Tarragona!

So the entirety of the IES Barcelona program went on a 'study journey' to Tarragona, this bi-millenial city by the Mediterranean. Its most commonly known for the amount of medieval history and Roman ruins that are located all over the city.

The first day was literally miserable, we were all freezing and rather unprepared since the guides and faculty had told us that the weather would be warmer (it was literally about 35 degrees and windy). We first arrived in Montblanc, a fortified royal town that hd once been under the direct jurisdiction of the king. It has a castle wall that surrounds the entirety of the city. It was really beautiful, though at the present state that I was in, it was hard to concentrate on the historical significance of it when my fingers were about to turn blue Quite unfortunate, but it was very pretty. We were also able to have a taste of cava, which is just what the Spanish call their form of champagne since they didn't want to copy the French in the use of the term. Anywho, we also went to Poblet and Paraje Natural, where we were able to see these beautiful austere chapels and monasteries.

Paraje Natural was a little humorous because they had told us that we were going to hike. A lot of us showed up prepared to hike with athletic clothes and tennis shoes, but when we arrived, we saw that the 'hike' was actually a leisurely stroll on cemented ground on a slight incline up into this forest area. The guide was this lumberjack-type guy with this long golden hair and scruffy beard thing. He went through this thing where we'd walk and then he'd stop and talk a bit about he mountain area, then walk and then stop to tell us more information about the area we were in.

At one point he stops us and is like: "Here is a waterfall..." We all looked down and its literally like a 3 foot tall 'waterfall'. And the most hilarious part about it was that we didn't even have a destination we were hiking to. It was literally like we walked for an hour, then just turned around. It was altogether quite pointless, if you ask me. We then checked into hotels in Tarragona (the entire program obviously couldn't fit into just one hotel--there are 400 or more of us, so we were separated into 4 different hotels based on our spanish level). It was funny that we were all trying to find a place to go to that night because it wasn't like Tarragona was exactly party capital compared to what we had all already experienced in Barcelona, but of course we went out and it seemed like the entirety of IES was in this Highland pub. It wasn't that interesting, even though they had live music, so we ended up leaving early.

The second day, we woke up early and walked around Tarragona itself, to the Roman Ampitheater (SO cool....probably the most worthwhile thing I saw on this trip), the circus, city wall and cathedral. The rest of the time, we went to the MNAT museum (which wasn't that great....I like museums but this one wasn't exactly thrilling..) and the Local Forum. At the end, we got dinner at the hotel and my friends and I went to bed early since we were feeling sick from having been freezing the day before.

The third day, we went to some more Roman ruins and then went to the waterfront for lunch. It was really beautiful and it was a bit surreal because the landscape was so breathtaking. We spent some time on the beach (it was a beautiful day too....it was about 60 degrees and sunny) and walked to this peninsula that was about a mile or two down. We had paella for lunch and it was delicious! We then went to this winery for wine-tasting and a tour before we headed back to Barcelona. The wine there was delicious...apparently its a winery that has been in business for over three centuries. I've decided that I really like white wine, the red wine doesn't sit as well with me as the white does. I wish I could've gotten my parents a bottle, but I figured they'll be here soon and it would really be a royal hassle to try to get alcohol back to the states since on that side of the world, I'm not exactly legal to drink.

Anyway, it was an alright trip in the end. I was able to meet and get closer with some friends, and I also realized that my floormates in my dorm are really like a family. When we all arrived back home, we ran and gave each other hugs and were talking about how much we really missed one another. Haha we really are like a dysfunctional family, we're all so different yet we all just work well with one another. We have a functional dynamic, I guess.

Oh god, well on that really corny note, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. I'm planning on going to Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend! Maybe/Hopefully I'll get to do some extreme sports, if financials/parents/weather allow. More later!

Casa Batllo....last picture of it I swear!

On the roof of Casa Batllo with the famous crests!

Elephant

This was taken at a club called Elephant. The place was beautiful and is actually right next door to La Pedrera, one of Gaudi's works, most famously known for having the iron-fence dragon. The main area of Elephant is this almost circular ground area with a bar in the center and the 'walls' are actually thick drapes so that in the summer time, they can be pulled up so that the whole area turns into a terrace. Anywho, these are some guys on stilts who were mostly at Elephant for the sole purpose of having pictures taken and showing a good time.

