
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.