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| Natalia Bean with Valentina Tereshkova |
Natalia Bean. Astronaut. Latvia.
I was born in Riga, the capital of Latvia one of the Baltic Republics.
Living in a small country offers to you a particular vision of life. This is
the reason because of I decided to have another one and I became an astronaut.
When you're in the space you feel like an ant and realize the magnitude of the
Earth without borders during the day, full of light during the night. I like
Mexican culture and photography.
-Good morning, Natalia Bean, and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. Welcome to my country, one of the most prosperous of the
European Union.
-Thanks. It's always a pleasure being here. Well, to start this
interview I would like to know how you define yourself.
-I'm an astronaut, a person who travels in space and tries to search
answers to thousands of human questions.
-The most part of people, when they were children wanted to be an
astronaut. How can you explain them to them?
-Yes, it's true. An astronaut or a firefighter. I don't know but perhaps
an explanation could be that children are honest and maybe they perceive
astronauts and firefighters like modern heroes. Everybody wants to be a
superhero when he/she is a child because a superhero represents good things and
because of they are still innocent, they have the superheroes like someone to
imitate. A child always imitates the things that he/she sees. It's normal.
They're under an age of knowledge and learning.
-Then, do you believe in heroes?
-Yes, of course. Everybody can be a hero, because a hero isn't a
superhero. A superhero is a modern creation, a person who has incredible powers
but a hero is a person who resists adversity and fight against it. Then, in our
society, we can find millions of examples of heroes.
-How do you feel being a member of The Beans family?
-It's a good experience. The family is a group of fantastic people and
I'm very proud of being a part of them. It has been a great experience to open
happiness.
-How is a normal day with The Beans?
-It's difficult to talk about a normal day with The Beans because we're
a family full of energy and creativity and then all is possible and they can
change all things in a second but I must accept that I've revised my English
with them.
-How long have you been studying English?
-Although I'm Latvian, I come from a multicultural family with different
origins. This is the reason because of knowing English isn't strange for me but
I didn't study English at school, I studied Russian when we were a part of the
USSR, and Latvian at home. Later, when we recovered our independence in 1990,
we could study Latvian again at school. I come from a Jewish family, then I
also speak Jewish.
-Russian? It's a difficult language, isn't it?
-No, exactly. The secret of learning a language is starting as young as you can. If you're a child, you're like a sponge and you can absorb as information as you want in different languages. Nothing happens. When you became older, your brain put all words in order and with its correspondent language. It's fascinating.
-Then, you speak four languages? Is it very difficult to do it?
-No it isn't. In fact, as many languages you speak is easier to learn
the next. I have learnt this from The Beans. All of them speak, at least, two
languages and this is very important because a language is a powerful tool of
communication and, in my case, these four languages mean four different
alphabets, too: Germanic, Cyrillic, Greek and Jewish.
-What can you explain about your life with The Beans?
-It's a great experience. I spend my life up, in the sky and it's good
to stay with your feet on the land and pay attention about the reality from
another point of view. I've spent good moments with them.
-And after?
-When we started as a family, we arrived with different ideas, knowledge
and perspectives. During my experience as a Bean, we have been working
together and we've created a good team. This is something that we won't lose
although every member of our family is going to take a different path but I'm
sure that we're going to open happiness wherever we stay.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
It's very difficult to choose only one but I remember two special
moments: the day that I explained them some personal adventures in Mexico and
the day that I cooked some pizzas for all of them. Amazing moments!
-You like photography, don’t you?
-Yes, I do.
-What's your own favourite photo?
-I remember when we were in the space station and were flying over the
Canary Islands. We could take photos of a new island that emerged from the
underground next to Hierro Island. It was spectacular.
-You have also said that you like reading biographies. Which is your
favourite?
-Although I have read all the biographies of the most important
astronauts like Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin, I must admit, especially in a
day like today, that the biography which impressed me much was about Valentina
Tereshkova, the first woman in space. It's very difficult to success in some
kind of jobs which seem destined only to men. I also want to remember Sally
Ride, the first American woman in space in 1983, twenty years after Tereshkova.
-Who is your favourite character?
-I haven't got a special one but I would like to think that one day, in
a closer future; someone will be able to read The Beans Biography because it
will mean that we have contributed to do something positive to our society.
-What title would you choose for this biography?
-Eating the world, because every day we have worked very hard to learn
something new and to live unforgettable experiences while we were eating the
most delicious food made by some members of our family.
-Do you like this message?
-Yes I do. It's a motivational message in the line of We can do it of
Naomi Parker. If you have enough force, enough interest and enough luck you can
do whatever you propose.
-What will happen if it's not possible to do it?
-Don't give up. Don't forget that if you don't find a way, you must
create it. Sometimes, we follow the line created by other people and sometimes,
we must create our own line, a line that will be followed by others.
-Thank you very much, Natalia Bean.
-Thanks to you.
A bird cannot fly with one wing only.
Human space flight cannot develop any further
without the active participation of women.
Valentina Tereshkova
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