Thanks Kyrie!

You may notice that I now have a kick-A header and some colors that you can actually read. This is all thanks to Kyrie Howard. But don't ask her to make you one or she will probably hate me.

Dear Mom,

You won’t believe this but I almost voted for that Barack Obama. Fortunately this funny lady came to talk in chapel and helped me realize that I was making a huge mistake. Did you know that Obama is actually the Hitler of our generation? I mean after all, Hitler started as a young and popular leader of the people! He wanted change too and he said that he would help fix the economy! It all fits mom; I don’t know how I didn’t see it earlier. The word “obamanation “ has never made so much sense.

She taught me all about how it doesn’t matter if you are nice as long as you are right. Even Winston Churchill was mean to everyone he didn’t agree with. (She showed a picture of her bulldog and said that he was like Mr. Churchill. It was SO fat and I laughed really hard!) And according to her we have to fight fight fight! Does that mean I can be mean to all those evil liberal people? Yesterday I got into an argument with a guy about whether we should be nice to Muslims. He kept telling me that we should love them even though they don’t love Jesus. Mom he just wouldn’t listen! Finally I got sick of it and walked away.

I’m just glad that she came in time for me to change my decision. I can’t believe that all this time Obama has been fooling everyone into thinking that he wants to help people when really he just wants to take over the entire government and single-handedly rule the world with extreme forms of tolerance, socialism and cultural relativism. It scares me to death mom to think what is in store for all of the poor, un-expecting people of America. I wish everyone could know the truth like us but I guess the only way for more people to find out is for me to get out there and start spreading the word.

Love,
Isaiah Smallman

P.S.
Thanks for sending that great Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America from Focus on the Family. That stuff all sounds really scary. What if they really did take away all of our personal rights as citizens and we all lived in a scary world of “hardship,” “persecution” and “suffering”?

What on earth was that?

Last night we went to see Of Montreal in Asheville, NC and it was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Just to give you a taste...

The show started with several aliens carrying out a large golden box [I think it was supposed to be the Ark of the Covenant] Barnes climbed out and people went NUTS as he jumped right into "Id Engager," a song where the hook line is "I can't help but it's true. Don't want to be your man, just want to play with you. Play with you." And that set the tone for the rest of the show. It was in your face, sacrilegious, provocative, homoerotic and one of the coolest shows that I have ever been to.

It was much more than a concert. Barnes had about 15 costume changes. Just to name a few examples, he came out in a gold Speedo, shaving cream, a centaur costume and a purple bathrobe. One of my favorite additions was a giant, pink fanny pack, which he tossed away in order to take on his guitar.

At one point he left the stage for a change but came back after a few minutes sporting only his Speedo and looking slightly disappointed. He said, "I guess it's pretty professional of me to stop a show to look for my cheetah jacket. I just really want you to see it." Later, a roadie came out and put the cheetah jacket onto him and he interrupted the song with a cool look and a, "what do you think?"

In the middle of the stage they had a big set, which rolled on rails and spun around. Every few songs they would introduce a new set and with each new set came a new troupe of actors. Most of the "skits" were visualizations of the lyrics and the lyrics at times can be a little abrasive.

One of the sets was gallows. Barnes walked out in a bathrobe and throughout the song was encouraged to commit suicide numerous ways by actors on stage and was eventually led to the gallows. He put the noose around his neck and one of the actors kicked out stool he was standing on, leaving him hanging by what appeared to be his broken neck. It took a second for me to realize that he had on a harness beneath his robe.

But despite the sometimes-disturbing things happening on stage the music was tight and the way it was played was incredibly creative.

Barnes is notorious for being a perfectionist about his albums to the point that most of the recording does not involve the other members of the band. After the show the main drummer, Ahmed Gallab, a newer member of the band who originally hails from Sudan, commented that the band had only a couple months to learn all of the music.

He and the other drummer [Yes there were two drummers. And yes it was amazing] had locked themselves in a warehouse with drums and a lot of pot for 3 weeks in order to learn how to play with each other. The two played off of each other perfectly. Gallab said the idea originated with bass player/drummer Jamey Huggins.

The sound was slightly different from the album but it wasn’t at all compromised. Even the strange electronic beats and sounds were all played live by Gallab on an electric drum pad or by guitarist, Bryan Poole.

Everything worked both musically and dramatically. Nothing was missing…except hope.

Was it a good trip?

Since the minute that I got home people have been asking me, "Was it a good trip?" At first I was a little annoyed, but soon I realized that the more I get asked that question, the more I really consider it. Was it a good trip?

