I am in the middle of my fourth week in Guardamar, and my 6^th week in Europe. I’ve already been to the hospital nine times.

Guardamar is an edgy little town. Its beaches are gorgeous but they are accented by crumpling demolished homes. I like it.  At the same time this is a touristy town and its population is increasing everyday. It’s an awesome place to be studying Architecture. Every day is a new adventure and exploration of this historically rich town. 

During today’s Mid Review I discussed the river’s relationship with the city of Guardamar. The river and city are extremely disconnected from one another; consequent thousands of years of human infiltration. The current situation is one that must be addressed: The city-river system is dysfunctional. My project addresses this issue and attempts to provide a solution.

The Euro cup took place last weekend. During the games the entire city population literally stop doing what they normally do and watch the game. The game is shown in the streets, on the beach, in bars… its impossible to miss. Everyone wears red. Everyone is involved. It’s incredible.

We watched one of the games on the beach. After Spain won there was a huge bonfire. I decided that it would be a good idea to jump over the flames. I thought about it for fifteen minutes. I finally decided to go for it—not because I have outstanding jumping abilities but because I realized that I would continue thinking about it until I jumped over. Unfortunately I didn’t quite make it over the bonfire and my left foot landed on top of the flames. Here’s a nice picture for visual reference. 

I’ve been in crutches for over a week, and I have to go to the hospital to get rebadged every day. Was it worth it? Not quite. But maybe it will be a funny story to tell one day. In the meantime, I’d like to give a shout-out to everyone who’s helped me out in the past week. THANK YOU! … and I no, I no longer have the urge to jump through flames.