External View of Casa Batllo

The entire house is set up so that everything aside from the floor is fluid, mimicking water.

Blue Tiling in Casa Batllo!

I took this picture from one of the top stair levels, so cool!

A Ceiling in the MNAC Museum of Art

Updates and Highlights

So I've been bad about posting blogs on here recently, so I'll do a quick recap of the past couple weeks:
--The classes are alright, though a part of me is worried that I won't really learn anything of substance throughout this semester (aside from Spanish, obviously)
--The majority of the professors I have are not native Spaniards. My art history professor is a British man who walks a bit like a velociraptor (with the butt sticking out and his torso permanently leaning forward), my sport and society professor is another British man who seems pretty chill actually and my psychology professor is a Swedish woman who....isn't the most articulate of people but I am constantly impressed by her good sense of fashion.
--I just booked my flight to Rome for my spring break in Rome, Greece and Corfu!
--There are creepy men in Spain. We like going to clubs and bars, but some of these guys are really aggressive!
--I met someone who has a legitimate foot fetish, and it was creepy. This guy kept on bending down and pretending to tie his shoe when my friends and I were out dancing. When one of our guy friends asked him what the hell he was doing, he simply replied "I like feet". CREEPER.
--Gaudi is amazing (already a known fact, but my love for the man has definitely magnified). We visited one of his houses, Casa Batllo and its gorgeous. The tiling, the bubbled windows, the wood-paneled doors, everything is perfected to a tee. Even the bronzed handles on the doors are sculpted to perfectly fit the hand.
--I love all my floormates! In the beginning, it felt like the most random group of people thrown together to live in this dormitory together, but we've definitely gotten close over the past several weeks and we are really like a family. We have the most diverse group of personalities and yea some clash more than others, but we just work. We've gotten a good dynamic, I think.
--Life here is very expensive (also already a known fact, but i'm reiterating it).
--There are some crazy cool hangout spots here. There's a bar called Dow Jones here where it acts like a stock market. When the 'market' crashes, there are drinks sold for one euro each. There's also a bar called Chupitos which is a shot bar, except these shots are tricked out (some of them are shots covered with cream, drizzled with sauce, and lit on fire!). Another bar is called OBAMA (before Barack, surprisingly - its only called that because they wanted a name that sounded exotic...haha) and apparently theres a house band that plays covers of Beatles songs.
--I met some Spanish students! Well, one of them was a Spanish guy at a club who I guess might not completely count, but a friend and I took this hip hop dance class at my dorm and we met some nice Spanish girls who also live in our dorm. The actual class, though, was hilarious. I was half laughing, half dying the entire time because my friend and I had to learn 2 weeks worth of choreography within the period of 30 minutes. And of course we looked ridiculous but I was just impressed with myself that I was able to actually learn it within that amount of time!
--I've been utilizing my Japanese more than I have in a while! I ran into a few Japanese tourists at Parc Guell earlier this semester and asked them, in Japanese, to take a picture of a friend and I in front of a lucky lizard sculpture. And I've seen other tourists and listened to their conversations. And even on the plane ride over to Barcelona, I wrote in Japanese a congratulatory message to these two guys' cousin who was getting married in Israel and they were trying to collect as many different languages to say 'congratulations' as they possibly could.
--People are all in their own world here. Like actually, its ridiculous how I'll be walking down the street with a couple other IES students and these other pedestrians would literally almost walk into me so I'd always have to get out of their way. At one point I just saw what it would be like if I didn't move. Of course they basically ran over me. *sigh*.
--The MNAC is the most AGGRAVATING museum to get into, but it is seriously the most beautiful museum I have ever seen. Its in a palace!!

And.....I'm going to bed because I have to leave for a study trip to Tarragona tomorrow. Its from Thursday until Saturday, so we'll have Saturday night to have some fun. More later!

La Catedral de Barcelona!