So far the answer has come back a firm yes. What is an awesome trip? Sometimes. There were times when I thought I could stay there for the rest of my life and be totally happy. But there were also times when I wanted to find the next plane home and go back to what is normal. The Wills, my host family, warned me from the get go that they didn't really have a summer internship and that I would kind of be on my own. I wasn't worried about it though. I mean I would be in Spain! How could I ever get bored? They also warned me that once the "honeymoon" stage was over it could get a little harder. Again I brushed it off, thinking, "There is no way I could get tired of something in just two months."

For a few weeks I was walking on the clouds. I was riding my bike around Granada, meeting Spanish people, and eating at tapas bars about twice a day. It was awesome. Everything was totally new and exciting. But after about 3 weeks things started to get less interesting. I had seen just about everything in Granada, I had spent way more money than I had planned to so I couldn't just go out all the time, I had no responsibilities so my days were LONG and kind of empty and I had gotten just a tad tired of not being able to have a normal conversation with someone because we don't speak the same language.

That is when I hit the low point of the trip. I spent week just moping around and feeling sorry for myself. I didn't have any friends so I didn't have anything to do. But I couldn't really make friends because I couldn't speak very good Spanish and even if I could, Spanish circles are really hard to break into. I just wanted to get out of there and go home.

Now that I look back on that, I see that there were two sides to that week. It's true that I didn't have many friends. And it's true that because I didn't have many friends I didn't have much to occupy my time. And it's also true that it's hard to make friends without good Spanish in a culture that isn't all that open to new people. BUT it's also true that I did have SOME friends who would have loved to hang out with me and some of them spoke English.

I think that the biggest problem was that I had no idea why I was in Spain. I kept wondering when I was going to have the opportunity to teach someone something. Or when I was going to do something useful for the the ministry there. But finally I realized that I wasn't there to help everyone. I realized that I was there to be taught. I know everyone always says that but I really mean it. I really had nothing to offer. Short trips in places like Spain are really hard because the people there aren't poor. It's not like I was going to go out and build some guy a house. All of the ministry is relationship based and good relationships take a long long time to develop. But I didn't have a long time to develop relationships.

After that I realized I just needed to relax and go with the flow. From there I learned all kinds of things about myself and how to interact with people. How to enjoy a little down time. How to really listen to someone when they are talking. I realized that I talk too much and that when I am having a conversation I need to be more interested in what the other person has to say rather than only being interested in what I have to say. I also realized that my friends can't replace God. That was a big one.

The trip was good.

I'm Back

I am back in the US of A. I have been back for a week but I have been at the beach and haven't had time to write until now. It's great to be here. I keep forgetting that I don't have to fake that I know how to speak Spanish, and that I can call people on my cell phone without worrying about waking them up at 6 in the morning. It's nice.

It's hard though to put everything into words. I have been trying to tell people about it and the picture just doesn't really get through. The only way to really experience it is to go there. BUT I have to try to talk to about and process it through other people. Everyone keeps telling me that if I don't talk about it then I will forget about it.

I think the first thing I will do it make 2 top 5 lists. The first will be the top 5 things that I will miss about Spain. And the second will be about the top 5 things I missed when I was in Spain.

Top 5 things I will miss about Spain

(1) AWESOME coffee. You can get really good coffee on every corner. When I got back and had my first cup of American coffee I almost couldn't get it down, it was so bitter.
(2) Being of age. It's really nice to be able to walk into a café or bar and order a beer.
(3) Clear skies. It rained for a total of less than 20 minutes the entire 2 months I was there.
(4) Huge mountains. I had no idea that the Sierra Nevada mountains were big. But right outside of Granada are 3 of the top 5 tallest peaks in western Europe. There are GREAT places to climb and hike right outside of the city.
(5) Kebabs (AKA Shwarma) These things are soo good. Kebabs are basically pitas, stuffed with chicken and salad. If you ever see a restaurant with one of those giant skewers in the window, go in and ask for a kebab.

Top 5 things I missed about home while I was in the Spain

(1) My family. Immediate and extended.
(2) My friends. Going somewhere where you don't know anyone at all makes you realize how much you rely on all the people that you love.
(3) Cold milk that doesn't come from a box. For some reason the people in Spain don't keep their refrigerators very cold. It's not a big deal with most things, but milk HAS to be cold. Unfortunately my milk was usually kind of warm. AND they all drink boxed milk that is made to last on a shelf for about 3 months. It took me two weeks before I could even eat cereal.
(4) Good toilet paper. The only things that are less absorbent than the toilet paper in Spain are the napkins. And the only thing that is less absorbent than the napkins is wax paper. I got used to it after a while but when I came home I thought I was wiping with silk.
(5) Using dollars. Euros stink. Everything is too expensive.

