Oh how so much has happened since the last time I blogged! I have included some pics to go along with this entry; be sure to check them out.

Class wrapped up in Barca last Monday (on-campus May Term classes went till Wednesday!) with final presentations, mine being on FC Barcelona -- the Barca soccer club.

After almost three weeks in the city centre, it was time to relax a bit. I flew to England to stay at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base about an hour north of London. I spent two quiet days relaxing, reading, and running in the hospitable hands of the Peachey family. John and Suzi are the base directors, and John is a GC grad from Sarasota. They also included me on their Tuesday night worship service and their Wednesday evening potluck where we ate burritos Portugese-style.

Thursday I bussed up to Bradford in the north of England to visit two young adults serving with Mennonite Voluntary Service. It was cool to finally meet Kate Harnish (GC grad) and Matthew Yoder, after exchanging emails and IMs with them over the past few months and more recently spending two and a half hours waiting to be picked up in the bus station -- no hard feelings :). After home-cooked meals with the Peacheys, Kate and Matthew allowed me time to explore some English eateries: eggs and bacon for breakfast, fish and chips for lunch, curry for supper. Unbeknownst to me, Bradford has a huge population of Pakistanis, is often referred to as "Bradistan," and claims to be the curry capital of England.

A Saturday afternoon train-ride (take notes America, National Express UK offers free on-board wireless -- not that I had a laptop) brought me to the East End of London, where I will be until Tuesday. I spent the day with my host Karen Stallard, touring the 'hood and learning about her work with church-planting and inter-faith dialogues. East London mirrors Bradford in being curry heaven (can you tell I love curry?) but in contrast, is due to the large population of persons from Bangladesh. While Bradford is slowly reframing its mills from the post-industrial era as new apartments, East London is quickly rebounding from its former days as a port city to its current reality as a post-war haven for both young English professionals and aspirational Bangladeshi families.

Today was to be my day to explore downtown (Westminster, etc.), but the London rains have moved in. It is sort of depressing but not unexpected. The weather is supposed to be quite nice the rest of the week though. Tuesday and Thursday will have to be my exploration days; Wednesday I will travel to Belfast for the day. Friday its back to Barca to reimmerse myself in Spanish culture and prepare for next three weeks of exploration of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa! Until next time, cheers.

PS: London Fog of Philadelphia is a large manufacturer of rain-gear that sold two-thirds of all raincoats to the Baby Boombers of the 1970s.

So I've been in Barca (Barcelona) for a little over a week now as part of GC's Business in Spain trip. We've done so much -- I don't even know how to begin describing it!

First of all, we're here to take classes at EADA, a management university for business executives and person's seeking MBAs. The Spanish profs have all been really good and stress student participation, which makes class unpredictable and fun.

We've been fortunate to visit a number of cultural sites in and around Barcelona too: Montserrat sanctuary, La Rambla, the Piscasso museum, and Paula de la Musica, which I visited on my own (I saw Joe Satriani!). Today we took a class trip to Sharp Corporation's Spanish headquarters. And for all you futbol (soccer) fans out there, we're visitng F.C. Barcelona on Tuesday!

It has been interesting to notice differences between Spain and US culture. But what I've found even more compelling is comparing and contrasting Spanish/European culture with what I experienced while on SST in Cambodia. In Spain, the dollar is weak, bread (and sandwiches) are part of the cuisine, Smart cars are the norm (though motos are prevalent too), and public displays of affection are not only common but almost expected.

By the way, today was the first day we had rain -- every other day has been sunny and in the low 70s. Gotta love that Mediterranean temperate climate! I have yet to visit the beach but plan to sometime next week. Till next time -- adios!

UPDATE: photos loaded :)