I have successfully surived a week abroad! Haven't been deported, haven't had my purse stolen... (I hope I'm not jinxing myself) - go me!
This weekend was fun. On Friday we went to the Barri Gotic, a very old (and beautiful) part of Barcelona - a couple of the pictures from my last post were taken there. The night started at an Irish pub (yes, yes I know, I'm supposed to be experiencing Barcelonian culture, but it was nice to be in a familiar environment!), continued at a favorite haunt of Hemingway by Las Ramblas (the oldest bar in Barcelona, I have heard - with enough dust to prove it), and ended at the Catalan Plaza, where we waited for the metro to start back up again (cerca 5 AM.... apparently that's what they do here, and "when in Rome," no?)
On Saturday, as a result of the late night, we all slept in very late, woke up....... and then slept some more at the beach. So productive. The beaches here are beautiful - and I've heard that Barceloneta, the beach we frequent (as it is only 10 minutes from the university) isn't even that nice of a beach. We had lunch, or more of dessert (crepes and coffee) at a crazy little cafe that had its kitchen in a bus (indoors) and bathrooms that were made out of bus doors. See below.
Saturday night we went to a local bar for some sangria, and then a bar by the beach that played ridiculous 50s music - and then to a "disco"... the disco cost EIGHTEEN euros to get in (and that was with a special ticket), but it did include a drink. I was still mildly horrified. But again, when in Rome... because my mother is reading this, I won't tell you how late we were awake until!
Sunday was another late morning (....afternoon....), cafe (coffee) y bocadillos (sandwiches) at a cafe, and a long walk to the city center and El Parc de la Ciutadella - a gorgeous park full of statues, fountains (sans water, of course, because of the drought), and so many people! We walked through the park back to Barri Gotic (it's currently my favorite place) and people-watched, and also stopped to listen to a street performer singing English songs (Bob Marley, the Fugees, a crazy mix -) to a Spanish crowd (so interesting). The guy was very talented and drew a huge crowd - it was so funny to see a bunch of Spainairds singing "Don't worry, be happy" etc.
Today we had our first day of class (we have two weeks of intensive Spanish classes, and then in October we start regular classes plus a Spanish class), and it was a little on the terrible side. I can hardly understand what the teacher is saying - it was the first day and we were already doing irreglar past tense verbs and past participles and all kinds of other horrific stuff that I never actually learned except by studying on my own time. I talked to the teacher and I'm going to try it again tomorrow but I might switch into a class that a lot of the people in my program are in - it's still intermediate but "3" instead of "5". We'll see how it goes. To make up for the terribleness, after class, 6 or so students in my program went to this amazing little hole-in-the-wall place that was super crowded, dirty, without seats - and had .60 - .90 cent glasses of champagne! I paid about 3.5 Euros for 2 glasses of cava (champagne) and a ham bocadillo. Marvelous.
Also - while it may sound like my major activity here is drinking, I will have you know that it is not getting drunk - in Spain, quite contrary to the customs of most American youth, drinking is in moderation, and for enjoyment only - NOT to wake up not remembering what you did the night before. I really appreciate that. Drinking is a part of your night, not the focus.
Anyway! Things with the family here are good - we struggle through conversations with dictionaries, pictures, hand motions, etc - it's like an extended game of charades. The little girl is a little bit of un diablo, unfortunately. Her favorite game is to take something from my room, hide it, and then come back empty-handed saying "No se!" - her second favorite game is launching herself at me when I walk past the couch - with a close tie for a third game of hitting me in the head when her parents leave the room. I am better off than the rabbit, however - she thoroughly enjoys carrying it around by one of its legs and sticking it in places it can't get itself out of. Ay carumba. I'm just trying to be patient and learn enough Spanish to be able to scold her convincingly.... and also trying to spend some time with her during the day because I think part of the problem is that she just wants attention, and I'm not here very often - when I am, I'm talking with her parents, fixing up my room, etc.