There is no way this is happening

With my seat FULLY reclined, a glass of champagne at my side and an incredible meal in my belly, I write. Yes today is a good day my friends. I was bumped up to “business class” on my British Airways flight back to the states. I mean I am actually wishing that this flight were longer…

This is what I'm talking about...


It all started this morning when I walked into the Madrid airport. I was preparing myself for the first of two 3.5 hour layovers when I realized that I hadn’t reserved a seat for my flight from London to Washington. For most people that wouldn’t really be an issue, but for people who are 6’3”, sitting in a normal seat for 8 hours is not pleasant. Normally I reserve an emergency row or something similar so that my legs aren’t banging into the seat in front of me the whole time. But this time I was going to have to deal with whatever I ended up with.

I started thinking if there was any way I could avoid a normal seat. I could find someone with a good seat and beg them to switch with me. But that probably wouldn’t work because they wouldn’t have picked that seat if they didn’t want it. That woudn’t work, but what if I casually asked the flight attendant for a new seat and she casually showed me to an empty seat in first class. It could happen!

I had a really good feeling about it. I seriously prayed, right then as I was walking, that God would somehow work it out for me to sit in first class. After I prayed about it I still felt pretty good about it, what’s stopping God from bumping me up? I mean sure he probably won’t, but there isn’t anything that says he couldn’t. So I found my terminal and plopped down for a good read. The longer I sat there the less and less likely it seemed that anything would happen. I would probably just end up between two severely overweight people with B.O. [After the bus rides I have had over the last few days I really wouldn’t have been surprised if that had happened. But that is something I will write about later.]

I spent the rest of the day in the airport. 3 more hours in Madrid, then a 2 hour flight, then a 4 hour stop in London and then I saddled up for the 8 hour flight home. FINALLY they called the boarding for my flight and I joined the seemingly endless line of people. I looked out the window and saw that we weren’t even flying on a 747! It was a lousy 777 and the seats in the regular section are even SMALLER on those. This trip was going to suck.

Finally I made it to the reception desk area thing and the woman took my ticket. She started typing something into the computer and I thought, oh boy what’s going on. She took my ticket, scratched out the seat number and wrote a new one. I thought, “great, at least before I had a window seat [I had realized I had a window seat] now what will I end up with?” The new seat was 11-f. I walked down to the plane and got on. I started walking down the isles past the those gigantico seats where all the rich people sit [the ones with the dividers and the reclining chairs] at this point all hope of getting a good seat was lost. I saw the seat number 11-f right there in the business class section and thought, “Oh great, thanks for mocking me you stupid airplane designers. Did you have to make it so that you reused numbers? I mean why does there have to be an 11-f for the good section and the crappy one?” I kept walking, expecting the numbers to start over at one once I left first class. But they didn’t. They just got bigger. Did I get bumped up? NO WAY! Before I got my hopes up though I checked with the flight attendant. I showed her my ticket and she pointed me back to the front with a big smile. I seriously started skipping down the aisle. I mean up to this point the day has sucked. Bad. But my prayers had been answered. No getting around it. I asked God to make a way and he did!

By this point I was pretty giddy, I mean this is the section that has the curtains closing it off from the other section so that the punks in the back can’t see you eating your organic macadamia nuts. [Yeah, forget the peanuts, they go for the real deal. The king of nuts.] Before I could even get my stuff into the overhead locker, a flight attendant asked me if I wanted some champagne. “Uh yah…” I sat down in my HUGE seat and started scoping it out…

The seat fully reclines…All the way like a bed. You can even adjust the lumbar support...I am stretching out my legs right now and they fit! I looked to my right and saw a young guy about my age that also looked pretty excited to be there and sure enough, he got bumped up too! We toasted our champagne. This was perfect, because people are either really excited to be in business or totally bored of it and the bored people don’t want to be bothered by some punk who is excited about some macadamia nuts. But thank the Lord, this guy was excited like me, and every time something new came around we just looked at each other and gave the “Awwww yeahhh” nod. When they brought out the menus for dinner I couldn’t believe what I had been missing out on my whole life. The menu was huge! There were 4 choices for each course and the wine menu had about 8 different choices. Not to mention there was an open bar.