This cathedral really reminded me of all the places that I visited when I was in Sevilla and Barcelona during a trip through my high school for a few weeks of my senior year. It was constructed in 1293 and it was truly breathtaking. Its when I visit monuments such as this that I really wish that I was an architect. I mean, taking art history does give me leighway to do a bit of independent study on old-style architecture, but looking at the turrets and the beautifully geometric ceilings and the tall arches is so cool.
Upon entering the cathedral, you see this open courtyard in the middle and there are these gigantic geese just walking around by this beautiful fountain and this really tall, quite oxidized bronze statue of a queen (at least it looked like female royalty. If it was a man, he looked very feminine).

There were a bunch of beautiful red candles lit for prayer and on each side there were little prayer/holy structures to different figures prominent in the religion. There was another section of the cathedral and it was really amazing. I think anyone would say that it is amazing what people can create.

Anyway, it was a great way to spend a rainy day and a post-crazy soccer game from the night before. More later!

The Game was Insane!

Did you know that the Estadio Nou (where FC Barcelona plays) holds up to 100,000 people? This was the biggest stadium I have ever seen or been to. And the crowds were so intense and serious about the game. During playtime, literally no one is walking around in the halls or in the restroom. There are constant chants and screams from the crowd, literally everyone stands up and screams at the top of their lungs when Barcelona scores (which was four times during the game. We won 4-0!!)

Our entire section was filled with fanatic fans and some rather overwhelmed-looking IES students who don't know the chants enough to fit in. It was raining the entire night, but everyone was still passionate and it didn't faze them at all. The crowds afterwards were thrilled and I swear getting on the metro was like trying to squeeze onto the subways in Japan during rush hour. YAY BARCELONA!

So I just had a fabulous day. I mean, the morning was rough because it involved getting up earlir than I wanted, but a couple friends and I went on this amazing bike tour. The company is called Fat Tire Bike Tours and it was a four hour bike ride to places like Sagrada Familia, the Ciutadella and through Born and the Gothic Quarters and the waterfront. The guys leading it were a bunch of Australians who had been living in Spain for a few years and were all pretty laidback. There were about 5 of them altogether, but there were three main guys who actually did the guiding. It was a beautiful day, the high was about 58 and it was sunny, which was a fantastic change from the past several days.

The Ciutadella was gorgeous and we got to see the Arch d'Triumph, a complete replica of the one they have in.....London? (Sorry if I'm wrong!) Anyway, we also got to see the Palau de Musica Catalana, a seriously epic music hall that I actually wrote a 15 page paper on for my art history class this past semester. It was constructed by Domenech i Montecher and though people give Gaudi lots of praise, this man was ridiculously talented.
We then got to go bike through Born, a really quaint and old-style area pretty similar to the Gothic quarters. Sagrada Familia wasn't as amazing as I remembered it....it might be because the first time I saw it I was really impressed and maybe the novelty has worn off. Either way, we took lots of pictures (I'll just have to put them up later). It was nice to bike around too for a change since walking everywhere takes a lot longer and this way it was nice to still be outside and actually even getting a bit of exercise.

So the highlight of this trip was the waterfront. No joke, this place was BEAUTIFUL. I hadn't been yet since I've just been hanging out in Placa Catalunya, Las Ramblas or by Avenida Diagonal, but it was gorgeous. Its actually the place where the majority of the clubs are, but there are some really nice architectural structures there.
Anyways, we stopped there for our lunch break and they had some beers while they told us of the cool places to go to and whatnot. As we were talking, a male nudist sauntered back and forth in front of our group. This would not have been bad if it wasn't for the fact that this guy was literally naked in the middle of winter. And by this time of the day, it was a bit warmer than it had been in days but seriously, it was still like 45 degrees and everyone around was wearing winter coats. I think this guy just wanted a bunch of college-age girls to freak out and ogle, I swear. And there was this other character on the beach who was just sleeping with this motorcycle helmet on in the fetal position. It was really weird.
The most intense part was that we saw a pickpocket situation in action. So the guys who were leading the tour pointed this one guy out who was bicycling into the area and stopped his bike in the center of the plaza. Apparently the guy is a fraud and pretends to lead bike tours but steals people's money and pickpockets on the side. The Australian guys were telling us about this ridiculous rule where if a pickpocket happens to steal less than $400 then he just receives a slap on the wrist and is sent on his way. It is only if he steals more than $400 when he is actually put in jail and his name is taken into the records.
Anyway, we literally saw this guy go up to these two girls sitting with their purses beside them and he just picked up one of the purses and started sauntering back to his bike. This other guy in this blue sweatshirt sees this guy do this and literally hurtles towards the pickpocket's retreating figure and wrestles with him, getting the purse away from him. At this point, the Australian tour guides run over to help out. The pickpocket drops the purse and started yelling obscenities at the blue-sweatshirt guy, but continued walking away. The guy in the blue sweatshirt then chases after the pickpocket and they start smacking each other. During the shuffle, one of the Australian tour guides grabbed the pickpocket's bike and rode away on it, to teach the guy a lesson. The guy never even noticed until it was long gone. I've never seen karma in live action before, but if I ever declare myself to any belief, it is in karma.
Anyway, tonight is the big night: FC Barcelona vs. Sevilla!! I'll put up pictures from it FOR SURE. I'm so pumped! More later.

