Montañas, Música y Mamá - 9

Watsup everybody.. Another week of odds & ends has left me to write about myriad musings; meanwhile, may my musings aMeliorate midterm messyness.

Montañas: This past week I got to see Montserrat, an awesome monastery way up a mountain. The place is known for its nuns, its cathedral, its views, and its hiking. All impressed (except for the nuns, whom I didn't get to chill with). The highlight for me was probably the views.. We literally saw a whole ocean of clouds beneath us, with a gorgeous ring of mountains on all sides framing it. The hike we did was short but still really nice, and again presented us with some unreal vistas. In the cathedral, we got to catch a performance by the boy's choir - beautiful voices. Here's a pic of Montserrat:



Palau de la Música Catalana: Basically an incredibly wrought and achingly beautiful monument to music. The actual auditorium in particular was incredible: it repped spear-wielding women on wild horses, muses playing a host of instruments, a gorgeous 3,000 piece stained-glass tear drop/bowl/chandelier, and so much more. Visit if you ever get the chance. Alas, we couldn't take pictures inside the Palau.. But here's one I sniped from google images:



Bioestadística ridiculousness: I just found out today, more than a month into the class, that there are weekly problem sessions led by the teacher. No wonder I had no idea what I was doing..

Intercambio: This is where one person's language skillz help another person and vice versa. For example, if I were to talk to Legolas, he would teach me Elvish and I would teach him to not be a pretty boy. In this case, however, I was doing a more boring English-Spanish intercambio. I learned that Spanish guys, on average, stay at home until the age of 35-37.. For the females, it's 29. Kinda crazy when you think about the US norms, but my intercambiadora told me that it's because most jóvenes don't have the dinero to afford moving out. And the economy is really bad here. Also, I've learned that Catalan people are very nice, you just have to make the first move. Kind of like a male bird of paradise (upon seeing how receptive his wife is to his jiggle).

Oh, and the Mamá part.. She made sure my 'belly number' - i.e. how hungry I am - never dropped below a respectable 3.

Un poquito de todo - 8

Welcome to week 8 of the blog. If you're still checking out these updates, you are a great friend, you are willing to do anything to procrastinate, or you are my mom. 

This week's theme will be a bit different from those of the last several weeks.. Rather than focusing on one central event or trip, I'll be sampling a number of odds & ends. Here we go! 


Cheese Festival – Ok so for the first 3+ hours sitting in a cramped bus, I was sort of starting to regret my program’s visit to La Seu d’Urgell (this little town in the Pyrenees). But, once we got into the mountains we were treated to some stunning views of peaks, valleys, woods, rocks, and rivers.. Here’s a good example of the scenery:



Then, the cheese festival and sprawling market that covered the majority of the town were sweet... I tried a couple dozen kinds of cheese from around the region.. especially enjoyed queso fresco and some type of goat cheese. The other vendors around town sold everything from olives to boots to tea, and it was great fun to mosey around.. All in all, the town really made me feel like I wasn’t the tourist that I TOTALLY AM!

Sagrada Familia – Yesterday I finally got to see the inside of this famous church. It was pretty ridiculous – the sweeping spires, towering pillars, and singularly Gaudí forms that we saw inside the sanctuary were absorbing to say the least. However, the elevator trip up into one of the spires was the coolest part.. We got some incredible views of the city, and were able to see the fruit bowls and other architectural details close up. Word on the street is that building is scheduled for a 2026 completion date (construction began in 1882); knowing Spain, anything could happen, but I’ve already resolved to check out the finished product at some point in the future.



Ice Skating – I went for the first time in at least 8 years.. At first, my legs were a little wobbly, but then I started to get more comfortable and had a lot of fun. The hour & change of skating left me with some blisters on my ankles, but it was worth it.

FC Barca – Back on track with a 2-1 comeback win over Valencia! Heyoo.. We’re still a point behind Real Madrid, but I’m feeling good about our prospects after that big win.

Language & Culture – Spanish professors rep MAD pit stains. They are also often late for class. Sometimes they don’t show up to class and no one knows why, but it’s just accepted as normal. I learned today that bien isn’t a suitable answer to every question; sometimes, an intelligent response is required when the teacher calls on you. Aaand my Spanish is pretty fickle: occasionally I feel like a total n00b, and then sometimes it’s like “Hey I’m bilingual son!”

