Adios Barcelona :(

¡Hola familia y amigos! Pienso que esto es la última vez de escribir en España. ¡Qué triste!

Before, I get into how much I’m going to miss Barcelona, I guess I can update you all on what I have been up to during my last couple of weeks here. Well, as you all know, Ben was here for

Thanksgiving, so he decided to stay and travel with me to Seville and Granada last weekend. We had a good time together, although Ben and I have very different feelings when it comes to traveling. We eventually worked them out.

In Seville we stayed at one of the best hostels I have stayed at while in Europe. We met some very interesting people, such as a guy from Australia who decided to walk from France to Spain…no big deal. It was just a 400 km walk (he said). His next trip: he’s going to buy a donkey and go on a year-long hike through northern Spain. Crazy Ausies.

While in Seville, we visited the Cathedral where Christopher Columbus is buried and climbed to the top of the bell tower. We also saw a flamenco show, visited Plaza España, explored the city, and shopped in the Christmas markets. We also met up with one of my friends from NMU who is studying in Seville. She took us out for a night on the town. Jess, I’m still mad at your for the shot! Vodka, Tequila, hot sauce, and pepper??? Gross.

One of my favorite memories from Seville was when Ben ordered his lunch. He order his meal and when he was finished he said, “con todo,” when he should have said “es todo” meaning, “that’s all.” The waiter understood, “con toro.” So…moments later, the waiter came out with a plate of food; meat to be exact. We were both shocked and had no idea what it was! We asked him and he said, “Es toro.” And that’s when I knew…Ben had ordered bull.

After spending a couple days in Seville and having a horrible night’s sleep thanks to the guy snoring all night, we traveled by bus to Granada. Granada was absolutely beautiful. Not to mention, we stayed in a hotel rather than a hostel because they were all booked. While in Granada, we visited the Cathedral where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried, the Alhambra, the markets, and explored the city.

We also had some really good Moroccan food at a local restaurant. I think my favorite thing about Granada was the free tapas you receive when you order a drink. It´s a beautiful thing and saves a lot of money.

We returned to Barcelona on Monday night and Ben returned on Tuesday to Rome to then fly home to the States on Wednesday. I, of course, had school to go to on Wednesday and Thursday. Although the week went by really fast since we only had two days of classes that week. On Friday, I went to Montserrat with Elsa and her dad. I thought we were just going to be hiking around and visiting the touristy stuff up there. Boy was I wrong. Instead we went rock climbing. Yes, actually rock climbing. Let´s just say I am still sore. It was an awesome experience though with amazing views. That night, we went out to dinner with some friends as a going away dinner. We went to this place called Cheese Me. The food was amazing. I had this pasta with pear and cheese filling and with a mushroom, cava, and cheese sauce. Incredible. To top it off, I had a steak!!!!!!! I haven´t had one in forever! What a good way to end the evening.

On Saturday, Brittany and I went to Tarragona with plans to meet up with our Señora and Laura at their Grandma´s house in Calafell. We were in for quite the surprise. While in Tarragona, we saw a lot of Roman ruins. Our favorite was the Roman amphitheater. It was mainly because we were the only ones in there and got to play around in an ancient ruin!
Once we were done in Tarragona, we met our Señora and Laura at the train station. Our first hint that something was up was when we saw them wearing backpacks. Hmm….why are they wearing backpacks when we are just going over for dinner??? Well, maybe they brought some extra foods? Our next hint that something was up was when they asked us if we minded sleeping in bunk beds!!!! What?!?! Sleeping….here? Oh no…we were staying the night at Grandma’s house. When we arrived at Grandma’s house, which was really big and pretty, we began making Tortilla Espanola. We finally learned!! It’s not hard at all, although Brittany has a hard time cracking the eggs.

After dinner, we were getting ready for bed when Laura noticed we didn’t have pajamas. She asked us if we forgot our pajamas. Well…yes we did. Let’s see…that was probably because we didn’t know we were staying overnight! Ha ha. She said she would find us something and boy did her find us something. She came back with these ridiculous pajamas. We all started laughing. I’m pretty sure we were crying because they were so ridiculous.

Needless to say, we wore them. And we watched the Golden Girls in them. Even though it was our last Saturday night in Spain, we still have a good time playing cards and spending the night at Grandmas.

And now for the part about how much I’m going to miss Barcelona….

I have no idea where the time went. If feels like just yesterday, I was meeting my Señora and moving into my room in Barcelona. How the time sure does fly by! It is such a bittersweet feeling to be leaving. I absolutely love it here and could defiantly see myself coming back here in the near future. Who knows…maybe I’ll find a job that has a partnership in Barcelona?

But really, I have had an amazing time here; words cannot even describe my feelings. Studying abroad in Spain was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life and would never take it back! I have learned so much about life in general. I have gained appreciation for different cultures, met so many incredible people, and traveled to many amazing places. Barcelona has really become home for me. I feel so comfortable here and love everything about it. That is why it is going to be so hard to leave. My Señora and Laura (her daughter) have become family. I love the time we spend together, even though I can’t understand my Señora a good majority of the time because she speaks so darn fast! I’m going to miss her crazy surprises, like chocolate sandwiches and FC Barcelona wine glasses, her crazy stories and animation while telling them, and her YouTube obsession. Remember that one time, Brittany, when we watched cute babies on YouTube for about an hour? And when we watched Mr. Bean perform the imaginary drums? Ha ha.

I think the worst part about leaving is that I am going to have to leave all my friends here that I shared this experience with; most of them, I will probably never see again. It's a strange feeling to have all these memories with people who I might never even talk to again. It's going to seem like this was all a dream; as if it never existed becaues I won't see them everyday anymore. I guess I'll just have to make an effort to keep in touch with people so that this experience doesn't just disappear. With that being said, I hope you all don't get sick of me talking about my time here. Please, just bare with me :)

I don’t even know what else to say. I wish I could bring everyone to Barcelona to experience what I have experienced here.

Well, for one last time, here is my agenda for the rest of the week/time in Spain:
- Finals
- Packing
- Shopping for wine/olive oil
- GOING OUT FOR THE LAST TIME
- Flying home on Thursday

¡Adiós para la última vez de España! Besssitos!

Bueno…lo siento chicos. Estoy muy ocupada, no funciona el internet, y tengo muchos tareas y presentaciones.

Ay…where to begin? Well it has been a couple of weeks since I have written and a lot has happened during those two weeks. I think the two biggest events that happened were going to Berlin and Ben coming for Thanksgiving. Let’s start with Berlin:

I absolutely loved Berlin! I think that was my favorite city that I have visited so far. I felt right at home, even though I couldn’t communicate with anyone because I don’t know a word of German…well, ok, I know a couple words like ya, nien, unt beir. Just enough. I also felt right at home because everyone was tall!! In Spain, I always stand out of the crowd because I am so tall, but in Germany, I was normal! It was the best feeling ever! I went on this trip with Elsa and Hannah, two girls I met in class and who are a ton of fun to travel with.

We started out our trip by going out to dinner at an authentic German restaurant. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the food was amazing! I got a pork roast with sauerkraut, potato dumplings and gravy. Y, claro, we got a beer as well. The restaurant also had an outdoor beer-garden, which, unfortunately, was closed, but it looked like it would be so much fun in the summer. We decided we would need to go back. We tried to find a bar to go out after dinner, but we were unsuccessful.