Picasso Tour and Food Tour

So I signed up for a couple tours this week, one being the Picasso tour and the other being a food tour. I was really excited for both, though it involved a fair amount of walking in not-so-nice weather.
The Picasso tour was amazing, though it left me feeling like a pretty unaccomplished human being. Imagine if we were all Picassos--the world would be filled with so many purely artistic twelve year-olds that the norm would be the ability to paint frescos in any form and style. He drew with pastels some of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen in a while in person and he was only twelve or thirteen! With pastels! I'm not sure whether any of you have tried to do that, but it is incredibly hard to draw well with pastels.
So we walked around the neighborhood where he used to live and we went by the cafes and pubs he used to hang out in with his other artsy friends. We learned that one of his paintings, The Ladies of Avignon, wasn't actually of the ladies of Avignon, France but of the ladies of Avignon, Spain. Apparently Calle Avignon, a street in Barcelona, was known for having many brothels which Picasso and his friends would frequent.
Anyways, we ended up going to a museum after this tour and its in the Gothic Quarter, which is this gorgeous old neighborhood in the center of Barcelona.

For the food tour, we learned a lot about certain restaurants and how some have really good churros and xocolate (basically like hot chocolate, but its infinitely thicker and you dip the churros into it). They bought us some fresh fruit at the Boqueria and a couple tapas and a drink at this other restaurant we went to. Up above is an example of the weird food that they sell....I think its a type of manta ray, but it has some evil-looking teeth. Either way, I wouldn't eat it.
Tomorrow I'm going on a bike tour where we bike around the different neighborhoods and stop by the waterfront to get some lunch and sangria. Altogether it should take about four hours. After that, we have the SOCCER GAME! FC Barcelona vs. Sevilla. It should be amazing! The game starts at 10pm. More later.

Xocolate con frutas secas y almendras

This looks so good.

Olive Oil!

Maybe the Anchordoguys can check out the international competition...

A huge variety of cheese!

For those cheese lovers!

Area de L'avia

Apparently dresses and accessories were bought from this store and used in the award-winning movie Titanic. SO COOL.

Guess what it is!

Cow heart.

Food Stands!

One of the many stands in La Boqueria.

La Boqueria

This is a market on Las Ramblas where you can buy anything from a fresh glass of blueberry juice to any part of a pig. Its also known as the place where pickpocketing is really common so I'm constantly clutching my purse.

So many motorcycles!

Travel Plans

So I've been figuring out my schedule for what I'm going to be doing on the weekends. On a sidenote, guess what I'm going to be doing this weekend? Thats right: FC Barcelona game vs. Sevilla on Saturday night!! The games here don't start until 10pm. How crazy is that? So, none you relatives tell Eric this, but I bought him a FC Barcelona soccer jersey, except I think I might wear it to the game (he won't care, I don't think). Anywho, the next day we are going to go see the Sagrada Familia. I've been there before, but I am so excited to go again since I feel like my knowledge of Gaudi's works is a lot more thorough after taking a few art history classes. As for the next few days, I signed up for a Picasso Tour which will happen this afternoon from 4-6:30 and then a Food Tour which is tomorrow at 4. Between Spanish class and the Food Tour tomorrow, I'm probably going to go to the waterfront with a few friends to check out the sights and maybe the aquarium (the weather has gotten a lot nicer. Its beautiful and sunny out right now. I would say its around 45-50 degrees?).

