The End

Sorry for not posting in a while, but there hasn't been much going on. I had a presentation for each of my classes earlier this week, and they were both jokes. I talked about the significance of Wimbledon here in Spain for my sports class and then about my four favorite sites in Barcelona for Spanish. Since then, I have been busy "studying" for the finals I had to take today (both jokes as well). Now I have finished all school-work, and all that remains is a farewell dinner tonight with a bunch of the kids in the dorm and a 4:45 wake-up call tomorrow morning.

I think here is where I'm supposed to get poetic and deep to think back on my time here. Sorry, though I do know some English Majors who might want to do that for me. I should at least give my highs and lows I guess. . .

My favorite places (in no particular order): Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Costa Brava, the beach, just the normal neighborhoods and streets here in Barcelona

Least favorite places (in no particular): Figueres--the Dali museum was excellent, but there wasn't much else going on (or maybe it's because I got to go twice), I think that's it

Regrets: not travelling anywhere but France, not being here during soccer season so I could catch a game at Barca, probably some stuff I did on my birthday that I don't remember

Favorite experience: watching Spain beat Germany then going on a parade through our neighborhood, joined by many people from the dorm and many not, while people shot of fireworks and cars honked like crazy--everyone in Barcelona is a bandwagon Spain fan

I will say that while I have loved Barcelona, I think I am ready to come home. That is unless anyone wants to send me a couple grand so I can fly around Europe and stay in extravagant hotels for a while. Any takers?? No? Ok, I'll see everyone soon.

La Sagrada Familia

A couple days ago I went to finally see La Sagrada Familia (The church of the sacred family), a.k.a. Guadi's incomplete masterpiece. The outside, which is pretty much complete, is incredible. The detail and architecture are unlike anything I have ever seen before. You can see some of it in the pictures, but it is impossible to capture with a camera. I paid the 12 euros to go inside, and I could tell that it will be amazing some day. At the moment, it looks like a huge, empty, under-construction church. I could tell that the architecture and design of the inside were great, but most of the building was hidden behind screens and barricades so tourists don't get hit with falling boulders or sparks from the welders. I thought it was very worthwhile seeing, but I would like to go back in 50 or 100 years when they finally finish the damn thing.

I will be away from the computer until Sunday, as I am taking a trip up to France and Andorra with Mom, Liz and Jake. Hopefully you will all be able to carry on without me.

Observation of the day: My sports teacher is the coolest person I have ever met.
We spent the last two days in my sports class talking about 'football hooliganism.' Basically, if anybody has seen the movie Green Street Hooligans, it's a lot like that. For those of you who haven't, crazy fans of all the soccer clubs in Britain and throughout Europe kind of joined together into gangs in the 60's and 70's so that they could fight each other before, during and after matches. So Dawn tells us that these soccer gangs are becoming more and more like real gangs--drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc.--and the cops are trying to crack down on them. Dawn, my teacher, was studying for her master's in sports sociology or something like that, and she and three other women were a part of a undercover sting operation to try to bring these gangs down!! Apparently, her job was to become the girlfriend of one of the higher-ups in the gang and then feed info to the police about what was going on. She said she had to shave her head, get some fake Nazi tattoos (a lot of the hooligans were skin heads or neo-Nazis), change her name, and couldn't talk to anyone she knew for nine months!! The best part was that her "boyfriend" ended up going to jail for like two or three years because of the info Dawn provided. And that is why she is the coolest person I have ever met. Pictures below.