I wanted to share with you my favorite spot between our house and Betsy's so I made this video Friday on my way out to say goodbye. It's right on 33; hope everyone can see it.
She's leaving for South Africa tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be in prayer for her and her six teammates.
Have a great week!
Love,
Philip
Monday, November 26, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
I went on a small excursion to Sitges last weekend with a few friends. Sitges is a small fishing town which is about a 35-40 minute train ride from Barcelona. We walked around the town for about half the day and then took the train back home. The train, however, did not take us all the way back to Barcelona. One stop before the Barcelona station everyone just cleared out and we were a little confused. Finally we asked somebody if the train would go to Barcelona and he kindly told us that it would not, in fact. So we scurried to get out of the train before it headed back to Sitges! So we had to get on a bus that took us back to Plaza España. The train system is a little messed up because of some construction difficulties, so the ride was basically free!
The Church in Sitges that overlooks the sea - there was a wedding there that day.
I'm gonna call this one "random chameleon (spelling?) perched on a wall."
Two friends that went with me, Yuko and Tana.
It was a good time overall and a pretty little town to see.
and...
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!
Last night the BCA group went out to a restaurant for a Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of the BCA program. It was sooo tasty - we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, artichokes, and some apple dessert with café con leche afterwards - I admit, I was craving pumpkin pie. I am so thankful to have had this wonderful experience here in Barcelona, but am also looking forward to being with family again. The next three weeks will go by soo fast, i know it, and I'm gonna soak it all in while I can. I decided to drop my Metaphysics class and I'm taking it as an oyente (auditing) instead. This will take a little pressure off as the end is nearing. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the walnut-smashing (brings back good memories) and settlers from the home-base! Were there any "inadvertant" cases of dropping the bread into the fondue?
Much Love from Spain!
Diech
The Church in Sitges that overlooks the sea - there was a wedding there that day.I'm gonna call this one "random chameleon (spelling?) perched on a wall."Two friends that went with me, Yuko and Tana.It was a good time overall and a pretty little town to see.
and...
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!
Last night the BCA group went out to a restaurant for a Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of the BCA program. It was sooo tasty - we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, artichokes, and some apple dessert with café con leche afterwards - I admit, I was craving pumpkin pie. I am so thankful to have had this wonderful experience here in Barcelona, but am also looking forward to being with family again. The next three weeks will go by soo fast, i know it, and I'm gonna soak it all in while I can. I decided to drop my Metaphysics class and I'm taking it as an oyente (auditing) instead. This will take a little pressure off as the end is nearing. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the walnut-smashing (brings back good memories) and settlers from the home-base! Were there any "inadvertant" cases of dropping the bread into the fondue?
Much Love from Spain!
Diech
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Most Exciting...
...to write about. Betsy Fisher.She's done with her training and will be leaving behind Ohio one week from today. Bek and I went out to the commissioning on Friday and had a very fun drive:
out 33
through slidy snow
over West Virginia mountains
-an amazing picture Rebekah took that we're still trying to figure out!
After lots of talking, friends, meals, drives, walks, books...we decided we still like each other.
:) Good. Philip
through slidy snow
over West Virginia mountains
-an amazing picture Rebekah took that we're still trying to figure out!After lots of talking, friends, meals, drives, walks, books...we decided we still like each other.
:) Good. Philip
Monday, November 12, 2007
More pictures of sunsets and such can be viewed at the following link:
http://community.webshots.com/user/diech2
Sunsets and some pretty amazing pictures of other things
so, it has been a while. the lack of postage may have been caused by a lack of time due to exams last week, or it could have been just straight up laziness. the former puts me in a better light, so i suggest you believe that one. Exams went pretty well i think - i'll get them back this week hopefully. Other than that i've just been taking it pretty easy, going to classes and exploring random places on the weekends. I went up to Park Guell again, because it's one of my favorite places. On Friday we had a tour of the "ciutat vella" which is the part of Barcelona that is built on top of the Roman ruins. We explored all the old buildings and churches and even saw some news ones (government buildings). it was all very interesting.
Park Guell and dog - this picture was taken from the top of a small mountain. if you squint, you may be able to see La Sagrada Familia and the sea.
Sunset at Park Guell
One of Gaudi's rather eccentric buildings
Café Dietrich - i was walking around with a friend and we came across my café! what luck
Another picture from Park Guell - the castle in the background is Tibidabo
This is an industrial park, situated very near the train station which is about a ten minute walk from my house. it's a very lovely place to sit and read (i had been reading "the sound and the fury" but i'm finished now) - on to "The Karamozov Brothers" - any suggestions after this?
We found a mexican restaurant while we were walking around. it was oh so good! (the two ladies on the far left are orginally from Mexico)
An amazing piece of engineering. this tree is in the middle of the monastery of the cathdral of Barcelona. don't ask me why i didn't take any pictures of the amazing pieces of engineering inside the cathedral.
Park Guell again
And the culinary surprises keep coming. My host mom, Marta, basically told me that i'm living with one of the best cooks in the BCA program. ha ha, and i think she's right. They have the small little pastries called pallettes (i think that's the right word) that they make for All Saints Day, which is November 1st. They are pretty delicious and they make the house smell absolutely wonderful. I didn't celebrate very much - i had a lot of studying to do. This may sound wierd, but one of my favorite things she makes is soft eggs with this tomato sauce and sauteed bell peppers. It's sooooo good, especially when one takes a barra of bread, breaks off a chunk, and dips it in the aforementioned tomato sauce/egg yolk combination. mmmm. i may have to continue this when i get home. okay, list mode:
fried calamari (squid) with sauteed onions and garlic with potatoes
artichoke omellette (spelling?)
Lasagna-type dish with some sort of cheese sauce on top (made by a friend of Marta's)
fish with chips
And always some sort of veggies or salad
mmm, yummy - i may be slightly less than overweight when i come home!
my blogs probably make me seem ADD - but it's just my mind that's all over the place. i'm pretty calm most of the time.
Okay, so i get really nervous when i talk to people in general, but i got up the courage to talk to my professor of Metaphysics. i pretty much stumbled all over my tongue and couldn't get the right words to come out. He is a very gracious man. So i had to talk to him about taking the exam early because the UB courses have exams in January. He told me i could take it whenever i want during the first couple weeks of December even though the class doesn't even end until the 16th, or something like that. That's how flexible he is - and he even offered that i could take it in either Spanish or English. When i told him i'd do it in Spanish, he made a polite, good-natured jab at my spanish skills by pointing out that i am a very brave person. ha ha. I may ask him if i can do my course-work in English. A lengthy explanation of the Brothers Karamozov in relation to Metaphysics in spanish is no laughing matter, so i'm seriously considering it. Anyhow, i have three short weeks to do it, and i'm starting to think that this amount of time is insufficient for this paper. it's optional, but i want to take a stab at it. We shall see.
For some reason i was singing "milk and honey" to myself the other day and thinking about those records we used to listen to. that train of thought is stopping right there and here is where i finish the blog with love - i've got to rush off to class now!
Love to you all!!!
-Diech
Park Guell and dog - this picture was taken from the top of a small mountain. if you squint, you may be able to see La Sagrada Familia and the sea.Sunset at Park GuellOne of Gaudi's rather eccentric buildingsCafé Dietrich - i was walking around with a friend and we came across my café! what luckAnother picture from Park Guell - the castle in the background is TibidaboThis is an industrial park, situated very near the train station which is about a ten minute walk from my house. it's a very lovely place to sit and read (i had been reading "the sound and the fury" but i'm finished now) - on to "The Karamozov Brothers" - any suggestions after this?We found a mexican restaurant while we were walking around. it was oh so good! (the two ladies on the far left are orginally from Mexico)An amazing piece of engineering. this tree is in the middle of the monastery of the cathdral of Barcelona. don't ask me why i didn't take any pictures of the amazing pieces of engineering inside the cathedral.Park Guell againAnd the culinary surprises keep coming. My host mom, Marta, basically told me that i'm living with one of the best cooks in the BCA program. ha ha, and i think she's right. They have the small little pastries called pallettes (i think that's the right word) that they make for All Saints Day, which is November 1st. They are pretty delicious and they make the house smell absolutely wonderful. I didn't celebrate very much - i had a lot of studying to do. This may sound wierd, but one of my favorite things she makes is soft eggs with this tomato sauce and sauteed bell peppers. It's sooooo good, especially when one takes a barra of bread, breaks off a chunk, and dips it in the aforementioned tomato sauce/egg yolk combination. mmmm. i may have to continue this when i get home. okay, list mode:
fried calamari (squid) with sauteed onions and garlic with potatoes
artichoke omellette (spelling?)
Lasagna-type dish with some sort of cheese sauce on top (made by a friend of Marta's)
fish with chips
And always some sort of veggies or salad
mmm, yummy - i may be slightly less than overweight when i come home!
my blogs probably make me seem ADD - but it's just my mind that's all over the place. i'm pretty calm most of the time.
Okay, so i get really nervous when i talk to people in general, but i got up the courage to talk to my professor of Metaphysics. i pretty much stumbled all over my tongue and couldn't get the right words to come out. He is a very gracious man. So i had to talk to him about taking the exam early because the UB courses have exams in January. He told me i could take it whenever i want during the first couple weeks of December even though the class doesn't even end until the 16th, or something like that. That's how flexible he is - and he even offered that i could take it in either Spanish or English. When i told him i'd do it in Spanish, he made a polite, good-natured jab at my spanish skills by pointing out that i am a very brave person. ha ha. I may ask him if i can do my course-work in English. A lengthy explanation of the Brothers Karamozov in relation to Metaphysics in spanish is no laughing matter, so i'm seriously considering it. Anyhow, i have three short weeks to do it, and i'm starting to think that this amount of time is insufficient for this paper. it's optional, but i want to take a stab at it. We shall see.
For some reason i was singing "milk and honey" to myself the other day and thinking about those records we used to listen to. that train of thought is stopping right there and here is where i finish the blog with love - i've got to rush off to class now!
Love to you all!!!
-Diech
Monday, October 29, 2007
Girona
Sooo...Thanks to some very generous loved ones and a little impatience on my part, I already have a new camera. it's like Christmas, early! So, this past saturday i went with a group to a monastery called San Pere de Rodas and we also went to a little town called San Martin de Ampurias, and we also saw the Greek and Roman ruins at Ampurias (Northern Barcelona - Girona). note: the pictures are not in order. Here goes.....
Greek ruins at Ampurias
more Greek ruins - the tour guide talked a little too much, but it was interesting
Roman ruins - entrance to the forum
The forum
a roman bath
my new camera, since i can't take a picture of the camera itself
this is how i make coffee - sorry, i should've oriented it! The grinder actually does a really good job (for costing 6.50€), grinding it really fine.
This is the town of San Martin. It's really close to Ampurias and it's were we ate lunch. It's a really picturesque little town. Sorry about the italics, typing accident on my part.
This is the beautiful monastery. it is situated at the top of a hill, very close the the Costa Brava in Girona. It was very chilly and windy, but worth it.
I walked out onto an old pier at San Martin and had lunch - it was soo beautiful - the town is in the background.
So, that was my weekend. Sorry to take some fire away from your blog philip (which was excellently done, by the way) i just had a lot of free time.
Love you alll!!!!!!!!!!
Greek ruins at Ampuriasmore Greek ruins - the tour guide talked a little too much, but it was interestingRoman ruins - entrance to the forumThe foruma roman bathmy new camera, since i can't take a picture of the camera itselfthis is how i make coffee - sorry, i should've oriented it! The grinder actually does a really good job (for costing 6.50€), grinding it really fine.This is the town of San Martin. It's really close to Ampurias and it's were we ate lunch. It's a really picturesque little town. Sorry about the italics, typing accident on my part.This is the beautiful monastery. it is situated at the top of a hill, very close the the Costa Brava in Girona. It was very chilly and windy, but worth it.I walked out onto an old pier at San Martin and had lunch - it was soo beautiful - the town is in the background.So, that was my weekend. Sorry to take some fire away from your blog philip (which was excellently done, by the way) i just had a lot of free time.
Love you alll!!!!!!!!!!
Morroco
Two weekends ago was when i went to Morrocco and it was good to have some time to chill, play with the Lydia and Dara, talk and compete with Carmen and Jason, and explore the city. Dara likes to play hide-and-seek and coloring, and Lydia enjoys wrestling, tickling, and testing out arabic and english words along with the occasional valiant effort to say my name. She's actually very good at it and can say it better than most Spaniards! ha ha. Carmen, Jason and I got in 3 games of Settlers. I believe Carmen won 2, Jason won 1, and i won the rest. however disappointing this was, i did manage to rack up 420 odd points (jason, do you remember?) playing scrabble. It was a very relaxing weekend, and you all were such good hosts. They fixed me pancakes and gravy, macarroni and cheese, artichokes, pizza, mashed potatoes, etc.... None of which i have had in Spain, so it was great to be able to eat some American food for once! we also went out one evening to take a tour of the city and we ate typical morroccan food at a restaurant. it was oh so good!
Here we are at the restaurant. we love each other (except when she's beating me at settlers :)
how could one be sad with all that tasty food looking at you. the smells were terriffic!
We also visited a granary, which was massive. Here we are in the middle of the massivity.
Here we are at the restaurant. we love each other (except when she's beating me at settlers :)how could one be sad with all that tasty food looking at you. the smells were terriffic!We also visited a granary, which was massive. Here we are in the middle of the massivity.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Last Couple of Weeks in My Life
Man, you know it's hard writing a post when you're following someone who's writing from Barcelona! I kinda feel sometimes like I haven't done anything extra special that I should blog about. So that's how I feel about what I've been doing lately except...
Mondays have been church-league volleyball night for the last couple of months, and it's been a lot of fun. We actually have not lost a match all season! Tournament is next weekend. We've never won a volleyball championship yet, but this may be the year. Maybe it has something to do with our awesome setter, Hannah Helmuth!
Tuesdays have come to be one of my favorite days of the week now because Micah and I have made that our day to get together in the evening. We meet at a basketball court when I get off work and play one-on-one (we'll be ready for you when you get back Dietrich! Watch out!). Then we go to his and Krista's little house out in country and have pizza dinner and talk/watch a movie/whatever. It's great to have this friend time to look forward to each week.
Wednesday evenings are still my absolute favorite though. Our Young Adults Fellowship (out of Dayton) is wonderful. It's what I have considered my real, solid church over the past two years, and it continues to be. Our discussions have been Christ-centered, powerful, vibrant, relevant, encouraging. We've been studying Blue Like Jazz along with the Bible over the past several months, which has been fun too, as anyone could guess who has read it. We've had our own conversations right along-side him about worship, relationships, money, love, etc...
Friday evenings are set aside for me and my little brother, Jeremy. One Friday we enjoyed racing at Fast Traxx in Waynesboro, a little race track. It reminded me of when we were younger and Dad would take us to those every once in a while. Fun stuff! This Friday we played dodge ball up and down the stairs for a little and then we went outside and I ran around while Jeremy tried to shoot me with his new little BB gun (it's not very powerful, and I was wearing my glasses) . He only got me once, stinging me a little on the neck just behind and below my ear :).
Today I attended a Changing Church Conference co-hosted by EMSeminary and VMMissions. Talk about dedicated...giving up a Saturday for a long discussion dialogue about the church--where it's come from and going. Yeah, I'm feeling a little self-righteous about that one...especially since Dad knew about it and didn't go :).
But this evening gave me a chance to chill; I went to a good, old-fashioned Harvest Party, hosted by my Eller friends up in Verona (some of you know them). Good times: reuniting with a bunch of good Bridgewater friends I hadn't seen in a long time; playing soccer with a mass of bodies ages 6 to 50; a hay ride singing songs and enjoying the sunset; watching kids go after a pinata; wassail; a praise and worship session with two guitars, a djembe, bongos, mandolin, and a shaky-shaky egg. It was good for my soul. I sang all the way back home.
waiting in line for a whack at the pinata
finally gets a chance
i actually caught the moment somehow! luck :)
Betsy is doing well. We continue to be in touch as often as we're allowed and the date is getting closer when she leaves for South Africa. I'll get to see her twice before she leaves, actually 2 weekends in a row. Commissioning is the weekend of Nov 17-18, then I'll go back out just after Thanksgiving to visit and say goodbye (she leaves that weekend). She continues to be a very exciting part of my life. I wish that she could meet Tom, Candice, Claire, Eliza, Jason, Carmen, Dara and Lydia. Hopefully someday.
Blessings and love to you all. I promise I don't forget you; I think and pray about you all often, missing you all the while!
Philip
Mondays have been church-league volleyball night for the last couple of months, and it's been a lot of fun. We actually have not lost a match all season! Tournament is next weekend. We've never won a volleyball championship yet, but this may be the year. Maybe it has something to do with our awesome setter, Hannah Helmuth!
Tuesdays have come to be one of my favorite days of the week now because Micah and I have made that our day to get together in the evening. We meet at a basketball court when I get off work and play one-on-one (we'll be ready for you when you get back Dietrich! Watch out!). Then we go to his and Krista's little house out in country and have pizza dinner and talk/watch a movie/whatever. It's great to have this friend time to look forward to each week.
Wednesday evenings are still my absolute favorite though. Our Young Adults Fellowship (out of Dayton) is wonderful. It's what I have considered my real, solid church over the past two years, and it continues to be. Our discussions have been Christ-centered, powerful, vibrant, relevant, encouraging. We've been studying Blue Like Jazz along with the Bible over the past several months, which has been fun too, as anyone could guess who has read it. We've had our own conversations right along-side him about worship, relationships, money, love, etc...
Friday evenings are set aside for me and my little brother, Jeremy. One Friday we enjoyed racing at Fast Traxx in Waynesboro, a little race track. It reminded me of when we were younger and Dad would take us to those every once in a while. Fun stuff! This Friday we played dodge ball up and down the stairs for a little and then we went outside and I ran around while Jeremy tried to shoot me with his new little BB gun (it's not very powerful, and I was wearing my glasses) . He only got me once, stinging me a little on the neck just behind and below my ear :).
Today I attended a Changing Church Conference co-hosted by EMSeminary and VMMissions. Talk about dedicated...giving up a Saturday for a long discussion dialogue about the church--where it's come from and going. Yeah, I'm feeling a little self-righteous about that one...especially since Dad knew about it and didn't go :).
But this evening gave me a chance to chill; I went to a good, old-fashioned Harvest Party, hosted by my Eller friends up in Verona (some of you know them). Good times: reuniting with a bunch of good Bridgewater friends I hadn't seen in a long time; playing soccer with a mass of bodies ages 6 to 50; a hay ride singing songs and enjoying the sunset; watching kids go after a pinata; wassail; a praise and worship session with two guitars, a djembe, bongos, mandolin, and a shaky-shaky egg. It was good for my soul. I sang all the way back home.
waiting in line for a whack at the pinata
finally gets a chance
i actually caught the moment somehow! luck :)
Betsy is doing well. We continue to be in touch as often as we're allowed and the date is getting closer when she leaves for South Africa. I'll get to see her twice before she leaves, actually 2 weekends in a row. Commissioning is the weekend of Nov 17-18, then I'll go back out just after Thanksgiving to visit and say goodbye (she leaves that weekend). She continues to be a very exciting part of my life. I wish that she could meet Tom, Candice, Claire, Eliza, Jason, Carmen, Dara and Lydia. Hopefully someday.Blessings and love to you all. I promise I don't forget you; I think and pray about you all often, missing you all the while!
Philip
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Another day, another week...
it's all moving by so fast. This past weekend I went with three friends to Tarragona, a town that has a lot of Roman ruins. it was very beautiful and it was a very relaxing day. We went because it was a holiday (Dia de Pilar). On Saturday, a friend and I explored a huge garden in the northern part of Barcelona - it was very beautiful and will probably go back for a good studying spot. On Sunday I went to an Evangelical church which had it's service at noon. The sermon was from a text in Isaiah in which God was telling them to leave and separate themselves from Babylon. There are a lot of challenges in a big city and I need to keep reminding myself that even though I am in the world I am not of the world. And so i should be careful about what i "touch" or what I involve myself with. That's what i learned anyways, but even if my spanish skills failed me in my translation, i still learned and thought. The people at the church were mostly elderly people but so very nice. One man just kind of took me around, introducing me to everyone. He also introduced me to (actually just told me about) two other students that attend their church. I call the three of us the "token young people." i don't really like the situation so i'm trying to get more BCA peeps to come with me next time. but i enjoyed the fellowship and will most likely return.
This weekend i'm heading to Morocco :) (okay, so the smiley face doesn't do justice to my feelings, but alas, it points in the right direction). I'm leaving on Thursday and i really cannot wait. It's been too long and i'll be glad to talk face to face. i have a slight aversion to talking with a time delay and a mic that is semi-functional (legitimate word?). I'm also slightly disappointed :( (reference to above parenthetical ^) that i have no camera. i just wish that i had a way to share my experiences with you all, my family, besides writing. i guess we are in an image-oriented world nowadays and the blog would be much more fun with them...alas... ´ñ) (think picasso). so, i'm going to eat lunch now because it's 2:40 and i'm hungry. another update upon my return...
Diech
This weekend i'm heading to Morocco :) (okay, so the smiley face doesn't do justice to my feelings, but alas, it points in the right direction). I'm leaving on Thursday and i really cannot wait. It's been too long and i'll be glad to talk face to face. i have a slight aversion to talking with a time delay and a mic that is semi-functional (legitimate word?). I'm also slightly disappointed :( (reference to above parenthetical ^) that i have no camera. i just wish that i had a way to share my experiences with you all, my family, besides writing. i guess we are in an image-oriented world nowadays and the blog would be much more fun with them...alas... ´ñ) (think picasso). so, i'm going to eat lunch now because it's 2:40 and i'm hungry. another update upon my return...
Diech
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
So, i'm in Spain...
Okay, so from now on there may be less photographs for my blogs because of the lack of camera to take the aforementioned photographs with. Alas, i'll just have to describe it. And i certainly don't have any pictures to match up to Philip's. Okay, so life is pretty normal around here. Here's the schedule, just in case you wanted to know (if you don't want to know just skip down a paragraph):
Mondays: 12:30 - History of Spain and then 3:30 - History of Spanish Art
Tuesday: 10:00 - Morfosintaxis I and then 12:30 History of Spain
Wednesday: 5:00 - History of Spanish Art (isn't that great - i get to sleep in 'till five!!)
Thursday: 10:00 - Morfosintaxis I and then 12:00 - Metafísicas I and then at 4:00 there is a class that i'm auditing called Historia de la filosofía antigua
Friday: Same as Thursday except without Morfosintaxis I
Saturday: no classes
Sunday: need to find a church to go to
And it seems as if there is a holiday every other week (there happens to be one this weekend)
...and there you have it
Breakfast consists of some tostadas (cookie-like things) and muffins with strong coffee. it's pretty piddly but i'm getting used to it. Lunch varies: if i'm going to be at the university, my host-mom, Marta, fixes me a picnic (she says it like, "peekneek") consisting of two sandwiches and some fruit. When i'm at home during lunch she usually fixes me a full-blown meal which usually has at least two courses. I prefer the packed lunch because having a big lunch and a big supper can be quite overwhelming. Supper is usually the same as dinner. Breakfast is whenever i wake up, lunch is between 2-3 and supper is between 8-10. pretty different. it's weird going to bed right after one eats, so i usually don't. the food is good.
The menu:
Soups:
conglomeration of onions
conglomeration of mushrooms
conglomeration of various veggies
one that looks and tastes like split pea soup
chili (it tastes like it, anyways)
Meats:
Chorizo - really strong/rich semi-overpowering sausage - unique to spain i believe
some sort of beef patty (I think it's beef)
cow stomach (i think that's what she meant)
Fish Sticks
Sides:
sauteed veggies (peppers, eggplant, onions, etc...)
breaded calamari (squid)
chicken nuggets
Spanish Tortilla (it tastes exactly like your potato cakes, Dad)
Dessert:
Fruit (apples, nectarines, peaches, plums, other tropical fruit that i can't name, etc...)
cake
cheesecake (sometimes with melted swiss cheese on top)
I obviously don't have a choice what i'm having each day, but this is what i've had that i remember so far. I have enjoyed most of it with the exception of the "cow stomach" or whatever it is. My favorites are the spanish tortilla, paella (which i had at castelldefels. my host-mom hasn't made it yet). I also have eaten at other places. They have something called "tapas" which are like sides that you usually get and share a variety with friends. i have also eaten shwarma - i don't know why, but there are lots of little restaurants that have these. Shwarma, i think, is the most bang for your buck. And the more bang i can get the better because the dollar is weak and falling.
So that's what i eat. This blog is getting rather long. If you're reading this and haven't read philip's yet (the one below) - you should do that now and not forget. Because i eat so much i feel like i should go to the gym. and so i do. I go and get rather sweaty and nasty and then take a shower. recently the sports area of the gym was opened, so i'm getting to practice my basketball skills, which are probably deteriorating with lack of play. - and that's the PE part of my life.
Okay, so i got my bag stolen, right? and so, my keys were in there, right? so...my host-mom had to change the lock on the door which cost me 70€. hmmm... not too bad i guess. I just learned to carry my keys in my pocket from now on.
For anyone that cares and is still reading: I got to go to a Travis concert and it was absolutely free!!! It was a pretty awesome concert and I can still hear. I had to add this because i didn't want to end the blog on a not-so-high note. Philip - i got video of the songs "closer" and "sing" but, since they could not escape onto a computer, they were on my camera when it got stolen. shuckers. I kept yelling "sing, sing" so that they would sing "sing", and finally they did. I also got to see the most amazing fireworks of my life during the same festival (Mercé). It was at Montjuic and so the fountain was lit up and all as well. It was hilarious because the fireworks (which lasted all of about 30-40 minutes (guesstimation)) were synchronized with music. It was a pretty eclectic mix, ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Gnarls Barkley to RATM to Aerosmith, and so on and so forth. Oh, and also Outkast with the classic "hey ya". Ha ha, it was great. Anyhow...more later, maybe.
Love you all,
Diech
p.s. if you have access to facebook, some of my friends have posted pictures from the aforementioned events. If i can figure how to get them on here i will.
Mondays: 12:30 - History of Spain and then 3:30 - History of Spanish Art
Tuesday: 10:00 - Morfosintaxis I and then 12:30 History of Spain
Wednesday: 5:00 - History of Spanish Art (isn't that great - i get to sleep in 'till five!!)
Thursday: 10:00 - Morfosintaxis I and then 12:00 - Metafísicas I and then at 4:00 there is a class that i'm auditing called Historia de la filosofía antigua
Friday: Same as Thursday except without Morfosintaxis I
Saturday: no classes
Sunday: need to find a church to go to
And it seems as if there is a holiday every other week (there happens to be one this weekend)
...and there you have it
Breakfast consists of some tostadas (cookie-like things) and muffins with strong coffee. it's pretty piddly but i'm getting used to it. Lunch varies: if i'm going to be at the university, my host-mom, Marta, fixes me a picnic (she says it like, "peekneek") consisting of two sandwiches and some fruit. When i'm at home during lunch she usually fixes me a full-blown meal which usually has at least two courses. I prefer the packed lunch because having a big lunch and a big supper can be quite overwhelming. Supper is usually the same as dinner. Breakfast is whenever i wake up, lunch is between 2-3 and supper is between 8-10. pretty different. it's weird going to bed right after one eats, so i usually don't. the food is good.
The menu:
Soups:
conglomeration of onions
conglomeration of mushrooms
conglomeration of various veggies
one that looks and tastes like split pea soup
chili (it tastes like it, anyways)
Meats:
Chorizo - really strong/rich semi-overpowering sausage - unique to spain i believe
some sort of beef patty (I think it's beef)
cow stomach (i think that's what she meant)
Fish Sticks
Sides:
sauteed veggies (peppers, eggplant, onions, etc...)
breaded calamari (squid)
chicken nuggets
Spanish Tortilla (it tastes exactly like your potato cakes, Dad)
Dessert:
Fruit (apples, nectarines, peaches, plums, other tropical fruit that i can't name, etc...)
cake
cheesecake (sometimes with melted swiss cheese on top)
I obviously don't have a choice what i'm having each day, but this is what i've had that i remember so far. I have enjoyed most of it with the exception of the "cow stomach" or whatever it is. My favorites are the spanish tortilla, paella (which i had at castelldefels. my host-mom hasn't made it yet). I also have eaten at other places. They have something called "tapas" which are like sides that you usually get and share a variety with friends. i have also eaten shwarma - i don't know why, but there are lots of little restaurants that have these. Shwarma, i think, is the most bang for your buck. And the more bang i can get the better because the dollar is weak and falling.
So that's what i eat. This blog is getting rather long. If you're reading this and haven't read philip's yet (the one below) - you should do that now and not forget. Because i eat so much i feel like i should go to the gym. and so i do. I go and get rather sweaty and nasty and then take a shower. recently the sports area of the gym was opened, so i'm getting to practice my basketball skills, which are probably deteriorating with lack of play. - and that's the PE part of my life.
Okay, so i got my bag stolen, right? and so, my keys were in there, right? so...my host-mom had to change the lock on the door which cost me 70€. hmmm... not too bad i guess. I just learned to carry my keys in my pocket from now on.
For anyone that cares and is still reading: I got to go to a Travis concert and it was absolutely free!!! It was a pretty awesome concert and I can still hear. I had to add this because i didn't want to end the blog on a not-so-high note. Philip - i got video of the songs "closer" and "sing" but, since they could not escape onto a computer, they were on my camera when it got stolen. shuckers. I kept yelling "sing, sing" so that they would sing "sing", and finally they did. I also got to see the most amazing fireworks of my life during the same festival (Mercé). It was at Montjuic and so the fountain was lit up and all as well. It was hilarious because the fireworks (which lasted all of about 30-40 minutes (guesstimation)) were synchronized with music. It was a pretty eclectic mix, ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Gnarls Barkley to RATM to Aerosmith, and so on and so forth. Oh, and also Outkast with the classic "hey ya". Ha ha, it was great. Anyhow...more later, maybe.
Love you all,
Diech
p.s. if you have access to facebook, some of my friends have posted pictures from the aforementioned events. If i can figure how to get them on here i will.
Friday, October 5, 2007
A Quick Weekend Trip to Ohio...
...because of this girl. :)
worth every minute of the five-and-a-half hour trip.
(it should've taken me six)
philip
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Everything is going well here in Barcelona... there was a festival over the weekend and so I´m trying to get rid of the hangovers and get back into study mode. I didn´t get any good pictures of the festivals, but i´m sure my friends have some. Anyhow, there were lots of concerts and festivities going on and i got in on a Travis concert and a fantastic fireworks display (both free).
Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela
Park at Santiago
Park Güell - Gaudi´s park - Barcelona´s not just city
La Sagrada Familia - i haven´t been inside yet
Park Güell again
I love you all and miss you!!!
-Diech
Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela
Park at Santiago
Park Güell - Gaudi´s park - Barcelona´s not just city
La Sagrada Familia - i haven´t been inside yet
Park Güell again
I love you all and miss you!!!
-Diech
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
Laughing
After serving on the draft board two surly army generals scowl at the nosey journalist...
Hi, I found this clip of Brian Regan on Youtube that made me laugh so hard this week. If you've got 10 minutes, you should definitely check it out. The funniest part (to me) is halfway through when he starts talking about chess. Tell me what you think. Sorry the picture and sound quality aren't perfect, but for a digital cam, they did a pretty good job!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qpSGSna0g5U
philip
Hi, I found this clip of Brian Regan on Youtube that made me laugh so hard this week. If you've got 10 minutes, you should definitely check it out. The funniest part (to me) is halfway through when he starts talking about chess. Tell me what you think. Sorry the picture and sound quality aren't perfect, but for a digital cam, they did a pretty good job!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qpSGSna0g5U
philip
Sunday, September 16, 2007
First Time Rock Climbing
Hey family. There's a great place for rock climbing out near Hone Quarry. I went with some BC friends to try it for the first time yesterday.
(repelling back down)
will's climb.
afterwards with my camera's silly little tripod :).
(happy)
Have a great week!
Love you. Philip
the group.
(before Parla gets there=mostly being lost in the woods :)
(after Parla got there)
the challenge.
(called "Hidden Rocks")
(before Parla gets there=mostly being lost in the woods :)
(after Parla got there)
the challenge.(called "Hidden Rocks")
my first climb.
(the beginning)
(the top("kiss the carabiner!"))
(the top("kiss the carabiner!"))
(repelling back down)
will's climb.(i love this shot)
afterwards with my camera's silly little tripod :).(fun times at dave's)
(happy)
Have a great week!Love you. Philip
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