La Vida Española

The Spanish life. I love it. Last night, I had cheese for dinner. Cheese! For dinner! Awesome.

Last time I posted was after Sitges. Sitges was beautiful, I'd love to go back there when the weather is nice and lay on the beach all afternoon. Thursday we had class in the morning and we didn't have anything else until 5P. Me, Holly, Analise, and Sylvia didn't think it would be a good day for the beach so we didn't bring our stuff. However, it was a beautiful afternoon. So we headed over to Las Ramblas to shop and found this really awesome store called Sky Republic. It was relatively inexpensive and had a lot of really cool, Spanish stuff. I bought some presents for myself and others. We walked around and tried to shop some more, but stores close from 2P-5P for comida (lunch, sort of) and siesta (nap...this is why I love Spain) so we headed to find some comida for ourselves.

Seeing as how it was paella day, we headed to a restaurant that Silvia and Jordi had recommended that was right down the street from the University. We sat outside in the sun and drank sangria (it was pretty weak, but still refreshing). For our first course, we all had paella. It was so much better than the paella of last week. This week's paella was not nearly as greasy and had pork ribs, calamari, and shrimp. It was Sylvia's first time and she's a true convert now. After that, we all ordered different second plates. I had bistec (steak), Holly had sausages, Sylvia had bacalau (cod), and Analise had tuna. Everything was served with french fries and a roasted pepper. I liked mine the best. Sylvia's cod was good, but it had bones in it. Holly's sausages were somewhat flavorless, and I didn't really like Analise's tuna at all. But none of it was terrible, I just liked mine the best. All of this and bread for 9 euros.

After sitting in the sun for 2hours, we needed something cold. So we found some gelato. I think Spain has ruined ice cream for me. It's so cold and creamy and delicious. I had hazelnut, which tasted like Nutella. Yummy. We went and sat around the jardín at the University and eventually met up with the group to head over to la Sagrada Familia which is a Gaudí work in the middle of the city. It is incredible.

La Sagrada Familia is a church that Gaudí designed (actually, he was the second architect to work on it, but the most famous and did the most work). It has been a work in progress since 1892 and won't be done for another 20 years. The details on the facade are amazing, so intricate and artistic. Just more proof that Gaudí is a genius. Eventually, it will be the tallest building in Barcelona, but right now it is still not finished. The inside is equally beautiful and demonstrates the different eras that have been spent working on it; for example, the material of the columns has changed over time because they have discovered that other things are stronger than granite. Gaudí designed this building the same way as he did the other: modeling the structure after nature. We saw some of his templates in the museum and then we finally got to go up into the towers.

It cost 2 euros to go up (last weekend I dropped 3.50 euros for a bottle of water so I figured I would be shameful not to spend 2 euros to go) in the elevator. It didn't go to the top, but it was certainly high and the view from the top was spectacular. You could see the entire city, the moutains, and the sea all at once. Absolutely breath taking. The passageways and bridges and stairs were tiny and crammed and the stairs were so narrow only one person (barely) could go pass at a time. I decided the narrow stairways were Gaudí (in his infinite wisdom) symbolizing the lack of personal space that the Spanish people tend to maintain. We made it down eventually, with breaks to check out the views of the city and listen to this crazy British kid. He told us he couldn't swear in church and was freaking out about the stairs and kept saying things like "Oh my bleep I'm going to bleeping die".

After surviving the stairs (they were really quite nerve wrecking), we headed home and managed to not nap and eat an early dinner so that we could go out. We had chicken (delicious), rice, salad and bread. Notice how there is not a laundry list of food, and finally not epic portions. It was really tasty. Around 11, Me, Holly, Analise, Michelle, Kate, and Sylvia headed to Oveja Negra to start out our night. We hadn't been out since Saturday, so we were ready to party.

Oveja negra was a bust. In Spain, they don't really start going out until most Americans are wrapping up their night, so getting to Oveja Negra at 11P was a tad early for Spaniards. We did sit next to some Spaniards who were trying to practice their English on us, even though we understand and speak Spanish. The guy I was talking to would take 2 minutes to respond to my questions that I asked in Spanish, and his responses were limited to less than 8 words. Luckily, I had a gin and tonic to get me through the experience. That got old very quickly, so we left and went to Chupitos, where we went last Thursday.

Let me preface Chupitos by mentioning my poor choice in footwear. Barcelona is a walking city, and wearing wedges was a bad idea. Anyways, at Chupitos we decided it was time for shots. At Chupitos they have flaming shots, which we had to do, naturally. We started with a boy scout. The bartender pours alcohol on the bar and lights it up and you take a skewered marshmallow and toast it over the flame. Then you put the toasted mallow in the shot to liquor it up, eat the mallow, and take the shot. I had 2 of these over the period of the night. They were tasty. After that we watched some people do something crazy, so we decided to try it. I think it might have been absinthe, but all I know is that it is blue. The bartender put the liquid and an empty shot glass in a bowl and lit the shot on fire. Then, she took a tall glass and put it over the shot glass which somehow (and I should probably know how, but I don't) the liquid went into the shot glass. After she pulled the glass off, she covered the tall glass with her hand while you drank the liquid with a straw. When you were done with the liquid, you drank the fumes left in the tall glass. Very strange, I must say. But interesting. We decided that was enough shots and moved on a liter of pure liquor, which tasted amazing and I have no clue what was in it.

