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| Paqui Bean in Gdansk, Poland |
Paqui Bean. Jockey. Poland.
I'm Paqui Bean. I was born in Kraków, Poland. I'm a jockey. I like horses. I think they are honest and brave animals, and you can learn lots of things from them. I would like to dedicate my life to take care of them. Once, I thought it would be impossible to do until I joined to The Beans; a fantastic family which has demonstrated me that you can do whatever you want if you believe in it strongly. Poland has been the cradle of people like Nicolaus Copernicus, the scientist or Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and founder of Solidarność, a powerful syndicate which achieved important goals. Wałęsa has always been a great influence for me. He demonstrated that the work of lots of ants can destroy the highest construction never built. I believe in the power of the workers and I'm a strong defender of our rights. If they touch one of us, they touch all of us.
-Good morning, Paqui Bean, and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's a pleasure.
-Well, to start this interview, I would like to know how you define yourself.
-I'm a jockey, a person who rides horses. I participate in horse races with my horse Flash.
-Flash? Like Flash Gordon?
-Yes. It's a tribute to him. I like Flash Gordon. He was the first superhero that I watched on TV. I was a child and I have great memories about that film. I remember when Flash visited different planets and discovered different civilizations. It was something that impressed me much, and I remember the soundtrack sung by Queen. It was a masterpiece.
-How do you feel being a member of The Beans?
-It's a fantastic family. We're always together, and we try to help each other because we know that our best success is the common one.
-How is a normal day with The Bonds?
-There isn't a normal day. Every day is a different chance to do something different and amazing. We travel, we visit places, and we learn English.
-How long have you been studying English?
-Since High School. Poland has changed a lot since the fall of the German Wall. All the countries which were allies of the USSR and formed the Warsaw Alliance tried to change its economic system from socialism to capitalism. Poland entered the NATO and in the EU and since that moment English was seen like something very important to know.
-Then, you speak English and Polish?
-And Russian. I studied Russian in Primary School and I continue learning later because I thought it would be an important language in the future, and it is.
-Imagine that I want to visit Poland. What do you recommend me?
-Poland is a wonderful and beautiful country. Wherever you go, you will find kind people and nice places. It's very hard to talk about this, but I think that every person that visits my country must know what happened in Auschwitz and in Birkenau. It's not necessary to visit these places if you haven't got enough heart to do it because they are too hard. They are a symbol of cruelty, misery and atrocity and the most important a constant and present memory about what mustn't happen again. This is the message. This must not happen again.
-How can a Polish jockey arrive to success?
-Working hard, trusting in you, and following good advice.
-What can you explain about your life with The Beans?
-Well, we are very different people, but we have the same objectives: live together with respect and tolerance and learning as English as we can.
-And after?
-Life continues, but we will be a Bean forever and every time I remember these moments with my family I will do it with a big smile.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
-It's not possible to choose only one but, perhaps, when we played some kind of game. We were very competitive, and I was very happy when I won playing Scattergories. I like playing. I think it's a good method to learn without paying attention.
-Do you like education?
-Yes, I do. I think if I hadn't been a jockey, I had tried to study something that had a relationship with education, something like pedagogy. I admire Maria Montessori a lot. I like her method and I think that one hundred years later, it continues being the best one.
-What do you think about teaching?
-Well, it depends on the country. I can talk about Poland and here, students are very educated and polite with their teachers and partners. In that way, we continue with the 'Russian influence' but without being so strict. It's not necessary to be strict if there is respect between students, teachers and parents. Polish people appreciate a lot our educational system, and we always work together to improve it. We are very happy about the results. We can offer good studies and good workplaces to our citizens, and it's not necessary to emigrate to another country to search a job because the country offers you this possibility.
-You have visited lots of places with The Beans. Which has been the best in your opinion?
-I can't only think in one place, but I'm going to choose Berkeley in San Francisco because this university was the origin of the Free Speech movement and, as you know, we are having a lot of problems in my country to express our opinions in a free way. Poland, Hungary, Spain... I think that the present is very hard for free speech in these countries, and I don't know what will happen.
-You aren't optimistic, are you?
-No, I'm not. I think the EU must change a lot and return to its origins. We are living terrible moments, but we don't pay attention because we are inside the story, making history, and we haven't got enough perspective to analyse what is happening.
-What is happening?
-The beginning of the end.
-What does it mean?
-It means that the karma always returns.
-Tell me a positive thinking.
-In all difficult situations, in all complicated moments, when things seem the worst, there's always a window of opportunities. We must pay attention about it and take profit when this window opens.
-Thank you very much, Paqui Bean.
-You're welcome.
The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures.
But it all started in the shipyards.
Lech Walesa
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