Excerpt from an email to Ms. Meyer:

I just went out for like an hour and saw some pretty crazy stuff go down. First I walked down to H&M because they had some pretty cool shirts that I was interested in trying on for fairly reasonable prices. So I went in, picked one out and tried it on, but unfortunately two problems struck me that prevented me from buying it. First of all, I wear garments, which create issues at times when I'm trying to dress "fashionably." The other issue is that those clothes looked like they were made for a European man; I, sadly, have the torso of an American man and the legs of a Tongan woman (is there a better stereotype for someone with short legs and a big butt?). So it didn't fit.

As I was walking back toward my hostel in search of a restaurant I would like to try, I saw this tall, muscular man walking the opposite direction up ahead of me, maybe some 20 feet or so. A small group of people around him stopped and backed away a several feet, forming a 10 person semicircle around him. This man had grabbed a shorter, but not scrawny, man by the throat and was pushing him back toward the wall of the building on the road. I wasn't sure who the bad guy was. This man had his hand clenched around the smaller guy's throat and was staring him straight in the eyes, yelling at him. Another man was standing over three teenage hoodlums who were sitting down nearby. After a minute I realized that the choker man was stopping the choked man from robbing this group of three women with several shopping bags, and I think the kids might have been in on it too. All I know is it created quite a scene, and it was intense.

El Mac GRANDE (con papas y una coca)

I've had a nice, relaxing Sunday and Monday. I've walked around the center of Barcelona to some of the main Gaudi sites, had some nice food (including a delicious Big Mac combo... AMAZING ((why?))) and found some nice spots to read for my upcoming classes. By now I've done a lot of the "must sees" in Barcelona, so it's been nice to just sort of "live" here for a day or two and do not so touristy things.

I had an amazing falafel kebab today with hummus and a bunch of different toppings--they even had fried cauliflower--with a refreshing lemon Fanta! It was delicious. Then I ate churros with the thick hot chocolate. Again, amazing. And now I'm about to embark with my two hostel buddies, Sophie and Gabriel, to purchase some groceries from the market to have a home (hostel?) cooked meal on on top of the terrace of our 7 story building.

Gaudi drove an Audi

I've had a fun past few days! I made friends with the people in my hostel, which has been nice because now I have people to do things with.

Yesterday I went to the beach with this Spanish kid in my hostel. We met up with two of his friends, a girl from Germany and a girl from Hungary. We went down and swam in the Mediterranean sea, and uh... I had to keep diverting my eyes because in Europe, beaches are usually clothes optional.

Optional.

I wore mine though. And I was glad I didn't take my camera with me to the beach because that would've been bad. Last night after that I met some new people in my room and we all went down the famous street "La Rambla" where they have markets and street performers and food and all sorts of stuff. Very lovely, crowded night life. We walked down to the pier and saw an small army of sail boats docked in the harbor. We got some relatively cheap (and not very good) Italian food and had a good time walking back to the hostel.

So I've been taking pictures, but I can't upload them yet because my hard drive needs a converter and I don't think I'm going to be able to get one until I'm in London. So hopefully you can wait until Wednesday or Thursday.

Today was Park Guell, which has an extraordinary view of the city and a stunning display of some of Gaudi's most beautiful textiles and mosaics. Tonight is a famous fountain. Bye!

Barc-alone-a

Smoking smells terrible. It seriously baffles me that so many people smoke here. This morning around 5:30 a big group of French kids came into my room after clubbing with one of my roommates, and they were all smoking. I was already awake and about to leave, so I went outside and read some Shakespeare. When I came back an hour and a half later, my bed was dusted with cigarette ash. They even managed to get it on my towel. WTF. How do you say "bastards" in French?

After reading I ate here at the hostel. They don't have too stellar of a breakfast buffet, but it filled my stomach for free which is good enough for me. So I ate two packages of these "toasts" with jam, three bowls of cereal (one was special K and two of chocolate rice crispies), an apple, two glasses of orange juice, and one glass of water. It was really the first thing I ate since my flight in, so I took advantage.

But OMG my lunch was fantastic. There's this chic little restaurant across the street from my hostel called "Tapas Tapas" where they sell, surprise!, tapas. I got these fries covered in garlic mayo, three slices of fresh toasted artisan bread with crushed tomatoes and olive oil, and some AMAZING paella, flavored rice with an assortment of the freshest sea food you can imagine. Shrimp, mussels, oysters, scallops. This restaurant has a glass facade that looks onto the most beautiful street, with high rising traditional Spanish architecture all along the road. The buildings are so stately, , and they almost all have either geometrically arranged windows or balconies along the smooth stone front. It's absolutely gorgeous.

