London, Day 1

Taken on my Fat Tire Bike Tour. Details to come.

Brad.

The Barber of Seville

Since my hair's getting long and I won't be in Spain for another 2 weeks, I figured I would bite the bullet, channel my inner Sweeney Todd and go to a local barber shop to get my hair cut. The barber shop I went to was about a 5 minute walk from my house on a small narrow street called Calle Nieblas. The barber shop itself wasn't anything elegant, just a simple place to get your hair cut. There was only one man working - the owner - a very nice man who was patient with me throughout the entire process. I didn't realize it before I went, but teachers and classes don't really ever test you on barber shop vocab, and at first it was really difficult for me to understand and communicate what I wanted. In the end, though, we talked about everything from Kansas City to the strike to his kids and back. I'm glad I went, not just because my hair can avoid bed head but because I got to experience a barber shop in Seville, too.

I'm off to London with my friend Darcie now! Leggo!

Brad.

One strike, and I'm out.

So Spain's economy isn't doing so hot right now. People are unemployed and angered about it, so on Thursday they've called for a general strike amongst the whole nation: work will be skipped, classes will be cancelled, transportation will be shut down, and the country as a whole will be at a standstill. Although it may not seem like it's a whole lot of damage, imagine Spain's GDP of $1.4 trillion per year, divide it by 365, and the country could lose up to $38 million.

All that being said, I'm following in my Mom's side of the family's footsteps and getting the heck out of Dodge. Since next week is holy week in Spain and we have a week-long vacation, I'm leaving tomorrow to tour the UK for 13 days. I'll be traveling to London for 6 days, Edinburgh for 4 days, and Dublin for 3 days. Although I'm headed there with a friend, I'm going to do the last 10 days of the trip alone, which I'm both excited and anxious about.

Here goes nothing. It's time to get this party started.

Brad.

Rock Chalk Final 4

This past weekend was a lazy one for me, and I'm more than okay with that.
I spent 3 of my 4 weekend nights at Texas Lone Star Saloon, located in Sevilla's city center and the only place that broadcasts the NCAA tournament. Because of the 7 hour time difference, I only got to watch one of the 2 KU games there, last night versus North Carolina.

I was there with a couple of neutral friends as well as some newly acquired Kansas friends. We were purely outnumbered, but just like 2008, Kansas reigned supreme over UNC. Here's hoping the final outcome is the same against Calipari's boys again this year.

Rock Chalk,

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Home sweet home.

Brad.

Night Ball

As much as I know I shouldn't complain, I miss a lot of things about America. I miss the BBQ. I miss the family birthday parties. I miss free refills. I miss late night talks in my fraternity. I miss watching KU basketball with my dad. I miss playing basketball with my fraternity brothers on warm spring nights when we should be studying for finals.

I found an outlet for my basketball craving a few weeks ago when a friend of mine told me about a street ball court tucked away behind a Burger King about 20 minutes from my house.

There are a lot of differences in the different ways the Spaniards play - we play half court, 4-on-4, first team to 5 by 1's and 2's, make-it-take-it. I don't know if it's because Spain is a soccer country, but every time you barely bump someone it's automatically a foul (a falta). They don't ever "check" the ball, so when you pass the ball back to the top of the key after a basket, you better be ready to go again (I learned that they hard way a few times). The Spaniards I play with are a lot better at playing as a team, setting picks and passing, too.

Although there are a decent amount of differences, I've come to realize that sports are more or less a similar thing throughout the entire world. Just like in the U.S., there's always going to be those hot-heads that think they're better than they are, the guys that are too nice to dominate the game even though they totally could, the homeboy that calls a foul every time he misses a shot, the dude that never admits he fouled, the bro that thinks he's hardcore because he can touch the rim.

Since going with my friend for the first time, I go to play street basketball about 4 or 5 times a week, and have made plenty of friends to practice my Spanish with. I've gotten on a first-name basis with some of them, and others have even adopted the nickname "rubio" for me - probably call me that because "rubio" in Spanish means "blonde" and I'm clearly the only white guy on the court. Sometimes, though, I like the forget the Spanish translation I like to think that they're referring to Ricky Rubio, one of Spain's youngest basketball superstars....

A bro can dream, right?

Brad.

Song/B-Side of the Day

So I'm not the kind of guy to "abuse" songs. One of my best friends in high school was notorious for playing a song non-stop for two weeks and then forgetting about it forever, so I've always made it a vow not to do that. However, when Ben Sollee's song "Try" came on my iPod during my morning metro ride, I literally played it back three more times. II'm convinced it can't be abused. Check out the awesome folk cellist's tunes through this video below, and listen to the studio version (which I think I prefer) under the video. My favorite part of a song is always when they "bring it back", so the 3:30 mark on the studio recording always gets me smiling.

