The Introduction

Yo Internet, what up?

Whether you are reading this blog because you are bored at work/summer internship, because you're tired of espn/tmz/stumble/random youtube videos, or because you just plain care about MoneSplye, welcome!

A wise friend once told me that it is tough to keep an interesting travel blog. Basically, it is pretty unpopular to write something like, "today I went to this museum, then we ate at this cafe, then we missed this bus, etc." So, with that being said, I'm going to try to keep the posts fresh and full of funny stories.

For those of you who don't know, Splye and I are traveling in Europe over the next month. We will be spending the majority of our time in Krakow, Poland doing community service with a group called the AlfKlub. Around June 15, we're meeting up with All American Tom in Florence; then moving as a tripod to Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic. I've never travelled unsupervised in Europe, and I'm pumped to say the least. At the same time, I'm pretty unsure of what to expect. My only interaction with Poland has been The Wire Season 2 and a principal's office trip in fourth grade when I got in a heated argument with a Polish exchange student. At the AlfKlub we are going to be working with kids who are 7-17, teaching them conversational English and basically westernizing them. We're going on field trips with them and going to their homes and such. I think that a lot of funny shit is going to happen at work -- I can't really imagine how some of these young kids view America.

A few things that I've been thinking about leading up to the trip: what's the food like? Do they like Americans? Will I stop coughing after the trip? Am I going to be able to watch the rest of the NBA Playoffs? Was pole dancing invented in Poland? Am I in a highly stylized version of the Truman Show? I'll try to answer these questions throughout the blog...

I know the last question is pretty irrelevant, but it's certainly possible. I'll keep this post relatively short, nothing funny has happened yet. We leave tomorrow morning. I'm pretty much packed; I still gotta put some shit on my iPod but it ain't no thang.

As a semiprofessional hater, I know that there are going to be plenty of haters out there. Especially people who have already been abroad -- I'm sure you're going to say, "pshh, why do I need to read this? I've already been abroad, I've been to all the places he's talking about. MoneSplye is a stupid idiot anyway, I hate them for no reason!" To you, fellow haters, I would like to quote the great Mike Tyson and extend to you the following: just turn off the station.

See you mothafuckas in Europe...

-Ben