Travel: Ultimate cure for solipsism

Copernicus, are you there? So understandable that you thought the sun revolved around the earth. I, Little Ruthie Deming, thought the world revolved around Les Etats Unis - the USA. While walking the streets of Barcelona among highly civilized people and their children and their dogs noticed there are worlds other than mine. I think that is the great lesson of travel.

If all life is a lesson, what, Dear Reader, have you learned of late? I do encourage these litle dialogues between the two of us, asuming, that is, that I am real and not a compilation of ... well I AM a compilation of many things and many themes, all wrapped up in this material being who at 7 am Barcelona time is sitting in the lobby of the Balmes Hotel.

How many times must a traveler humble herself before the holders of the predominant culture to ask for help? As many times as she dares. My traveling companion dislikes asking for help. Yes, it is fine to be independent but I do not have the rest of the morning to ask, for example, how to turn on the computer particularly when the instrux are in a foreign language.

So, you see, English is not the center of the universe. I remarked to Pepe, hotel mgr last nite, Whatever must you Spaniards think of Americans with our latest shoot-em up, this time in Fort Hood, TX? Dyou think There go those gun-crazy Americans killing out of anger and hatred again.

Pepe is a diplomat. He does not judge us. He walked us to the street corner and pointed the way to the interestingly named Muffins restaurant where we had another great meal last nite. More tapas.... including codfish croquettes and mushroom croquettes. Sarah´s main course was pigs feet while mine was codfish swaddled in crepes.

Diners poured in beginning at 10 pm. Ah, they love going out for an evening in their black clothes and meeting their friends for huge multi-course meals.

Did I tell you most people are slender here? Not many fatties like at home where people are obsessed with their weight. American culture has so many obsessions, I´m not talking about our obsession with famous people and movie stars, but with health concerns - always these new diets, plus new medications for what ails you instead of taking care of the underlying problem.

Do you know the work of the artist Joan Miro? We went to his museum on a tall hill at twilight yesterday. I shall keep my ticket as a souvenir. He´s a favorite artist of both Sarah and me. She reports I took her to a show of his at the Gugg in NY when we were growing up. How good of me! I certainly have no memory of this.

His paintings and sculpture are positioned in huge rooms with high ceilings so you can fully appreciate the scope of his often childlike work and brilliant use of color. These artists we have seen - Picasso, Gaudi - were highly political in a time of great social change. Here in Spain with its ancient civilization its layer upon layer of conquerors and victors, it is easier to see America in the throes of such social change under Obama, our administration´s handling of world events, of wars on foreign shores now and in the past, always waging wars, and now our health-care reform which has opponents marching on Washington. Who are such people who wish to deny universal healthcare to everyone? Krugman writes that the healthiest people in society are those over 65 who are on universal healthcare - Medicare.

I see now in my mind´s eye the beautiful park we traversed last nite outside Miro´s museum. Sculptures pierced the graying cloudless skies as we saw a magnificent view of the city - a panoramic aerial view - beyond an iron grating. These are the vistas, I said to Sarah, making a play on words of one of Ethan´s albums. When I say Ethan I mean The Bad Plus of course.

Breakfast is served later on the weekends. The Catalonians are not a hurried people but pace themselves, enjoying life. It would be a good city to live in. Until this trip I never really understood how Americans could live aboard. How long would it take for me to learn Spanish?