Finding Demian
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2006
1
8
16
Trip End
Jun 29, 2006
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Monday, June 26, 2006
We spent most of our 4 days here on the beach or walking up and down the boardwalk trying to find good spots to sun and play paddle ball. Some of the less intelligent members of our crew got some mean sunburns that wouldn't heal until back in the U.S. We also spent some time in the overrated discos on the island. It felt like most of the Germans disappeared at night. Even the Steve Young concert was populated by only those who had followed him during his rise in the 1960's. We encontered mostly young Mallorcans in the clubs. Nick in particular got it on well with one, who he told he was 20 years old. She told him that she was 18, and they danced until the sun came up. So what if there was really seven years age difference? He will never forget her boyish haircut and devastating moves on the dancefloor.
The most profound moment on the island and on the trip as a whole did not come on the beach or in the clubs. In our very cool hostel, where we watched most of the World Cup games while on the island, we had access to TVs, washing machines, a kitchen, a bar and two balconies. We decided to spend an eventing prepartying on one of our spacious balconies with some vanilla vodka. As our game of King's Cup neared an end, we saw a tan flash from the side of the balcony. Intrigued, we ventured a look over the railing to see a man bleeding on the pavement. Could he have just fallen from above us? In a fairly drunken state, we theorized what just happened and what we could do? Meanwhile, the man's eyes were rolling back into his head and no sign of ERT had shown. We noticed a piece of railing near his body and ran up to our 4th floor balcony to find that our balcony above had been torn away. It was a surreal event that made our minds race to find answers to what we were witnessing. The police and EMT arrived far too late to save the man. We were shocked an hour and a half later that no one had come to interview us. The police dispersed the crowds, and we sat there somberly with nothing to say.
An Event like that has indirect effects on the people involved. The rest of the night was an equally surreal progression of events that weaved around the cityscape and took each of our psyches towards a path of insanity. It was only a few hours later when we regrouped, hugged each other, that we decided we had to escape this world with some sleep and give up on the night.
Before we left Palma, we read a newspaper article that assumed the police believed that the man was a known gypsy criminal in the area. He had tried to jump from the ajoining building to our balcony when the railing gave way. His motive was to steal from the patrons, and seeing that our room was his entry way into the building, our goods would have certainly been the first to go. There is no way to find an answer that brings closure for us to this situation. It was a profound event, and I hope that each on of us can take the positives from that night that we faced death, deceit and possible disaster. Our trip had proven to be more than a journey in the world by this point, but also a journey into our selves. I wonder if the Germans on the island had found the island the same way.
