FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Ah, yes, the things in life that still get me super excited. But first, the time between the last day of ILP.

ILP ended on Tuesday with very little pomp and circumstance. I really thought more was due, like someone with a giant cake and a shiatsu massage, but at least it was finally over. After ILP, I didn't have an distinct plans, except to catch up on sleep, equip my apartment with lots of pillows, and study for the GMAT.

Well, I definitely slept a lot. And I did go to Ikea. Let's talk about Ikea.

I had never been there in America, which is just tragic, because it is AMAZING. Everything is adorable in a tasteful way. I got some bright red sheets, pillows (perhaps my one true love), a vanilla candle, some tupperware, and a giant reusable bag that works great for groceries and such. Either way, I will be utilizing Ikea in future decorating and outfitting operations. They literally have everything, and make everything so easy. Although I haven't had to put any furniture together so I might be joking around. We also had lunch there, and since all the stress of ILP and finding an apartment had taken a small toll on my digestive system, the mild meatballs topped with somewhat rich gravy and a side of fries settled just fine. I even considered taking some home with me, but didn't since I need to get used to Spanish cooking.

Thursday was spent sleeping really late and starting to study for the GMAT. So far, that's not looking so good. Luckily I haven't scheduled the test yet, so I have a little time, but I want to take it like beginning of November-ish. For those reading that are not in the inner circle, once I am done here in Barcelona, I will graduate, and would prefer avoiding the aching job market for as long as possible. I would also like to get a master's in something that would make me marketable. Since health care and its related fields interest me, I've decided to apply as a Master's in Health Administration and MBA (dual-degree) candidate. We'll see who takes me.

Thursday I also took a nap and had an intercambio date with a guy I met at a bar. He is Spanish and interested in learning more English, and I'm interested in learning more Spanish and Catalan, so we met up for drinks, well I had beer and he had coffee. It was interesting, and awkward, but not in a bad way. I learned some things about Spanish culture and language, and about him. He's a really nice guy, and hopefully we'll hang out soon.

Friday I woke up late (more on this sleeping business below), and putzed around, studied a little for the GMAT, and then went to a house party at the flat of some of the guys from the program (Alvaro, Toni, Patrick, and Joseva). It was a blast. Not only were people from the program there, but a couple Spanish people that people from that program have picked up on the way, Joseva included since he is from Basque Country and not part of the California-Illinois program. Everyone was very merry, this author included. Some of us may have arrived back at our flats in the wee hours of the morning. Some Spanish gentlemen may have seriously lost at beer pong (not by my hand, I'm the worst of the worst, except for that one time on New Year's Eve...), and we may have pissed off their neighbors. And I vaguely recall catching popcorn in my mouth for sport.

After arriving home at an unladylike time (6:30A), I slept until 4P. The people I live with must think such interesting things about me.

I was going to study and eat lunch by myself, but Jenny decided to join me and I didn't study but I did eat (delicious hangover pasta with bacon) overlooking la Sagrada Familia. After lunch we hung out at my place until like 9 when we met up with Matt to go to a bar and watch the FC Barcelona soccer game against Atletico Madrid. Now, I am not the world's biggest soccer fan, but it is interesting. Not nearly as violent as lacrosse, but it can get intense. And Barca is definitely awesome. I didn't have anything stronger than Fanta at this bar, due to the previous evening's festivities, and arrived home no later than 12:30 (which really isn't that late for Spain).

The next day I woke up around 1P and decided that I was going to buckle down and knock some serious GMAT studying out. I had lunch at a cafe nearby (veal and fries and a grilled pepper, so tasty) topped off with some sort of coffee involving whipped cream (no complaints here) and actually got some work done. Needless to say, I have a solid idea of just how much more work I need to get done, and it is quite a bit.

FINALLY THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

I have always gotten really excited about the first day of school. New notebooks, clean slate, LEARNING TO BE HAD. However, I woke up on Monday feeling crummy. Not in the every-organ-in-my-body-is-committing-mutiny kind of way, but in the I-slept-for-that-long-and-I-can-sleep-forever-still kind of way. And my ears hurt, and my boogies were the color of grass. I do not have time to be sick here, no sir.

My first class is called Barcelona en su contexto and is taught by the same woman that taught my culture class. She's awesome as a teacher. And she has such a soothing, relaxing voice that I'm pretty sure she should get paid more for it. The class is going to be interesting, from what I gathered, and there are a ton of people in it. All of my classes are program people only for now. In October I'll start Catalan and there will be other people in there, and next semester I'll take more classes with Spanish students, but for now I'm still getting comfortable and don't want to make a fool out of myself (or my grades) in an actual University class. Then I had a 2 hour break.

