Between Two Cities. How to knit support networks

In the midst of the third wave of coronavirus in Mexico, at the end of August 2021, I traveled to Zaragoza, Spain, to carry out a research fellowship with the purpose of finishing my thesis paper as part of the scholarship program for graduate students. Feeling some panic due to the health emergency situation in Mexico —double surgical masks, face shield and antibacterial gel in excess— I found myself in a completely different context in Spain. The mask was no longer necessary in open places, universities were gradually filled with students, beaches still received hundreds of European tourists who took advantage of the last of summer days, and bustling streets competed with the lively environments of restaurants and bars. For the first time I felt that, along with the arrival of Autumn, there was coming an ease of the pandemic fear.

My place was near the Zaragoza’s downtown. I toured the neighborhood, watched the impressive Basilica del Pilar and walked along the Ebro riverbed. I also strolled around the university and met Dr. Daniel Mesa personally. My thesis advisor and I had used just emails to communicate. We had coffee, talked about the progress of my project and the differences of career studies between Mexico and Zaragoza. Finally, we agreed on a common working system. He also took time to show me around the Maria Moliner Humanities Library and helped me obtain a credential for home loans.

Unlike traditional academic mobility, I didn’t have to follow a fix schedule, at least not in my case. There were no classes nor obligation to attend university every week. The advisor told me to continue writing my thesis on my own and that as soon as I had made some progress I sent it to him, then, we would meet to discuss it. This way of working allow me to travel around Spain with more freedom. It also meant greater responsibility because finishing the thesis on time only depended on myself and my skills to manage my time and discipline in front of the computer. Thanks to my freedom of movement, I decided to move into Barcelona with my Catalan friend, whom I had met in Mexico when she came over to UNAM, as part of her university mobility program.

There is a relatively small distance between the capital of Catalonia and Zaragoza, around 300 km away, an hour and a half by train. Coincidentally, two months before my arrival, an economic train line had been opened that connected Madrid and Barcelona stopping in Zaragoza. The tickets costed seven or eight euros if I bought them in advance. In Barcelona I could stay at my friend’s and, thus, feel less lonely in a new city. Dr. Mesa backed me up in my decision. Then, I settled in Barcelona in less than a week after having set foot on Aragonese lands.

I established a good way to organize myself. From nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I worked at any of the public libraries of Barcelona’s extensive network. I did the readings needed to write the thesis and advance the third chapter. In the evenings and weekends, I devoted myself to strolling around the city or going in a short trip nearby to Girona, Valencia, Seville or Madrid, a few hours away by train or plane. Whenever I had to meet Dr. Mesa to go over specialized bibliography or talk on my progress, I bought a train ticket to Zaragoza and arrived at the library in a couple of hours.

Though I was not living in the very city of the host university, I didn’t miss much of university life. In one of my visits to Zaragoza, Dr. Mesa introduced me to his PhD students. They were all working on Latin American literature topics that also interested me. One of them studied the diaries of Alfonso Reyes and José Juan Tablada —Mexican writers I knew very well from my time at UNAM’s School of Philosophy and Literature— and had a fondness for Mexico and its culture. Another told me about her fascination with the great Argentine literature and passed me over a couple of fundamental articles for my thesis. I was very happy to develop a network of friendships and colleagues from all over the world.


I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that, without my tutor’s support, I would not have finished the thesis within the timeframe I did. Before starting the felloship and with the limitations imposed by the pandemic in Mexico, I did not know how to structure the third chapter. I was familiar with the subject—I had organized it in the research project—but I couldn’t figure out the beginning nor compose the order. After brainstorming and talking in the university courtyards, I could finally agree with Dr. Mesa on the structure of my chapter. He showed me different viewpoints, suggested me readings and gave me ideas to work on my text. For me, this was a new and valuable experience because in Mexico, due to the confinement conditions, I had not been able to meet with my advisor. We had not started a useful exchange of ideas to guide me in my thinking. Talking on my thesis subject in Zaragoza was like fortelling the coming end of the coronavirus crisis -at least I thought so.

The felloship helped me not just in advancing academicaly speaking but also in getting closer to the Catalan culture and growing in my personal life. Since January 2021, I had started studying Catalan at UNAM and living in Barcelona allowed me to have an immersive experience of the language. In the city, I was not only able to walk through the tourist places —La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, the church of Santa María del Mar— but I also discovered the most secret and hidden places: those that few visit, such as the Romanesque monastery of Sant Pau del Camp, hidden among the international restaurants of the Raval, or the old textile factory of Fabra i Coats in the neighborhood of Sant Andreu, which now functions as a cultural center. In addition, without having planned it, I had the opportunity to live the festivities of La Mercè, the patron saint of the city, sardanas dances, the correfocs of the neighborhood fairs, the giants of the parades, the panellets, the dragons, and the deep fondness —which I share— for board games at the Dau Festival.

On a personal level, I was not afraid. Compared to the first academic trip I did in 2019, when I travelled to Europe for the first time, in this trip, I felt at ease and safe. I had already experienced living alone overthere, tried to do some cooking, missed a train and discovered that supermarkets do not open on Sundays. I did also know about the cities safety. Even if it was too late, I could return home safely. This life experience showed me what it meant to feel free to walk around the streets without constraints or fears. Thanks to the language and the friends, I felt understood and accompanied.

In the office where two postcards by Aurora Bernárdez hanged, I said goodbye to Dr. Mesa. We were very grateful for having collaborated together and exchanged views. After an-hour talk, I left the university. I visited Zaragoza for the last time on November 29, 2021 and, despite not having lived there, I was nostalgic for leaving. I tried to remember everything in my mind: the endless staircases of the makeshift faculty, the bus stop, the entrance to the library, the colossal train terminal. Somehow, I had become fond of my Zaragoza strolls from the station to the library and to the faculty. The nostalgia increased a week later when I said goodbye to Barcelona, the metro station and the flowers tiles, the clear sunsets, the bakeries and the narrow streets of Sant Andreu, the beach and Gothic churches, the downtown crowds and the silent squares of the Gràcia neighborhood.

The pandemic has taken away university gatherings closing libraries and classrooms, but I was optimistic about having certain spaces been opened in the midst of chaos so that we could continue building up bridges and support network. Un unexpected Autumn, in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, between two cities, I will always treasure it. I could finish the thesis, enjoy new cultural experiences and feel free and safe in foreign lands.

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