Leaving 2 Early & 2 New Faces

           My buddy Andrew from PLNU who is studying in Bilbao (Northern Spain) made the trip down to see Chad and me! We showed him our favorite spots around Barcelona and just as it was in Florence, it was great to hang out with people from the same place as you and as great as my friends in that program are, there is something special about being with people that you will be friends with for many years down the road. Among many other fun things we went to another Barcelona match, which was nothing short of amazing yet again.

We arrived early enough to see the teams walk out and hear them announce the teams. Something about it the red and yellow Catalan flags or the horns being blown throughout the stadium reminded me of a circus. The names of the players were all read out over the stadiums loud speaker and each Barcelona player got a whopping “AYYE” from the crowd following their name. When Messi’s name was read the cheer was massive, always got to show appreciation for the main act right? The fans behind the goal were waving their flags back and forth and they paced their chants to the beat of the bass drum which one enthusiastic fellow was drumming away on as if his life depended on it. Well the show started with a bang, good thing we got their early because it only took them 2 minutes to find the back of net. From there we watched them run the game and score some absolutely beautiful goals including a classic one from Messi as he got a through ball and at full sprint he nonchalantly chipped it over the onrushing keeper. The stadium erupted as the main act Messi wheeled around to give credit to his assistants. What a stage they play on, in front of all of those fans and on some of the softest looking grass my eyes have ever seen, but they justify it every time with their performance.

 My favorite moment of the night was a classic Barcelona style goal as they lulled their opposition into a trance with all of their intricate passes in and around the box. After one seemingly impossible no-look flick from Iniesta the job was done…Fabregas slid the ball across the box and Pedro had the honor of capping off the series of passes by passing the ball into the welcoming open net. Vintage Barcelona. The stadium rose to their feet for that and for many other occasions that match, for Neymar’s return from injury, all the five goals we saw, and for Messi’s substitution and multiple goals of course. After his goals and during the substitution everyone acts like they are bowing down and chant for their King “Messi, Messi, Messi”. The atmosphere was brilliant and the fans even got the wave going around the stadium and with Camp Nou hosting up to 100,000 fans per match… it was quite a spectacle. At halftime of course we preformed a little seat hopping which landed us right behind the Barcelona goal and next to all of the die-hard fans.
        We decided to leave the match a few minutes early and to my misery we had just walked out of the stadium when it erupted! Hoping that the 6^th goal was “nothing special” we headed for home.

…Upon checking my highlights website the following morning I had my face in my hands as I watched over and over the replay of Neymar staying on his feet after nearly being knocked over by two defenders and from 30 years out smashing into the top corner … “Nothing Special”...It will be the last time I EVER leave a match early…

       The dinner table is constantly full of new faces and intriguing stories that come with. This wide array comes from many places such as others who also have a room upstairs at Josefa’s house, Josefa’s friends, her son who is living with us for a bit, and two more study abroad students from across the street! Dustin and Tyler have been great English speaking additions to the dinner table and I enjoy both of their company immensely. Tyler has an extremely well articulated mind and we have had some fun discussions as we both share many similar thoughts and interests in teaching and education. Dustin is extremely laid back and almost reminds me of some of my California friends although he loves nothing more than to make fun of California lingo and in association with it of course, me. It is nice to shoot the breeze with someone like him though, he also is a dedicated footballer and I am pleased to find that he is often just as nerdy and follows updates as closely as I do. All in all it is safe to say I still love it here and I think of my friends often. The fact that I continue to learn, make mistakes, and grow means that I am intellectually stimulated and that’s all I need, working towards something…

Little Things // Simple Joys

            Barcelona life continues to unfold in front of me as 4-day school weeks zip by and the 3-day weekends are made the most of. Upon walking home during the week I successfully directed a guy to the nearest metro stop and I had to give myself a pat on the back for not drawing a blank in a Spanish conversation and also a feeling of local knowledge felt reassuring. Many other things have brought me simple joys lately all the way from friends sending letters, Barcelona always providing enjoyment to me as I explore, and just things that are simply inherently good that never fail.

