Translator: Camille Martínez Reviewer: Sebastian Betti
Hi. Good morning, everyone.
My name is Belén. I'm 15 years old and have been blind since birth.
Maybe that's why I've been focused on what I'm about to tell you.
Or maybe not.
I remember when I was really little,
walking with my mom through the old city in Córdoba,
which is not a pleasant walk -- or at least that's how it felt to me.
And I asked my mom, "Is all of Córdoba like this?"
After a few minutes of silence, she said,
"No, just the old city."
"And the rest?", I asked intrigued.
"It's like where we live."
That was her way of trying to satisfy my childlike curiosity.
Later, we took trips to Segovia, Barcelona, Cádiz.
We did a lot of sightseeing during those trips.
I'd always start out really excited,
thinking I'd get to know all about the city.
But I always ended up pretty disappointed,
because all we ever did was walk.
As I got older, I learned to appreciate those endless walks.
I took in the sounds, listened to the locals' conversations,
and tried to learn all I could about the place.
But the most exciting trip for sure was to New York.
We were in Super New York, like in the movies!
The Big Apple! Center of the world!
Being in New York was the best thing that could ever happen to me!
When we got off the plane, my first reaction was,
"Yep, it's ground. Solid ground.
Just like the ground in Madrid."
I was really disappointed by this trip,
because all we did was walk around to different places
and take pictures.
We didn't do anything different, we didn't stop anywhere.
When I got home,
I realized I was the one who wasn't a good traveler,
and that had to change.
So I started to ask myself some questions:
Why do we travel?
Could a person see what my parents saw by watching a documentary instead?
What makes one country different from another?
Is it just their monuments?
What's life like in New York? Is it like my life?
Does everybody who lives in the West have the same type of life?
You're probably thinking that obviously, every country is very different.
But could we definitely say that life in Paris is very different from ours?
That idea made me really, really sad.
I didn't accept it then, and I don't accept it now.
My first reaction when I got to New York -
the "Yes, it's just ordinary ground" one -
brought me to two conclusions.
The first one, the idea of Super New York, I got from the media.
And that idea is only partially true,
because even though I've been to New York,
I don't really know it.
We can't let every country's media and Department of Tourism
decide what impression we'll get of a place
and hide what they don't want us to see.
We have a right to know the reality of it.
The second idea is that we can learn a lot about a place by its ground.
When we see a well-paved surface, we can assume it's a developed country.
If it's clean and there's no litter,
we can assume that the people who live there are clean
and respect the environment.
If the street is worn away or muddy,
we assume the people who live there have to fight harder to get by.
I found out I wasn't the only person who felt this way.
In her book, "Blind in Manhattan,"
Nuria del Saz expresses something very similar.
Apparently, we've all had the experience of visiting a place,
but not really knowing it until we met someone from there.
But I do also think that not focusing on monuments
makes that more obvious.
So for those reasons I started a blog,
where tourists in Madrid can connect with local volunteers.
That way, tourists can get to know Madrid -
the Madrilenians' Madrid, not touristy Madrid.
And the volunteer can meet and learn from someone new.
Because a city, a place, a countryside - it's something you live,
not something you see.
For example, I love the street musicians in Madrid.
These are people who give their music away as a gift.
They're very wise, very humble, bighearted people.
And in winter, you have the chestnut vendors,
making and selling roasted chestnuts.
They're usually older people, wise and with big hearts.
It's a treat to have the chance to speak with one of them,
although that's not so easy because they're usually pretty busy.
But of course, every person from Madrid will tell you
different interesting things about the city.
If you'd like to help me with my project,
send me an email at diferenteturismo@gmail.com.
And remember: when you travel,
don't just bring back a souvenir photo.
Bring back a great experience.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)