Also, a b-side from the hike this weekend in Guadalupe. I'll always consider myself a city boy, but I'm realizing more and more every day how big of a fan of nature I am.

Brad.

Kathryn's Visit, Extremadura

My friends,

Let me just start this by saying that I sympathize with the people who lack blog consistency - it's only been about a week since I have legitimately blogged and I already feel a little bit overwhelmed.

-----

Kathryn's Visit

Kathryn came and visited me this past week in Spain. She sacrificed time with some of her best friends and her senior spring break to come see me. I can't even explain how much fun I had with her. We realized later that our time in Spain was actually the longest we've ever spent together at one time since dating.

Because we did a multitude of things during her trip, I'm going to break it down piece by piece...

Mijas

Kathryn arrived Thursday, and after a quick walk around Spain and meeting Gracia for the first time, we planned our trip to visit Knox and his girlfriend, Anna Marie, in Mijas. We originally planned to leave around 11, but after feeling jetlagged and lazy we decided to take a train to Málaga that left at 1. From there, we would take a local train to the city of Fuengirola, and then a local bus from Fuengirola to Mijas (simple enough, right?). To make a long blog post a little shorter, we'll summarize it like this - we missed our train, the next train to Málaga (and every train after until 8:30) was completely full, so we took a bus that left at 6 p.m. We finally got into Mijas around 10:30, grabbed a drink and caught up with Knox and Anna Marie. We toured the small town the next day before embarking on our next adventure to Nerja.

Mijas.

Nerja

I had read great things about Nerja, a small coastal city on the Mediterranean and only a short (and cheap) bus ride from Málaga. So this time, Kathryn and I flared from Mijas to Fuengirola, Fuengirola to Málaga, and Málaga to Nerja... except we didn't initially make it quite to Nerja. Emotions optimistic due to our apparent success, I thought that the bus was stopping at beautiful Nerja - a town on the coast that had a few shops and a great view. Kathryn and I walked on the beach, looked at potential ice cream shops for the following day, and even got our picture taken. We figured it was time to find the hostel that we'd be staying at for the night, and when I asked a man where the hostel was, he responded, "it's in Nerja. This is Torrox."

A view of the Mediterranean from Torrox del Costo.

Kathryn and I in Torrox del Costo (not Nerja).

....uh oh! Just our luck, we were in the wrong city. That's what you get for being cocky and thinking you understand the Spanish bus system, huh? We went shopping for some necessities - 2 loaves of bread, a pack of cheese, Coca-Cola, a grande water bottle, strawberries, nutella, and some chips - took a 6 minute bus ride to Nerja and finally settled in at our hostel.

Kathryn's optimism and smile throughout everything really helped keep me going. It's tough on a man's pride whenever you are hosting someone in a different country and things don't go as planned, but she kept encouraging and reassuring me that everything would be fine.

Chocolate croissants and grande water bottles. Thankful for this girl's happy and positive attitude.

The next day, we relaxed with a picnic on the beach in Nerja and ate the first of many ice cream cones.

Picnic in Nerja.

Beautiful Nerja.

Sevilla

One of my favorite parts of Kathryn's visit was eating meals with Gracia. Kathryn studied abroad her freshman year for a month in Costa Rica, so she definitely knew some Spanish, but it was a little rusty. I think Gracia really enjoyed having another female around, and Kathryn loved trying Gracia's home-cooked meals and fresh bread - she even took a baguette back on the plane with her!

Throughout the week, we saw the sights of Sevilla, including Parque Maria Luisa, Plaza de España, the Cathedral of Seville, and La Giralda. We enjoyed food ranging from a local tapas bar, Rayas ice cream (rumor has it that it was voted the best ice cream in Europe), a bar on the roof of a 4-star hotel, a local Spanish coffee shop, and... a little more ice cream.

One of my favorite spots in Sevilla: Plaza de España.

Kathryn and I at Plaza de España.

Touring the Cathedral, admiring La Giralda.

A few of my favorite moments came near the end of the trip:

Flamenco

Two nights in a row, Kathryn and I visited La Carboneria, a local flamenco bar. Cover charge was free and the atmosphere couldn't be more authentic to Sevilla. Flamenco is definitely one of the more original parts of Spain, especially Sevilla, so it was a lot of fun to show Kathryn the dancing, singing, and wonderful guitar playing that the small, run-down bar had to offer.