SO I WENT TO THE BAGEL SHOP.

Something I don't understand about Barcelona is the abundance of lox and cream cheese, and complete lack of bagels. What am I supposed to put the delicious smoked salmon and cream cheese on? This is apparently the only bagel place in Barcelona. In Madrid you can get bagels at the grocery store (like the big one, not the smaller neighborhood ones), why not Barcelona? Either way, I had a delicious cheese bagel with cream cheese and veggies on it. I'm so sure I've never made so much noise while eating (my mother can attest to how much noise I make when I'm really enjoying food). So I bought 6 for the road and have cling wrapped them and frozen them for later consumption. Afterwards I finally got to explore some. I wandered in and out of shops and sat down and people-watched for awhile on La Rambla.

At 3P, I had linguistics class with Toni Torres. Now, I love Toni Torres; his laugh is this infectious belly laugh that lights up a room and makes you laugh right along with him. Will his laugh win me over regarding linguistics? I'm not sure. It might be interesting, we shall see. I do think I will learn and understand the Spanish language much better with it, but we haven't really started learning yet, so time will tell. Also, all of my classes (with the exception of Catalan) are in Spanish.

After class, I had my first experience with the Spanish medical system. The program gives us insurance as part of the cost, so we can go to the clinic when we're sick or broken. Between the extremely excessive sleeping and the strange colors I was seeing, I knew I had a sinus infection. This particular place was like an Emergency Clinic, but not so serious. I didn't have to make an appointment and it's private, so only for people with private insurance. I got there and told the guy what was wrong, more or less, in Spanish and he swiped my card and instructed me to wait for my name to be called. And then everyone and their mother decided to come in, naturally more sick and therefore more of a priority than me. I waited about 45 minutes (this is not an exaggeration, I often exaggerate) to see the doctor for like 10 minutes. There appeared to be only men working there, even the nurses, which I thought was interesting. And one woman who looked miserable and said something in Spanish, which I can only assume meant "Being old hurts. Don't do it." The doctor pushed on my face and informed me that I have sinusitis (it's the same word in Spanish, just pronounced differently), and gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and sent me on my way.

After I picked up 25 euros worth of medicine (I'm not so sure I need all of it?), I came home and laid down on my bed to rest. I fell asleep at 9P and woke up today at 12:30P. That's 15.5 hours of sleep. I did wake up at 2:30A and took my first dose of antibiotics, and with 2 doses under my belt I am feeling much less tired and crummy.

My first class today was at 3P with Mireia (also known as the Tim Burton character from ILP), Composición y Conversación. She's still Tim Burton-esque, if not more so since she dyed her hair more purple-ish/red-ish and still the sweetest woman, well besides Pilar (the program director). I wouldn't want to see her and Pilar compete, it would be tough. That class will be really useful for refining my writing in Spanish, particularly with grammar and vocab. At 4:30 I had Literatura. First of all, it's hard to get excited about a class when the only thing you can hear in the classroom is the echo of the teacher's voice. The classroom has terrible acoustics. Hopefully it will get changed soon. Of all the classes, this might be my least favorite, but you never know. I'm not knocking it until I try it.

After class, a few of us went and got kebabs. Kebabs here are more like gyros and less like sticks of meat but are delicious. I split one with Eunice (thank you sinus infection for killing my appetite), then Amanda and I went to the bookstore. I had been wanting to buy a Spanish cookbook for awhile and AHOY! I finally did. This one is seriously legit. There are 400 recipes divided into Entradadas y Primeros Platos (appetizers, soups, salads, etc.), Pescados (fish), Carnes (all meat but fish), y Postres (desserts). I checked for the important things: snails (check), bacalao (salted cod - check), crema catalana (check). Also, it is in Spanish and done on the Metric system, which will be interesting, AND every recipe has a picture! So I will start cooking Spanish food, and blogging about it! Tonight I had an oregano bagel for dinner and orange juice, but I did cook myself lunch of ravioli with zucchini/onion/meat sauce which was tasty but I couldn't eat much of it, so I have leftovers! Tomorrow I have class at 11:30A (in case your wondering, I mostly did not strategically plan class so I can sleep in, but it worked out really well in my favor), then a break where I will come home and do laundry and eat lunch, and then class. This weekend is La Mercè, which I will explain when I actually understand it, but it's some sort of giant party and everyone's excited, including me. Also, I'm still waiting on lentil recipes, since my 400 recetas book seems to have none (what crap), so post them if you have one! Until next time, and I promise to take some pictures!