La próxima día, we decided to go on a free walking tour of the city. This was one of my favorite things we did in Berlin. We started the tour in Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate. When we arrived at the starting point for our tour, we were split up into different groups and then assigned a tour guide. Our tour guide was Barry. Barry was from Ireland and, at first, we thought he was going to be a horrible tour guide….yes, we judged by his looks. However, he was one of the best tour guides I have ever had. He was hilarious and was so knowledgeable. On our tour, we saw the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag (which was burned and then used by Hitler as an source of blame on the German communists), the location of Hitler’s bunker (now a very popular place to bring dogs to pee), the Holocaust Memorial, the Book Burning Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelplatz (which contained an opera house that was boomed twice that Hitler decided to rebuild during the war), Humboldt University, the balcony that Michael Jackson hung his child out of, and much more. Barry also told us the story of the fall of the Berlin wall. It was interesting to find out that it was basically a mistake by the speaker at the press conference.

After our tour, we went to some of the Christmas markets. It was so fun! We ate bratwurst, currywurst, bratkartoffeln (the best thing ever invented – potatoes, onions, and pork), and Glϋwien (warm wine). Yummmmmmmmm. We also did a little shopping, claro. Despues, we went to a famous chocolate shop. We spent quite a while in there and only bought a couple pieces of chocolate. Haha. We then returned to our hostel and got ready for a pubcrawl! The pubcrawl was a blast and ended with a shwarma (sp?). I doesn’t matter; it was the perfect way to end the night.

The next day, we went on another tour through the same company; however this one was not free. This tour went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp was actually the model camp that set the standard for all the others to follow. There are not even words to describe the feelings felt on this tour. It was very mind opening and, at points, unreal. I saw things that I never thought could be real. I really liked that way our tour guide ended the tour. He said that don’t think of this as what, “Germans are capable of, but what mankind is capable of.” He, himself, had family members that were Nazis, and others that were German Communists in the concentration camps.

After we returned to Berlin, since the concentration camp was outside of the city, we returned to the Christmas market for some more wonderful German food. We also visited the Reichstag. When this building was reconstructed after the fire, they added a glass dome to the top. Now, tourists are able to walk up and around the dome to see a full view of the city. It was incredible to see the city from such a high view. That night, we had every intention of experiencing more of Berlin’s nightlife; however, we were too tired to even leave the hostel. Sad. I guess that fact that our plane left at 7:40 am had a little to do with the fact that we stayed in.
We returned on Sunday stuffed with German food and tons of Milka chocolate; three bars to be exact.

Quotes from the weekend:
“Did you make it yourself?”
“I’d like three Uwiens”
“Where are you from?” “Canada” “Wait, you’re from Canada? So am I!” “I thought you were from Greece.”
“So…what is the name of the stop?” “(insert long German word)” “Um….so what letter does that start with?”
“I can’t get Lady Gaga out of my head” – Barry

Sunday was a day full of homework and relaxation, which will be much needed for the week ahead.

Monday was a wonderful day. For my International Business class, we had a huge group project that we have been working on since the beginning of the semester. Well, on Monday, one of my group members decided he didn’t want to do his part because he was too stressed out with other things. Keep in mind that our presentation/paper was due on Thursday. No big deal. Entonces, my other two groups members and I had to work our butts of the next couple of days trying to finish his part of the project. Luckily, we all were determined to finish and finished just in time.

I also met with my intercambio. You can tell my Spanish is getting better. This time I only told him I ate a shark (tiburón) instead of túrron (a popular Spanish dessert para Navidad) y I told him I had a son (hijo) instead of brother (hermano). No worries, he only freaked out a little bit.

Wednesday Ben arrived and we went out to dinner with Brittany’s sister, brother in-law, and best friend. I tried to relax a little before my presentation the next day by drinking about half a bottle of wine. Good life choice.

Thursday I gave my presentation. Let’s just say, I’m glad it’s over and I never want to visit China. It was also our little sister’s birthday and we gave her Reese’s. She went crazy! She absolutely loved them.

Ben and I did a lot of touring this weekend. We visited la Sagrada Familia, Park Gruell, Barrio Gótica, Las Ramblas, Montjuic, La Boqueria, y muchos más. We also did a lot of eating and drinking. I think I gave Ben a good taste of the Barcelona nightlife. So good, that he fell asleep at a bar and in the taxi. The picture below is the whole gang: Brittany, Hannah, Ben, Everet and Ashley!

The only bad thing about the weekend was the fact that I got my wristlet stolen. No big deal; just lost my phone, camera, keys, money, and metro card. Eeeek.

Quotes from the weekend:
“Becky, I can’t get in.” (Dos veces)

Next on the agenda:

-3 most presentations to go!

- Sevilla and Granada on Thursday

- Going out much and taking advantage of my last days in Barcelona :(

Besitos!

Girona, Figures, Fútbol, Amsterdam

Oops...kind of forgot to update :(

Hmm...what have I been up to for the past two weeks? Well...two weekends ago we went to Girona y Figures, which are both small towns located north of Barcelona. In Girona, we went on a walking tour of the old city. It used to be a walled city, like Barcleona, and still has a lot of the wall still standing. We got to walk on the wall and see the beautiful view from the top of it. We also saw the Arab Baths of Girona. It was reall cool to see these old bath/sauna houses that they used to use. The sad thing about Girona is that the French came and stole a lot of the statues and destroyed a lot of the city :( Pero, there is still a lot of interesting things to see.

After our guided tour, we went to Figures where we visited the Dalí museum. Dalí designed the entire museum so the entire museum is a work of art. The outside of the museum is pink with egg like sculptures on the top. Its sounds very strange and, well, it is very strange. He is also buried inside. Since there is no guided tours through the museum (because Dalí wanted visitors to tour freely throught the museum and get what they want out of it), we had a scavenger hunt that our program gave to us. Whoever answered the most questions right, won. And yes...guess who won...................ME! haha. I won a Dalí elefante. Sounds strange...well it´s Dalí.

That night Brittany, Elsa and I went to go see 500 days of summer at a local theater that plays movies in their original language. The theater was so small and so cute. And yes, they do sell popcorn there. They also sell beer in the vending machine....quite interesting. The movie was very good and despues we found a crepe place and ate crepes.....yum. I got a banana and nutella crepe. Perfect ending to the day.

The next day we decided to go shopping, what else is new? At least everytime we go shopping we go to different malls. Haha. Then, that night we went to the FC Barcelona fútbol game. This time Brittany and I had much better seats. The game was good, but they didn´t play their best and Messi only played for half of the second half. However, he did score the penalty shot. After the game, Elsa and I went out to the IceBar. Its the first Ice Bar in the world and its located on the beach. It was very fun and the drinks were so good. The entire bar is made of ice including the seats and the cups. If you don´t drink your drink fast enough, it starts to freeze...DRINK UP! We only lasted about 30 minutes inside and then we went outside to warm up and stand under a heater. Haha.

Sunday, we spent the day lounging around with our family; watching movies and chatting. Also, the internet stopped working that day...que malo! The following days were the same old same old. School, homework, research. Wednesday I went to see La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) the musical in Spanish. I was surprised how much I understood! I understood almost all of the speaking parts...the songs were a little harder to understand, but I knew what was going on. I think my favorite part was hearing Lumiere speak in Spanish with a French accent. Que interestante!

