You can't party like a rockstar every day...

Hey Guys,

Another boring day here. Went to class in the morning; it was the culture class, so we talked a little about Spanish history before taking the tram together to La Sagrada Família. It’s a gothic cathedral started in 1882 by Antoní Gaudí. It’s still under construction for at least 25 more years. It was beautiful (and strange), but I was tired and hungry so I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should’ve. Definitely sick of museums and monuments and random art crap. We ate lunch in the cafeteria, then took another nap. I lifted today; the dorm’s weight room is definitely crap. No free bar, no incline bench, just a few free weights, bikes, wacky machines, and a swiss ball. Not even a medicine ball—not that I’m dying to lift anyways, but I don’t want to be a complete bum. Let me rephrase: not trying to die when I go back. I ran stairs last Thursday (9 flights of 20 steps 4 times, then our jumping sequence abbreviated). I am still sore, so I know I accomplished something.

I get really self-conscious as well when other people watch me work out. Some of our group was down there when I went, and they are constantly asking me questions. They're curious about everything from our running to what food is at training table. I never fail to be amazed at how obsessed with the secret world of athletics is. I really don't like it, not only because they are just standing there watching me, but because I feel like I’m representing the WBB team, all athletes in general, etc. I’m not doing everything I’m supposed to while I'm in Spain, so they probably think that the amount I'm doing is actually the norm for us. No matter how I portray life as an athlete to the outside world, I feel like I’m misunderstood. It either sounds a lot better or a lot worse than it really is; it’s hard to get across that it’s a trade-off. It’s neither all good or all bad, but plenty of both. I don’t think it’s actually possible to understand without going through it yourself, but I wish I could do a better job explaining it. The closest I’ve come is that it’s like a deal with the devil: you get everything you could ever want, but you sell your soul in exchange. They laugh when I say that, which is how I know that they definitely don't understand.

Hasta Luego,

Becca