March 13

Captain's Log: Chad Tokowicz

Per usual, our day today started with class time, however this morning we had a special class which focused on Don Quixote, the classic Spanish novel. After a brief explanation of the book, we were divided into groups and given a sort of quiz, asking questions based on basic life in Barcelona and Spanish culture. Out of forty questions my team, The Sox, won with a score of 28/40 and received a celebratory flash drive. Boy was I proud of our team! Good Work! After our time in class, we regrouped and navigated our way through the lively streets of Barcelona, making our way to the metro, to take us to our final objective, La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is the brainchild of the famous Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudí and is simply breathtaking. Designed as a Roman Catholic church, La Sagrada has an immense inside with tons of stained glass windows and statues. At the time of his death in 1926, La Sagrada Familia was still under construction and to this day is still being completed and is expected to be finished by 2026. My favorite aspect of La Sagrada Familia is the naturalist aspects included in the architecture.  Gaudí said there are no straight lines because they cannot be found in nature. Also included within are plenty of statues of animals as well as saints and religious figures.

After viewing, we were granted free time and in which me and a group of students made our way to the park adjacent. Here I was able to step out of the tourist-filled world of La Sagrada Familia and truly immerse myself with real people living. As we entered the park, Kian and I noticed a man sitting on a bench with his guitar. I could tell Kian was itching to play. "Why don't you go ask him to play?" I asked Kian, who responded with some excuse that told me he wouldn't go, so I took the matters into my own hands and asked the man if Kian could play.  He said "yes" happily. Once Kian started playing, the conversation started to flow. The man with the guitar had just moved here from the Czech Republic with his two friends, whom I was able to talk hockey with while Kian played sweet Spanish melodies. Although we didn't talk for long or about much, it was still a great experience, as almost everyone knows I can make friends anyplace. And of course, this wasn't the first time I had talked to a random person here and for sure won't be the last, for talking with people who are here to live will teach you things that you can't find in any museum.