Futbol!

Seven weeks until I will return to the US, from this wonderful experience. It has felt like I have been in a some alternate universe since I have arrived in Rome way back in May. I have been in Spain no for three and half days and absolutely love it. It has been a nice adjustment from Scandinavia. I can not say I did not like Scandinavia, or it is better than Spain or Italy. They must be comparable because they are two or three different places, so I ahve settled to view and think of them as that.
So what have I done in Spain? I will start with last night, FUTBOL! FC Barcelona, but with no Ronaldhino. It was my second game in Europe and I have been sucked in I love the culture and emotion of the game. The fans here seem to love the game and feel more than the players on the field. Futbol culture is amazing, the singing, chanting, flags, banners, jersies, and the craziness that fills the stadium, you can not help but be pasionate about it too. This game leaves me without words, but when I think about it the 90 minutes those players are on the field it is an escape from the rest of the world, an intesity but a relaxation. I do not know but I love this game. This has been my Europe.

Europe 2007 For Real!

I have been in Europe now for four months. It is weird to think that I have not seen my fam or my country for that long. It Europe has had an affect on me, it is one that I can only feel I do not know what it is though, but is their. I have seen new concepts, to me at least in urban planning, such as Kampii in Helsinki Finland. Being able to experience this building or city inside a building has inspired me to look at how to incorporate ones needs into a single structure, such as housing, food, transportation, parking, entertainment, and shopping. for me Europe is new it has not been what I have expected. I imagined a place that was ahead of the US, which they are in thought, but not infrastucture. Internet, printing, and other sources of technology that I have had at my finger tips in the U.S. has been a struggle to find especialy for a cheap price. For my first time in this place I have been inspired, but have learned about the false ideas that americans have been fed about this place it is not better than the U.S. but different. Sometimes this difference is better, but some times it has caused frustration and disappointment. This my Europe in 2007.