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!