Stockholm Syndrome

Okay, it´s time for part 2 of mine and Aaron´s adventure.

After leaving Belgium, we flew to Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is a really cool city and the people are some of the friendliest I´ve encountered. We went to a few museums while we were there, including a musical instrument museum (they let you play several of the instruments), a military museum, and the Vasa museum. The Vasa was a Swedish ship built in the early 1600´s and sank on its maiden voyage because there were too many cannons on it and it became top-heavy. It sat underwater for over 300 years and in 1961, they pulled it out and restored it. Because in the low salt content in the Baltic Sea, shipworms are unable to survive there, so ships in the Baltic are always well preserved. It was amazing how few parts they had to replace. I think they said that over 90% of the ship was original!

The next and final stop was Berlin, Germany. We were extremely tired by the time we arrived there, but we were still able to see a lot. Some of the highlights were the Berlin Wall murals, Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag (the line was too long, so we didn´t get to go inside), an old concentration camp (wow), the Holocaust memorial, and a museum about the German Democratic Republic. I didn´t really know much about Germany between the end of WWII and now, so it was really cool to get to learn about the GDR and fill in that part of the countries history.

I have heard many people say of many countries that "Everybody there speaks English". "Oh, (insert country/city name)? Everybody there speaks English". This sentence is obviously an exaggeration. Clearly, everybody in a given European country is not going to speak English, right? Being in Stockholm made me think otherwise. After being in Spain for a few months and somewhat adapting to the culture, I really hated having to be a true tourist and having to rely on other people knowing my language. In Belgium and Germany, there were a lot of people who spoke English, and I am thankful they were willing to be nice to us and help us, but in many situations I could still tell that they were still somewhat reluctant or uncomfortable with doing so. In Sweden (Stockholm, anyway. I can´t speak for the whole country), English is so integrated into their lives that it never seemed that I was hasseling someone by talking to them. I actually heard one group of girls switching back and forth between the two languages, rather seemlessly. They would be speaking Swedish (which is a bizarre sounding language, but cool) and then all of a sudden they would say a few sentences in English. Then as if nothing happened, change right back to Swedish. It was so wierd, but in an awesome way!

I'll only be in Barcelona for one more week. Wow... Volcanic ash permitting, I'll be travelling to Ireland for a 2 day hiking excursion, then to Liverpool, England for my pilgrimage to the hometown of The Beatles, then to Leeds, England to see my good friend, Jency. After that, I'll jump on a plane in Manchester and head home. Its so weird that this is almost over. I have very mixed emotions about it right now. I am excited to come home and see friends and family, but I know that I will really miss this place.

See you soon!
Landon

Belgian waffles or Belgian beer? I'll take the latter...

A couple of weeks ago we got a week and a half of school for Easter break. When planning for this semester, I thought that this week would be one of the high points of the semester, and I wasn't disappointed. Throughout the semester, I was a little stressed out about it, because there were so many places I wanted to go, but I knew I could only choose a few. My good friend, Aaron, ended up planning the whole trip more or less, so it worked out well. I got to see some cool places, and I didn't really have to choose anything. There were a few days of the trip that I wasn't even sure where we were going to stay that night. It was kind of fun for everything to be a surprise. (Thanks Aaron!!)

Our first stop, after I gave Aaron a two-day crash course in Barcelona, was Belgium. There was a clear and distinct theme of our travels in Belgium, and that theme was beer. Yes, beer. But not in the same way that beer is the theme of a fraternity party or a Nascar event. We were on a quest to taste and purchase some of the best beers in the world. We succeeded in that we visited two Trappist abbeys, three other small Belgian breweries, and found a few specialty stores that have hundreds of different kinds of beer (all Belgian), many of which you can't buy anywhere else. If you're interested in beer or the brewing of beer or just in weird things, check out the Cantillon brewery in Brussels where they brew odd beers called Lambic and Geuze. Instead of adding yeast to their beer to cause fermentation (which is what every or almost every other brewery in the world does), they let it cool after brewing in the attic of the building, where apparently there naturally exists a yeast that allows them to make deliciously bizarre beer or "geuze". Aaron liked the word "geuze" so much that for the rest of the trip, he referred to any type of beer (or any type of liquid for that matter) as gooze.

