or doing much, just like animal or instinctive stuff. (Laughs)

>>>What about before you go to sleep?

Oh, nice. Well, since I’ve been used to going to sleep very late, I’m very used to go to sleep after working. So I always go to sleep after seeing so many different types of images. I mean I’ve been seeing fish for the last months because of projects.

>>>(laughs) Your projects.

But beforehand, I was working, with shadows in a theater, like in this creepy opera. (Leo laughs) So I have the most diverse type of images before sleeping because, in general, I’m working. So it’s kind of funny because they also affect my dreams, and they generate these weird dreams because they’re some sort of mash-up of all the things I’ve seen in the day or in the week. So it’s basically creative stuff. (laughs)

>>>Hm. Interesting. So I guess that would be so basically, you’re seeing now.

Yes.

>>>Is that what you want to see or just what you see? Is that an ideal thing to see?

An ideal, oh, okay. Well, I kind of like to see these kind of things. Colorful images and… because when I close my eyes, I keep them in my mind. Colorful shapes and moments and flows. So maybe I can get new ideas and sort of make them interact in different ways that I haven’t imagined before. I do believe dreams are very, very powerful expressions of our subconsciousness. So I think it’s nice to be exposed by beautiful images.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
Okay. I have passion for the little things. Since I’ve seen Amelise. You know? Amelise, the movie [Reffering to Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain], I got very inspired. And I felt very connected that in our daily life, we are not exposed to big things. We’re just working on the regular basis, so I think we should be able to develop this ability of seeing happiness in small events and small stuff happens in your life. For example, when you’re walking on the street, and a random stranger does you a favor, or talks to you something that makes you think or maybe someone gives you their place on the line. So I’m very captivated by small things that happen in our daily basis life. But talking about uber happiest moments. I always like to recognize happy moments of our lives because it’s important. Because we are always so whining and complaining and wanting things so when we actually get happy moments, I think it’s something we should be proud of to actually recognize. So I have this weird mania of making lists. I do lots of lists. Many different things. Some are more abstract, and some are more pragmatic. So one of these lists that I have is that from happy or special days I had in my life. So I have many of them. I don’t know if you want me to share one.

>>>That’s interesting.

Yeah? I can look up here.

>>>We can do it later though. If you’d like to.

I could tell you one. For example, it’s very silly. One of the episodes, me and my sister, we were about to move to a new house in Baja [area of Rio] and this house had an… what’s this? An opera singer? [Referring to a girl screaming in the background] (Both laugh) Wow. So the house had a pool. So we were very, very excited because Rio is hot as hell, and we had a pool in our house! So it’s the coolest thing. We could invite our friends to have barbecue and all of that so we were super excited. And about to move to that place but the place was all empty because we’re in this moving transitional period. So actually I was with my car. She was in the university. And so I got there, and I kidnapped her from the class. She was supposed to go to the class, and I said hey, let’s go to our new house. Let’s get some bikinis. It’s empty but we can buy some food, and be there celebrating our pool. So… I kidnapped her from the college, and we got our bikinis, and then we were in the pool of our new house that we wanted so much, and we were dancing, making silly choreographies. And it was so hot and we were eating some sort of chocolate, and our mouths were all very covered with melted chocolate and we were dancing happy in the pool. And that was it. That was a happy moment, you know?

>>>That’s a great happy moment.

Yes! Actually, also my sister, when she was younger, she was very afraid of entering pools. And I was, as an older sister, I was always this pushy person who would say “hey, come on! Don’t be a pussy! Come on in. Enter, enter!” And at this time, we were both adults or, young adults. And she was a little bit reluctant to enter the pool, but right now, since I’m more mature, I’m just respecting her moments and letting her enter whenever she wants. And I feel that she recognizes that, and she feels more comfortable. So this is a small detail, but it says a lot of how our relationship has evolved in the years.

>>>Wow. There’s even that little side story with it.

Yeah because everything makes part of the special moments, right?

>>>Yeah. Wow. Huh. That would be a cool list to look at. Terrifying moments? Scary moments?

Terrifying moments. There was this time when I was a kid, I was six years. And my dad was passionate about soccer and Flamengo.

>>>Flamengo, the futbal team.

Yes.

>>>Yes. I went to see a match at Maracana.

Yeah? Were you supporting Flamengo?

>>>I had to because that’s who I was going with. It was against Vasco.

Good boy! No, because I could stop the interview right here. No, I’m just kidding. (laughs)

>>>If I was a Fluminense fan right?

No but you’re a Flamengo, right?

>>>Yeah. (Laughs)

Okay. So we are watching a Flamengo match and it was 1995, I guess and suddenly, the [speaks in Portuguese]. How do you say?

>>>The crowd.

The crowd? Fell down.

>>>At the old Maracana!

Yes the old Maracana. In 1995. I was there. It collapsed. And I was there. I was five or six years old and I just saw people falling.

>>>Holy shit!

Falling, falling. People, people were everywhere. It was crazy. Crazy. So my mom took me by the arm and she rescued me and my dad because she was this humanitarian person. He was helping people getting safe or whatever, and my mom rescued me. And I got the back of my leg all bleeding because I was scratched by one of the chairs that was falling or something. So that was a very terrifying moment.

>>>That is terrifying. How many people died?

I think some people died but many, many people got seriously injured because it was a very huge fall.

>>>I know. I was there, I could tell. There are A LOT of people there. That would be pretty frightening.

Yes and you see people flying. It’s like a movie. Like a horror movie. It was, even though I was only six, I can still recall because it was a very strong image.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
Yeah, I love this question. I ask myself all the time. So, when I was a child, I was very introverted and I would spend a lot of time by myself. So I’d be doing these drawings, and writing things, and trying to invent some stuff. I’ve been always very creative. A very creative child. So in the beginning, I had never had a clue of what a designer was. I guess when I was a child, this profession was even in the high… I don’t know. Maybe in the 80s, the design life mentatiliy was still being developed so there wasn’t such thing at that moment. I remember I wanted to do something that had to do with creativity. So I was thinking that I was going to be an inventor in the first place, but then I realized by public opinion, “oh you’re being an inventor? But this is not a profession actually. Just a thing that crazy people do”. (laughs) And then I had to change my mind a little bit. So I was in doubt between architecture, or something that I could be art related. But basically, I wanted to be an inventor when I was a kid. I would take all these cardboard boxes and reassemble them into airplanes, or cut comic books or magazines and make my own collage or my own storybook then. So I was always into this thing of taking the material you have and transforming into something else.

>>>What would you tell childhood you now?

You are going in the right way, I guess. (laughs) Well, at least I’m doing something that really makes my heart smile. So I think we’re connected somehow. I think I’ve never left being the child I was in the beginning. I’m just this adult, that’s wisest, but I’m pretty much the same, I guess.

>>>Very cool. And finally, what is your dream or goal now?

My dream? Wow. Well my dream is to right now, I recognize already that I do lots of things that I wanted to do before. Like working with art, culture, education. I’ve been able, lately, to do this wide range of projects relating to all kinds of subjects which makes me very happy because I get to learn a lot. So my dream would be that I keep working with different fields, and being able to help different kinds of subjects being depicted in a visual or artistic way. But my actual dream is that I can make a more intense use of this feature, this quality I have which is being able to generate content and visuals or whatever, to actually make some difference in people’s lives. Not doing just TV commercials or ephemeral art installations that will stay for a while and then pass. My dream right now is to use the creative power I have to make some more actual changes in people’s lives.