So this was supposed to be a short post and it turned into a massive one - lo siento. Time for bed! Buenas noches, les extrano (Goodnight, I miss you!) <3
This weekend was fun. On Friday we went to the Barri Gotic, a very old (and beautiful) part of Barcelona - a couple of the pictures from my last post were taken there. The night started at an Irish pub (yes, yes I know, I'm supposed to be experiencing Barcelonian culture, but it was nice to be in a familiar environment!), continued at a favorite haunt of Hemingway by Las Ramblas (the oldest bar in Barcelona, I have heard - with enough dust to prove it), and ended at the Catalan Plaza, where we waited for the metro to start back up again (cerca 5 AM.... apparently that's what they do here, and "when in Rome," no?)
On Saturday, as a result of the late night, we all slept in very late, woke up....... and then slept some more at the beach. So productive. The beaches here are beautiful - and I've heard that Barceloneta, the beach we frequent (as it is only 10 minutes from the university) isn't even that nice of a beach. We had lunch, or more of dessert (crepes and coffee) at a crazy little cafe that had its kitchen in a bus (indoors) and bathrooms that were made out of bus doors. See below.
Saturday night we went to a local bar for some sangria, and then a bar by the beach that played ridiculous 50s music - and then to a "disco"... the disco cost EIGHTEEN euros to get in (and that was with a special ticket), but it did include a drink. I was still mildly horrified. But again, when in Rome... because my mother is reading this, I won't tell you how late we were awake until!
Sunday was another late morning (....afternoon....), cafe (coffee) y bocadillos (sandwiches) at a cafe, and a long walk to the city center and El Parc de la Ciutadella - a gorgeous park full of statues, fountains (sans water, of course, because of the drought), and so many people! We walked through the park back to Barri Gotic (it's currently my favorite place) and people-watched, and also stopped to listen to a street performer singing English songs (Bob Marley, the Fugees, a crazy mix -) to a Spanish crowd (so interesting). The guy was very talented and drew a huge crowd - it was so funny to see a bunch of Spainairds singing "Don't worry, be happy" etc.
Today we had our first day of class (we have two weeks of intensive Spanish classes, and then in October we start regular classes plus a Spanish class), and it was a little on the terrible side. I can hardly understand what the teacher is saying - it was the first day and we were already doing irreglar past tense verbs and past participles and all kinds of other horrific stuff that I never actually learned except by studying on my own time. I talked to the teacher and I'm going to try it again tomorrow but I might switch into a class that a lot of the people in my program are in - it's still intermediate but "3" instead of "5". We'll see how it goes. To make up for the terribleness, after class, 6 or so students in my program went to this amazing little hole-in-the-wall place that was super crowded, dirty, without seats - and had .60 - .90 cent glasses of champagne! I paid about 3.5 Euros for 2 glasses of cava (champagne) and a ham bocadillo. Marvelous.
Also - while it may sound like my major activity here is drinking, I will have you know that it is not getting drunk - in Spain, quite contrary to the customs of most American youth, drinking is in moderation, and for enjoyment only - NOT to wake up not remembering what you did the night before. I really appreciate that. Drinking is a part of your night, not the focus.
Anyway! Things with the family here are good - we struggle through conversations with dictionaries, pictures, hand motions, etc - it's like an extended game of charades. The little girl is a little bit of un diablo, unfortunately. Her favorite game is to take something from my room, hide it, and then come back empty-handed saying "No se!" - her second favorite game is launching herself at me when I walk past the couch - with a close tie for a third game of hitting me in the head when her parents leave the room. I am better off than the rabbit, however - she thoroughly enjoys carrying it around by one of its legs and sticking it in places it can't get itself out of. Ay carumba. I'm just trying to be patient and learn enough Spanish to be able to scold her convincingly.... and also trying to spend some time with her during the day because I think part of the problem is that she just wants attention, and I'm not here very often - when I am, I'm talking with her parents, fixing up my room, etc.
So this was supposed to be a short post and it turned into a massive one - lo siento. Time for bed! Buenas noches, les extrano (Goodnight, I miss you!) <3
the bus-bathroom
.JPG)
el parc (o el parque)
.JPG)
the beach
a cathedral and an alleyway in el Barri Gotic
1 comments:
Sounds exciting lady...also I have no idea what "american youth" you're talking about, I've certainly never met them.
John asked about you today, and was sad to learn that you were out of the country - actually he said that was "no excuse". He also said to tell you that he was going to go cry himself to sleep in his office.
love you, miss you :-*
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