This is another random point, but the cars here are tiny and zip around really fast. Its a little scary crossing the street because seriously, pedestrians are NOT given the right of way. I saw a lady almost get run over today. And there are SO many motorcycle/vespa things that these people ride around on, I think they're like the most popular mode of transportation or something. And a lot of these girls who ride them are all model-esque and tall and beautiful. I swear, I think Spaniards are the most attractive people.

And there are these tropical birds here. They look like a cross between a domestic pigeon and a parakeet and the noises that they make are definitely not as pretty as they look, but I thought it was pretty interesting since all of us were seeing these palm trees and tropical birds during 30 degree weather.

The people on this program definitely party a lot more than I expected. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't naive enough to think that no partying would happen on this trip; I was well aware of the fact that Barcelona is considered a partying city, but I didn't think that people would be going out EVERY night from bars to clubs until 6 or 7 in the morning. I just cannot live like that. I did go to a club my first night here and have gone to a few bars since, but its just not what I really do. My favorite day so far was when we went to Parc Guell, thats just the kind of girl I am, which doesn't go to say that I judge at all what others do with their time, but I also don't want to blow all my money on alcohol and cover fees for clubs. And once actual classes start I doubt its going to be like this. I'm hoping that it will be a lot more chill and laid-back. I don't mind going to an occasional bar or pub and relaxing and talking, but clubs with 7000 people (I'm not kidding. There are clubs like that here) is just way too much for me.

I think I have found the biggest vending machine known to mankind. Its in the entrance way of the metro station by my dormitory and I swear they sell everything from water and candies and normal things like that to pharmaceuticals and condoms. Its so bizarre.

I can't remember if I already said this, but our Spanish classes have started. This week we're just having Spanish class and then next week all of our classes start. We had our welcoming party thing for IES last night. It was nice, I was able to meet a lot of new people and was even able to smoothly slip in little things about Euroadventures and how people should check out their trips. I think I've been doing pretty well on marketing them, if I do say so myself. There definitely is a balance that I have to make between just carrying a normal conversation and then inserting little hints about Euroadventures. Its awkward to go up to someone I don't know and have the first thing come out of my mouth be some marketing ploy.

Okay so long story short, I am planning on these trips:
Jan 28-30: Study Trip to Tarragona
Feb 4-7: Interlaken or Florence
Feb 19-21: Paris
Feb 26-28: Euskadi (Yes, Anchordoguy clan, I am going! I will document it all, I promise!)
Mar 4-7: Florence
Mar 12-14: Costa Brava
Mar 18-21: Traveling with the parents
Mar 26-Apr 5: Spring Break (Tentatively Rome, Amsterdam and Copenhagen)
Apr 15-18: French Riviera (Tentatively)
Apr 29: Heading to Greece with friends. Will go to Prague and maybe Brussels.

If anyone has any suggestions, that would be fantastic! More later.

Placa Catalunya at night

Parc Guell

Apparently its good luck to touch the lizard.

The National Food!

The Local Neighborhood

My roommate and I just took a long walk around the area where we live and discovered many different types of apartments, restaurants, and stores. We stocked up on some necessities like shampoo and hair conditioner and some snacks in case we find ourselves starving during siesta time and have nowhere to go (a lot of places shut down during siesta time which is pretty unfortunate since around 4 is when we usually get a little hungry). The closest grocery store is underneath an apartment complex. When we first got here it was impossible to find, but we were able to make it there. They sell some interesting things there like white asparagus in bottles. Not to sound judgmental at all, but lets just say that it didn't exactly make me want to grab a fork and dive in. They also don't refrigerate their cheese, milk or eggs. Apparently they use some sort of pasturization where refrigeration isn't necessary until you open them or something.

The area around our dorm is pretty cool. We hadn't had much of an opportunity to really explore it since we always seem to have other things to do, but it was nice to just leisurely walk around and see the sights. We found some cute little parks and some good restaurants and the weather was really beautiful again today. I think its definitely warming up, thank god.