George Muller – You probably haven’t heard of him, but this guy is straight baller. I just finished his autobiography this week.. In a nutshell, it was a collection of his diary entries that chronicle the amazing work God did through Muller’s orphanage ministry. Over the course of 24 years, and by relying solely on prayer and faith, Muller and his team established 117 schools, cared for 10,000 orphans, received more than 50,000 specific responses to prayer, distributed 285,407 Bibles, and were entrusted with the equivalent of 90 million pounds in today's British currency. And the crazy thing is that he/they never asked for donations or solicited funds for the work.. Over and over, he and his team would have literally no money, or no coal, or no bread (despite being in charge of hundreds of orphans), and Muller would pray.. and then money or food or whatever would come in just when it was really needed. He relied completely on God for both his ministry’s means (all their money came voluntary gifts) and direction in his life.. he trusted God just like a child would his dad. It’s the most inspirational book I’ve ever read, and I def recommend giving it a shot. You can find it here.

MY familia (tios y padres) is in town for the week, which has been a blast.



My momma is visiting and I love her.

Amsterdam: Lo bueno y lo malo - 7

Hey everyone. First, because you're reading this, I want to thank you for sticking with the update blog for 7 weeks - cheers.

Second, this week's blog is going to incorporate my still-fresh impressions from a weekend in Amsterdam.. As you can tell by the title, we're going to hit up both the positives and negatives of the city. Let's start with the good stuff:

Lo Bueno: Amsterdam has an amazing feel to it.. Its cool, New England-esque air, oft-cloudy skies, and abundant water set the scene for the profusion of trams, buses, bikers, boats, motorcycles, and pedestrians that crowd the place. Unlike any other large city I've ever visited, Amsterdam has a sweet relaxed busyness to it.. Maybe it's the canals, or maybe it's the people, but there's a tranquility in the air that seems to make even the day-to-day grind agreeable.

The architecture reflects this laid back feel.. Buildings often have a striking pattern (see below) that attract the eye. You would think that these kinds of buildings stand out unnecessarily, but they don't because free-wheeling architectural expression is the norm. Also, Dutch is quite a fun language; I sometimes felt like bouncing when I heard a proper Dutch conversation. I'd be remiss if I forgot the food.. expensive but very good. Stroopwaffels (thin waffles with syrup inside.. delicious, esp. w/ chocolate) were a highlight, with vlaamse frites (Dutch fries) coming in second. As far as culture, I really enjoyed the museum scene, especially the Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum.

A cool building:



At the Rijks, it was cool to see paintings of both Prince William I (famous for liberating the Netherlands from Spanish rule) and Prince William III. Both Williams were Princes of Orange, but - contrary to popular belief - Princeton does not get its orange color or its name from either William. However, Nassau Hall is named after Prince William III's lineage, which was the House of Nassau.. I liked the inscription in a painting of William III's birthday celebration: 'To the health of the Nassau line, in one hand a rapier, in the other hand the glass...' (still represented on campus by the fencing team and eating clubs!) On another painting, I appreciated an inscription that said: "This still life was painted after the crash of 1637, when so many people were ruined by speculating in tulip bulbs." Gotta watch out for those tulip bulbs.

Also, it was super baller to see the tomb of the most famous admiral in Dutch history, Michiel de Ruyter (the Raider..basically he pwned the English and French), great ancestor of a kid in my program, Stan DeRuijter.. Here's them both at the old guy's tomb:



Lo Malo: It didn't really come as a surprise, but nevertheless the worldliness of Amsterdam stood out as a negative.. I'm not even speaking so much about the coffeshops and pot as much as the proliferation of sex shops, condomeries, "private galleries," and streets lined with prostitutes advertising themselves in lingerie. I mean, yea it's sort of funny at first but then you keep seeing these things over and over and realize that a bunch of people come to Amsterdam just for the things of the flesh. Here's a typical pic:



The bright spot of the weekend that helped me a lot in thinking about the Amsterdam culture was a church service at Crossroads International Church, suggested to me by a friend in my home group here in Barcelona. The music was great, and the lyrics of one song in particular stood out to me: "Nothing this world could offer could compare to you..." Unfortunately, I can't remember the title of the song but the lyrics revisit a theme I've come to appreciate many times in my walk with God.. namely that we - humans - are made BY God and thus made to be truly satisfied only by a relationship with God.. nothing else will fill the hole that's inside each of us. As usual, C.S. Lewis expresses the point beautifully:

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased..." AND "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this earth can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."

