From a county with one traffic light...

This probably won't be posted until tomorrow morning, but I'm typing it out here at Gate T2 waiting on the direct flight from Atlanta to Barcelona. Current time stamp 15:15 ET March 11, for those that care about such things. I'll land at 7:40 local time in Barcelona. I guess the purpose of this entry is to explain the “why” of this trip, run down a general itinerary and give some shoutouts.

Since the school year started I had been thinking about going back to Italy during spring break. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to go somewhere new. Spain has been on the list for a while, and it's cheaper than Australia or New Zealand. The thing people ask me most is my I'm not going with a group or something like that. Sponsored tour groups are pretty much out for me, since they try to appeal to so many different types of people that I think they can water down the experience. I think back to my last Europe trip when I went to Italy with Mom and Dad. My favorite experiences there were the afternoon I went out into the city by myself and the night we ate at a little tavola calda. The afternoon I went out it was to look for a little bike shop in a part of town not especially close to any of the big sightseeing attractions. It was wonderful to be the only non-native on the bus and being totally in the background as the everyday people did their everyday things: coming home from school, going back to work from their lunch break, or heading to church for an afternoon service. The restaurant experience was just as thrilling, twisting down several alleys before arriving at a tiny spot with no cars out front (no any parking spaces) and even lacking a sign on the door! But you knew it was the right place because of the sound. There weren't many tables, but every one was packed with patrons (we waited outside 20 minutes for a table) and topped with classic red and white checked table cloths and decanters of the cheap table wine. And the food! It was the best meal of the trip, right above the chicken panini from a street vendor. So that's why I do it. For the next week and a half, I dont want to see Spain; I want to be Spanish.

I'm trying to squeeze in a lot on this trip, so I'm starting with the architecture and art of Barcelona. Then I'll hop over to the Balearic Isles for a few easy days around the beaches of Mallorca. Then it will be time to move up into the Pyrenees for what will hopefully be a great first encounter with cross-country skiing (some places got two feet of snow earlier this week!). Then I plan to end up with a relaxing two days exploring the ancient city of Girona and watching the prologue of the Volta a Catalunya bike race.

First off, thanks to Mom and Dad for helping me get prepared for the trip, and for not freaking out too much when I told them I was going by myself. Also a big thank you to my headmaster for giving me the Friday before and the Monday and Tuesday after spring break off. I'll be praying for Winshape's two teams working in Brasília this week and next week and for Dad and Samuel going to Guatemala the week after next. Boarding is about to start, so hopefully everyone will be hearing from me en España real soon!