In the afternoon/evening we ended up going to Las Ramblas for a scavenger hunt conducted by IES where we were given a route and a list of things that we were supposed to do. It was a little chaotic since we were supposed to do this with our spanish level class and even though it was stated that it was mandatory, there were several people who didn't come. I slightly envied them. We ended up walking around Las Ramblas for about two hours and it just got to the point where my feet hurt (even though I was wearing nice supportive shoes--thanks Mom and Dad) and it was cold and the lack of sleep that I had from the night before was ebbing away at my patience. We also ended up going down some sketchy alleyways (all as directed by IES, those crazy people) and there were definitely moments when I had my purse in a death grip. The places were much less populated and there were groups of somewhat menacing-looking guys (*don't worry, I was with a group of other people and there were several boys present) but I definitely was booking it out of there when we were through with our task.

I've found myself in many situations recently where I'm so exhausted and wanting to go back to the dorm to sleep but I can't and if I had been with my parents I would have been whiny and grumpy but since I was with people I was just getting to know, I was trying my darndest to maintain a pleasant attitude. I feel like I've just had to consistently be 'on' (for both the purposes of meeting people and letting them know about EuroAdventures--the travel company that I'm marketing/interning for) that I've just been drained at the end of each day.

This whole experience does still seem pretty surreal to me. I just got off skype with one of my best friends in Paris and she is having the time of her life and even just hearing about her experiences is unreal to me. I am so used to being and seeing her in the setting of Walla Walla, Washington where people wear plaid and bike around campus that being in this cosmopolitan city full of glamour and intrigue is....surreal. There isn't quite another way to describe it.

And I'm meeting so many people left and right. If I have learned anything about myself, its that I am very outgoing and that I do seem to thrive in situations where I get to meet a bunch of new people. All of the IES students on my floor in my dorm are good friends of mine now and if anything, I'm the one who is introducing them to a bunch of other new people that I just happen to meet in passing, in the flight over to Barcelona, or even in Spanish class. But there definitely is an aspect of it just being very draining and sometimes I find myself in need of just some quiet time.

I'm still trying to decide what I want to do tonight. I might stay in or go to Kittys, this Irish pub, with some friends just to keep them company. Decisions, decisions....

Parc Guell!

Ahhhh what a BEAUTIFUL....park? I don't really know how else to describe it. For those who do not know what Parc Guell is, it is a park that was constructed by Antoni Gaudi, one of the most famous architects of all time (well, I consider him as such anyway). He was commissioned by Eusebi Guell to create a park that was both intricate, yet mimicking nature. I only know this because I wrote a research paper on him this past semester, but it was amazing and even though it isn't exactly 'nature', its beautiful. And it was actually a really nice day. Its been pretty cold here so far and its been gray and overcast the past few days, but today it was sunny (albeit still a bit cold). We were only able to be there for about an hour and a half because we didn't get there until around 4:30 (because we're still trying to figure out the bus system) and the park closed at 6, but we were able to meet with a girl and her friend who I met on the airplane on my flight over and it was pretty fun being able to hang out in a big group.

We went back to Placa Catalunya afterwards and got a bit of food in Las Ramblas and some people had paella. So GOOD. All in all it was a really fun day. I'll put up some pictures, but here's a video that I took.

This city is crazy

I have come to the conclusion that Barcelona as a city is fantastically crazy. The people are ridiculously fashionable (never have I ever envied clothing worn by 60 year-old women until now), the food is delicious (who can resist paella?) and the nightlife is insane, possibly more so than preferred (that information can't exactly be disclosed but don't worry Mom and Dad, I abided by the law). Even breathing air is expensive here.

So my dorm has a bar. How ridiculous is that? And it has a workout facility, computer lab, music room, gym, a pool table and a lounge. Its like I'm in a miniature community where i don't need to go outside except for classes and social events.

We had our first day of orientation today, it was at 9 in the morning, which meant that we all had to wake up around 7:30 to get ready, eat breakfast and try to catch the bus. The bus schedules here are really confusing, its going to be a few days (weeks?) before we figure it out well enough to be able to know when to be there. We got to the bus stop around 8:15 and the bus didn't come for another half hour, so we were just a little late to orientation, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I think about three quarters of the 500 students on this program were late too.