      Barcelona has been providing me recently with a handful of new discoveries but most notably the Labyrinth Park. After a solid metro ride and some poor directions from a local it was found. Labyrinth Park is tucked away in the mountains and has a hedge maze reminiscent of the gigantic one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After finding my way to the middle and not finding a sphinx on my way or not finding the “tri-wizard cup” in the middle, I moved on…however the park had much more to offer than just the maze. All of my friend’s pictures had shown only the maze and they all told me that it was the extent of the parks entertainment but as I walked I was struck by peaceful little waterfalls and beautiful green walkways that lined the park and something about it made me feel at home. It was so similar to scenes at parks that i had grown up adventuring and imagining in. I definitely plan on going back up there with food and just making a day out of it with a notebook.
       A friend of mine in Barcelona was generous to lend me her classical guitar here in Barcelona and to be rebuilding those callouses on my fingertips has been a pleasure. I had to go buy some nylon strings because it only had three of its own and after working the rusty and crusty tuning pegs until they could turn properly, I had myself a playable guitar. I had to adjust to the nylon strings and the higher action on the guitar but I have enjoyed it all. It has been fun to mess around, change up tunings by ear, and just dive into new things. After only playing cracked and half strung guitars all the time I gave up on always trying to always get to standard tuning and playing songs that I knew. Guitar shouldn't be played just to make sure i can still play what i have learned. Instead recently I just play strings or tune them until they sound good together, no particular tuning in sight or song to mimic, and those times have been so fruitful. No need to record anything. Those times remind me that guitar (and music in general) is an art and I need to stop working at it and just play it. There is a big difference. I think it is one of those things in life that I just needed to step away from and then approach with a fresh mindset, so the all in all, the time away did me well.

       Playing around with the vicious cat is always a costly fun but nevertheless, a fun worthy of being had. The other morning I kicked a Ping-Pong ball around in the kitchen for her for a good while and she repaid me with quite a few laughs as she slid back and forth across the smooth floor.

           

   Another gem in Barcelona is “The Bunkers” (an old anti aircraft fort) which sits atop one of the main mountains in the city. A metro ride to the foothills, a walk up stairs to get to the trailhead, and the trail itself are all a journey in themselves but of course are well worth it. There is nothing quite like it once you get to the top and breath in that fresh air and see the expanse of Barcelona sloping down into the Mediterranean
Sea. Valentines Day up there was crowded as one would expect such a beautiful spot to be and the romantics were in position. As some serenaded with guitars others read poems and my company and I all realized how incredibly single we were! Remarkable! Haha!

     City league soccer has kicked off and the squad is 3-0! Friends of mine from Spanish class were nice enough to let me on their team of the guys in their apartment. I have scored multiple goals in each game so I hope that repays their trust! An Indian fellow on our teams name is Yashvardhan so naturally our team name is “Prince Yash and the Slumdogs”. After the first game I felt like a geezer and was pathetically sore all over. Since then the soreness has toned down more and more each week but I still tell myself I need to be in better shape as I sit on my butt writing these posts…oh well. One of the things that any athlete can definitely attest to is the euphoric feeling that follows a solid performance. We all seem to bask in this glow every week as we walk back to the metro stop after hard fought games, some limping on hurt ankles and others nursing burns on their legs from the turf. It feels great to be back out there.

     The tea with honey that follows meals has been a newfound friend of mine lately, I guess my childhood nickname of “Codybear” still holds true. The tea comes in hot so I normally chat for a bit and go wash my plate but when I come back and the honey jar is in front of me along with my steeping tea, I get giddy with expectation. I hold the honey over the tea with care and let the crystals fall over the edge of my spoon and into the mug. These crystals often gather at the bottom to be enjoyed later in the finishing sips of tea. Needless to say I enjoy it and the post-lunch tea has made me late for class on a few occasions…definitely not my fault.

       A friend of mine at PLNU orchestrated the movement to get a bunch of my friends to all write on the same card and send it to me. I loved getting the personable messages from everyone even if it was just a few sentences; I could definitely still here their voices through the little inside jokes and such. A very dear friend of mine has sadly decided not to return to PLNU and his portion was the longest on the card and it meant a lot to me to read that. I am blessed to have such amazing friends who send me things like that, which remind me that distance and a time change is the only thing separating us…but don’t get me started on family : )

     I acquired a Spanish SIM card which offers free data for me. I have been utilizing this mainly on my walks to school where podcasts give me some fun dialogue in the mornings. I have been able to tune into my church sermons from back home and I feel a bit like an old person who just found the joys of technology and just can't get enough. Through my technological revelations I have been able to chat back home with my beloved sister Jenny about the sermons going on at my home church and I love picking her brilliant mind about what she made out of the message. On another note a dear friend of mine Mr. Peter Jolley turned me onto brilliant podcast called "Men in Blazers". The two blokes who run this podcast are great at mixing in a bit of comedy into their lighthearted discussions about Footy (soccerball). They offer some great viewpoints in a very level headed manner causing me to refresh my subscription constantly in hope of a new one to be downloaded. The "Notes" application on my phone stays constantly full my own thoughts which I bounce off Jenny and Peter when I have a chance. Also I have grown to be quite an admirer of Stephen Colbert. Like I said, simple joys.