I think Belgium was my favorite leg of the trip, not because of the beer (although it was awesome), but because of the unique experiences we had there. One of the small breweries we planned on visiting had recently suffered a fire. Normally, they have tours of the brewery and a bar where you can taste their beers. Being that they couldn't let people into the brewery because of the damage and construction, they opened up their home to people who were visiting. We felt really awkward when we first went in, partly because we weren't sure if we were supposed to be there, and partly because it was full of groups of older people speaking Dutch. Soon after though, we started an hour long conversation with a man named Frankie who explained many things to us, including how many Belgians do not feel "Belgian" at all, but rather Dutch or French depending on which half of the country you grew up in.

Driving through the country was also a really cool experience. Belgium is a beautiful country, and we got to see it in a way that most travelers don't get to. Even though they don't believe in road signs, and were lost about 30% of the time, it was still a lot of fun. We also had an interesting experience asking directions/buying gas from a man who only spoke French. It was such a bizarre feeling not being able to say a single word to each other that both of us would understand. I have definitely experienced language barriers in Spain, but nothing like being in the French half of Belgium.

Well, this is already longer than I planned it to be, so I think I'll call it quits now and just write another post later this week about our adventures in Sweden and Germany. Only three more weeks in Barcelona... Wow. I can't believe its almost over.

"Aliens in the River", "Pigs in them there hills", and "Where everybody knows your name"...

Hello Friends,

After computer difficulties, a hard week of midterms and essays, and a busy week of playing after finishing midterms and essays, it is finally time for a new post. Breaking it down into sections has seemed to work so far, so we´ll stick with that. Let´s do letters this time.

A. Valencia Trip- Last weekend, we made a trip to Valencia with our study abroad program. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, and is apparently where the famous Spanish food, paella, and the famous Spanish drink, Horchata, were originated. With the old part of the city on one side of the river bed and the more modern part on the other side, it was a very interesting city. The reason I say "riverbed" and not "river", is because in the 1960´s (due to a devastating flood) they diverted the river around the city. Now, the huge riverbed holds gardens, bike paths, cafes, soccer fields, and Valencia´s famous "City of Arts and Sciences".

http://www.itfcoachesconference.com/2009/photos/CityArt.jpg

Harp Bridge

The City of Arts and Sciences ("Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciéncies" in Catalan) is a big group of Alien looking buildings in the middle of this dry riverbed, consisting of a science museum, opera house, a sports/concert arena, an aquarium, and a big awesome bridge that looks like a harp. We saw a dolphin show at the aquarium and it made me feel like a little kid. It was great.

B. The Pigs- If you haven't noticed this yet, I tend to wander sometimes. If I see something interesting, I go look at it. After that if I see something else interesting, I go look at that too, and so on and so forth. Earlier this week, I wanted to go to a palace here in Barcelona that I hadn't seen yet. When I got there, I saw that they had the palace and the surrounding gardens locked down for some event that was going on for some rich people. So, I decided to walk to a monastery that I knew was nearby. After I checked that out I noticed there was a city park in the hills behind the monastery. I hiked through this park for an hour or so, following old stone walls and shiny things, and I realized it was starting to get dark. As I headed down a trail that I thought would lead back to my path of entry, I began thinking "I wonder if there are any animals around here that could kill me". Just then I heard a loud grunt and saw what I was almost sure was a giant pig and a baby giant pig(After researching, I found out that they do have wild hogs here). I jumped about 15 feet in the air and ran a few steps down the hill and hit a dead end where the trail went into a little gorge or dry creekbed. It would've been easy to cross...if it hadn't been filled with cactus... At that point I thought I was going to have to go back towards the pigs, but instead, I held onto a tree branch and skirted along the edge of cactus valley for a few yards and was able to find a clear path a little further from them. I got down the hill safely, but my proceeded to beat quickly for the next 10 minutes. Its really funny now, but I was pretty scared.