Thursday, Brittany, Lindsey and I left for Amsterdam. Our tripped didn´t start out so well. I found out that my bank canceled my debit card and the airlines lost Brittany´s luggage. Usually we don´t check our luggage, but this was the first time we were not flying with RyanAir (a cheap airlines that makes you pay when you want to check your luggage) and we were allowed to check our luggage for free so we figured...por qué no? Well, we should have carried it on. Then, we had to take a train in order to get into the city after we arrived...well, the train decided not to show up, so we were stuck in the train station till 2am. Awesome. We did however entertain ourselves with Lindsey´s kid´s meal toy from Burger king....Patrick from Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Besides the start to our trip, Amsterdam was beautiful. I think it is one of my favorite cities that I have traveled to so far. On Friday, we went to the Anne Frank house. I don´t even know how to describe it; there are no words. It was very powerful to be standing in her room where she wrote her diary. We got to walk through their entire hiding place. We walked through the secret passage way that was covered with a bookcase. It was amazing. Really sad, but amazing.

After that, we went on a walking tour of the city. It was very interesting to learn the history of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is named after the river Amstel (like the beer) and the dam that was built on the river...very creative. It was also, at one time, the financial power of the world. Amsterdam is centered around business and making money. They will do anything to make money; hense why almost everything is legal. We also had the famous Dutch pancakes and also went on a pub crawl. Want to hear something crazy?? You have to pay to use the bathrooms at the bars! See...Amsterdam will do anything to make money. I tried to bargain with them. "But what if we all go together and only flush once?" Yup, we still had to pay :(

Saturday, we went to the Heinkien Factory, the IAMSTERDAM sign, the Van Gough Museum, a romantic canal cruise (right Brittany?), and the Red Light District. The Heinkien factory was so much fun. We went into a simulator where you pretended like you were a Heinkein beer and were being brewed and bottled. It was hilarious seeing everyone pretending to be bottles. We were also able to record a video of use signing karaoke to a Dutch song and then send it to people. The Van Gough museum was also very impressive. I love his work. It's amazing to see how many pieces of art one person can paint in their life. I could never paint enough paintings to fill an entire musuem! Our romantic canal cruise for two was through this company called "Lovers"...haha...it was interesting. And...the Red Light District. Wow, can you say culture shock? Didn't see that one coming. If you want to know more...just ask. haha. Sunday we came home :(

And now...it's just another Monday.

Agenda for the week:
- 2 papers
- 4 presentations
- Meet with intercambio

- BERLIN on Thursday!!

Quotes from the weekend:

- "But what if we all go together and don't flush..."

- "I only have 25 cents"

- "Patrick!!"

- "Bwittney is such a charwictor"

- "There's a cat in our hostel"

- "Is this train going to Central Station? No? GET OFF GET OFF!"

- "Lindsey, help us!" "I can't...we need to leave"

- "This is the cutest little street I've ever seen!" "I know, let's walk down it" "...so yea, that was the red light district"

- "I love men with bodies like yours"

- "Yesterday there were three, and now there are only two." "Yea, we lost one" "Oh, it was a difficult night?"

- "Pues siiiiiiiiiiiii"

- "Lindsey, you are a horrible mother..." "You're a horrible mother, you lost Patrick in the Van Gough museum"

- Pancakes.....

...y ya está. Hasta luego. Muchos besssoos!

La Ovella y La Mantequilla, no es La Aveja y La Mariquita

Hola, hola, hola!

I think I just had the longest weekend of my life, primarily because it started on Wednesday. Last week we had midterms, which, for me, ended on Tuesday! It felt so good to be done with everything that we decided to start the weekend a little early.

Pues, Wednesday we went to L'Ovella Negra, a local bar that is muy divertido! Me encanta. También, muchas días conocer personas nuevas de Barcelona. Anyway, we went there for a couple of beers, some sangria, and to socialize. It was a chill night, but a good way to celebrate. And yes, for all you parents reading, I did make it to my 9am class on Thursday morning!

On Thursday, after going to class of course, we decided to go out again. ¿Por qué no? We don´t have class on Friday. So, we decided to go to Bar Marsella. Bar Marsella is one of Barcelona´s oldest bars. Hemmingway, Picasso, and Dalí were known to go there back in the day. Also, at this bar, they sell Absinthe, which is an alcoholic beverage that is (parents cover your eyes) illegal in the States, only because it is too strong for us Americans. Seeing as I am basically Spanish now, I figured I could handle it. It is actually a pretty interesting process in order to drink it. The bartender hands you a glass (about 1/3 full) of Absinthe, a fork, a sugar cube, and a bottle of water. First, you dip the sugar cubes in the Absinthe to allow them to soak up the alcohol. Then you place the fork across the top of the glass and put the sugar cubes on the fork. You then take a lighter and light the sugar cubes on fire. When the flame goes out, you spray sugar cubes with the water and mix it all together. The end result should be a full glass that looks kind of like lemonade. We were not successful on our first try and therefore had to drink a very strong glass of Absinthe. However, we mastered it on the second glass :) We then attempted to go to a club, however, the line was enormous and Brittany's foot got crushed. Don't worry though, I made her elevate it and it is all better now!

On Friday, we woke up around noon, at lunch, an decided to go shopping. Well, you can never go wrong with shopping and of course we were very productive :) That night, we ate pizza for dinner (this will come in play later in the story). Our señora ordered us our own pizza for the two of us. Of course, we didn´t finish it, however we put the last two pieces in the refridgerator for later. So, once again, we went out. We ended up at L'Ovella Negra once again. This is where Brittany found the love of her life (not really). However, she was able to practice her Spanish again, only this time he was not a native Spanish speaker...actually he lived in England. Before finding this out, she asked him if he wanted to practice his English while she practiced her Spanish. He answered in perfect English...nevermind. haha. We finished off the night at a club called City Hall, and luckily, we didn't have to pay for a cab because we stayed out long enough for the metro to open up again! Again, parents, we are only trying to be financially smart. Well, when we got home...we were a little hungry and we knew that there was some leftover pizza in the refridgerator. I think you can figure out where this story is going...yes, we ate the leftover pizza out of our Señoras fridge. Oops. The best part is, the next day at lunch, our Señora said, "La pizza fue rico no?" She knew....

Saturday was a lazy day. We lounged around all day. But then we remembered that we didn't have Halloween outfits. So at about 5pm, we decided we should probably go find some. We looked for about 2-3 hours and finally settled on being a bee and a lady bug. Our Señora loved our costumes, but her friend thought it was strange that we weren't something scary. After getting ready, we went to say goodbye to our Señora. We stayed and talked to her for about an hour. She taught us the words for bee and ladybug in Spanish, but we kept messing them up. "Aveja" is bee and "mariquita" is ladybug is Spanish. However, we kept saying "ovella and mantequilla" which means sheep and butter. haha. Also we learned that you have to say "UNA mariquita" because if you don't it means you are gay. We had a good time. The rest of the night was way to much fun. Let's just say we took 80 pictures while waiting for the metro, fell asleep with the lights on and snuggling my computer, and my keys were found in the toilet the next morning. ¿Quieres pan Brittany?

Sunday was All Saints Day. Because it was a holiday, Jorge (Laura´s father) came over to eat and spend the day with us. Let´s just say socializing, and eathing seafood is very hard when you are hungover :( I'm pretty sure our Señora wants to test our stomachs every Sunday morning. She also offered me wine, and made me smell this cherry liquor that she has.

