Episode II: I Hope I Am Always This Young

Upon arriving in Barça, a city I have never been to, I felt at home. I remembered the Spanish culture and felt comfort. I have not spoken the language in many months, but the words, phrases, slang, it all came tumbling out of my mouth as instinct.

Italy beat Germany last night to advance to the World Cup final. Walking along the beach after the game, I could easily tell who the Italians were--the ones whipping their clothes off and running and screaming into the sea.

Before the Portugal vs. Italy game tonight, I visited La Sagrada Familia, the most visited unfinished building in Europe and probably the world. Gaudí started the cathedral in the 19th century, and it should be done by 2030 (fingers crossed). When asked why he was worrying so much about the details on the peaks of the towers (who would ever see them so high up?), Gaudí replied that the angels would see them. That quotation says more about the building than I ever could.

In a few days I will visit Pamplona for the Fiesta de San Fermín. Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises is set during the fiesta and the book was to the expatriates what On the Road was to its generation, both recording a time and inspiring it. In Spain the title of Hemingway's book is simply Fiesta.

Passionate experience is often associtated with youth (at least in the movies). A friend of mine posits that the reason so many people fall in love with foreign countries they visit during their twenties is because we grow so much during this time of our lives; everything is new. If this is true, I hope I am always this young.