C. Mi amigo, Ivan- Just one block away from our apartment, there is a small bar simply called "Schultz". Jim and I, decided to check it out one day, simply for the fact that Schultz is Jim's last name, and now it's one of my favorite places in town. It was named after a famous mobster named Dutch Schultz and there are newspaper clippings of mafia stories covering the walls. On the back wall, there is a projector playing old movies, mostly Charlie Chaplin films. That first night we stopped in, we ended up talking to the bartender, Ivan (ee-BAHN), and his customers/friends for several hours, almost completely in Spanish. They wanted to know all about the U.S. and if it was really like the movies, and if people in Texas rode horses, and on and on and on. It was the first time I was able to have a real conversation and make a real connection in Spanish, which was extremely encouraging to me.

One of my goals when I arrived in Barcelona, was to become a regular at some kind of establishment, whether it be a cafe, bar, restaurant, or whatever. I just wanted a place I could walk in and the people who worked there would say "Oh, there's the nice American kid who tries to speak Spanish". It might sound like an odd goal, but its quite hard to insert yourself into the culture, so I thought that might be a small step toward doing so.

Finding Schultz is far more than I could've asked for. Ivan and his friends know me, Jim, and our friend George, by name. They are genuinely happy to see us when we walk in, and actually seem eager to talk to us while we are there. It's really awesome to have a place to practice Spanish and to hang out with Spaniards. (Don't tell Ivan I called him a Spaniard. He has told me several times that "Catalunya no es Espanya!")

Okay, thats all for today. I'll try to get the next one out a little quicker this time.

Talk to you soon,

LC

Picasso, Japan, Catalans, and Talking Ducks...

Hello Friends,
A lot has happened since the last post, but none of the topics are really related, so I'm going to number everything again.


1.We got a new roommate last week. Her name is Yuri. She is 21 years old and she is from Osaka, Japan. She was a little shy at first, but it is understandable. She is not only learning Spanish right now, but she is also still working on English. I have a lot of respect for her. It takes a lot of courage to move to a city where the third most spoken language (English, behind Spanish and Catalan) is only your second language. This adds a whole new dynamic to the language barrier in the house, but I think it will be fun.


2. Last Sunday, during my weekly "Get Lost" session, I found a really cool park and saw some really cool sites. But the part that will interest you most is that I discovered there is a large population of wild parakeets in Barcelona. Apparently, a group of them escaped a while back and they have been building their numbers over the years. It is becoming somewhat of a problem. The city is actually considering exterminating a bunch of them because they are afraid they will become a domestic pest. I kind of like them. They should just kill some of the pigeons instead, but thats my opinion. I told Chelo (Spanish mom) about the parakeets and she died laughing and said she had never seen that before. After she stopped laughing, she explained that what I actually said was that I saw a small, green, talking duck. Clearly, my Spanish is still not perfect.

3. This tuesday, we down to the Gothic Quarter and visited the Picasso Museum. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I think that is why I loved it so much. All of his famous works (the cubist stuff) are housed in the most famous museums all over the world, so this museum is dedicated to the works he wasn't famous for. He started painting when he was 8 years old. Many art critics say that when he was 14, he was on the same skill level as Rembrandt, but if your familiar with any of Picasso's work, this may sound odd to you. I've heard several people say things such as "that looks like a 5 year old painted it". This museum showed the evolution of his art, and from that I can really appreciate his well-known works now. He had the ability to paint beautiful portraits and landscapes, but after a while that was boring to him. He decided to paint things from several perspectives at once, or from perspectives that only existed in his mind. I know a lot of people still won't like his work, but this museum officially made me a Picasso fan.

4. Topic 4 is something that many people don't know about this part of Spain, but its one of the things that makes it so special. Barcelona is located in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, which for hundreds of years was its own country. They have their own language (Catalan) which is still widely spoken in the area, and the culture of the area is much different than the rest of Spain. In the early 1700's, the country became entirely unified as it is today, but not without much resistance from Catalonia and a few years of war. Catalans are a VERY proud people and they do not take lightly the idea that Catalonia and Spain are not the same thing. We Texans are very proud of our state and feel that we are different than the rest of the country, but we've got nothing on the Catalans. When a Texan says something about seperating and becoming our own country, he is usually half-kidding. When a Catalan makes a statement of the same nature, it is not a joke.

