Ruins, Churches, and everything in between

It's been almost 2 weeks since I've been here!! The time is flying by. Anyways, I'll do my best to recap the past week and a half the best I can.

Last weekend the whole program took a weekend trip to Tarragona and Valencia. Tarragona is about 1 1/2 outside of Barcelona. It's an old Roman city, which is why we went--to see the Roman ruins. It's a beautiful quaint little town, at least I felt like it was little and quaint. We took a tour of what was left of the old Roman wall, the cathedral, the circus, and the amphitheater where they use to have gladiator fights. Also, during the Spanish Civil Way, the amphitheater was used as a prison. The amphitheater is right on the Mediterranean. I would have loved to stay and spend some time at the beach, but we had to leave to go to Valencia.The Roman Amphitheater

Valencia is about 4 hours outside of Barcelona. It's the third largest city in Spain, population wise, next to Madrid and Barcelona. We got there about 7:30, had dinner, and then it was time to go out!! The Spanish like to go out late and stay out until the early morning--something I'm still adjusting too. We went to a bar and had super tasty mojitos. Then we went to a discoteca. It was PACKED, playing techno music, and a ton of people from the program were there.

The Cathedral in Valencia at night

The next day we toured the harbor where the America's Cup Sailing Race takes place. We also went around the old part of the city, saw some old churches, and went into the cathedral. All very beautiful. It was also the Saturday before Corpus Christi, so we got to see the floats for the parade on Sunday. They also had fireworks that night. Later that night we went out again to a really cool club by the beach. It was basically everyone from my program.

Sunday we went to the new part of the city--the opera house and the art museum. We didn't get a chance to go inside, but we did get to take some pretty cool pictures. Then we went to the aquarium--it was pretty cool, saw a dolphin show.The opera house in Valencia

Classes started on Monday. I have Contemporary History of Spain at 9 am (brutal) and then Modernism in Architecture and Comparative Design at 2:30, so I've got a four hour break in between. On Monday, I went with a friend who has the same break to Parque Montjuic. There we saw the Olympic Stadium, the National Museum, and some Greek theater. The park is ENORMOUS. I really want to go back and go into the National Museum and the Olympic museum. Free museum day is the first Sunday of the month--tomorrow, so I think my roommates and I are going to go to a few.The National Museum of Art

Olympic Stadium

Where they put the Olympic Torch

On Tuesday we saw Indiana Jones in English!! I haven't seen any of the other ones. It was alright, kind of weird. Tuesday night was also our first cultural activity. Our RA's cooked us a Spanish dinner. It was pretty tasty. I don't remember what the main dish was called, but we did have bread with tomato and olive--similar to bruschetta.

Wednesday we went and checked out Sargrada Familia--the church that has been under construction since 1882. I didn't have my camera with me, but don't worry I'm going back so I'll take pictures then. It was actually kind of nice not having a camera. I didn't feel like I had to constantly take pictures of everything. I just got to stand and stare and absorb. The detail is BREATHTAKING. It really is unreal. And there's people from all over--every language imaginable flying around. I can't really explain it. It's one of those places that you really just have to see. And after 126 years, it's just about 50% complete. I don't think it will ever be finished. I don't think it can be finished. I didn't get the chance to go up to the top--the wait was too long and we were on a time crunch, but I'm going back with my architecture class, so I'll take pictures then and hopefully go up to the top.

Thursday was wine tasting. I don't like wine, but I thought going to a wine class would help me appreciate it. We learned how to look at wine, smell it, and taste it. We tried a white, a rosetta, and two reds. I liked the white and the rosetta, not so much the reds. It was a fun class though, and I was right I definitely appreciate wine more.After wine tasting

Friday I dont have class, wohoo!! I slept in (very much needed) and then met my roommates to go to the beach! The beach was PACKED. It's funny, there are people walking around asking if you want a massage for 5 euro, a beer for 1 euro, or a henna tattoos. Unfortunately, the clouds started to roll in and it started raining, so we didnt get to stay for that long. I really don't understand this whole drought, because there have been more rainy days than sunny ones since I've been here.

