From Doug: Just another day at the beach

There we were, stretched out on our towels, enjoying the sun and the stretch of beautiful Mediterranean coastline. It was just like a dream summer vacation, except we live three blocks from here and it's the middle of October. When we looked outside and saw the sun shining and realized it was in the mid-70s, we had to drop what we were doing and head to the beach. A few other people had the same idea, but it wasn't nearly as crowded as it probably is in the summer. This was yesterday.

Today was rainy and cooler so we went for a jog along the beach. We didn't expect to see anyone, but the water was filled with surfers. Turns out that with some wind there are some pretty good waves here. This is something to keep in mind if I ever get the chance.

I think I finally settled on a team to represent. After visiting C. N. Barceloneta, C. N. Sabadell, and C. N. Sant Andreu, I decided to go with Sant Andreu. Barceloneta was too small and didn't have any swimmers older than 19. Sabadell had an incredible new facility and was building an outdoor pool, but was 45 minutes away by train. Sant Andreu was the perfect fit. They are 20 minutes away on the metro, and have several swimmers who swam in the Olympics this summer. They have also won the Spanish club championship the last four years. I practiced with them today, and when I told the coach I wasn't sure if I would make it to morning practice tomorrow he said I should just take it slow. Not only is the coach understanding and flexible, but one of the swimmers, Brenton, speaks English. I look forward to swimming with this club and getting to know the other swimmers.

Yesterday I also got the chance to meet an amazing designer. As I posted, his name is Miguel Ripoll and he has a long list of accomplishments and awards to his name. As well as being an internationally respected designer, he is also a painter who has had his work exhibited at various galleries throughout Europe and the US. For some reason he decided to take and hour out of his hectic day to meet with me. He talked about his philosophies regarding web design. He also let me look at some of the projects he is currently working on. I feel lucky to have met him. Unfortunately he said now is not the best time to be a designer. With the market plummeting, design and marketing tend to be the first things businesses cut. And with Barcelona being the one of the centers of design in Europe, all the best designers flock here. His advice was to get my swimming career going to create some income and he might be able to help me find an internship. Now that I have locked up a place at Sant Andreu and have scheduled some meets in Italy, we'll see what happens.