            

    That’s all for now. Got to go sleep, I do that occasionally here. Thanks for reading my blog! You rock…and have an impeccable taste in blog reading. God bless you.

Wheels back in Motion

         Leisure activities such as reading, writing, and drawing have gotten back on the menu! I have dabbled in all in the past but in college my time was always squeezed with plans so I couldn’t properly dive into any of them. When I would get in the main door of the dorm at school it would often take me an hour or more to actually get into my room. I would stop by a few friends’ rooms, played a few matches of FIFA, try some grossly unhealthy snacks, or watch part of a movie with another friend. It is a bit of a self inflicted barrier. Here it is a stark contrast as I walk in the door and after a few “Holas” and a bit of conversing I can get right into my writing.

 
    I think often on my walks home and sometimes I have a conclusion when I reach my laptop, it is grand to be putting thoughts down again. I often think of it as the equivalent (sorry for yet another HP reference) of Dumbledore’s pensive where he puts his memories so that his mind is free to properly experience the present. My documents on my computer are stacking up rapidly. I seem to jot down a lot of thoughts and the ones that are good stay there in my mind and I go back and work on them, other thoughts fall through the cracks but I save them on another document anyway and leave the door open for me come back to them later. It is a process reminiscent of panning for gold as you let the sand and mud sift through and hopefully at the end you’ll have a nugget sitting in your basket. That nugget may be rough at first but I work at it and refine it (in this case reword it) until I feel good enough about it to put it out there. These thoughts vary all the way from Jesus, to society, to psychology, to music… a fairly wide array but I always enjoy the challenging art of trying to fit ideas into words and then offering them in a way that others will resonate with.

Florence : :

BEFORE

       Sitting next to a packed backpack in a quite house. Answering Mom’s latest text. Boarding passes are printed, folded, and slotted between the laminated pages of my passport. Everything is set out for tomorrow morning as needed and roommate Chris just cracked his first snore of the night, there will be many more to follow. Some nights I use the earplugs, others I don’t let it bother me and I just think until I fall asleep.
Excited to travel. Total travel about 3.30 hours but it will take much more. I will be there for 4 days but it will feel like less I’m sure...

AFTER

        Well unfortunately my perfect attendance for class was broken this past Thursday but I assure you it was for good cause. One bus ride, plane ride, bus ride again, and one final train ride landed me in Florence! Chad and I were set to meet with friends from PLNU and TCU. Excited to see how this city compared with Barcelona we took off down the main street and one dog leg left later, there we were at the base of the Duomo. You never get a second chance at a first impression and Florence made sure it was well prepared for me. We dropped our bags at our friend’s house and took off on a hike across town, over the infamous bridge Ponte Vecchio and up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks beautiful Florence. I guess it had been raining everyday the past week but wanting to keep up the first impression Florence turned off the waterworks out of curtsey of its visitors. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that my words will never do justice and as I sat on the steps listening to a local sing and play guitar with that sunset striking the Duomo a few miles away in the heart of Florence, I couldn’t help but laugh a bit inside. I am too blessed to be experiencing these things. It was another one of those “Walking Into A Dream” moment where I can look around for an hour and still not feel like I have taken it all in. The way that the green lush hillside protected us from the direct light of the sun but the city was ablaze in the sun kissed orange glow that was being painted in broad strokes across the city. No wonder they called it Firenze.

      The next “Walking Into a Dream” moment came when we ventured to Accademia museum the next day to see the infamous David. After almost going the wrong way out onto a patio we turned into a long halfway and there he stood. I’ve never been struck by a piece of art that way before and I don’t think I said anything for a good 20 minutes after I turned that corner. I tried to figure it out as I walked down the hallway until I was right under it, I walked a circle around it, I walked to the corner of the room where his eyes seemed to be fixed, I walked back down the halfway away from David to get that proper shock again, and then back up to the front, it was incredible. Maybe it was because I took that Euro History class my senior of High School and that stuff just does it for me, or maybe because David is my middle name. Whatever the cause I seemed to be transfixed and I could have stayed that way for quite a while if it hadn’t been for my travelling party standing in a circle waiting for me to move onto the next exhibit.

What? What do you mean… next? Don’t you get it…we are… here…what?