I live one block below "La Manzana de la Discordia" which is a series of modernista buildings including Gaudi's "Casa Batllo." After lunch and a walk down to the park, I decided to see what's above the Manzana de la Discordia. After about five minutes of walking I unwittingly stumbled upon Gauid's "La Pedrera" AKA Casa Mila. It's a strange looking building with the wavy facade. Breathtaking. I sat on a park bench up the street and read more of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by Shakespeare for about an hour, then I decided to continue to stroll up Passeig de Gracia, the street all of this has been on. I strolled until dark, when the shops started to pull down the cages and lock their doors. Then the street lights turned on and the city looked stunning. The white lights shining up on rows of endless buildings that reach toward the night sky. It's magical.

Eventually I turned around and got back near my hostel, but I decided to wait about half an hour before going in so that most of my roommates would probably be gone and I could have some nice privacy in my room. So I went to a cafe just a little ways up from my hostel and got churros (spelled "xurros") and chocolate ("xocolala"). Possibly the best dessert I have ever had. The churros were short, thin, and curvy, and covered in sugar, and the hot chocolate was seriously thicker than if you were to melt a Hershey's bar on the stove. I dipped every single bite of churro into the semi sweet chocolate. Un. Real. I paid and walked into my hostel, turned on my computer, and now I'm here, ready for sleep and reading.

I'm from Barcelona

Let us go now you and I.

So begins my odyssey. After hours and hours of waiting in airports for delayed flights, sitting in ridiculously uncomfortable seats next to a tall person who took up all my leg room, after walking around confused for over two hours trying to find a bus or metro that would take me to my hostel, I am finally here. Barcelona. This is a party city. My hostel is a party hostel. Big time. But right now it's nice and quiet because my 5 French roommates left to go clubbing. So it's just me. Getting ready to shower and then try to overcome all my jet lag.

On the plane over I watched Date Night. It was fun, though I'm not planning on ever seeing it again. After that I watched the Dark Knight for the first time. I watched part of it before with my roommates, but we started it around 11 pm and I fell asleep. But all I can say is that Christopher Nolan knows how to make good movies. Seriously.

I'm hungry, but I'm more tired than I am hungry.

Buenas noches!

a room full of boxes

i hate moving. i mean, i really, really hate it. i have to redecide on a case by case basis if i should keep something that meant a lot to me during an important time in my life, or if i should just toss it out. i hope that i'm practical enough to throw away anything that has only served the purpose of collecting dust and instilling a spark of nostalgia in me once a year, but i'm not sure i am.

por ejemplo, i have a bunch of mo-tab cds from my mission that i haven't listened to since i got home. they just sit there. in a box. cds. i hate cds. but... isn't throwing away hymns some kind of sin? there has to be some hidden "thou shalt not" in the bible that warns against that. and these questions of eternal consequence only come up when i pack. i don't even think this much about eternal things when i'm at church.

i just got great news from jeff, my roommate. he's moving to another house this coming fall, and i was planning on moving back into my current house when i get back from london. but he told me that one of his new roommates is getting married in december, which means that there will be an opening that i can snatch up. which will be the best thing ever because he's one of the coolest people who has ever lived in provo. yeeeeeh.

remember, wiggins, you have to write a story this weekend.

oh, and i can't wait to see her in 8 days.

Everyone should own a Westy. Mitch and Amy, I envy you, and thank you for the nice introduction.

Since it's raining today, I will post a rainy day song for everyone to enjoy.

Guten morgen, Martin Luther

I'm reading "In the Beginning" by Oxford scholar Alister McGrath for my upcoming literature class on the Bible.

I've realized that I admire Martin Luther, although I don't necessarily agree with his doctrinal points of view. Or when he uses foul language. Which he did sometimes.

The story at hand goes as follows. When Martin was a young pup, his ol' pappy wanted him to make something out of his life. He urged him to study law, not only to better the family's standing in society, but for obvious financial gain from his son's legal prowess.

While he was preparing for law school, Martin Luther was riding his horse when lightning struck, throwing him to the ground. He cried out to St. Anne, promising that if she helped him he would devote his life as a monk. Then he changed the face of religion forever.

I need some lightning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!