Laura and Ark at Barcelona Conference, October 15, 2011
- Thread starter WhiteBear
- Start date
The Barcelona Conference: Could we/Should we attend?
Yesterday I saw the advertising bar on SOTT for "The Cassiopaean Experiment" Conference on Saturday 2011, October 15 at the World Trade Center Barcelona, and I had this sudden urge to try and attend. This is kind of inspiring for me because over the years in school I became more and more passive and submissive to cope with the rigidity of expectations, and this is the first time since school ended two years ago that I've had a strong desire to put a lot of effort toward a particular goal.
I am currently 20 years old and have no job and virtually no money, but I did some very rough calculations to determine if my brother and I (and maybe other family members) could make it if my brother and I got jobs more or less immediately. I tried to overestimate the cost and underestimate the amount of money we could make in the time between now and then. However, since I've never dealt with these expenses, situations, or amounts of money personally, I'll need help to see if my calculations are realistic. So here they are:
I've made a few assumptions to help me overestimate the price. I have assumed that all 4 of us will be going, although that's unlikely. I've assumed that we would stay for 5 days, although 3 would probably be possible. I have assumed that we will pay $60 per meal ($15 per person).
$300 per person for round-trip airplane tickets = $1200
$1800 for 4 people for 5 days at "Hotel Arc La Ramlba" (I looked this value up because I have no idea about how much hotels cost)
$15 per person ($60) per meal for three meals ($180) for 5 days = $900
$500 to cover transportation
$1000 for preparation and unforeseen expenses
$300 for 4 Conference tickets
TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES = $5,700
So, if both my brother and I manage to get jobs at minimum wage ($7.25/hour), and work 40 hours a week for 10 weeks (Oct. 15th is about 14 weeks from now), we can earn $5800, which is barely enough to cover the estimated expenses. If we get food handling licenses (probably not hard; just a test of food safety and sanitation knowledge) and apply to every fast-food restaurant in town (and maybe other places as well), maybe we can land ourselves a couple jobs. I plan on reading the "Ways to Make Money" thread to see what I can learn there, as well.
So, I would appreciate insight into the accuracy of this. In addition to purely monetary concerns, I realize that it would be smart to learn some Spanish, and to take measures to protect ourselves against thieves (such as having pepper spray, using clothes that appear more local, having secure luggage and belongings, and of course being aware and knowledgeable about methods of attack).
-=-=-
Beyond that, we are wondering if this is a reasonable thing to do, or whether it would be a waste of our resources and if we should make and use our money to strengthen the home front instead. I'm wary that this "urge/desire" of mine, while motivating and seemingly uplifting, might serve to prevent me from doing things that seem of more practical value such as investing in quality food so that we can afford to avoid more of the poison out there, hedging against the probable disasters in our near future, and possibly starting my college education.
Are there going to be videos of Laura's and Arkadius' talks which will be purchasable online? Will it be worthwhile to attend as opposed to simply continuing to learn from the books and forum material? I must admit I'm very interested in the idea of seeing Laura and Ark in person, just to be there with them and see what they are like in "real life", so to speak, but is this superficial? Of course, I must consider whether my brother wants this as much as I do; he seems somewhat reserved, and he will probably be interested to read the replies to this
Laura's quote comes to mind:
Yesterday I saw the advertising bar on SOTT for "The Cassiopaean Experiment" Conference on Saturday 2011, October 15 at the World Trade Center Barcelona, and I had this sudden urge to try and attend. This is kind of inspiring for me because over the years in school I became more and more passive and submissive to cope with the rigidity of expectations, and this is the first time since school ended two years ago that I've had a strong desire to put a lot of effort toward a particular goal.
I am currently 20 years old and have no job and virtually no money, but I did some very rough calculations to determine if my brother and I (and maybe other family members) could make it if my brother and I got jobs more or less immediately. I tried to overestimate the cost and underestimate the amount of money we could make in the time between now and then. However, since I've never dealt with these expenses, situations, or amounts of money personally, I'll need help to see if my calculations are realistic. So here they are:
I've made a few assumptions to help me overestimate the price. I have assumed that all 4 of us will be going, although that's unlikely. I've assumed that we would stay for 5 days, although 3 would probably be possible. I have assumed that we will pay $60 per meal ($15 per person).
$300 per person for round-trip airplane tickets = $1200
$1800 for 4 people for 5 days at "Hotel Arc La Ramlba" (I looked this value up because I have no idea about how much hotels cost)
$15 per person ($60) per meal for three meals ($180) for 5 days = $900
$500 to cover transportation
$1000 for preparation and unforeseen expenses
$300 for 4 Conference tickets
TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES = $5,700
So, if both my brother and I manage to get jobs at minimum wage ($7.25/hour), and work 40 hours a week for 10 weeks (Oct. 15th is about 14 weeks from now), we can earn $5800, which is barely enough to cover the estimated expenses. If we get food handling licenses (probably not hard; just a test of food safety and sanitation knowledge) and apply to every fast-food restaurant in town (and maybe other places as well), maybe we can land ourselves a couple jobs. I plan on reading the "Ways to Make Money" thread to see what I can learn there, as well.