A tradition they have here is they eat panallets, castañas (roasted chestnuts), and boniatos (sweet potatoes). Entonces, later in the day, we had these as a snack. These went over a lot better than the seafood...

Today and Monday, were the same as they always are.

Things on the agenda for this week:

- Ice Bar

- Girona y Figures

- FC Barcelona game on Saturday

- La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) on Sunday

-Shopping?

- Parc Cuidadella?

- And, homework of course...

Adios! Bessssssssssos!

Otras cosas que he aprendido en España

I have been here for almost 2 months now and have learned some more things/have noticed some cultural differences. Here are some. Disfrútate!

- The mullet is a popular haircut here
- People dress with the season, not with the weather. For example, if it's 70 degrees in October, people wear jeans, long sleeve shirts, jackets, boots, etc. I wore shorts and got strange looks.
- People think I'm French. I have gotten "merci" more than I have gotten "gracias"
- Pico means beak, not apartment
- Spanish men are short
- Germans are tall, large, and generally good looking (must be where I get my good looks from!)
- "Hamburger" said in English by a German is the funniest thing ever!
- Swedish people speak almost perfect English
- Cava is my new favorite drink
- The TV series "Friends" is called "Colegas" in Spanish and I think it's 10 times funnier!
- It's true that Europeans don't shave.
- Finding shaving cream here was hard...and they only had 1 type to choose from.
- Nata means whipped cream...not scum
- The Marilyn Monroe peircing is very popular
- Spanish people judge you by your shoes
- Cheese flavored snacks do not exist in Spain
- My English is getting worse...You thought my spelling was bad before...Dios mio! Ahora es horrible!
- When Spanish people speak in English, they have British accents
- Gofres con chocolate (chocolate waffles) are my new favorite snack.
- They sell beer at McDonalds, but not at the Barcelona soccer games
- "¿Tienes sueño?" means "Are you tired" not "Did you have dreams?" Do not respond with "No recuerdo (I don't remember)"
- Dogs are so well trained here!! The other day, I saw a dog waiting for its owner outside a shop without a leash. The dog was like a British guard...I tried distracting it and it wouldn't even look at me.
- Nudity is normal
- Spanish children in school uniforms are adorable
- Soccer is a religion
- People smoke like it's there job
- It is legal to drink alcohol on the streets, in the metro...basically wherever you want.
- They don't refridgerate their eggs here and they don't refridgerate their milk until it is opened
- Ice cubes are rare

I think that is all for now, I'm sure I'll have more later!

Hasta luego! Besos

Mallorca, bird pee, and nata.

Well, it is about that time of the year for midterms...so what do Brittany and I decide to do?? Stay in Barcelona and study our brains away??? No way, we decided to go to an island in the Mediterranean called Mallorca. We were looking at airplane tickets one night and noticed that a round trip flight to Mallorca was 15 euro ($23)!!! Que guay! So we bought them. The flight was only 40 minutes, however it left at 7:50 in the morning and the airport is an hour away. Eekk! After waking up at 3:15 am, taking a bus to Plaza Catalunya (main plaza here), catching a taxi to the bus station, and taking a bus to the airport, we finally arrived around 6:15am to the airport. Since we were there that early, we treated ourselves to a McDonalds breakfast! Yummy.

Once we arrived in Palma, Mallorca, we had to take a bus to Plaza España to transfer to another bus to take us to our hostel. Well...being unfamilar with the trasportation system, we got on the right bus going the wrong way. We rode the bus all the way to the end of the line, where it stopped, the bus driver got off and locked us on the bus!!! So here we are, on the ourskirts of Palma, completely out of our way, locked on a bus. Awesome. After about 10 minutes, the bus driver returned, let more people on and continued on our way, this time in the right direction. We finally arrived at our hostel about an hour later because it was located at the last stop at the other end of the line. So what should have been a 25 minute ride from the airport to our hostel, turned into a 2 hour trip! I guess it wasn't so bad, because when we arrived at the hostel, our room wasnt ready anyway.

We walked around a bit, got some ice cream, por supuesto, and returned to our hostel about an hour later to get our room. We then changed into our suits and headed to la playa! The beach was glorious; just the thing we needed. We took a little siesta. While I was napping, I felt a little drip on my head...I thought, "Is it raining?" No...it wasn't raining. Just a bird overhead...

I heard that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck, but I'm not really sure about pee. However, getting peed on TWICE has got to mean something. Yes, you read that right. About 30 minutes later, I felt another drip...another bird. Gross. We headed back to hostel, got some tapas & sangria, and headed to bed.

Saturday, we slept in, which was amazing. Something I haven't done in a long time. Then we decided to take an old vintage train to a small port town called Soller. The train was so cute and it went through the mountains which was so beautiful. We arrived to Soller around convienently around lunch time. Perfect. I treated myself to some pealla...I just can't get enough! Me lo encanta! And, of course, after lunch we found an ice cream place and got ice cream otra vez :)

Then, we hopped on a tram that took us down to the port. It was absolutely breath-taking! Pictures do not even do it justice. We found some beach chairs and plopped ourselves down on the beach. Total relaxation! Unfortunately, we could not stay there all day. We had to catch a train back to our hostel. We finished our night by getting drunk in our hostel while listening to Brittany Spears and Baby Got Back....hahaha. Just kidding...or am I?

The next morning at the airport consisted of NOT seedless grapes, and trying to figure out what was in these boxes that EVERYONE was bringing back with them from Mallorca. We obviously did not get the memo.

When we arrived home to Barcelona, we were greeted by our textbooks. They were so happy to see us, however the feeling was not mutual. Our señora suprised us with chocolate in bed though as a bust to our studying! It was nice. My favorite part of the night was when we were eating dinner and our señora asked us if we liked to eat "nata." We didn't know what it meant, so Laura looked it up on the computer. The online dictionary said "nata" meant "scum." So she asked us again..."Te gusta scum?" HAHAHA Brittany and I started cracking up. We said no!! But we found out later that "nata" means "whipped cream" so I changed my answer to yes :)

Well, I should probably get back to studying for midterms...I'm so good at distracting myself.

The agenda for this week:

-Two midterms tomorrow

-Halloween (we are being Fanta girls!)

-Ice bar?

-Outlet mall shopping?

-Homework?

-No sé hay más

Adios! Besossssssssssss

Fray Concert, Milks Visit to Barca, and Ireland

I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last update, but I'll try to fill you in on everything that I have done since then. Let's see....

On Wednesday October 7, we went to the Fray concert. It was at a club here called Razzmatazz. The tickets were only 22 euro and was first come first serve on seating. We started out the evening by going out for tapas and wine with a group of girls. We arrived at the concert around 9pm, which was later than we wanted, but we still arrived before they started playing. After getting a drink, we proceeded to the front of the stage. We stopped about 10 rows back from the stage! Not bad for 22 euro!! The concert was awesome. The lead singer even tried to speak some Spanish which was very entertaining.

Thursday was a normal day at class...nothing much to say about that!

On Friday, my cousin Jen and my Aunt Debbie arrived in Barcelona. I met them for lunch at a very tasty Italian restaurant. After lunch we walked through the Boqueria, which might not have been the best idea since the market consists of raw meat and dead fish, so we walked mainly through the fruit and veggie sections. The best part of the Boqueria was when we were leaving and my aunt wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and walked right into a pig thigh that was hanging from one of the stands. It was priceless. We continued our journey walking down Las Ramblas and browsing through the local artists' paintings. After that, we stumbeld upon a mall. Funny how us girls always happen to find them. We spent a while in there. Let's just say our wallets were not very happy with us. Once we were done, we walked down the boardwalk, and after being harassed by all the restaurant workers, we picked a restaurant to have some tapas and cava. The cava was soooooooooo good. And if that wasn't enough alcohol, they gave us free sangria at the end. Needless to say, we were all done for the night.