Also, I really liked the sermon at Crossroads. The pastor talked about Ephesians 5:15-21. I especially liked this bit: "15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit..."

It's such a counter-cultural message to not get drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit, but that's why it's so beautiful. The pastor also made a metaphor I heard once in a Driscoll sermon. They both alluded to the Holy Spirit being like a wind that blows constantly and is always able to guide and empower us. However, as we are steering ourselves through life, we don't always have our sails up to catch and be directed by the Spirit to go after the things of God. The pastor talked about how people forget that the Holy Spirit is God and that He can play a huge role in our lives - if we let Him - as the Counselor that Jesus left us.

Anyway, that's what has been on my heart lately. I hope that some of you will be encouraged by Ephesians 5 and remember to be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit. Hasta pronto

La Rioja: Tierra del Vino - 6

This week, we're going to relax a bit from the craziness of La Mercè and instead slide into the smooth world of wine. As many of you know, I was very lucky to celebrate my 20th birthday in style, in La Rioja - aka Spanish wine country. La Rioja is the smallest of Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions, but is widely recognized for producing the best wines the country has to offer. Rioja wine is known for its sweet, fruity flavor paired with a gritty, earthy nature. My study abroad program put together a really nice weekend in the region that allowed us to see several bodegas, or wineries, and we got to get in a solid bit of wine tasting as well.

I really hope I don’t mess this up too badly, but here’s my understanding of the wine-making process in La Rioja: The grapes are picked, and the bad ones are sorted out. Then, the pulp is separated from the skin and the skins (piels) are pressed in a circular wooden contraption while the pulp juice ferments in great big metal vats for 13-14 days. Then the pulp juice goes through the second round of fermentation, which takes 20-30 days, after which the pulp juice and the peel juice are recombined in different ways to produce several distinct wines. Finally, the wine is aged. Typically, Rioja wines fall into four categories: Rioja (aged for 1 yr or less); Crianza (1-2 yrs); Rioja Reserva (3 yrs); and Rioja Gran Reserva (5 yrs).

Here's a pic of us trying some vino tinto (red wine) and vino blanco (white wine):

One of the vineyards we visited, Bodegas Marqués de Riscal, had a special wine cellar nick-named El Catedral, which holds their most precious collection of wines dating all the way back to 1862. Every year, they save 300-500 botellas of wine from their production to save it for posterity.. presumably so that at a really important event they can whip out that 100-odd year bottle that is – quite literally – priceless (i.e. not for sale). Word has it that they had to bring out one of the old bottles to convince a certain architect to design their hotel for them.. Before I tell you who the architect was, see if you can figure it out from the building:

(Top: Hotel @ Bodega; Bottom: Lewis Library @ Princeton)

If you guessed Frank Gehry you’d be right. It was really neat to see this building of his - a hotel on the property of the bodega - thousands of miles from the familiar Lewis Library where I often tutor and study. As you can see, he’s still got the crazy new-age look going on in this creation, but there's also a symbolic significance to the color scheme. Apparently the building evokes a bottle of wine, with the purple metal sheets representing the red wine, the gold signifying the label, and the silver acting as the cap of the bottle.

When we weren’t exploring the bodegas, we got to check out Logroño, the capital of La Rioja. This sweet little town was SO different than Barcelona – very laid back and chill.. Logroño reps quaint (and plentiful!) bars and awesome tapas too.. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the break from all the people in Barca, but I think it’s the kind of place that could get old after a while. Oh and I bought a cheap soccer ball on my bday which we played some pick-up with, and then everybody in my program signed it.. Pretty sweet memento! And, I even made a couple new friends in Logroño:

Unfortunately, I just found out today from my buddy Trent that his namesake town, Fuenmayor, is a scant 10 miles from Logroño. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to make the pilgrimage while I was in Logroño, but hopefully next time I will do.

Amsterdam this coming weekend – hah any suggestions that don’t have to do with space cakes and the red light district?