I had salmon for my appetizer, incredible chicken and potatoes for the main course and an awesome chocolate torte for desert. Normally on airplanes the food is good for being on an airplane. But this food was just really good, stuff that I would be really impressed with no matter where I was. This whole time I have just been thanking God for this unexpected blessing. I mean what a great way to wrap up a great trip.

Now I am going to sleep for a little while in my BED. Praise the Lord!

The best part of getting sick

I think the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup. And the best part of getting sick is getting better. You wake up and there isn't a thick layer of scales covering your eyes and you think to yourself, "is this too good to be true?" Then to make sure it's not, you stand up, bracing yourself for the train that is about to crash into your head. But praise the Lord you don't collapse on the floor. You're healed! Boo ya.

This past Sunday I went on a mountain bike ride with my friend Aaron up a small mountain near Granada. It wasn't SUPER strenuous but it was little over an hour of riding up a pretty steep grade [at least for non-psycho-bike-rider-types] and then another hour coming through the city, all in the middle of the day. [I think it was about 100 degrees F that day] While we were up there we did some fun stuff like riding on a little path about 3 feet wide with a huge, super steep hill just to the right. And there were these two bridges that were really scary too. They were only a few feet wide and about 4 feet off the ground with no handrails. I was too scared to ride the first one, but the second time I made myself do it and then yelled at Aaron for making me go up there.

This is Aaron.

But the ride itself is not the point of this blog...

When we got back to Aaron's house we drank some water, then some juice. Then we ate some yogurt and then I was about to explode. Aaron told me as he usually does after a ride or climb, "Keep drinking all day. Drink until your pee is as clear as water and then drink some more." So I thought, psh, Aaron you don't know what your talking about. I will be fine.

I got home and casually drank water throughout the day, maybe another 2 liters total and that night I went to bed early so that I would be able to get up for class the next day. But that night I tossed and turned for hours. I had horrible cotton mouth, my stomach hurt, I had diarrhea [which didn't help the dehydration] and needless to say I didn't feel so great in the morning. I laid in bed all day, barely able to move without getting a splitting headache. At one point my fever was up to 102 degrees. And I think throughout the day I must have drank at least 15 liters of water. I mean I was gulping it down.

Fortunately that night I felt well enough to lay in front of the TV and watch What About Bob. I thought the dehydration was ending and that I would be back in class the next day. But it wasn't...The next night was even worse than the first. This time I threw up on top of everything else that had been happening. [No, not literally on top of everything else, I made it to the bathroom] I woke up the next morning still feeling pretty crappy so I stayed in bed again, I drank another 10 liters of water and watched Lawrence of Arabia in my bed. [I had NO idea that it was more than 4 hours long. I mean it was great but what the heck?] And that night I felt a little better. I got up for the team meeting and saw people etc. It was nice.

But the real relief came this morning when I woke up. I timidly stood up expecting to get knocked down with a head rush, but it was fine. I was healed! I skipped into the bathroom where I took a nice long shower, got dressed, ate some left over pizza and rode off to school. It was glorious. It was almost worth being sick for a couple days just to get better, but not quite. Anyway, as Aaron said, chalk it up to experience. The sun can jack you up [especially in Granada where the difference between the shade and sun is like 15 degrees] so you have to take it seriously.

Christmas In the Middle of July

6 weeks ago I arrived in Spain. I sat in the baggage claim area as one by one all of the other passengers had taken their bags and finally I was the only one left. The conveyor belt stopped and I realized that my luggage wasn't coming. That's me waiting in the picture to the right. See my expressionless face? I couldn't believe it was happening. I hadn't checked a bag since I saw a suitcase lying untouched on a runway. But this time, my bag one the one lying on the runway.

The bag contained almost all of the clothes that I wear on any sort of regular basis. After about a week of waiting they told me that I had a budget of 50 euros/day up to 1,000 euros to use on buying new clothes till my stuff showed up. This made me feel a little better, but I didn't want to have to buy all new stuff. I like my old clothes. But over the next several weeks I began to accept that I was never going to see my stuff again. We filed a claim with the airport so that I could get compensated and all that good stuff. Eventually I totally gave up on the bag; I figured some guy in a crappy apartment in London was sporting my favorite Mr. Kleen shirt.

Yesterday at lunch, Jane [my host mom] said that there would be a special visitor later that afternoon and that when he came I would have to answer the door. At first I was really curious but in about ten minutes I had totally forgotten about it.