Today we all slept very late after going out and staying out very late. Then we visited Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona. We got to see the locker rooms, the chapel where they pray before games, the actual soccer field, the press rooms. There was also a museum, and in true amusement park/tourist attraction fashion, you leave through the store. I did get an FC Barcelona hoodie because I didn't bring a hoodie with me and there has been a few cold days and chilly nights.Camp Nou- "More than a club"

This week I booked my trip to PARIS!!!!! I'm so excited. I'm going with my roommate Danielle, this guy Kris, and this girl Emily. We're leaving early in the morning on Friday, June 13th and coming back in the afternoon on Sunday the 14th. So we've got 2 1/2 days in Paris. I have a friend, Ivana, from school who's been studying there all semester, so I'm really excited to see her. We even found a cheap hotel that's really close to all the sights. I think it's in Montmarte.

I'm enjoying myself so much. I feel so incredibly lucky to be doing this. This really is one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and Barcelona is such a beautiful and amazing city.

I'll try and keep up with the blogging, but I'm not making any promises.

L'auberge Espagnole -- El Apartamento Español -- The Spanish Apartment

I finally got my internet to work!!

So here are the pictures from my apartment. We live in a super safe and nice neighborhood. We're centrally located in the city, and there's a metro stop right down the street. It never takes us very long to get anywhere--it's about a 10 minute metro ride from our apartment to Placa Catalunya, wich is where the IES center (where we take our classes) is located.

When you walk in

The kitchen

The living room with 2 of my roommates

The dining room


View from the living room


View from the living room


My room + my roommate

My desk

guitarista -- el parque güell

The Birds

I'm terrified of birds. As a child, Alfred Hitchcock ruined me. In the Placa Catalunya there are pigeons, and for 1.50 euro, you can buy a bag of birdseed to feed them. I don't know what possessed us to, but Tania and I decided it would be funny to feed the pigeons. It was the most terrifying experience ever. I've got a video, but it takes forever to upload. I'll put it up eventually.







Orientation was this morning for a couple hours. Then we had a two hour break for lunch and used that time to go to the puerto olympico on the beach and have lunch. It was HOT at the beach, but it was pretty. I can't wait to go back and actually enjoy the water. We ate lunch at a restaurant at the beach where you sit on beds to eat. It was pretty relaxing. I tried clara with lunch, which is beer mixed with lemon juice. It was pretty good--very refreshing since it was pretty hot outside. We also saw the Frank Gehry fish at the puerto olympico.

My roommates and had to go back to the IES center for our language house orientation. The language house is two apartments, ours, 5 girls + our RA Laura, and an apartment 3 floors above us of 3 boys + their RA, Pao. We're supposed to speak only in Spanish, and each week we have to come up with some type of cultural, linguistic activity for which IES picks up the tab. It's a pretty sweet deal since the kids living in the regular apartments don't get to cash in on that perk. Our first activity together is next week--the boys are cooking us dinner up in their apartment and we're going to have a big Spanish-style dinner.

After the language house orientation, we signed up for extracurriculars and trips. I signed up for a cooking class where we learn how to make tortilla española, paella y gaspacho, a Catalan wine tasting class, a day trip to a small town on la costa brava, and a day trip to hike Monteserrat. A little shopping was next, as well as walking down las ramblas, taking in all the street performers. We bought our monthly metro passes today, and we've pretty much mastered the metro in the little bit we've been here. So after walking down las ramblas a bit, we decided to hop the metro and go to the parque guell, which is the gaudi park. After getting off the metro we had to walk about 600 meters up a super STEEP hill, and then once we got to the park, we had to climb a little bit more, but the view was AMAZING. You could see all of Barcelona. The park is beautiful. We saw all the mosaics and statues. It's a HUGE park, so I definitely want to go back and spend some more time there. After the park, we had to walk about a mile to get back on the metro, but we finally made it back to our apartment.



Oh and we met our 5th roommate who didn't get in until today because of a canceled flight. My roommates are Saran from Baltimore, Kelly from Atlanta, Danielle from Chicago, and Tania from Texas (I share a room with Tania). Our RA is Laura--she's super cool and laidback. Once we got back from the park, we took a walk around the neighborhood with Laura and Pao and the boys from the apartment upstairs. They showed us restaurants, shops, parks, the movie theater, metro and bus stop, la zona de fiesta (bars and clubs) near our apartment, etc. I've noticed a ton of dogs here. When we were in the park near our apartment, there was a big circle of grass where everyone just let their dogs loose. They all seemed very well behaved too. They don't come running up to you, don't bark, play nice with one another. I also think that its amusing they know commands in Spanish--obviously because their owners are Spanish, but anyway, I thought it was amusing. After the barrio tour, Saran, Kelly, Danielle, and the boys upstairs (Daniel, Casey, Eric) had lunch at an Italian restaurant nearby. It was pretty good. They brought out this olive spread that was DELICIOUS. I love how meals here are long social events. They won't bring out the check until you ask, leaving lots of time to chit chat long after you've finished your food.