I have slowly been noticing the Catalan pride more and more, but last Sunday I saw something that really made it concrete for me. In the Gothic Quarter, or Barrio Gotico, there is a tall curved monument with a torch on the top. I stopped to read the inscription and was happy to find that below the Catalan and Spanish versions, there was one written in English. It stated that the monument was there in honor of the people who died defending Catalonia in 1713 and 1714. The flame on the top is always burning. Wow.... That is what made the "Catalan pride" real for me.

I have more to tell everybody, but this is already really long and I'm hungry, so I'll just have to write another one soon. Keep in touch!

Talk to you soon,
LC

Get Lost

Hello Friends,

I have spent most of my first week in Barcelona adjusting, but overall, I call it a success. I went on two organized trips with my Study Abroad group this week (Park Guell (which is ridiculously cool) and the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres (which is one of the most bizarre places I have ever been, but was still amazing)). (Yes, I know I am severely over-using parentheses, but I have to seperate these thoughts somehow). But the theme of this post is going to be the more random aspects of the last week and a half.

#1. In Toledo, there are tons of shops that sell Damascene art (http://www.lands-faraway.com/images/damascene-ex.jpg). Jim and I passed a very small store that was maybe 6 feet wide, and noticed that the little old man inside was actually working on a small plate right there in the store. We stopped and watched for a little bit and then ended up going inside. He showed us how he used all of his tools and what each of them were for. He had several of his patterns hanging on the wall, but near the bottom, there was a picture of him holding a fish. I asked him about it (in broken Spanish) and his eyes lit up! He walked over to one of his drawers and pulled out a fishing magazine. Even though we speak very little Spanish, and he spoke even less English, we talked with him for about 20 minutes. It was a really cool experience to communicate with someone so well, even with such a gap between us. I tend to like people who are really interested in at least one thing. This old man loves his art and he loves fishing. Just for that, he is okay in my book.

#2. A couple of days ago, I was wandering around an unfamiliar part of the city and ended up finding La Pedrera, which is a building designed by Antoni Gaudi and is one of Barcelona's most famous landmarks. I then developed a theory that this city is so full of great things that I should be able to go just about anywhere and find something interesting. Today, I proved myself right. I took the metro to Plaza Catalunya (one of the bigger town squares, lots of stores and stuff) only to find that everything shuts down on Sundays. I knew this was true of most small shops and restaurants, but apparently EVERYTHING closes... well, except McDonald's, but I'm going to try my best not to step into one of those unless I need a good laugh (they have a McPollo. hehe.). I spent 20 minutes trying to find a place to get a cup of coffee. I ended up wandering around for, oh... about 6 hours. In the process I found the following:

-The Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona. They had a very interesting and very well put together exhibit about the expansion and modernization of Barcelona in the late 19th century. I think this place was a good find. Hopefully they'll have more cool exhibits come through before I leave.

- Casa Batllo. Another of Gaudi's amazing buildings. If you are not familiar with any of Gaudi's work, then Google it or something. He was a genius... and was decades ahead of his time.

-The Thinker (http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00137/philosophy_files/the_thinker.jpg)

I was walking down a string of streets known as Las Ramblas and came upon sign promoting "Arte en la Calle" or "Art in the Street". Auguste Rodin was the featured artist. I knew I had heard this name before but I wasn't sure why. I walked past 7 or 8 bronze statues and when I got to the last one, I realized why I had heard the name. All of these statues, including The Thinker, are normally housed at the Rodin museum in Paris, but they brought them to Barcelona where they will be displayed on Las Ramblas until early February. Finding one of the most famous statues in the world was definitely one of the more surprising parts of my walk.

