One workout and counting until Spain!

I have been measuring my time until Spain in workouts instead of days, because they are much more influential on my life. I am very nervous/excited/anxious about going right now. I have high expectations, but don't know what to expect. I already miss Kansas and my circle of friends and teammates. They became my safety net when I had to leave home, and it will be hard to break that dependence at first, even if it is only for 6 weeks.

I figure it will be the longest period of time I have been without organized basketball for over 6 years. A friend of mine going, Brandon, says he will work out and lift with me. We plan to find a rec league in Barcelona to hoop, and he will help me stay motivated.

I'm also interested to see how my Spanish will hold up. I expect to be really frustrated at first when I don't understand native speakers. The Basque region of Spain (where Barcelona is) has a unique accent on top of it all. I don't know if fluency is too lofty a goal in 6 weeks, but I'm optimistic.

Here are some websites:

Intro Tour of Spain:

June 23-25th- Madrid

Our hotel in Madrid: http://www.hotelfloridanorte.com/
It’s in Spanish, obviously, but you just click on “fotos” and check out the building! You can also translate the page if you search for the hotel’s name in Google.
June 25-26- Avila

The hotel website: http://www.hotel-cuatropostes.es/avilahotel/esp/index-esp.htm
Look on the left for Guía del Ávila and Fotos del Hotel tabs. The former has a few pictures of major city attractions.


June 26-28- Salamanca

http://www.hoteles-silken.com/salamanca_ronadalba_fotos_2/gallery.php/24/10/0/0/1/1/



June 28-29- Burgos

http://www.hotelcordon.com/es/contenido/?idsec=3


June 29-July 1- San Sebastian

http://www.hotelsansebastian.net/index.php?seccion=galeria&galeria=presentacion


July 1-August 2- Barcelona
We will then arrive in Barcelona and stay at the Collegi Major Sant Jordi. Our classes are from the Universitat de Barcelona.

General pics of our dorm: http://www.cmsantjordi.com/information.php

An interactive map of our dorm: http://www.cmsantjordi.com/facilities.php

A great site to learn more about the city: http://www.bcn.es/english/ihome.htm
The tourism link on the lefthand side is especially interesting.

One of the world’s largest outdoor markets, La Boquería is in the heart of downtown Barcelona. http://www.boqueria.info/Eng/index.php
Here’s the link to an interactive map of the market: http://www.boqueria.info/Eng/index.php

Hasta luego,

Becca