The next day, we toured the Barrio Gotica. I love this area of the city, so I did not mind touring it again :) After that we went to Plaza Reial to get some paella and sangria. I have decided that I could eat paella every day. It is sooooooooo good. Our lunch was accompanied by local musicians and Jen's future husband. However, we were unsuccessful at getting his picture. We then journied to the beach. Luckily for Jen and Aunt Debbie, they did not get the whole European experience. Most of the ladies had their tops on that day. Must have been too cold or something. From there we went to Montjuic and walked around the Olyimpic stadium up there. We also saw went to the magic fountain show. We arrived a bit early to the show, so to pass the time, Jen and I decided to read our free "Blanc y Negro" books that we found on the streets. The first two pages were quite interesting and made the time (30 mins ??) pass very quickly. Some one was dying?? No, wait...he just gets made easily. Gotta love translating! We finished the day with a flamanco show and more tapas.

Sunday, we went and saw the Sardana dance in front of the Cathedral. It was so great to experience part of the Catalan culture. Who knows...maybe one morning I'll join in the dance...

After that, we went to the Gaudi houses, Park Gruell, and la Sagrada Familia. At Park Gruell we found another potential husband for Jen. He has a moto, plays the guitar, and may have a boat...we still have to investigate that one. We finished off the night with some chocolate waffels down by the water...can't complain! Sadly, Sunday was their last night in Barcelona...so we got more sangria to celebrate.

Monday, we had the day off for Columbus day...so what did we do you ask?? We went to

Ikea! Let's just say that Ikea is just as much fun in Spain as it is in the US. We also booked a trip to Mallorca, which is an island off the coast of Spain. Our plane tickets...15 euro! It was a steal. Hopefully we have seats......

This past weekend, we went to Dublin. It was so much fun, but really expensive. We went to the Guiness Storehouse, the Dublin Castle, and the bar used in the movie PS I Love You! Of course, us girls were going crazy! We also went on a tour to the countryside. It was so beautiful. I felt like I was in a fairytale land. We went through Sally Gap, which is where movies like Braveheart and PS I Love You were filmed. I tried to get lost on the road, however the only man to find me was our bus drive/tour guide. To make up for him not being Gerard Butler, he offered my a taste of Jameson Whiskey...I compromised...

We also drove to Glendalough, which is this really old town and monestry. It was incredible! One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We walked through an old graveyard, a church that was built in the 800's and saw the oldest celtic cross left standing in Europe! We also hiked to these two lakes in the valley. And believe it our not...we also saw SHEEP! haha.

Sunday Brittany and I went to Christ Church Cathedral. We didn't just go there to visit, we went to an actual service. The choir was amazing. I got chills almost everytime they sang. At the end of the service we joined the congregation in the crypt for tea and cookies :)

Afte church, we went to the Jameson Distiliry. I am proud to say that I am not an official whiskey taster. Ask me, I have a certificate.

On the agenda for this week:

-Midterm on Wednesday

- Mallorca on Friday :)

Adios!

Ein Prost, Ein Prost Oktoberfest!

Wow...what an experience. This past weekend, I went to Munich, or Munchen as the German's call it, to celebrate Oktoberfest. You know the saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas,"...well I think it should be changed to "Everything is bigger in Germany." There are no words that can even describe Oktoberfest. Some of you may be thinking, well all it is is a big drinking fest, how fun could it be?? Well let me tell you...it is the largest drinking fest in the world. The 15 or so "tents" as they are called, each hold 6,000 people inside and 4,000 people outside. There are people from all over the world. I think I met more people from Brazil and Australia that I met from Germany.

Let's start at the beginning. Brittany and I decided to go through this company called Bus2Alps, a student travel agency. They had a deal where they would pick you up from the airport, supply accommodations for two nights, and then take you back to the airport. Now, by accommodations, I mean camping. Yes, that's right. Brittany and I, and our new friend Elyse, camped for 2 nights in Germany. They supplied us with a 3 person tent (understatement), sleeping bags, mattresses (yoga pads), dinner for one night, and breakfast both mornings (however we woke up before the crazy Australians that were making our breakfast so we didn't really get any food for breakfast). Yes, the camp was run by these crazy, insane Australians who own a company called StokeTravel. Let's just say they ran around without shoes on in 50 degree weather, drank constantly, and sang karaoke till 2am. Was it cold? Very. As advice, the Ausies told us to drink lots and spoon with a stranger. "That'll warm you up!" There were showers and toilets, so we weren't completely roughing it, however most of the toilets didn't have lights and the water was cold.

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:30am and got ready to go to Oktoberfest! The reason we had to get there so early was because the tents open at 8:30 and they start serving beer at 9am. By the time we caught the bus, transferred to the S-Bahn and arrived at Oktoberfest, it was around 8:15. We went to the Hofbrau tent because it is the most well-known of all the tents. By the time we found it, people were already entering. We sprinted around the tent, found an entrance and ran to a table. And that's where it began....

We were seated by a group of Brazilians. Insane Brazilians I should say. They started chanting, dancing on their tables, waving their flag, and cheering. In the meantime, the British group across the tent started doing the same. Being located in the middle, we joined both of them in with both of them :) When the beermaids started serving the beer, the tent went crazy!!!!!! Everyone was cheering, prosting, and yelling. The beer steins hold 1 liter of beer. AND the beer brewed for Oktoberfest is stronger than any other beer brewed. Let's just say I had three steins and I was set for the day! The band started playing around 11am. I was shocked when they started playing American songs, such as "Hey Baby." It brought me back to my high school days. Although their version was a little different/a lot more fun. After you sing, "Hey, hey Baby," you say "Oh Ah" haha.

We then randomly ran into one of Brittany's friends from college and hung out with him and his Spanish speaking friends for a while. Yes, Brittany, like always, found someone to practice her Spanish with. Around 3pm, we were done drinking and took a nap on "Blackout hill," which is located behind all the beer tents. It is quite a sight to see. Just image thousands of drunken people passed out on a hill....you see it? Quite funny. I slept till around 8pm and then made my way back to the campsite to listen to the Ausies sing "Wasn't me" by Shaggy until 2am. At some point between 3 and 8, Brittany and I somehow got separated. But no need to worry...my German is wundibar...did I spell that right? Brittany's adventure needs another blog...

The next morning, we woke up around 7am to do it all over again! This time we went to a different tent and ended up running into some of our Barcelona friends! What are the chances?? Again, they started serving beer at 9am. I still don't know how I was able to drink beer that early in the morning. But what was more impressive was the people who would stand on their table and chug their entire stein. I have never seen anyone drink beer as fast as some of these people. This one German drank his entire stein in about 10 seconds. It was amazing. Once a person finishes the whole tent cheers! It's so much fun. Also, I bought a half chicken, cooked of course. It was the best chicken I have ever had in my entire life. The skin was crispy, but not fried, and the inside was all white, hot and steamy meat. Wow, I would go back just for that!

