It's been a while....

As I'm anxiously awaiting the Arsenal game to start I decided I could write a little.

I hope there are people reading my posts out there but more than anything I find writing almost therapuetic. There are days when the words come easy and I ramble and then there are days like today where I don't know where to direct my thoughts.

I've had good days and bad days just like anybody else. I've learned to take it all in stride and keep emotions in check.

Futbol has been frustrating lately. My hip flexor was pulled and I continued to train with hopes of expediting improvement and instead I damaged it further. I've had this injury numerous times but never has it taken so long to heal. I haven't been on the pitch for about 2 wks. I'm sure this will be a recurring injury for the rest of my life which is dissapointing but I'm glad I decided to take this time to rest it instead of playing at half speed. So, in the meantime I'm working on keeping my fitness up so that when I have the opportunity to play I'll be ready.

The weather has been beautiful. I went to Alicante on a whim a couple days ago and returned yesterday. It really rejuvenated me and I'm so glad I made the trip. Photos are on my facebook.

And thats about all the news I have. I've been going out with some people at night lately but just can't keep up with them. I've bailed a lot because the night starts at midnight in Spain. Last night for instance we were going to the Discoteca at 12:30 and my body and mind just can't keep that schedule so I cancelled.

Excited to see family this month! It can get a little loney and I'm really looking forward to it. Talk to you all soon.

Jardi Botanic de la Universitat de Valencia

Well.....the title pretty much sums it up.
I felt like today would be a good day to hop on the underground metro and get off on a stop I don't know anything about. Or for that matter have ever heard of. I stumbled upon the University Botanical Gardens. I was pleasantly suprised.
Everybody in Valencia should check this place out. Never have I been more relaxed in my surrounding.
The gardens contain plant species from all different parts of the world. Many are able to survive side by side while others are kept in impressive greenhouses to immitate their climate. Theres some really cool pics if you click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaeljbarkman. I also took a couple pics of my metro station, and the Torres Serrano. And a couple random things that I found intersting. I seem to take pictures of the streep lamps. I think all cities should havet hese cuz they really are beautiful.

Dia del Comunidad de Valencia

Most things are closed today except for the businesses downtown that have great views of the parade and the other events. They have doubled their prices today haha. King James the First of Aragon reclaimed Valencia for Christianity on October 9th, 1238. At 12 this afternoon the flag was lowered from a decorated balcony.

Thousands of people gathered in the historic square of Valencia while music was played, flags were waved, and protesters yelled. All in all very exciting. Valencian pride was running rampant as people draped in flags and paint followed the procession throughout the city. It turned out that navigating through the crowd on my bike was very difficult.

There were a bunch of really cool pictures that I took. If your interested I will be posting all of my photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaeljbarkman

I watched Bowling for Columbine today and as much as Michael Moore angers me, I kinda liked the movie. My thoughts have always been that there really is no need for guns but there are many people that have grown up in a different culture emphasizing protecting one's life, liberty, and property without relying on the government whatsover. So, with restrictions, I was fine with people boasting about the ability to excercise a right. For some reason that movie personalized the affects of guns for me in a way that I haven't experienced. Seeing the people gun murders have affected, other than the person shot obviously, was dramatic and while my life may not have been directly affected by guns, it is not fair that millions of people suffer irreperable damage so that nra members can flaunt their 2nd amendment. Another hesitation I had was, of course, our changing of the Constitution. But I think that the second amendment was written for a time when slavery was accepted as well. Maybe we should have abolished both.


On another note I am very against all of Moore's accusations of media and government. Its a broken record and nobody liked the song in the first place.

Then today I met up with Mattias before training, a friend I haven't seen in a while. It was at a cafe where his wife works next to the field so it was very convenient. Spent a couple hours with him. He's a great guy and is always offering help and i dont just mean advice but he continually is willing to dedicate time to help me. Not a whole lot of people here that sacrifice their time to help other people. His wife and baby are awesome as well. He speaks english too so that helps. He lived in NC for a long time. And now he's banned from the U.S. for five years but thats a different story. Actually, he helped his brother across the border illegally and served a couple months in jail. He was in the U.S. army and loves his country so its a shame. He's always praising the United States and says that its his home and he cant wait to return. If anybody reading this has any legal advice on how he could expedite his return I would really appreciate it and I of course he would too. He has three years left before he is allowed to return.
Then, training tonight was good. I was feeling really well and thinked I showed well. Wish I could start scoring more but every game I get closer and I'm finding more and more opportunities in practice so I'm optimistic. Rode my bike home in the gorgeous temperature. 10:00 and its like 75 degrees. Took a pic of my daily ride if your interested:

GOODNIGHT!

Early run this morning!
Yesterday we won our first game. we are now 1-1-1. 4 pts after 3 games is less than we want but its a step in the right direction. I finally bought a new camera today which im excited about. I went to the Bancaja Cultural Center today because they have an exhibit by Joaquín Sorolla. His work was in the Prada Museum in Madrid for a while and was very succesful so now, dead for almost a century, he's on tour. But not too say he wasn't recognized in his time. He won multiple awards at the World Fair in Paris. I was really impressed though. All of his work is oil paintings and he differs from many not only in his intricate detail and realistic portrayls but also by the size of his masterpieces. His most famous works are about 10x20 yrds. With the amount of detail and size I was suprised at how prolific he was.

I thought that there was some guy at the counter adding a number everytime someone walked in but it was cool. When somebody entered there was some kind of screen on the floor that would beep and then the number on the sign would go up. Entrance was free too which was really cool. The government supports the arts out here like crazy so even though nobody can find a job they can always find a free art exhibition.

I bought this poster because it was his painting of Valencia. And the actual one is a lot more impressive than this picture. I was interested though because it was obvious he portrayed his perspective of all the different cities in his paintings and compared with his others I saw Valencia shown as very proud with bright colors.

Sevilla did not make a good impression on him. It just involved the Easter celebrations which sounds harmless but if you look up pictures of easter in Spain you'll know what I'm talking about. Ill provide one.