It was a long day, but I felt like I saw a lot for one day. I'm working on getting pictures on facebook and on shutterfly, but it might take me a while--I took 74 pictures just today!!

I absolutely love it here and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Arrival

Finally in Barcelona...after a delay in Las Vegas, then a 5 hour plane ride to Newark, a one hour connection, then a 6 1/2 hour plane ride to Barcelona....but I'm finally here!!!

After picking up my luggage, I met with the IES people to get all the information about my housing and orientation, and once I did all that, it was like a 20 minute cab ride to my apartment. The cab driver was very nice, telling me all kinds of things about the city. I met the land lady as I walked into the apartment building. She's an older lady, super sweet. I want to say her name is Augustina. Anyways, as I came in with all my luggage, she informed me that the elevator was broken and that I would have to carry everything up to the third floor. She let me leave my big heavy bag down with her while I went upstairs to get into the apartment and drop off my backpack. I walked up the three flights of stairs, found the apartment door, put my key in, and then for the life of me I couldn't get the door open. After ten minutes or so of trying to get the door open, I gave up and walked back downstairs. The landlady said she didn't have a key to the apartment and that maybe I should try calling the RA. I decided I would go up and wrestle with the door once more. Up the three flights of stairs again...wrestled with the door some more, and finally, I got it open (I discovered that you have to pull as you turn the key, then push the door open). Then back down the stairs to lug my big heavy suitcase up to the apartment.

The apartment is pretty big. I share a room with another girl, Tania from Texas. After getting all my stuff in. I walked around, investigated the kitchen, bathroom, living room, etc. The apt is in a good neighborhood, lots of little restaurants, a school, and a hospital near by. Also, I'm pretty sure there's a strip club next door; however, I was assured this is a very nice neighborhood. Our windows look out onto the busy street--the noise kind of reminds me of the noise I could hear from my room in Lone Mountain--the sirens sound a bit different though.
I had this moment looking at the window, totally alone in this apartment, where I felt completely disoriented and out of my mind, like what the hell did I get myself into. But after that brief moment, I laid down on the couch and took a much needed nap. One of my roommates, the girl I share a room with showed up. It was nice to finally have another person here and not feel so alone. We chatted, unpacked a little bit, and decided we were both starving and needed to get some food. As we were leaving the apartment, another one of our roommates, Kelly, showed up.

Tania and I found our way to the nearest metro station and took the metro to Placa de Catalunya and Las Ramblas. We walked around, went to El Corte Ingles to get some linens, which were ridiculously over priced. The pillows were like 40 euro, which is like 60 bucks. We found some other pillows, that are square, which I find odd, more reasonably priced. Walking around Las Ramblas was fun. All the street performers and little shops. We got bocadillos of bread and salami for lunch--super tasty too. There was also this market type thing, with tons of fruit and chocolates and meats. I got some fresh pineapple orange juice. We walked around some more, then made our way back to the apartment.

It still feels a little surreal actually being here, but its great so far. I'm excited to meet the other roommates. I'm exhausted, but I need to unpack, and I don't want to get jetlag, so I'm trying not to sleep again until I got to bed tonight. Orientation starts tomorrow--I'm sure it will give me plenty more to say. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll take some of the apt and post them soon.

Packing Light

Packing light has never been my forte. I'm the person with the huge suitcase for a short weekend trip. I admire people who can throw a few things in a backpack and be ready to go. Needless to say, packing for a 7 week stay in Barcelona is proving to be a little bit of a challenge. I told myself I was only going to pack the absolute necessities, but then I see a really cute pair of shoes sitting in my closet that will look great with a dress I'm taking. I'm trying though. I've set out everything I want to take and tomorrow I'll go through it and decide what is absolutely necessary and what I won't wear and will just take up space in my suitcase. Hopefully, I'll be able to magically whittle down my wardrobe, and end up with a half empty suitcase--highly unlikely, but I can be hopeful.

It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm going to Barcelona in just a day. It probably won't hit me until I step off the plane. Or maybe it won't hit me until after it's over and I'm looking at pictures. Sometimes that happens, I'll be looking at pictures from past trips, reminiscing and I'll think to myself "Did that really happen? Did I really do that? It wasn't all a dream?" Either way, I'm really excited, I know it will be an amazing experience.