     Clearly this appeal for art wasn’t mutual among the others but I still took my sweet time gazing at the paintings of Jesus being taken down from the cross from centuries past, marveling at the details such as the spear wound in Jesus’ side or the coins on the side of the picture which must have belonged to Judas… such amazing detail which still remains relevant all these years later. Again my words can’t do it justice but it was so amazing. All of the those little slides I sat through class looking at had come to life right before my eyes, Accademia wasn’t a funny name for a Museum in Florence but it was literally right on front of me. The last room I checked out was one of sculptures, which from the second I walked in I knew they were legit because it was intoxicating. It just smelled like age in that room and mind you the smell wasn’t quite intoxicating the way you may like your girlfriend to be. Nevertheless I was struck but quite a few in that room as well, most notably the eyes of Machiavelli, I remember enjoying those readings the most in my history and philosophy classes. I walked into the gift shop to find my expecting friends waiting there patiently, I had gotten a lot out of that and had a nice peace of mind about me as I walked out… like I said, I have never been struck by art that way before. Taking pictures never really crossed my mind.

 

    The nights were all fun in Florence and entailed lots of walking, buying pizza, laughing, and even finding a back alley bakery with some of the best chocolate filled croissants I have ever had. Church bells rang out across the city often, I counted 80 rings in a row at one point, not sure what that signified. After scrambling some eggs for breakfast we spent our last day in Florence trying to reach the top of the Duomo. Shutdown! To our dismay the Duomo is closed on Sundays…but the tower next to it was open! Sometimes taking two steps at a time and realizing how out of shape all of us were, we climbed to the top. The tower was actually a pleasant surprise because it was almost just as tall and we got some really cool pictures of the Duomo.

It definitely did feel less than four days, which we were in Florence and I learned a lot. One of the more important things was to bring more than 85 euros… I had become so accustomed to living with a host family and not paying or food that this trip earned me a few IOU’s. Chad and I took our returning bus, train, flight, and buses back to downtown Barcelona and literally didn’t have more than 1euro to spare… talk about a nail biter. I kept counting and recounting my little stacks of coins on the plane to make sure that I wouldn’t be stranded at the airport, thankfully the bus driver was in a cheery mood and took my little coin collection with an understanding smile. As I walked through the rain it was a relief to be home.
Well….“Home”

Learning Curve

A few things that I have learned here, things at first, which surprised me but now, are commonplace…

The shrimp have shells?
I learned this one at a meal where we had the infamous Paella of Spain. It is a massive dish of yellow rice served with vegetables and sea food, it is really common to the countries living on the Mediterranean. Anyway, I cut that big tasty looking shrimp in half and popped half in my mouth and there was way too much crunch. Not wanting to spit it back out onto my plate I just grinded through it, I’ll never make that mistake again. Definitely these shrimpos need to be peeled.

No such thing as a walkway

I thought it was just a pressure washer or a loud laundry machine… until that sound coming from behind me honked at me. Felt like my heart jumped up in my throat to hide. Turned around and apologetically and got out of the way. The alleyways here are so skinny thought they were just for people…but the cars and even the cabs have no problem taking you down any road that they can. If it works, it works. Like I said, they utilize every space.

<---------found a man made halo...really went for it

Breakfast in bed

No silly. Breakfast in bread? Still no. Breakfast is bread. Alas the truth comes out. Spaniards aren’t very big their desayuno(breakfast) here and that has been an adjustment made. Just a couple pieces of bread with jam on them and some orange juice for breakfast. Nothing to complain about but my stomach audibly made some protests the first couple of weeks.

Red means dead

If we obeyed the signs in the USA I don’t think anybody except for Usain Bolt would make it across the street in permissible time. Everyone is walking when the red is making its one handed protest…right? However here the green means walk, the blinking green means start jogging…. The red? You’ll be lucky if you see the red and live to tell the tale. Well that might be an overstatement but you could have a ringing ear from all the horns being honked in your direction.

Olives have pits

That was jolt when I was expecting to just bite through the olive and didn’t quite make it halfway through before I hit the pit. Also their flavor is a lot more robust. I don’t know why that is so. We have them in the salads every day and sometimes I eat them as a challenge, they are so fumy… (Don’t really know if fumy is a word, having an excess of fumes?)

Siestas are a myth

I was rather disappointed to find this out. My first day I took a siesta out of necessity because the jet lag was really putting a number on me but that has been my only siesta thus far. I asked my host mother about it and I guess it is just a myth.

That’s not mud on the sidewalk

Although I would have preferred if it was… people here don’t seem to feel the need to pick after there dogs and on a growing number of occasions, I have stepped right in those dogs leftovers on the sidewalk. I guess that’s the price I pay for walking. Maybe people truly take the metro to avoid stepping in these? I don’t know. The worst time was right before class. I looked like someone doing a terrible dance outside is I tried to get the poop off my shoe in the planter outside. I could have been embarrassed and stunk up the class or let all my classmates see me doing the dance before class? Well it turned out I didn’t do a very sufficient job at getting it off my shoe so I guess my classmates got both. You are welcome.