When it started getting dark, I decided I should probably find a Metro stop and head home. When I got to one, I realized I was only one stop away from the apartment, so I decided to end my journey the right way and walk the rest of the way home. I asked for directions in Spanish and actually understood most of the response. He said that it was a little far, but if I walk down Avenguida Diagonal, I would see a monument and that's where I should turn. I only knew the general direction I was supposed to be heading, but when I realized where I was, I was standing at the door to my apartment building. It was a good ending to a good day. I posted this on Facebook earlier, but I think I am going to try to get lost every Sunday. It will be a good way to familiarize myself with different parts of the city, and also to discover things or places I might not have looked into otherwise. But now I need to get some rest. I keep forgetting that I am actually here to go to school :/

Talk to you soon,

LC

First days in Spain...

Hello Friends,

After 20+ hours of travel, sitting in airports, and waiting in hotel lobbies, I finally arrived at my hotel room in Madrid on Thursday afternoon. Our first day there, Jim (roomie) and I walked a couple of blocks to a park called "El Parque del Retiro". Not many of the students in our group visited... or really even knew about El Retiro, but it was on of my favorite things I have seen so far. It was built for Spanish royalty in the 1600s and has several beautiful statues and monuments scattered throughout. The second day of the trip, we visited El Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia. I had never been to a legitimate art museum before, but they were both awesome. We were only able to stay in each museum for about 2 hours, so we didn't get to see much. But instead of just running us through and showing us as many paintings as possible, our tour guides showed us lots of paintings by just a few artists, which I really enjoyed.

Day three took us to Toledo. I don't even want to try to explain this city. It's something you only see pictures and movies, but don't ever think about it actually still existing. Here is a link. Its just what comes up when you Google "Toledo Spain" and click on "Images" http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=toledo%20spain&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

We arrived in Barcelona last night around 7 or 8 o'clock. Our new Spanish mom, Chelo (short for Consuelo) picked us up and drove us to her apartment. Its in a nice neighborhood that is less than a mile from La Sagrada Familia (which I'm sure I'll write about later) and only a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute subway ride to the school I'll be attending. We have a really sweet dog named Daisy and a crazy cat named Susu. Jim and I have to share a room, but we have been getting along great, so I think it will be fine. Chelo speaks less English than I do Spanish, and Jim speaks almost no Spanish, so most of the interpretation and translating duties fall on me. This thought is terrifying if you have ever heard me speak Spanish, but I think it will be good. I am really excited about the prospect of learning Spanish and I think this situation will only speed the process along.

The last few days have been a blur. We have been going and going and going, only stopping to eat... and to try out our terrible Spanish on unsuspecting members of the service industry. Tonight is the first night I have had time to sit and relax since I arrived in Spain. Now that the initial excitement has died down, I can really appreciate the opportunity at hand. As some of you know, I've worked harder to make this happen than anything else I have ever done. I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the months to come, and the effect it will have on the years to come. I would love to hear from everybody, so send me a facebook message or something of the like.

Also, pass this link along to people who may not see it on facebook. Thanks!

Talk to you soon,

LC

Pre-departure

Hello friends,

As many of you know, I am leaving for Spain in about a week. I will be living in Barcelona with an older Spanish couple, along with another American student from Colorado. I'm a little nervous about this situation. I have lived with my brother for the last few years, but I have always had my own room, my own bathroom, and have not really anybody to answer to but myself. I'm sure it will all be fine, but it will probably take a while to get used to. I'll be taking 15 hours of classes (9 hrs of Business classes, 6 hrs of Spanish) at a school called Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona ("Autonomous University of Barcelona" in English).

Something a lot of people don't know about Barcelona is that its in a region of Spain where a language called Catalan is widely spoken. It has similarities to Spanish, French, and Italian. Other than that, I know very little about it. Haha. Spanish is still widely spoken in Barcelona, but most street signs and storefronts are in Catalan. So, not only will I be quite confused a majority of the time, but I'll be confused in two languages.... Awesome... It will be an adventure.

I would like to keep in touch with as many people as will have it, so I will try to update this fairly often. Come find me before I leave!

Talk to you soon,

LC