We weren't really seeing any cute guys but we decided to sit down and see if some appeared. They did. Hot Spaniards. We started talking to them and they were fun (and incredibly hot) so we spent the rest of the night hanging out with them. That night, Analise had worn a skirt that was somewhat sheer, but only in really bright light. Well, at Chupito's, they have black lights and it's pretty dark. About halfway through the night, we discovered that you could see Analise's white panties through her skirt thanks to the black light. Her crotch was glowing, hilarious. We met some more people, including some Columbian girls who were really nice. We also did more shots (somewhere in there was another boy scout and some tequila). David took sweetly to Holly and the train conductor (he drives a train for the Metro) and I hit it off. I do not know his name/maybe cannot remember it. We left Chupitos as they were closing. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty drunk and really wanted to go to bed. They wanted to take us somewhere else, but we made the good decision to go home since we had to wake up so early in the morning for our excursion. We walked back to the University to catch the bus home and on the way, Analise had to pee, so she did so on an ATM. Sylvia and I headed home on the bus, where I was a bit of a drunk circus, but nothing too terrible; and the whole time I was barefoot. I got to my bed at 4A and passed out cold.

I woke up in the morning a little bit afraid to open my eyes, thinking a hangover was imminent. Luckily, my liver did me a favor and I was perfectly fine. I picked up some Hot Doks (this is always a good idea after drinking in Barcelona; the grease just works wonders) for me and Holly and got on the bus to Montserrat, a monastery about an hour outside of Barcelona in the mountains.

Montserrat was beautiful. We got there and on the way towards the monastery found some people selling local fares. I bought a couple surprises which will hopefully not get taken by customs (I'm totally prepared to lie in order to sneak them across the border) and Craig, Analise, and I decided to go down to Santa Cova, this place that has something to do with visions of the Virgin. This was quite a hike, but breathtaking views. We stopped several times to just sit and take it in. Santa Cova is (I would call) a shrine to the virgin. People also come here and bring tokens to offer up to God. Which is somewhat creepy. We went into the room where people left them and it was all at once sad, creepy, and somewhat happy. It was pretty cool to see, definitely something we do not have in the United States. We were supposed to be back by 1 to hear the choir boys sing, but we didn't make it due to some tram confusion. I have some trouble with my asthma here (Spaniards smoke a lot, and it makes my asthma worse) so we had to take the tram and didn't catch the one before 1P. We are pretty sure we heard them practicing as we climbed down the mountain, which was really peaceful and something I will never forget, sitting on the edge of a mountain listening to the boys choir and looking out over the mountains. Wow. Once we made it back to the montesary, we bought a cheesecake (not actually a cheesecake, more like cheesecake flavored flan) and inhaled it. We got back to Barcelona around 3 and headed home for a siesta and to prepare to see King Lear (or Rey Lear) that night.

(Warning: this might become somewhat explicit as I am still harboring rage towards the incident)

When I got home, I went to throw myself in my bed and noticed some brown streaks on my covers, which were definitely not there before I left. I knew I had been drunk the night before, but was 100% certain that I did not leave them there. I bent down to smell them. Unmistakably dog shit. The fucking dog had wiped her nasty ass all over my bed. I went and told my Senora, who was not nearly embarrassed enough in my opinion, who said she would wash my sheets. What the hell, dog? Why my bed? Ugh...I could kill that bitch.

After I peeled the sheets off my bed, I fumbled around on the internet for awhile and tried to sleep, but sleeping without sheets was difficult so I got up and cleaned my room. After a shower, I got dressed for the theater. I thought I should dress like I would in the states, dress, heels, etc. Heels were again a mistake. This time a much much more terrible mistake. Analise, Sylvia and I took the train to the theater. Craig had said it was right next to this building, so when we got there, we walked towards that building thinking we would find the theater. By the time we realized we were going the wrong way, it was like 13 minutes until the door closed. I took off my shoes and jogged and barely made it. I will not be wearing heels in Barcelona again, unless I plan to take a taxi. The play was well done, I think. For the most part, they spoke really fast and I didn't quite understand it. As it is, King Lear is hard to understand in English. But the adaptation was really interesting in terms of the set and the costumes and King Lear the actor was amazing. The rest were somewhat mediocre, over dramatic and such. Overall, it was really awesome and I feel really cultured now that I can say I've seen King Lear in Spanish.

After King Lear, I once again walked home barefoot, and we stopped into Hot Doks (it was the only thing open on our block) for a drink (Fanta Naranja is my favorite here) and snack. After our appetizer, we came back to our apartment and had cheese, grapes, and bread for dinner at like midnight. It was nice to do something relaxing, and I could eat cheese for every meal and not even want something else. I used the phone to talk to Daddy and Kaleb (phone cards here are thieves...I can usually only use them for like 30 minutes max) to say hi and that I'm alive. Later on, Mommy called me and we talked for awhile. It was good to talk to people at home. I haven't been home since March so I'm a little homesick, but Barcelona is incredible so I don't let it set me back. At 5A my time, Rachie called! I was sleeping, but I woke up and we got to talk, which was great. I slept until noon and have just been putzing around here, trying to decide something to do. The weather hasn't been good for the beach. They had a really dry winter and now the weather is making up for it by raining a lot. Which is good because they need the rain, but bad because I want a tan. I'm sure we'll find something good, if not just go eat somewhere new and different and maybe go to Park Guell. Sylvia has been there so she's not sure she wants to go, and I'm not sure the weather will hold out. I should go get dressed and ready.

¡Les quiero y hasta luego!