Mi Casa Es Su Casa...

Well, not really. Nor is mi casa really my casa. But I'm sure if you were here my madre would make sure you felt that way. And feed you a ton of food, and get almost mad if you didn't eat alot and not let you help with cleaning up or the dishes. Just to warn you, this post does not involve anything crazy like the last few, so if you're not that interested in my living situation during my time in Barcelona, then feel free to click the little X on the top right. And then I hope something quite heavy falls on top of you. But, for those of you who read this and don't have FaceBook, AKA my family, I thought it would be nice to show you my digs. (Translation: home) That's some Ebonics for you...yeah...bet you didn't know I was tri-lingual.

Here is the view from the foyer. You can see straight into the living room, and then there's a storage closet, my bedroom, and then the bathroom on the left. To the right is a shelf with a ton of movies and all these crazy trinkets on top that's in the hallway. She has about the same amount of Disney movies in Spanish as I do at my house, and we have a ton. She has such classic titles as "El Rey Leon," "La Bella y la Bestia," and "Aladino," to name a few.

Here is the view of my bedroom from the hallway. I put a nice Fordham hat up on the shelf there, right next to Flounder. I think her 4 year old grandson uses this room when he stays with her, so she had a bunch of stuffed animals on there when I first came in, and I let her take all of em away except for Flounder. He's a cool dude in my book. To the right is my closet. Sorry I didn't make my bed. I do every day, Mom! (Actualmente, nunca hago la cama.)

This is the other side of my room. There's my desk and my computer with the ghetto looking outlet rigging i have going on. This is where I do all of my blogging and a majority of my communication with people from home, so it's prolly one of the most important places for me in Barcelona. As you can see, I'm repping my FC Barcelona jersey, which is sweet (gracias, Sarah). Still need to get to a game...that will be happening soon fo sho.

This is the view of my bed from the opposite side of the room. You can see my little nightstand and my nice bulletin board with pictures of people from home. The Fam, Ava, Sarah, some Fordham peeps, some of the boys. Oh, and that little shelf is about 1 foot from my face when I'm sleeping. The first 2 nights I slammed my head on it when I woke up, but since then I've only had 1 mishap. Let's hope it doesn't keep happening or else I'm gonna have to make myself some kind of padding. Or sleep with a helmet. (Sleepilepsy? I don't know) We'll have to see.

"Southern Comfort: The Grand Old Drink of the South." This is one of my favorite things about the whole apartment. I feel bad because I couldnt ask for a better and nicer madre while I'm here, but one of the first things I thought was that I should steal it and put it in my apartment next year. If anyone knows what the horse clock is, I'd say it gives that a run for its money. That's not really a necessary part of the tour, I just really like it. And it's my tour so I make the rules.

This is the living room. It's where I eat all my meals with my senora. It's also where I hang out in the evening and struggle to understand Spanish television programming. I'm enjoying the game shows alot, and I might try to watch the Season Finale of "Gran Hermano" (Big Brother) with my Senora this week. Today, she set up a nice lunch for the two of us and we had a few glasses of champagne. The brindis (toast) was to our new President, Barack Obama. Everyone here seems to love him, except for this one guy I met/who ran into me at a bar. It was the night of the inauguration and people were talking about it. He must have overheard and wanted to come diagree with us being excited about Obama. I sort of intercepted him from getting to the huge group of Americans clearly happy about Obama and asked him what was up. He said he thought it was mierda (BS) that he was elected and he was being racist and what not. So I sort of diffused the situation by saying that I agree and I can't believe the majority of my country wants to be ruled by him and blah blah blah. He told if I felt that way I should move here to Spain because something like that would never happen, and that we should sit down and have lunch sometime to talk more about it. He asked for my cell phone number and I gave it to him...after changing a few of the digits, and he said he'd call me in a few days. I've been waiting for his call, but folks, I think I've been stood up. Time to moooove on I guess. Sigh. But anyway, seemed very excited for me and for the US in general. I like him alot (pretty much everything I said to that angry, racist Spanish dude was a lie I just didn't want there to be some kind of altercation) but all I'm gonna say is: Sir, Mr. Obama, you are talking a big game. I hope you deliver. We need it.



These are 3 seperate pictures, for the record. This is all the random artwork hanging up throughout the living room. They don't really go together, but I like it alot. It gives the room a nice feel. And I'm pretty sure alot of them were drawn/painted by my Senora's daughter so she is clearly quite the artista. Before I leave I'll have to make a nice artistic creation to add to the wall...there's a nice spot I have picked out, just need an idea. Or I could put a nice JMcNelis creation in the spot left empty after I steal that sweet Southern Comfort mirror. I'll give you an update in a later post.

Last, but ce-her-taintly (if you watch Scrubs, imagine Dr. Cox saying that. if not, imagining me saying it like it's written) not least, es la cocina, the kitchen. This is where my Senora is at her best...she's such a good cook. She's introduced me to alot of new foods - most I've liked, some I have not. But either way, the food has been a great part of coming here. As some of you know I'm rather close-minded (mouthed?) and picky when it comes to eating, and I've decided to just let loose and try whatever is on my plate while I'm here. I'm happy to report that it's gone quite well. By the end of my trip, however, I'm planning on making my Senora a few American style meals. First of which will be a CheeseSteak...partly because I'm from Philly and I should show her how real Philadelphians eat and partly because I've been craving one really badly. I think after I'm done this post I'm gonna Google "cheesesteak in barcelona" and hope I get lucky.

Well, ladies and gentlemen...we have come to the end of the tour. If you have any last questions please let me know. I hope you have enjoyed your stay at

Hondures, 39 bis

Esc. B, Entl. 4

Barcelona, 08027

(That's my address.) Some day I will also put up a pic of my Senora, Neus Aldrobe. She's a very cute little old woman, and I hope to show you Bernard, her grandson, who is a really cute boy. He can count up to 7 in English and is on his way to learning more, so we help each other out. I've been getting some travel plans together so in the coming weeks expect some craaaaaazy stories from countries other than Spain. Get excited people.

Until we meet again...here's to Obama fixing the world. And finding a place to put the 200 or so prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. My advice: just throw them in. What's the worst that could happen?

Welp, see ya later!