Later that afternoon, right before the team meeting was going to start the doorbell rang. I had been assigned the job of "door answerer" so I went to open the door. When I looked out I saw a suitcase sitting on the steps and a guy was standing there asking me for my signature. At first it didn't click with me that my lost suitcase had been returned to me, but when I realized it was mine I just about flipped out. I did the thing that Loyd did in Dumb and Dumber when he saw Mary for the first time. The grab your heart and back up slowly into the wall thing...I thought it was funny but I guess the delivery guy hadn't seen Dumb and Dumber because he just looked at me like I had problems.

It was gone for six weeks so I figured it had gotten thrown on some plane to the Philippines and then traveled around for a while. But when I asked where it had been, they said the the whole time it just sitting in the Granada Airport Customs area. Somehow it took them 6 weeks to search a couple of rooms for a huge suitcase. It makes you wonder what those people do all day. I mean they have entire departments devoted to finding lost luggage and it takes them 6 weeks to find a bag when it was in the right airport the whole time. I'd be willing to bet that it was sitting in a pile of bags similar to this one...

But I'm not complaining anymore. Not only did I get my stuff back, my favorite "Mr. Kleen" shirt, my great-grandfathers belt buckle and all of my other favorite articles of clothing, but I bought about 600 euros worth of clothes that I probably don't really need. Some of the big ticket items were...Running shoes (110e) Climbing shoes (65e) And an oxford shirt from Lacoste (84e). So in the end it was like I got paid 600e to be inconvenienced for 6 weeks. The Lord works in mysterious ways...

In two weeks I will be traveling back to the states and I will play "Airport Roulette" again. But this time instead of traveling with one checked bag, I will have two. Maybe they will loose both bags this time and I will get to spend another 600 euros! Cross your fingers for me!

It's harder than you think

For all you people thinking about trying to learn a second language:

It's not easy.

As I was leaving I talked to a lot of people who said, "Oh man when you come back you will be awesome at Spanish." And I believed it. I thought that by the time I got back I would be sounding like a native speaker [that might be an exaggeration] Then there were a few people who had actually been to another country with the hopes of learning the language, who told me that it was going to be hard. And that two months really isn't long enough to completely submerge yourself. But I didn't listen to them. I assumed that they were just peeing on my party. [I'm not sure what led me to that conclusion]
But then I got here and I said to myself, "those party poopers back home might be sort of right." Then I got through the first month and said to myself, "those party poopers back home are totally right." And then what makes it worse is that sometimes you run into some guy who speaks English, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew and never had to study any of them. [That happened just the other day]

Don't get me wrong, I have learned a ton of Spanish. But I have the vocabulary and grammar of a 3 year old at best. Most of the time I am just asking, "where is the hospital?" or "do you like music?" and when I am really going out on a limb I may say, "It's making nice weather."

But it could be worse...
For the last couple weeks I have been in Spanish Classes at the University of Granada. There are another 3 or so weeks left in the class and then I come home. Normally at the intensive Spanish courses the classes are big mixes of people from tons of different countries but most of the people in my class are Americans. I asked someone about this and they came up with two possible reasons why this might be. (1) Many Europeans are starting their vacations later this month and therefore don't want to be in classes. And (2) Most Europeans are in the higher level classes because by the time they spend the money to go somewhere to study a language they are pretty good at it.

Now I am not in the total beginner class, I want you all to know that. I am in Intermediate B. Which comes after Beginner A and B AND Intermediate A. But it is also lower than Advanced A and B and Superior A and B. I had the option to go into Advance A but I decided that it would be better to be able to review some stuff. After a couple weeks of classes I have decided that I am in the right level for two reasons. (1) The work is challenging but not overwhelming. (2) The Americans in my class make me feel really really good about my Spanish. They have the WORST accents I have ever heard in my life which is saying something because in Spanish most letters are almost always pronounced the same way.

Now we are not talking about having bad Granada accents. [In Granada things are pronounced differently sometimes. Like the C's and Z's are usually turned into a TH sound.] They have no accents at all. They are classic examples of DAA's [Dumb Ass Americans] reading Spanish words off of a page as if they are reading English. I wish I could tape them and put it online for you to hear it. Even those of you who have never taken a Spanish class in your life would wonder what their problem is.

So now I'll wrap it up. The basic ideas of this blog entry are:
Language learning is really hard.
But that doesn't mean you have to sound like a DAA when you are learning to speak.

Weekend of fun

That's what this weekend has been so far.

