L'urgence

Sometimes, things are uncontrollable and unprepareable. Sometimes, situations are unusually difficult to manage. Sometimes solutions are demanding to find. And sometimes, one decision generates the biggest difference in the world for one individual. Once, when we were at our layover in Paris during this ICCS module, we came across such a situation. Truthfully, it was a position I wish upon nobody, yet I am glad for this experience because I do not desire to imagine what would have transpired if I would not have been there.

You are probably quite curious about what kind of situation we encountered in Paris and why it affected me that severely. For this, let me give you a bit of background information about the bystander effect. Some of you might have already heard of it, considering how dangerous this effect can be and how many lives it claimed by now. In simple words, it causes people not to aid in emergencies, unless they see someone else already helping and therefore breaking the bystander effect. Above all, the more people surround you when witnessing a crisis, the less likely it is you will help. Nevertheless, that does not signify the chance of help decreases in a crowd that much, though. After all, there are always people less affected by the bystander effect than others, so your chance is adequate that will react. The question remains whether the time it took for someone to respond was enough to make the difference between life and death.

This year in Paris, we saw the danger of this effect first-hand. When an older man lay on the street in rescue position hardly conscious, many people passed by not paying any attention to that man, including everyone else in my travel group. But I could not. In fact, I took one glance and all thought fled my brain. So I walked up to him, using my mediocre French skills, and tried to get his attention. Luckily, he awoke and seized my hand, and we were able to communicate with each other in a mixture of French and English. This way, Reinier and I managed to locate French citizens to call an ambulance and find out that the man had a heart attack. While that occurred, I took it upon myself to keep him conscious, responsive and calm, as well as conveying any necessary medical information. Everyone managed to help in their own way, some organising the ambulance, others helping me in telling me what to say to the man when I stumbled to continue, some giving advice how to help with a heart attack, again others getting people to help and stay with him. And once we needed to leave, we made sure that the locals could and would fully take over.

Many of you are probably assuming "that would be me!” and "I would have done something!”, but statistically speaking, I know most of you would not. Statistically speaking, the situation would presumably only have to vary a bit for me to wander past without a further thought, just like everyone else. Because technically, everyone is affected by the bystander effect and only the situation changes our behaviour. Did I notice the emergency? Did I recognize it as an emergency? Do I feel capable to help? Is someone else helping? How serious does it look like? Do I have the time to help? How affected am I by similar situations? Do I feel responsible? For many in our group, the fact that we were in Paris alone was enough to stop them from helping, thinking about the city size, the scammers, the insecurity in the emergency number and the language barriers. In short, our position in a different country, and therefore its intercultural barriers, worsened the bystander effect. For me, however, this situation precisely aligned, which resulted in a chain reaction of helpers, first in our group, and than locals, to arrive and aid until the ambulance arrived. Though I do not know what transpired once we left, I

Anyone who ever was themselves or had important people in this situation can imagine how horrifying it is to see a situation like this and see people pass by without doing anything. Just imagine a family member lying unconscious on the floor, or people driving by your friend’s car accident without alerting rescue services. This was my situation. My memories are filled with my mother having heart attacks or strokes and me calling an ambulance, of leaving school early because my brother called from the hospital after an accident, of funerals because nobody helped my great-grandfather lying unconscious on the street. Every one of these situations filled my head when I left the man with the locals to wait for an ambulance and take care of him. It triggered memory after memory, until I ended with a mild panic attack in front of a Parisian bakery, Lisette staying with me to calm me down. But I would not change this in the slightest way because the man had a change to survive, even if I was inconvenienced.

To finalize this, I am entirely grateful for the chance to be there and be surrounded by a wide variety of people with divergent capabilities. I am grateful for this course to have helped me deal with such an intercultural situation. I am grateful because without us, the situation would have been worse.

It is easy to presume that travel prospects such as the ICCS are not for people with disabilities or impairments in any way. I mean, simply reflect on all the instants even everyday tasks become a chore throughout a single week. Moreover, it hardly matters whether the difficulty is physical or mental. It is a serious struggle; we all know that, especially if your disability cannot be seen from the outside For instance, I frequently get the judgemental glance of disapproval if I dare to take a seat somewhere or eat something that consists of more than vegetables Simply put, people notice my weight and infer everything about me, they assume I do not have tangible issues. But I promise you, in my experience, the ICCS micro-module is nonetheless worth participating in, and you should not hold off on the mobility week whatsoever, because the people here are different. And with people like this, it is all possible for you!