Now, the one catch about drinking on Sunday was that we had to catch our bus back to the airport at 3pm and our plane back to Barcelona at 7pm. This was quite an interesting experience. We let the beer tent at 2, bought a souvenir mug, and headed to the metro. We arrived back at the campsite just as the bus was about to leave. We threw all our stuff in our bags and ran to the bus. We made it just in time :)

Things we lost/broke at Oktoberfest:
- Elyse
- Earrings
- Brittany's contacts
- Brittany's flip flops
- My purse

Don't worry, Elyse found her way back to Barcelona the next day.


Things we learned at Oktoberfest:
1) German transportation is free, unless you get caught...then it's 30 euro
2) Everything is more fun when you're wearing glasses
3) Dodging projectile vomit is not Brittany's greatest skill
4) Bathroom floors in beer tents are bad places to take naps
5) Camping is painful
6) Brittany need to stop accepting marriage proposals from random spaniards
7) I love half chickens
8) Drinking a gallon of beer in the morning before flying home makes the flight so much more fun
9) There is such a thing as spicy water
10) Hand sanitizer does not come in powder form.
11) No matter where we go, Brittany will always find someone to practice your Spanish with
12) Brittany thinks everyone has a British accent
13) ...in my glasses
14) It wasn't me, HA

On the agenda for this week:
- The Fray concert tonight
- Aunt Debbie and Jennifer come on Friday :)

"Su pico es bonito" ~ Family comes to visit!

Wow, it seems like so much has happened since I last updated! This past weekend was Mercé, which is a festival honoring one of the patron saints of Barcelona (aka another excuse for the Spanish to party and not to work. Hey, I'm not complaining!). Wednesday night I quickly learned not to accept free drinks from locals, for they will claim you as their own and not allow you to talk to others. Even though it was nice to practice my Spanish and not spend as much money, I think I'll say no from now on and buy my own drinks. I think Brittany also learned not to talk to locals since she was asked to go to Russia for the weekend... Who goes to Russia?? Right Brittany?

Thursday was filled with exploring the city and enjoying the free concerts and events throughout the city. As we walked down Las Ramblas, we discovered these giant statues of people and animals, which we later discovered, after being chased by one, were in the Gigantes parade down the main street. It's always fun to be stuck in between two 25 ft. tall, walking, statues.

Friday, my parents we scheduled to come around noon, however my mom got some sort of bacteria infection in Madrid and needed more time to come to Barcelona. They arrived around 4pm. I met them at their hotel and then showed my dad and brother around el barrio gótico, las ramblas, and the sea port.

Saturday, in the morning, Brittany and I took Matt and my Dad to La Padrera, on of the Gaudí houses. After that we went back to the hotel to check in on my mom. Unfortunately, she was not feeling any better. We ended up taking her to the hospital because she was so dehydrated and wasn´t getting any better. While my Dad took my mom to the hospital, I took Matt to meet my señora and have our scheduled lunch. I forgot to tell Matt that in Spain when you meet someone, you give dos besos on the cheeks. It was hilarious seeing him react when they went to kiss him! I felt so bad because she prepared so much food for my family, and only my brother was able to come. Luckily she was very understanding and said no pasa nada. Matt loved the food and so happy they allowed him to play their piano and guitar. My señora even recognized "Smoke on the Water" when Matt played it.

When my Dad was done at the hospital, which was probably around 8pm, he came over to meet my señora and to have dinner. This is where it starts go get interesting. First of all, my señora brought out a bottle of wine, which can always turn into something bad. My Dad, being the social person that he is, decides to make conversation, which of course means I have to translate everything. It was going really well, until I had a little too much wine and started translating the Spanish from my señora into Spanish rather than English to my Dad. Then my Dad wanted to tell my señora that her apartment (piso) was very nice. I told him to say, "Su piso es muy bonito." Instead, he said, "Su pico (beak) es bonito." The night only got better from there. After my brother and Dad left, Brittany and I somehow found ourselves on a ferris wheel with a woman from Chili...and Brittany hates ferris wheels...

Sunday, I took my Dad and Brother to La Sagrada Familia and Park Gruell. La Sagrada Familia was amazing. The detail is incredible and the inside is going to be beautiful when it is finished. To make our tourist trip complete, I brought my Fromers Barcelona book with us to read the history and meaning of the different facades. We felt like we were reading those ISPY books because there were so many little things that were so hard to find. Once we found them we were like kids in a candy shop, excited and wanting more! Park Gruell was beautiful, as it always is. My Dad bought a cd from a street flamenco musician and, of course, wanted to talk to him, meaning I had to translate. I swear they just made me study Spanish so that this trip would be a lot easier for them. We then picked up my Mom from the hospital, finally feeling better (not completely better though).

For dinner, we went to a resturant near the port. My Dad and I decided to order a pitcher of sangria not realizing there were only two of us that could drink it. The waiter, however, saw differently and poured Matt a small glass. At the end of the meal, they brought us out a complementary glass of cava, and again served Matt. Matt now think he is an expert of wine and cava. Just ask him. After dinner we made our way to the end of Mercé firework, music, water, and light show. There were so many people there I felt like I was in Times Square for New Years Eve. It was incredible. They played music from a ton of different movies such as Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Slumdog Millionaire, Pirates of the Carribean, Chicago, and more. It was a good way to end the night.

On Monday, my family was supposed to leave Barcelona and continue on their Spain trip, however with my mom not feeling 100 percento, she stayed here in Barcelona while my Dad and brother went on with one part of the trip. I was happy to see my mom feeling a little better and finally got her out of the hotel and to Sagrada Familia. She really enjoyed it. And you know she was feeling better on Tuesday because we managed to go shopping :) Yesterday was sad because I had to say goodbye to my parents, however this time it was a lot easier than the first.

Whats in store for this weekend you ask??? OKTOBERFEST in Munich! We leave tomorrow and come back on Sunday! Hopefully we'll get by knowing no German! Wish us luck!

Hasta luego! Muuuuuuuchos besos!

Barca, Barca, Baaaaaaaarrrrrrca!

Hola todos!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated last. Since my last update, I said I was going to a Barcelona football (soccer) game. Camp Nou, the stadium that Barce plays in, is the largest in Europe seating just under 100,000 people! We started off our little adventure by going to McDonalds for dinner. Yes, you heard me right. It was actually quite a crazy experience. Europeans love McDonalds! The McDonalds we went to was the most crowded McDonalds I have ever seen in my life. A worker walked through the lines with an electronic ordering pad and took your order. She then handed you a slip of paper with your order number and the cost of your order. When you got up to the counter, you hand the cashier your slip, pay him, and they had you your food! And, kids meals come with a dessert! How cool is that! haha. Also, McDonalds in Europe are decorated like actual, nice sit-down resturants. All in all, it was a memorable experience.



Despues, after having a few cervezas of course, we headed to the stadium. It was enourmous! The largest stadium I have ever seen! The game was so much fun! I love how the fans are so into the game. Everyone is cheering, singing, screaming, laughing. It atmosphere is incredible. However, they do not sell any alcohol at the games, which we found every interesting. They only sell cerveza sin alcohol (beer without alcohol). Also, Barcelona has it's own theme song, which Brittany and I tried to sing, but it didn't go over so well. We officially have the clapping and cheering down, but not the song lyrics. Some day...


Barcelona won, of course, 5 - 2 of Atletico Madrid, with Messi scoring the last goal to end the game. It was awesome to see that many goals. After the game, Brittany and I were so exhasted, we didn't even go out. Give us some credit though, the game didn't start till 10pm.