Yesterday I went to the beach with some friends. What's interesting about the beaches of southern Spain is that instead of sand, they have little tiny pebbles. At first I thought that would be a bad thing, but soon I came to love the little rocks. They are easy to brush off, they don't get into your sandwich and they are really nice to lay on. But not only are the beaches covered in lovely little pebbles, the water is incredibly clear. Now to all you Caribbean losers this may not sound all that special. But to a North Carolina beach boy like myself, clear water is rare.

You can see the bottom from over 20 feet up (on a great day you may be able to see 4 or 5 feet down in NC) and the water gets really deep really fast. It is actually a little scary because you will swim out about 20 feet and all of a sudden the water is 5 feet above your head; swim any further and you can't touch the bottom even if you want to. Also on the beach that we went to there is a little rock peninsula that is known around Spain for it's great cliff jumping. You can climb up from the water and before you know it you are ready to do a 35 foot jump into a school of fish. We are going back on Tuesday so I will take some pictures / video of us jumping.

Today I went climbing with my friend Aaron and a friend of his named David. David is from Brittan. Little did I know, Granada has some radonk climbing spots. And there is a wide range of difficulties. Today I did my first lead climb. Lead climbing, as opposed to top roping, is where you set your own anchors in the rock or anchor into screws on the wall. This is a little more legit because with top roping the most you can fall is a couple feet because the rope is anchored above you. But with lead climbing the anchors are below you and may be 10 feet apart. So when you fall, you fall however far above the last anchor you are, times two because all the rope that was there is now slack, plus the stretch in the rope. SO if you are 10 feet above your last anchor you will probably fall 22 feet.

Normally the anchors are a little closer than that, but no matter what; the danger is a little more real. Tonight there is a party for some people that are going home for a year. And I am sure that will be fun too. So thank the Lord for a good weekend so far.

Ok now it's just getting a little silly

Well today the Lord took my wallet from me. Somehow it fell out of my pocket while I was on the bus. I looked everywhere and talked to the driver but it's gone.

Fortunately I only had 20 euros in cash, but it still stinks because I had a lot of other important stuff in there including my checking card, insurance cards and everything else that normally is in a wallet. I think that God is teaching me a lesson about my stuff. First my luggage got lost (technically it's not lost, but I haven't seen it in 4 weeks and I haven't heard from the airline in 8 days.) But not only are all of my clothes probably gone forever, my wallet is gone too.

It's cool though. I am starting to realize that money isn't all that important. And what better way to learn that than to get stranded in Europe with no clothes or money?

Oh so soon

I went to Morocco last weekend and it was an awesome time. So I want to tell you all about it. But at this point I don't have the time to sit down and write something good because we are in the middle of a prayer conference right now and the days packed. I will try to write something soon and I am uploading my pictures now. flickr.com/photos/zaysmallman.

Viva Espana!

Well Spain just won their semi-final match in the EuroCup against Russia. The score was 3-0

Lets just say it was nuts. I just got home from the game and even while I sit here in my room I can hear horns honking and fire works going off all over the place. Football is life here and when your team wins it shows.

The bar was PACKED with people, all cheering for Spain (obviously) and after every goal people went crazy. Jumping up and down, deafening noise, high fives and hugs all around. But that was only the beginning. After they won we left the bar and started walking home. We encountered several large groups of people all chanting and thought, wow this is great. But then I reached one of the main plazas downtown. There were probably about 9-10 thousand people crowded into the plaza. People were climbing on the gigantic fountain, waving Spanish flags, shooting off huge fireworks and chanting.

I stopped in the Plaza for a while and partied with "the people" then started for home. As I walked, every car that passed was either honking its horn or waving a Spanish flag out the window or both. Even on the little scooters people were waving flags and screaming.

I have never experienced anything like this. The people I saw were all different ages, men and women. Some of them were even old. There is just nothing like this in the states. And this was only the semi-finals. What if they win the cup?

Today I go to Morcco

Today I am going to Morocco. This is pretty exciting because I have always heard that it is a pretty cool place but also I have never really had a chance to see any of the third world as they like to call it. So this should be a cool new experience for me.

I will write more if I get a chance while I'm there. If I don't get internet there I will write when I get back. Also I will take lots of pictures and put them on my flickr.

I was born a poor black child

Last night I watched The Jerk. It's really funny

Yesterday I went to the supermarket with a friend to get food. For the most part it was just like any store we have in the states. But then we go to the meat section and it was like a whole new world. In the states everything is always cleaned and pre-packaged, but here the meat section is like a real butcher shop.

