Hola Everyone!
So, I have decided to create another blog about my internship in lovely and sunny Spain. I will be in Spain for about 7 weeks and I have been hear for about a week already and I felt that is was time to update all my amazing friends back home about the trouble I have been getting into! ;)
I have started my internship this week and so far it is very cool. I am working with a 3D scanner called Lucida, although it was formerly known as Lucifer, but due to the fact that there were several jobs done in the Vatican and other churches people felt the name should be changed. :P Basically, what this scanner does is it uses a laser to scan a painting, print or panel to get 3D information about the surface of the object in order to document the pieces before they are restored/conserved or to create a more accurate facsimile. For those who do not know, (and don't feel bad I didn't either until I came here) a facsimile is replication of an object, painting, or place. That is one of the main things that Factum Arte does. It is all very impressive. Some of the more well-known jobs that they have completed are creating a facsimile of King Tut's tombs as well as several Caravaggio paintings. More often than not they are asked to create these things in order to prevent damage to the original and if something were to happen to the original than all would not be lost. Additionally, they are asked to make replicas to be placed where the originals once hung in order to complete a church or a home since that is what they were meant to decorate in the past. It is also so very interesting and it really makes you question what originality means in the art world. Here is the link to the website if you all want to read more about it!
http://www.factum-arte.com/
Now, that some of the technical duties are explained, I shall inform you all about the people because really it is the people that make the place. Everyone here is absolutely fantastic and they all really believe in what they are doing which makes it even better because they love it and they are making a difference. People from all over the world work here including Brazil, Egypt, England, France, and I am sure there is more once I get to know everyone better. They are so willing to share, which is wonderful. The first night I was here a man named Miqui took me out to dinner and showed me how to get to the supermarket, but he would not let me pay for anything. He is such a nice guy and honestly cares about others. The second night I was here I had dinner with this lovely Englishman named Mike Ward and he was fantastic. He cooked an amazing meal for me and we talked for hours about family, politics, religion and art. It was amazing how much we had in common despite the significant age difference (40 years), so all you holding your breath that I may have found the love of my life (finally) should really continue to breathe for I fear you may expire before that happens. ;) I have met some people that are my own aged names Aliaa, Stephanie, Arthur and Constanza. They are a little older, but not much and they too are very generous and eager to learn and teach others. I must admit that I am feeling rather guilty because someone has cooked for me every night and it was so nice, but they would not let me clean the dishes or anything. Chivalry is really not dead, but apparently you have to come to Europe to find it. :) Any way, I hope to make my famous Cinnamon Rolls for them this week to say thank you and if you have not heard of these famous rolls you must tell me and I will make sure that you get them ASAP! I would hate to deprive you of their awesomeness (Sorry, I couldn't help but gloat a bit there, but I promise the moment has passed now.)
Lets see on to this weekend. I was able to navigate to the city center where I visited the Prada Museum and the Botanical Gardens. They were breathtaking and it was so nice just to wonder and not have any particular destination in mind. I think you almost find more interesting things this way. I walked for hours and once I was really tired I found a nicely shaded bench and read my book. It was so relaxing. I basically did the same thing on Sunday. I picked a direction to walk and I just walked and visited places that appeared interesting. It was wonderful. I did have a slight mishap with a larger large piece of glass, but I am okay. I rolled my ankle a bit and bruised my heal, but nothing out of the ordinary for me! I took many pictures which I will upload here or on Facebook. So I do hope that you enjoy them. If you notice a pink baseball cap in a few of them, don't mind it. I am sure those who know me will think it is strange since you all know I am not a huge fan of pink, however, it was given to me by Hooke College of Applied Sciences and with out them I would not be here today and I thought it would be nice to send some pictures of me wearing the hat to them! :)
Any who, it is getting late here so I will wrap up and probably blog more in the next few days!
