Selection- Inquiry Journal #1

 September 21, 2019

4:41 PM

Mi compañera: Kaija

Street name: Paseo Del Prado 

Location information: Paseo Del Prado, Atocha, Madrid 

3.Paseo Del Prado, Atocha, Madrid 

Observing the Paseo Del Prado Park 

When I arrived in Atocha, I sat down with Kaija in a park near the Reina Sofia in front of the Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social y Igualidad. I decided to return after I saw the community of green tents and people around talking from my field notes on September 18th. While I sat down on a stone bench outlined with grass and several brown leaves, the breeze was coming and going while the sound of bustling trafficking roared throughout the street. I looked around the park and saw people sitting a laughing near green and white tents and small areas filled with garbage. 

On the left side of the park lied 43 tents in two rows, so each row had about 20 or 21 tents more or less. The row of tents closer to the median of grass were all green with the words “Nadie sin hogar.” The tents lied under rows of green trees, where the leaves hadn’t changed colors yet. Three people in front of me, whom are from the community, sat on another stone bench laughing. All three were wearing black, and there was one couple. The lady was sitting on a man while holding his neck and they sat and spoke to the guy sitting next to them with a half empty bottle of coca cola. Two other men, also dressed in black, walked by with a white tarp and the man next to him was holding a stick. I thought to myself that they could be making an art project of some kind since there were several other signs and words around their small community. But the signs were hard to read from where I was sitting, but there is more detailed information about that further into this field note, because I moved seats later. Three men about 12 feet away from the couple, were cleaning the area around the tents with a hard bristled sweeper. The laughter and smiles comng from the people brought nothing but joy to the air. While I was writing my field notes, a man smiled and waved at me from the side with the tents. I looked at him and smiled back and waved as enthusiastic as possible, because I had decided then that I wanted to interview someone.

As the people were roaming around the homes, talking and laughing, I noticed there were clothes hanging from a line to dry and contrary to what most people think, the members of this community were very tidy and had everything in order it seemed like. The clothes were hanging on an electric wire that was collected to the city line, and there was a stripped tshirt and two pairs of boxers. As I observed the rest of the community and lines of drying clothing, I noticed that there weren’t any people there that either identified as a woman. I assumed there were more men than women.

I looked back to the side with the green tents. The two men were were originally sweeping the floor decided to sit down and rest on two wooden chairs and a table with cardboard on top. The men weren’t talking to each other, instead they were observing the traffic and drinking a fruit juice out of tin cups. This community reminded me of a peaceful state of living, there seemed to not be any obligations and people could have the chance to truly enjoy the company of another and there wasn’t a leader of any kind. 

On the other side of the park there were was a mattress and filled garbage bags lying against the side. While observing, I realized that the area where the tents are is a walking path for people, but no one walked through the community of tents, instead they would turn before they reached it. 

I wonder if this is out of fear or respect? I stood up with my notebook by my side. I had finished my interview questions on the train coming, and now I was prepared to ask. 

Pictures and explanations about the community: