Some Days Just Fail

Some days just don't work out how you plan them. For example, today, I was supposed to begin my training to become a legendary boxer. I thought there were two sessions this morning. Because champions are lazy, I chose to attend the later class. Unfortunately, the later class did not exist. Instead I took a look around the gym.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting. When they say boxing gym, they mean it. The first floor was full of weights and things, and looked like a typical gym. Everyone in it was sculpted like Apollo Creed, but other than that, it was a typical gym. The second floor however was a horse of a different color. There were a few rings, some mats, punching bags, and the like. I did not however, expect to find any women boxing. Woman is generous; this chick had an adam's apple the size of my balls. She started yelling at me about something but my Spanish leaves me when I fear that I'm in danger of getting beat up by a girl. In other words, the boxing gym intimidated the hell out of me.

At the end of my day, I was supposed to join a Spanish club where I would be paired with a Spaniard who wants to learn English. Once a week we would meet and help each other learn our respective languages. Unfortunately, there were 50 Americans and only 10 Spaniards. I guess I'll try again tomorrow. Some days just fail.

When I Say Terrified, I Mean Terrified

Tuesday will be a changing day in my life. For some time now I've been thinking of following in the footsteps my idol, Mr. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and picking up the sweet science. Watching Cutty train the kids on The Wire only piqued my interest. Sadly, Bloomington does not have a boxing gym. Barcelona, however, does. The gym is also in running distance to my house. I'm pumped. I'm gonna float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee.

At any rate, yesterday, Morris and I engaged in some terrifying activity. We finally bit the bullet and visited La Sagrada Familia. Construction began in 1881 and if they're lucky it will be done in 30-40 years. I doubt it. The church is beautiful, there are a million sculptures and each wall is intricate. The church is famous for its bell towers that are the highlight of the Barcelona skyline. For a few euros, tourists may take an elevator 65 meters into the air, near the top of the towers. Big mistake.

The towers are quite narrow and feel like the wind will topple them at any moment. They're pure stone; only an idiot would feel insecure in them. I'm that idiot. If the heights weren't bad enough, we chose to take the stairs down. Once again, big mistake. The staircase is one giant spiral that you can look straight down the middle of. I really wanted to sit on the steps and scoot down backward like a toddler. I'd have taken pictures, but there are no lights.

The way down is dark, cold, drafty, cramped, and high in the sky. A few snakes and spiders would put the fright factor over the top. Feet safely on the ground, Matt and I agreed that although worth doing, we won't rush back to the top of La Sagrada Familia.

Check out pictures!

It's been a while

Why haven't I blogged all week? I don't do anything blogworthy anymore. Shout out goes to Mrs. G for inspiring this post.

I decided that my goal for the blog by the end of my trip is to write it in Spanish. We'll see if that goes better than my Summer goal of actually using Rosetta Stone.

On Sunday I took a day trip con mi familia to Dali's Theatre Museum. It was a bit over an hour away in a beautiful part of Spain near Girona. It's the largest surrealist museum in the world and was designed by Dali himself. It used to be a church and actually is the same church where Dali was baptized. It had been bombed during the war, rebuilt as a theatre, and was finally bought by Dali and turned into a museum.

I'm not the biggest Dali fan, but this museum is quite unique. Every single corner drips with surrealism. It is much more than just paintings on walls with a handful of sculptures. It's hard to describe.

The coolest thing about the museum was the special exhibit featuring Dali's "Persistence of Time". It's perhaps his most famous work and is typically housed in New York's Museum of Modern Art. For a limited time, and for the first time ever, it is being shown in Spain. Having been familiar with the work, I was surprised by how small it was, especially when comparing it to the size of some of Dali's other works.

The museum was cool, but my favorite thing about my day was spending time con my familia. Vanessa (my hermana) and Nina (my mama) have really embraced me as their own and it means the world to me. Matt and I could not have gotten luckier with our homestay family. I was hesitant at first, and the first couple days were full of "what have I gotten myself into?" moments. My Spanish improves by leaps and bounds each day and I can now have a half decent conversation with Nina. Vanessa's English is baller and she helps me with my Spanish all the time. Big thanks to Vanessa and Nina for helping Matt and I adjust in our new home.

Hasta luego,


Juiceman

I'll be that guy

It's Obama day. In shops, when people realize that you're American, they first thing out of their mouths is: Obama.

I was supposed to have class until an hour after inauguration, but our professor let us go after ten minutes so that we could watch.

It was cool to watch in a bar full of Americans, and seeing what caused each of us to clap or take a drink.

I hope he lives up to the hype.

Montjuic

Today we visited Montjuic. On the opposite end of the city from Parc Guell, Montjuic is a palace turned art museum. Behind it is the Olympic Park. We thoroughly enjoyed climbing the the steps of the palace and exploring the gardens nearby. These lush oases are a welcome respite from the hustle of the city.

Today I decided that I enjoy taking pictures of statues, and feral cats. As such, by albums are dominated by stone and felines.

If you don't have facebook, you can see yesterday's and today's albums by following these links. I'll be sure to link to the albums from here on out.

Montjuic
Parc Guell and Futbol

Tonight is for american football and sobriety as class starts tomorrow.

I hope everyone enjoys the blog, it's nice to have a journal that I can share. Throw me a comment, let me know what you think.

Let's try this again

Hola.

Credit goes to Big Al for catching a major mistake with the orginal blog. I'd much rather write the Juiceman blog than the Manjuice blog. That was a pro tip.

At any rate, last night our hermana Vanessa took us out for a night of Spanish fun. We started at the bar, and then went to the disco.

The bar, Le Cylano, is unique to Barcelona, and possibly the world. Wells are three euro, and top shelf costs 5. However, you get to pour your own drinks.

That's right, you get a glass of ice, a bottle of coca-cola light, and a fifth to do your own work with. I like the 80/20 ratio, which is superior to KG's golden 50/50 ratio.

After making our own drinks for a few hours, we went to the disco. It was a Spanish club with Spanish music. I loved it. We danced until late in the morning, hopped the metro home, and slept for a few hours. Today we are going sightseeing, pictures to come.

I'll try to post again tonight or tomorrow with pictures and stories from the day.

That's all from the blog formerly known as manjuice.

Adeyu

Soy de Barcelona!

Hola, me llamo Andrew. Soy el Juiceman. Esto es mi blog.

Anyway, this is my journal cataloging my adventures in Barcelona and beyond. It might be fun, it might be boring. I might post every day, I might never post. We shall see.

So far, Matt and I have been to a Barca football game and Parc Guell. The Barca game was a blast but very cold and so we left at halftime.

I'm watching football right now, but it's a little difficult with the Spanish commentary. I miss Clyde Tilsley Andy Gray.

Parc Guell is a beautiful park in the north of Barcelona. It is on a mountain and looks over the entire city. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to go back.

To the left are pictures that I took in the park. I can't decide what to name the cat, it was just chillin. It also had a friend, but that cat didn't feel like being photographed.

My host family is boss. Nina, my senora, is a very kind lady. Her english is nonexistent which keeps things interesting. Her daughter Vanessa is also beyond nice. She translates for us. Hopefully we'll go to a disco with her tonight.


Adios,

Juice