There are huge hunks of all different kinds of meat just sitting in the window. If you want something you ask the person to cut you some of it and boom there it is. The coolest thing though was the rabbits. They had whole de-furred rabbits.

At first I couldn't tell what they were, but I noticed the long ears and it hit me. These used to be cut little things jumping around in someones yard. I wish that American stores had cooler meat sections...

Ok I guess I will write on my Blog

Well for a while I didn't feel like writing on my blog. But I thought about it, and even if no one reads this, it will still be really good exercise for me. So to all of you faithful readers [and I know there are many of you] I am back. I will try to write about some interesting stuff.

Speaking of interesting...I went to Madrid the other day [it was totally last minute] to meet up with Ford Quarterman and his Spanish friend. I was there for two days [you can see pictures on at Flickr

The trip was great blah blah blah. But the interesting thing happened late the second night when I missed my 1:35 am bus back to Granada. Originally I was on a really tight budget because I had to pay for two nights at a hostel, food and I only had 90 euros to do it because my bank card was frozen. Once the money was gone it was gone. But when I met up with Ford, his friend said I could stay with him. So I thought, "Hey I can spend all the money I want." I did a bunch of unnecessary stuff like tour the Real Madrid stadium etc. and by the end of the night I only had about 14 euros left. But I was taking the bus home and I already had a ticket so I was fine.

When I missed the bus I said to myself, "crap, I don't have anywhere to go and the next bus isn't until 10:30 tomorrow morning." So I started walking. Little did I know I was walking in the wrong direction and I ended up in a really scary part of southern Madrid that was poorly lit, and empty except for the lines and lines of prostitutes who chased me down every time I had to walk by. Needless to say I was a little worried. I didn't know where I was. I had two expensive cameras with me and I had no where to sleep. After about 3 hours of walking I made it back to center city and found a bench to sleep on. After a pretty un-restful hour of sleep I got up and read for another couple hours till the subway stations opened.
What I was reading was "The Bonfire of the Vanities" which is a book by Tom Wolfe about New York in the 1980's. It spends a lot of time discussing "the ghetto" and the plot is centered around a hairy encounter in The Bronx.

At around 6 the subway opened and everything was fine and I slept on the subway until my bus was ready to go. I had survived "the jungle" to put it in the words of one of Tom Wolfe. And it was time to back to Granada.

Last night when I got home I watched Spain play soccer and then came up to my room. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go to bed or go out and do something. But as I sat here at my computer I started to get really lonely. I thought about how much fun all my friends at home must be having with out me, how I can barely even talk to my friends here and how much I didn't really want to be here in the first place.

I went out on my little 2X4 terrace and smoked a cigarette. When I was done I came back in, crawled onto my hot bed and eventually fell asleep. This morning I woke up after about 13 hours of sleep [I guess I was tired since I didn't really sleep the night before] and thought about my thoughts from the night before and I realized that (1) it is a huge privilege to be here. Most people don't get to just go out of the country for two months... (2) I realized that I didn't come here for vacation. I came to serve other people for a change, and to taught things by the people that I meet as well as by God.

So that was good.

Granada is Cash Money

I just arrived in Granda about two hours ago and it is already awesome. I flew in over the Sierra Nevada mountains and took a cab to my new home.

The first thing that we did was go out for tapas. In Granada the tapas restaurants give you a free tapas with every drink that you buy. Which is great because the drinks only cost like 1.5 Euros.

I will write more about what it is like here later and post some pictures to my Flickr when I get some more time.

One Day I want to be This Good...

As you probably know, I want to make movies for a living. Someone who does make movies for a living is Guy Ritchie [director of Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels] He made this crazy Nike commercial
And I hope that one day I can be half this good...

Keep Your Private Jet: I Want the Chinatown Bus

You have have heard me talk about it and you may have experienced it for yourself.

I'm talking about The Chinatown Bus. Available from D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston; it is the best way to travel up and down the east coast. Here are the top three ways you know you are on the Chinatown Bus:

1. You weren't actually planning to leave New York but a screaming lady with tickets took your money and told you to get on the bus.
2. The little old man sitting next to you is yelling in Chinese.
3. The driver is going 90 mph and two of the tires are on the grass of the shoulder.

Every time I catch the bus from Baltimore to New York it is a new adventure. And every time I am reminded why I love it. I have seen little old men fly down the aisle, pieces of the bus fall on people's heads, Pakistani men yell at people because they stink and I have seen people sprinting after the bus in a rest stop, almost stranded in the middle of New Jersey. The best part though, is knowing that any time of day or night you can decide to go to New York, get there for $20 and get there in less time than you ever thought possible.