My name is Jessica, I am 23 years old, I study Psychology at the UT and I would like to portray to you how you can travel abroad with the intercultural communications micro-module – even if you might not be at the top of the physical or mental capacities!

But let’s start from the beginning. Essentially, my family and I struggled with mental and physical health for as long as I can recall. Both my older brothers and I were not even supposed to survive until birth During both pregnancies, the doctors informed my mother that either she dies or we do, just like my little sister died in a miscarriage when I was ten Hence, from my first conception, I have been a sickly child, catching every circulating disease, struggling with movement and family matters all around. Throughout the years of my growing up, these physical issues have grown considerably, with me currently being overweight and forbidden to do numerous kinds of sport, forbidden lengthy walks uphill, floundering with chronic nosebleeds that caused a hospital stay more than once, having circulatory and bone-position troubles, hypothyroidism, sleep apnoea, etc Further, my mental health is not faring any better I have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, PTSD, adjustment disorder, and other such ailments throughout the years after witnessing my family die or suffer from major illnesses, my brother going to prison after his daughters death as an infant, my mother being diagnosed with leukaemia, and numerous further problems. In general, my family’s life has been quite the battle

These issues have been with me for as long as I can remember and it is rare to have a single day not filled with one health problem or another Of course, this includes the mobility week, during which I had to take care of my issues just as much as during other days However, this time felt different than all my previous experiences After all, the ICCS students and teachers were far more accepting to my issues than anyone before – even before they understood the reasons for these struggles! With each passing day, I felt more welcome and included It was a feeling hard to describe, the group being open and loving to get to know each other, their stories, jokes, and feelings, going from the surface to the underlying person without ever overstepping After weeks of working on the communication in this micromodule, we all learned to take our emotions to heart and care for each other. So, the group did a good job at making me feel included and adapting to me because they had been taught how to, and they showed the care to learn and apply it when in Barcelona For instance, they took breaks when I needed it, offered to carry my bags, made sure that I had water, felt comfortable, etc Once, Lisette talked me down from a panic attack Henceforth, they adapted their behaviour according to anyone's needs. Sure, it tended to be me who they needed more adjustments for than the others, but it was a give and take that felt more like trust and care than I could ever put in words It felt like a home in a way, because we all accepted and opened up to each other And I am sure you will make the same experience if you join this course

There is nothing more enjoyable than sitting on a beach, surrounded by a group of friends you spent the last few days discovering a city with and spent weeks working together, many of which you met face to face for the first time, talking and joking and trying to throw stones into a cola can, everyone cheering for everyone and curious about you for different reasons than your inability to go with the same speed as them. And there is nothing more empowering than knowing what you can and what you can’t do and your group making sure you feel welcome anyway, by just being you, and making sure everyone is fine the entire time. The world might not be as open for people with disabilities and impairments yet, but the ICCS certainly is.

Is the architecture in Barcelona awed by its citizens too?

Reinier Algra

Barcelona and The Netherlands may have a lot of differences, but one of the most striking contrast that I noticed between these two places is the way the people talk about architecture

In Barcelona, it seems like the architecture of a building is always a topic of conversation

Everywhere you go you'll hear people marveling at the city's beautiful and unique architectural styles, from the smooth, and playful designs of Gaudí to the more classical and elegant structures of the Gothic buildings People here are proud of their city's architectural heritage and are eager to share their knowledge with visitors In every tour that we have followed as a part of the mobility week through the university as well as the city a large amount of time was always spent on describing the thought process behind the design

On the other hand, where I’m from in The Netherlands, I rarely hear people talking about the architecture of the buildings they’re in and around them While the country does have its own unique architectural style, it seems to be less of a focus for us

Of course, this is just my observation, and there are certainly people in The Netherlands who are passionate about architecture and appreciate the beauty of our buildings But overall, it seems that the culture in Barcelona places a greater emphasis on the importance of architectural design.

So, Barcelona has much to offer in terms of architecture and design, and arguably The Netherlands too, but the way that people feel the need to talk about it is quite different