Sunday, Brittany, Stephanie, and I hiked up to Tibidabo, which is the highest point in Barcelona. At the top there is an amusement park and a church with one of the largest statues of Jesus in the world. From the top, you can see a gorgeous view of Barcelona. We didn't ride any of the rides because, well, they looked a little sketchy... I don't know, something about sitting in a rollercoaster car over the edge of the mountian doesn't strike me as fun, or safe.

Monday and Tuesday were uneventful, since we had class all day. There is nothing fun about that! haha. Today, I had class in the morning and then my afternoon class was cancelled! What a way to start off the weekend, since there is no class tomorrow because of Mercé. Mercé is a festival celebrating one of the parton saints of Barcelona.

This weekend should be very busy but fun! My parents arrived in Spain on Monday and will be in Barcelona starting Friday. I have a full itinerary planned for them (like father like daughter). Also, last night my señora decided to have them over for lunch on Saturday. She said it will be like an examén to see how good my spanish really is because, as most of you know, my parents don´t speak any spainsh. My dad thinks he can speak spanish, so this should be pretty interesting. Stay tuned to see how that goes...

Culture shocks so far:

• Nude beaches
• People don't say excuse me...they just push their way past you
• The first floor of a building is level 0, the second floor is called primero, and the third floor is 1. This means the when your class is on the second floor, it is really on the 4th! Not cool.
• Oil is put on everything
• There are no dryers so your underware hangs outside to dry for everyone to see
• People take their dogs EVERYWHERE
• If your name is Brittany, they will compare you to Brittany Spears (haha right Brit?)
• Everything closes from 3 - 5pm
• Pig/ham is extremely popular - I think I have eaten every type of pig already

I think that is all for now! Hasta luego!

Cavas, Sitges, and Magic Fountains

Hola todos!

The past couple days have been busy with classes and tours. On Thursday, we went on a tour of the Barrí Gótica en Barcelona. This is the oldest part of Barcelona and was settled before Christ! Crazy, huh? This part of town used to be a wall, Roman city. You can still see part of the wall today, but there is only one part of the old Roman city that still remains. The picture to the left shows these remains; collums from a temple. We also visited the old main plaze, where Christopher Columbus was greated after discovering America. Then we say the Barcelona cathedral, which remineded me a lot of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was beautiful and one of Barelona's partron saints, Eulalia, is buried inside.

Thursday night, Brittany, Lindsey and I decided to check out some bar in our area in hopes of meeting some locals and practicing our spanish. We went to this bar called El Dorado. We were all of 12 people in there. However, we did meet some locals. They asked us to play fooseball, which I found out Spanish take just as seriously as soccer, and pool. In comparison to these locals, we sucked at fooseball. Let's just say I scored three goals the whole night, two of which were for the other team. Brittany played very well, but was then yelled at for spinning the fooseball players, which is not allowed. We then moved on to pool. I made two ball is, but they didn't count because the game was already over. All in all, we had fun and were able to practice a little bit of our Spanish: mission accomplished.

Yesterday, we traveled to Cordonui, which is one of the world's largest wineries; the wine cellars are over 30km when combined! It was incredible and beautiful. They make about 50 million bottles of wine and cava a year. Cava is Catalan sparkling wine, which tastes amazing. It was very interesting to learn the process of making cava; the fermenting processes, the aging processes, the sentiment removing processes. I loved it. After we were told about how it was made, we hopped on a little tram-car-train thing and rode through the oldest part of the winery, which was dug out by workers back in the 1800's. We also went into the room where the first bottles of cava were made at this winery. The founder also saved the first grape vine (picture to the left) he used and coved it in metal so it would last forever! My favorite part of the tour was the end, when we got to try the cava. It was some of the best wine I have ever had, which of course led me to buy my own bottle :)

After our winery tour, we headed to Sitges, which is a small sea side town. It was really cute and the beach was beautiful. However, it was too windy to lay out. We decided instead to sample some helado (ice cream), which wasn't too bad of a compromise!

We finished our evening off by going to the magic fountian show at Montjuic in Barcelona. It was so romantic; wish I had someone to share it with :(

On the agenda for today: BARCELONA SOCCER GAME!! Can't wait to hear them say "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL"

Adios!

Constipation means "to have to poop"

Hola!

I have now officially been gone for 2 weeks. It is crazy to think how much I have done. It seems like I have been here longer than that.

We have been in school for a full week now. I really enjoy how the classes are so diverse. In fact, it is often quite entertaining. For example, on Monday, our professor was talking about introducing products into foreign markets and how in depth research is required before releasing the product. As an example, she talked about introducing a constipation medicine into India. Almost half the class is German and not quite fluent in English so they didn't know what "constipation" meant. Instead of the teacher explaining it, she asked us native speakers to do the honor. One kid said, "it means to be clogged up." Then the German's asked, "what does 'clogged up' mean?" So another kid adds another definition that they don't understand. Finally, someone shouts out, "it's when you can't poop!!" It was quite entertaining. I think the professor could have picked a better example...

In addition to going to class, we have been doing touristy things as well. This past weekend we went to Park Gruell, la Sagrada Familia, la playa (beach), and of course, shopping! The Park Gruell was really pretty. It was initially supposed to be a private community, however, at the time, it was very far from the center of the city and not many people wanted to live there. Only two houses were built out of the 60 that were planned to be built and Gaudi, the architect, lived in one of them. To the left is a picture of the view of Barcelona from Park Gruell. Que bonito no? Also, on of the finales of America's next top model was shot in the park. Of course we had to practice our modeling. Ms. Jay would be so proud :)

As mentioned, we also went to la Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudi's masterpiece, although it is not finished yet. They are estimating that it will take another 30 years to finish. Que loco! I'm going to be 51 before they finish it...that is only if they stay on target. Brittany and I decied that we will have to do a reunion trip in 30 years to see if they have finished la Sagrada Familia!

The beach was nice as well. However, I saw more than I wanted to see, if you know what I mean. It definently is true that Europeans are more comfortable with their bodies than Americans. I'll leave it at that!

Last night we went to an Irish bar to watch Monday Night Football. We didn't end up watching the entire game being that kickoff wasn't till 1am and halftime was around 2:30am. I wish I could have watched the Bears play on Sunday. I'll just have to wait until they play on Monday night.

This weekend is full of activities! On Thursday we have a tour of the Gothic part of Barcelona. Friday, we are going to Sitges, which is a beach town close to hear, as well as a winery. Then, on Saturday, Brittany and I are going to a Barcelona soccer game!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! It should be an amazing experience. We can't wait. On top of those activities, we'll probably through in some more touristy things to do. You know what they say...when in Rome. Maybe that doesn't apply here....

Hasta luego y muchos besos!

Perchas y Cervezas

Hola amigos y familia!

It has been 5 days since I arrived in Barcelona and I am already having so much fun! We started class on Tuesday. I am taking 4 classes; Spanish for Business, International Marketing, International Business, and E-Commerce and Online Business. Sounds boring right?? But, I think they are going to be very interesting. The best part about my classes is that there are students from different countries. There are Germans, Swedens, and Chinese people is almost all my classes. Es muy interestante.