Three days ago I decided to go to New York, and within an hour I was on my way to the big apple. When I got there I met up with my good friend James Harrison, and then with my uncle. That night my uncle and I took a 3 hour bike ride around Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, through Manhattan and back to his apartment.

The next morning I got up and rode the subway Uptown. My original plan was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it was super nice out so I walked through Central Park and got hooked. I walked about 100 blocks downtown. It was awesome! I saw basically the whole island and then met up with some friends, walked some more and found some really cool thrift stores. later that night I met up with James again and we went down to Little Italy and found a great restaurant.

As we were walking to the restaurant, we passed these 3 huge guys standing in a doorway. As we got closer, the one talking lowered his voice but as we passed we heard, "and then we can beat his fuckin' brains in." It was pretty intense...While we were eating there was loud music playing across the street and we are pretty sure that it was just there to cover the screams of the guy getting tortured in the basement.

Later we went into the "Virgin" store and I am pretty sure that they had every DVD ever made. James almost bought the complete Indiana Jones set. And it seems like every movie that I wanted to buy was only $10. It was almost as intense as little Italy.

Now back to the bus. This morning I helped my friend Jacki Arnold move out of her dorm and I planned to ride home with her. But there wasn't enough space in the car so I got on the bus! [I was secretly hoping all along that there would be no room.]

On the way back we stopped to get gas and the driver wouldn't open to door to let us out. [In Chinatown; time is money] But this African woman really wanted to get out and use the real bathroom. But he refused to let her out. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. She banged and banged on the window but he just ignored her. And as he got on she tried to get out but he shut the door behind himself and we got back on the road. Later when there was traffic the driver must have thought he was in a BMW...The New Jersey turnpike was packed, but he drove up the shoulder, forced his way into the line, got back on the shoulder and then forced his way back in line. It was ridiculous. At one point he was actually driving halfway on the grass.

It was a great adventure.

Burma [Myanmar]

Many of you have probably not heard what is going on in Burma. But recently there was a cyclone which has already killed more than 200,000 people and will probably kill another 200,000 if not more.

To make the situation worse, the government has basically refused to accept help from any outside governments because they are an army regime and fear that outside influence could cause problems. So people are sitting there hungry, in their disease ridden towns with virtually no help, while food and supplies sit right outside the borders.

The destruction is unbelievable. One city had more than 95% of it's buildings destroyed... I don't even have a category for this.

If you want to read more about it look here. There is more on the government at the economist.

Somehow this is a part of God's plan so pray that his will will be done. Also that the Burmese people will receive help because most of their lives are worse than we can even imagine.

Can I Join Now?

I got some Chacos today.
All year I watched all my cool friends walk around in theirs, but until now I felt like one of those things in a Dr. Seuss book that didn't have a star on his belly. But now it's like I created a star making machine and stuck one right on. Does this mean I get to be a part of the secret society of Chaco wearers? Does it even exist?
I have heard rumors of people getting better seats on buses, lower interest loans at the bank, even free drinks at restaurants all because of their sporty sandals. So will I too receive special treatment? This morning when I walked into the grocery store, a woman behind a register looked at me and whispered something into her sleeve. Later when I was picking out some fresh produce I realized that I hadn't grabbed a cart. But when I looked down a cart rolled up and no one was there pushing it. Coincidence? I think not.

Money In the Bank

Today I talked to the people at my old job and found out that I could come back and work for the month.

On another note, my dad recently went to Haiti and made this video for an organization called World Relief.
Here is the link...http://theater.15four.com/wrhaiti/

Watch out World

As this wonderful 2008 summer began, I though to myself, “what can I possibly do with 4 month of time off from school?” The first thing that came to mind was work. Maybe construction? But I can work for the next 70 years of my life. Why now? I’m young, hot and fresh.

Speaking of being young, hot and fresh, the second thing that came to mind was picking up chicks. That is something that any man should find admirable, trolling the beach in my Land Rover looking for the next fine honey. But is it worth it? Probably not. What if I end up like the great Arthur Fozarelli? Old and lonely?

Speaking of lonely, the third thing I thought of was Spain. What if I go out of the country for two months and learn Spanish? Sure it would be nice to spend the summer cruising for chicks, but in the long run, knowing Spanish could be huge. Think of all the Spanish babes that I will be able to woo in their own language! The possibilities are endless.