So, I would appreciate insight into the accuracy of this. In addition to purely monetary concerns, I realize that it would be smart to learn some Spanish, and to take measures to protect ourselves against thieves (such as having pepper spray, using clothes that appear more local, having secure luggage and belongings, and of course being aware and knowledgeable about methods of attack).
-=-=-
Beyond that, we are wondering if this is a reasonable thing to do, or whether it would be a waste of our resources and if we should make and use our money to strengthen the home front instead. I'm wary that this "urge/desire" of mine, while motivating and seemingly uplifting, might serve to prevent me from doing things that seem of more practical value such as investing in quality food so that we can afford to avoid more of the poison out there, hedging against the probable disasters in our near future, and possibly starting my college education.
Are there going to be videos of Laura's and Arkadius' talks which will be purchasable online? Will it be worthwhile to attend as opposed to simply continuing to learn from the books and forum material? I must admit I'm very interested in the idea of seeing Laura and Ark in person, just to be there with them and see what they are like in "real life", so to speak, but is this superficial? Of course, I must consider whether my brother wants this as much as I do; he seems somewhat reserved, and he will probably be interested to read the replies to this
Laura's quote comes to mind:
Maybe I understand this quote just a little better now. The bolded phrase sort of sounds like the emotion or sensation that appeared within me when I first considered this idea of mine. But what to do? What to do when the idea that "lights a fire" inside does not seem like perhaps the "best" idea for all parties involved? And yet, what if it actually IS the most helpful action to take simply because it is what I am passionate about? It would certainly be a very different experience than "life as usual" and would almost certainly help to break the patterns of apathy I've been seeing in myself and my family recently. I worry that without pursuing something large and personally invigorating like this, I might not be able to reach the "escape velocity" necessary to break my current patterns and move forward in my life, and thus potentially learn to serve others to any substantial degree. Is my reasoning twisted somehow?Laura said:
theos
The Living Force
Re: The Barcelona Conference: Could we/Should we attend?
HowToBe,
Is it correct to assume that your family is on board with the information presented here? In other words, are they familiar with Laura and Ark's work and therefore won't be surprised by the information at the conference? If your family is co-linear it would be a fun getaway. If not you'd be breaking strategic enclosure and not being externally considerate.
Regarding the financial issues...it seems as if it would be a big stretch for you as you have no money at all. A more realistic goal would be to get a job regardless of whether or not you attend the conference. You need to support yourself and contribute to the household anyway.
My two cents.
HowToBe,
Is it correct to assume that your family is on board with the information presented here? In other words, are they familiar with Laura and Ark's work and therefore won't be surprised by the information at the conference? If your family is co-linear it would be a fun getaway. If not you'd be breaking strategic enclosure and not being externally considerate.
Regarding the financial issues...it seems as if it would be a big stretch for you as you have no money at all. A more realistic goal would be to get a job regardless of whether or not you attend the conference. You need to support yourself and contribute to the household anyway.
My two cents.
Odyssey, your comments mirror my own thoughts.
However, I'm with everyone else who would like videos to be available. DVDs of the event could be available for purchase in the QFG online store, so people in the future could attend virtually.
My brother and I actively follow the information. My mom and I discuss the information, and she's partially on board - with some reservations - but she would like to learn more. The health knowledge has helped her tremendously, as she suffers from a soybean allergy, and she says that she has silently come to some of the same general conclusions as Laura regarding certain things over the years. However, my father does not seem to be a seeker and is possibly a mild narcissist (my mom is strongly considering divorcing him and trying to achieve financial independence), and the information may disturb him somewhat. He might feel left out though if we go without him, so I'm not sure how to deal with that.Odyssey said:
Yeah, I'm thinking of using the conference as a "carrot" that I can work hard to try and reach, but not to anticipate that I will actually get there.Odyssey said:
However, I'm with everyone else who would like videos to be available. DVDs of the event could be available for purchase in the QFG online store, so people in the future could attend virtually.
HowToBe said:
IF you end up going to the conference, maybe it would be a good idea if just you and your brother went. You can then share what would be appropriate to share with your mother. I would definitely NOT have your father go since he is not at all interested. This way, with only you and your brother going and your mother not going, your father would not feel left out.
Great!
I will extend my hotel booking.
Will we do it in the conference room or in another place? Because if we are a lot of people I am curious to know where we will stay
greetings!
I will extend my hotel booking.
Will we do it in the conference room or in another place? Because if we are a lot of people I am curious to know where we will stay
greetings!
Courageous Inmate Sort
Jedi Master
Ailén said:
I think that would be super! :D
Btw, great idea having the Conference on the weekend of Elenin's flyby.
Trending content
-
Thread 'Coronavirus Pandemic: Apocalypse Now! Or exaggerated scare story?'
- wanderingthomas
Replies: 30K -
-