Besides classes, Brittany and I have had some adventures of our own. Our first little adventure we had was our quest to find perchas, or hangers. We only received 5 hangers each and, being girls, we have tons of clothes. There is a store here called El Corte Ingles and is like a Target on steriods. So naturally we thought they would have hangers. After walking about 20 minutes to get there and after searching through all 7 floors, we had no hangers. So we decided to start walking back and look for stores along the way they would maybe have hangers. We were so excited when we saw a store called "Perchas." We ran up to the door and, of course, it was

locked. Must have been a late ciesta porque their hours said they should have been open. Great. So we contiuned walking, getting distracted by a bakery and a jewelry store until we found ourselves back at our apartment. As we were about to go back home, the store directly next to our apartment door, caught our eye. It was called "Etc, etc, etc." We figured, why not look. Sure enough, they had hangers! RIGHT NEXT DOOR! haha.

Our next adventure was trying to get a beer bottle open with no bottle opener. Let's just say that belt buckles, key chains, and bed frames all don't work. Lesson learned: buy cans. See mom and dad, I am learning so much already :)

The picture to the left is of me and Brittany on our first night out in Barcelona! And luckly, in this picture we are both on our good sides! Perfect match!

Adios!

We have finally arrived!

It has been a few days since my last post so I figured I should update ya’ll on what I have been up to. Shortly after my last post, my roommate, Brittany, arrived. It was so nice to finally meet her and I’m so glad that we get along so well. I can tell that we are going to have a lot of fun this semester.

On Thursday, we went to the Prado and the Reina Sofia museums in Madrid. At both museums we had a guided tour with a man named Carlos. I did the whole tour in Spanish and I was surprised how much I understood. At the Prado we saw works by El Greco, Goya and Velazquez. Las Meninas by Velazquez was my favorite. It was interesting to hear how each artist influenced the art of the time. For example, Velazquez was one of the first Spanish artists to paint lower class portraits and to include himself in his paintings. Another very interesting part of the museum was Goya’s dark paintings, I think that was what they were called. Goya painted these paintings for his own personal enjoyment. Because Goya was very tormented mentally, the paintings were disturbing.

At the Reina Sofia, we saw work by Dalí, Picasso, and Miró. Me encanta Dalí. One of his paintings is called The Invisible Man and it represents his older brother, who was named Salvador Dalí también. When his older brother died, his dad, who was also named Salvador Dalí, wanted to have another child, which was the famous Salvador Dalí. Dalí always felt like he had a second identity and that he was supposed to be someone else, hence, the painting. We also saw Picasso´s Guernica, which is another awesome painting.

We finished the day by going out to dinner, drinking sangria and skyping our friends and families.

On Friday, we woke up early to visit the Valle de los Caidos. This is the place where Franco is buried. It is also a memorial for all the people who died fighting in the Spanish civil war. The view from the memorial was beautiful, however, the memorial itself is rather controversial because many people died building the memorial. In order to build it, after winning the war, Franco used Spanish prisoners to build his tomb and the memorial. Franco said these prisoners would not have to serve as much time in jail if they helped, but most of the prisoners ended up drying trying to build that memorial.

After that, we traveled to El Escorial. El Escorial is a castle, monastery, burial ground, and school. On our tour around, we went inside the tomb where all the kings and queens of Spain are buried. The room was constructed 40 meters below the group and was made of Spanish marble. It was such an awesome feeling to be standing in a room filled with so much history. Also there was a room in El Escorial called the secret room. And in this room you can stand in one corner and wisper something while facing the corner and another person can hear your secret in the other corner. It was crazy.

After we finished our tour, we headed to Toledo. We had a beautiful view of the whole city from our hotel. It was amazing.

For dinner we went into the city of Toledo and had pealla, a spanish dish with rice, vegies, and otras cosas, usually meat or seafood. We tried one with chicken and rabbit. Yes, I tried rabbit. It was interesting. A little tougher than chicken but pretty good. After dinner, we searched for a bar to get a few drinks. Being in a large group of Americans, we found an Irish bar and drank there. The bartender played very "American" music such as Tom Petty, the Beatles, and even Avril Lavine. It was quite entertaining. The bartender also had a very strong Irish accent.

When we asked him for directions to a discoteca loacted in a church, he told us, "not to take the second right, but the terd right. Ha ha.

Now, I am in Barcelona. We arrived yesterday (Sunday). Brittany and I have a señora named Doloras and a hermanita named Laura. They are very nice. They are so animated and love to talk. Their apartment is very nice too. There is a large living room, a terrace, kitchen, two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Brittany and I share a bedroom and a bathroom. So far there hasn't been too many communication problems, except when my señora told me to get out of the elevator and I go in. Está bien. They laughed.

Tomorrow we start school. Wish me luck! Hopefully I won´t get lost :/

Long flight, too much luggage, and new friends

What a day, and it's not even over yet. The day started off with lunch from panera, which made a good last meal, and some tearfull goodbyes. Shortly after, I went to O'hare. My trip started out by the receptionist telling me I didn't have a seat yet. Awesome way to start my trip. So naturally, I panic. Then, going through security, I of course had to get my luggage searched. Again, awesome. So finally, I get to my gate and they assign me a seat, which made me feel better.

The flight went surprisingly fast. I sat next to an ecology professor from Ohio University. He liked to talk and smelled of alcohol. Greaaaaaaaaat combination. I arrived in Madrid this morning around 7:30 am (Spain time, which means it was 12:30am Chicago time). I met Kylie, a girl on the same program and who was on the same flight as me . We had quite a little adventure together. After getting our luggage and stopping for a quick drink, we headed out to find our group.

After realizing we were in terminal 4 not terminal one, we loaded a bus with our luggage. Between the two of us, we had 6 or 7 bags. We piled our luggage on the bus to save space, however with everyturn, a piece of luggage fell off. When we arrived at terminal 1, we found a luggage cart and loaded it up. Then we realized we had to go downstairs, not an easy task with all that luggage. So we decided to take the elevator, however, our cart, beacuse it was so full, would not fit into the elevator. We ended up throwing all our luggage, and me, in the elevator and Kylie met us downstairs since she couldn't fit. Quite the show...let me tell you. I think we made a good first impression.

Quickly after we found our group and met a bunch of people, loaded a bus and went to the hotel. This leaves me to where I am now.

The agenda for tonight:
*nap?
*dinner
*bus tour
*meeting
*SLEEP!

Adios amigos!

Dios mio, packing es dificil!

First post...ever. Don't worry, there will be many more to come.

I am not in Barcelona yet, but I only have 5 more days until I leave! I wanted to create my blog before I left so I wouldn't have to waste time when I get there. So I am sorry if this post is boring. Consider it a practice run for the rest of my posts.

Right now I am at home; packing, studying for the GMAT, babysitting my little brother, Matt, cooking, cleaning, etc. I guess you can say it is pretty hectic around here. I took the advise of a wise friend, yes Laura I am talking about you (thought you would like that), and decided to start packing a week before I leave. Well, it is harder than I thought it was going to be becauase:

1. I have so many clothes
2. I overpack as it is so I am trying to downsize
3. I can only bring two suitcases of 50 lbs each
4. I have to pack clothes for summer, fall AND winter
5. My books and bathroom junk weigh a TON!
6. I can't decide what shoes to bring
7. My cat keep jumping in the suitcase

I have thought about not bringing any clothes and going on a shopping spree once I get there, but decided that would not be the best financial decision. Any advice? I need help...as you can tell!

Besides packing, I have been studying for the GMAT, which is standardized test for business students. In order to apply for graduate schools, I need to take it. I take that on Saturday at 8am. Wish me luck!

Thats all for now...