I've realized that my roommate and I stand out a bit more than others. I do because I'm Asian and apparently they aren't very common in the European countries (I think I've only seen about 15 since I've been here....and I swear I must have seen thousands of people already) and she does because she's blonde in a country that is dominated by brunettes.

The other students (the Spanish) are very interesting. They seem nice and almost shy towards us, but there is this weird thing that happens at the cafeteria. So the cafeteria is set up in a very normal way, you walk in, grab a tray, load up on food and sit down. But when anyone in our group gets up to put their dishes away before the rest of us, the Spaniards all 'boo' at us and tink their glasses in disapprovement. I swear its like we are being seriously critiqued. Apparently its just their way of showing us that its rude to leave before others are finished, but its ridiculously awkward when it happens so none of us have tried to leave earlier than the others since the first couple times.

But overall, everything is going really well. My roommate is nice, everyone else on our floor is really chill (there are only 12 or 13 of us altogether in this dorm of 150 people so we are pretty tiny), the food is delicious, the people are interesting, the city itself and the architecture and everything is good.

My only qualm is how I'm going to survive with the way that the spaniards live their lives. Like siestas are great, I can definitely do those, but staying up until 4 in the morning? Can't do that much, but apparently social events don't start until very late. Good grief.

Anyways, speaking of siestas, I'm going to take one now. More later.

Day One (post arrival)

So the first official day of my time in Europe is today. This morning a couple friends and I decided to take a bus to the IES center to a) figure out the transportation system and b) to check out where exactly this place is. As we neared Placa Catalunya, where the center actually is, I realized that it looked incredibly familiar. I had had a homestay mom in one of the apartment suites right on Las Ramblas! I couldn't find the actual place of where her apartment was on Las Ramblas, but it was nice to have a somewhat familiar place that I was going to be returning to almost every day of my time here.

We bought some bus tickets, though we know that we're going to run out soon. We would literally all be using this bus at least 4 times a day if you just count going to the center, coming back for lunch, then going back to the center, then going back to the dorms. That doesn't even include what we do later on in the night. So I realized that the pass that I bought would only last a little over ten days. GHA.




Anyways, I found some fantastic cafes in the area....literally, the entire area is covered with cafes that have fresh squeezed orange juice and croissants up the gazoo. DELICIOUS! My parents and friends will seriously appreciate this when they visit. On our return to the dorm we took a quick trip to the mall so I could buy a blanket. THis dorm's idea of a 'blanket' is, essentially, another sheet. I don't know about other people, but I am not as warm as a natural hot spring on a regular basis. I need my warmth.

Anyways, gotta go. Another student just arrived so we're going to help her find a place to buy towels! More later.

Flight Over

I don't really know why it happens but I swear, sitting in an airplane for several hours feels like its almost more draining than playing an hour and a half straight of a soccer game. The flight over wasn't exactly my cup of tea, whatwith having to be in a plane for about 20 hours, but I'm finally here! I met some cool people on the plane. There were these two Jewish Mexican guys around my age who asked me to sign a wedding card (in Japanese) to their cousin who was getting married in Israel. I think they wanted to get as many different languages on it as possible, which is a cool idea.

I spent the majority (or that may be wishful thinking) of the flights sleeping and there weren't as many movies shown as I remember. And of course they were all G-rated, but I'm a fan of Pixar so I really shouldn't complain. Note to Dad: You're right about me and my inability to judge bad movies. I sat through literally an hour and a half of this horrible movie called Shorts. Never again.

So I took a taxi to my dorm and am actually pretty impressed by the living situation. I was half-expecting it to be less nice and though it is a little small (I share it with one other person) we have our own bathroom, several closets, and we each have a desk. This place has IKEA written all over it (both figuratively and actually) but its nice, a little drafty, but that can totally be dealt with after I buy a heavier blanket.



I'm thinking that as of now I'm going to take a little siesta time (gotta love the way the Spanish live their everyday lives) and then I'm hanging out with friends tonight. This bodes pretty well for the rest of the semester. More to come!