Viva la flamenco.

Flamenco, night 1.

Bike Tour

One of the ways that Sevilla excels at channeling its inner hipster is by having one of the coolest city bike systems in the world. For about $30 per year, citizens can rent a bike card. The card gives you access to rent a bike at any of the 700 different stations within Sevilla, and (as long as you return the bike to any station within 30 minutes) you aren't charged anything extra. Kathryn and I took advantage of this by borrowing one of my friend's bike passes and exploring the city on two wheels. We went all over the city, and ended the night with a night ride through the park.

Riding through the park at night.

Best bike partner around.

Convent Sweets

Spain's Catholic roots make the presence of monasteries and convents much more common. Nuns in Sevilla earn their living by selling sweets at their local convents. Kathryn and I experienced buying convent sweets together the day before she left. The process is very original and almost archaic. You arrive at the convent window, where all you see is a lazy Susan and a list of sweets and prices next to it. After ringing the bell, a nun greets you from behind the window, though you can never see her face. You simply order, put your money on the lazy Susan, and moments later the lazy Susan returns with a bag of delicious homemade sweets!

The lazy Susan (accompanied by the saving Jesus).

Magdalenas del convento. Amazing.

I felt so fortunate that Kathryn could come visit me. I was once again reminded how amazingly blessed I am to have such a great girlfriend, and how much fun I have when I am around her.

-----

Extremadura

The morning after Kathryn left, my solemn thoughts quickly shifted to excitement about yet another excursion that I would go to with API - a weekend excursion to the state of Extremadura.

Unlike our other excursions, Extremadura had more of a "natural" emphasis. It started by us viewing some Roman ruins in the city of Mérida, where we saw an incredible theater and amphitheater. We traveled to the city of Guadalupe that night, where we toured and stayed in an incredible monastery, complete with a five course inclusive meal for dinner. Staying in a monastery - go ahead and check that one off the bucket list!

Ancient Roman theatre, Mérida.

The monastery/hotel that we stayed in our first night in Guadalupe.

Yesterday, we went on a 5 hour hike through the mountains in Guadalupe. The views were breathtaking, the weather near perfect, and the memories made were priceless. Last night we stayed in the city of Trujillo, and toured a 9th century castle this morning before heading back to Sevilla.

A few views from the hike.

Anything is possible!

Castillo de Trujillo.

I think that this weekend was my favorite excursion yet primarily because of the hike, which makes me even more excited to strap up the Chaco's for Mount Teide in a month.

-----

I remember reading Jane Eyre in high school. Halfway through, I lost interest and sought out Cliffs Notes to help me retain sanity. For those of you who are like me, here's the summary of the past week and a half:

I'm crazy about my girlfriend. She's pretty neat. Spain continues to be so fun.

Just trying to prove that I'm not an inconsistent blogger,

Brad.

Nerja

This weekend, Kathryn and I had quite the traveling adventure. I'll write more about it all later, but for now, here are a few pictures of our weekend from the small town of Nerja, taken on the coast of the Mediterranean.

Brad.

KU Basketball

My name is Brad. I am a marketing and Spanish major, currently attending Kansas State University. I am in love with the school I go to - my friends, my campus, my community - in no way do I regret any part of my decision to attend school there and get a degree from the nation's 9th best business school. Recently, I even found out that I got accepted into the Blue Key Senior Honorary.

All this being said, I am a Jayhawk basketball fan until I die. Ever since I can remember, I have been a Kansas basketball fan. From memories of reenacting KU games by dribbling on my backyard grass so much it turned to dirt, shooting in my garage when it was raining because I just had to be the next Ryan Robertson, going to my friend's house every week with my dad to watch the games on ESPN before we had cable, attending KU's first practice of every year, meeting all of the players and getting to eat pizza with them as a "Junior Jayhawk", going to games with my dad, and watching the national championship and Mario's Miracle my senior year of high school, I absolutely love Kansas Basketball.

This year seemed to be the year that KU was going to lose its reign on the Big 12. Everyone was saying that KU was going to have an "off year", and that either Baylor of Mizzou would come away with the Big 12 title, taking it away from KU for the first time in 8 years. And why wouldn't they say that? KU was returning only 1 starter, and 3 of its 4 recruits didn't even make the grades to be eligible for the season. Everything was looking poor for the Jayhawks, but you can never underestimate a Bill Self coached team.

In my opinion, Bill Self is the obvious deserver of the National Coach of the Year. Besides Tyshawn Taylor, his starters had a combined 16 career starts before this season. He made Thomas Robinson go from being a Hulk-ish mess to a potential National Player of the Year, and sealed KU's 8th straight consecutive Big 12 title in what was supposed to be an "off year" for the hawks against what was arguably the toughest Big 12 competition yet. Jim Calhoun, reigning national champion Connecticut's head coach, lost a few of their players and brought in one of the nation's best recruits (a situation that seems even better than Self's), and they ended up finishing 10th in the Big East. Bill Self is a man of character, of tenacity, and of leadership.

Since living in Spain, I've stayed up until 5 in the morning numerous times watching games from bootlegged websites, yelled louder than anyone ever should at a computer screen in Portugal when Thomas Robinson blocked the daylights out of Phil Pressey, and have had to hold back tears every time I've watched KU's intro video on YouTube. I can't wait to follow their run throughout the Big 12 and National tournaments throughout March. I'm so proud to be a Jayhawk basketball fan and will root on my hawks from any country in the world.

Check out this article recently written about Bill Self, and as always, Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

Brad.

Kathryn's Coming!

She leaves on a plane tonight and get's here in a little over 24 hours. Leggo!

Brad.

B-Side(s) of the Day

El Rio Guadalquivir

Brad.

Gracia's Birthday, Córdoba, and Street Performing

3 different events, 3 different explanations:

Gracia's Birthday.

This past Tuesday, I had the day off of school for "Dia de Andalusia", or the day to celebrate the anniversary of when Seville's home state of Andalusia was officially recognized as an autonomous community of Spain. I celebrated this day not only by appreciating the incredible state that I live in (seriously, check out this video by Juan LeBron if you don't believe me), but also through celebrating the 75 year old life of my host mom, Gracia. It was such a fun celebration - we went out to a tapas bar with 30 of her closest friends and family, and eventually ended up back at the apartment with her kids and grandchildren for dessert, shown below. I also made a pretty awesome Venezuelan friend, Marco, shown in the fourth picture. What a stud.

Córdoba.

On Friday morning, I went on an excursion with API to the city of Córdoba, located about 2 hours northeast of Sevilla. We saw ancient ruins from the 10th century, and then got to tour a mosque-turned-Cathedral called the Great Mosque of Córdoba. It was great, and really beautiful, but I think that I'm realizing that I'm getting a little too "used to" Spain. Sometimes I'll tour a cathedral, see that it was built in the 16th century and think "wow, that recently?" I have to remind myself that my entire country wasn't even discovered until the end of the 15th century, and wasn't founded until the end of the 18th century. Crazy stuff. I also think that living in Sevilla and seeing arguably the most beautiful cathedral in the world every day really numbs me to all other cathedrals and historic sites that aren't as big or as grand in other cities. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I took of Córdoba.

Street Performing.

Ever since arriving in Seville and walking the busy streets every day, I've always dreamed of street performing with my guitar - memorizing a few American songs, mustering up some courage, opening up my guitar case and trying to earn the appreciation of a few quarters or euros from people's pockets. This dream became a whole lot more realistic when my friend, Lauren, let me borrow her guitar.

I decided that I would play on Saturday afternoon. Friday night, I figured out a few different songs, including newer music - Avicii's "Levels", Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Ben Rector's "Loving You Is Easy", Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.", and Ben Harper's "Steal My Kisses" - and older music - The Temptations' "My Girl", Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin", Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City", and Bill Wither's "Lean on Me", to name a few. I decided on my location - Avenida de la Constitución, the street in which the Cathedral is located.

It was hard to get started, but once I got a few euros in my case, my energy perked up and I get a little dance in my step. Most of the money that I received was either from girls or younger children (don't ask me why), and one American girl even came up to me and said "I love Ben Rector!" and gave me a euro. Performing on the street has got to statistically be one of the most unsuccessful things you could ever do - I bet at least 10,000 people heard me play on Saturday, and only about 100 gave me money. All in all I played for a little over two hours and made a little over 25 euros - enough for a nice date out with my girlfriend who gets here on Thursday.

Below are some pictures that one of my friends took of me playing.

That's - that's about it.

Brad.

B-Side of the Day

Sunset on the way home from Cádiz.

Brad.

Mount Teide

At the end of April, my friend, Brad, and I plan to fly to the island of Tenerife, off the coast of Spain, and camp at Teide National Park. Brad and I are going to hike part of Mount Teide. Teide, at 3,718 meters, is Spain's tallest mountain, and the source of the most viewed video of all-time on Vimeo. To say I'm excited to experience God's creation like this is an understatement.

"The Mountain" via vimeo.com

Brad.