A Sigh of Relief

I FINALLY found an apartment. But naturally this did not happen easily, oh no it did not.

Last time I left off I was frustrated as hell. Things were not going my way in the slightest. For some reason, in the entire city of Barcelona, Spain, a rather large city with an impressively large young population, did not have an apartment that I could live in for even a week. But, I still had a week, right?

In the end, I made 14 appointments and saw 11 apartments. I was stood up twice. Then, on Thursday I went to see an apartment in what is apparently the industrial district. I was really looking for a place to live short term while I found something long term. The second to last place I saw, I walked up, and was instantly creeped out. But I had made an appointment so I called the guy (we had agreed to meet at 2:30) to let him know I would be there in 5 minutes and he was like oh, I'll be there in 15. I waited almost half an hour and left without seeing the place. Fortunately, I took the next place I saw. So currently, right now, I'm sitting in the living room of my apartment.

I like it a lot. It's in a great area, I have a huge bed, and an interior window. The interior window is fun because I can hear everyone's business.  Although, for the most part I cannot understand, but that will come soon enough. And even though I don't get direct air circulation, it still gets chilly when I sleep because I have a giant fan to help me out. It's also 3 blocks from la Sagrada Familia. Every time I get off the Metro I am taken aback. It is so awesome that I get to live so close to such an amazing piece of architecture and art. I moved in yesterday. It's on the third floor (American standards, el primer piso Spanish standards) with no stairs, which is fine as long as I'm not hauling my suitcases up. Today I went to the grocery store for the first time, and cooked my first meal. I had cheese raviolis with pesto and sauteed zucchini. It wasn't bad. I also bought toilet paper, water (you don't really drink from the tap in Spain), bread, and cheese. And today I went to El Corte Inglés, the supermarket, and bought TORTILLAS and REFRIED BLACK BEANS. Tomorrow I will make quesadillas.

Side note. So this supermarket in El Corte Inglés is AMAZING. I could die in there. I love grocery stores. This place had an entire aisle of canned clams. Which didn't really interest me that much. However, I do plan to try cooking lentils soon, since I discovered I actually like them, since they are a lot like beans and I love beans. If you have any good recipes, post them because I fancy some lentils soon.

Back to my apartment. I really like the people I live with. My roommates consist of a couple (both are 30) and a Brazilian woman who is probably around 30, and they are great. Most importantly, they do not hesitate to correct my Spanish, which I prefer because I would rather be corrected that talk incorrectly, and they're super nice about it. I will not lie, it's a little intimidating. David, the man, speaks English, so sometimes if I'm flustered I resort to that, but I'm trying really hard to talk to them a lot so my Spanish will get better quickly. My conversation teacher told us the best way to become fluent is to have a boyfriend or girlfriend that natively speaks the language you want to learn. I will get on that pronto.

Side note. Today was a clumsy day. Not a bad day, I just couldn't manage to put one foot in front of the other without some serious consequences. The climax of my clumsy day was at McDonald's. I had just spent an entire hour in the mega Spanish grocery store and was dying of hunger. So I take my tray and start up the stairs to find a table. What do I do? Eat shit. Spill everything, right there on the stairs immediately interrupting the flow of everything. Luckily 4 people who worked there immediately came to my aid, and they replaced my lunch no problem. But oh man was I embarrassed. Of course, as soon as I sat down, I looked down and realized my fly had been unzipped for a solid 2 hours (now I know how it feels to be ZAW). Luckily no other accidents occurred, but I was glad I didn't actually know anyone that saw me fall.

Other than apartment hunting, and class, I haven't been able to do a whole lot. Friday night I went out with some people from the group, to a bar called Pippermint, where if one so desires, one can purchase a 13 liter beer or sangria or mixed drink. This writer does not desire to drink 13 liters of alcohol in one sitting, contrary to some opinions. After that we had scored free passes to a club, Bikini, and went dancing until the wee hours. Naturally, I slept until 3:30P on Saturday, packed my stuff up, and on Sunday moved in. Yesterday everyone was closed so I couldn't go to the grocery store, so I met up with Adam and we got surprisingly delicious pizza from a place right up the street from me.

Tomorrow is the last day of ILP (the language program), finally. I think I have 2 quizzes that I should probably study for. After tomorrow, classes don't resume until the 21st of September, so we have this surprise 5 day vacation. I was thinking about traveling, but due to a certain loan company's propensity towards paper checks that take weeks to clear, and having just moved in, I've decided to stay here and work on grad school stuff (GMAT here I come) and get to know the area a little better. Today a cluster of thunderstorms brought in a cool front, and it's absolutely blissful outside. I feel so much less stressed and overwhelmed now that I have finally found a place to settle into. It is really a sigh of relief.

Sometimes...I'm Really Overwhelmed

Looking for an apartment is completely and utterly exhausting and overwhelming. And so is being in a new city, doing everything in a language and culture I am not fluent in. It can just be overwhelming. Even though I'm in this fantastic city, there are still days that are bad. Like today.

Let me explain some things. Right now, I'm staying in a dorm. We're provided breakfast and dinner. I don't usually eat breakfast, but you can scroll back and few posts and read about dorm food. The dorms are nice, but they're kind of like camp. You know you're here for a short period of time, everyone is in an awkward, needy place, so everyone gets along but there can be drama. And, unlike real camp, there's almost always alcohol involved. The dorms are nice, but only 3 weeks are included in our program costs and after the three weeks are up, you have to find your own place to live, and the 3 weeks end on Sep. 13th. We can choose to live here, but it's pretty pricey and the food is bad. So I've been looking for apartments. I have an idea of some things that are definite deal breakers (twin sized bed is pretty high up on the list of vetoes), so I've been trolling the internet looking for what I think I want, and it has been absolutely overwhelming.

I had placed an ad of who I am, what I'm doing here, what my hobbies are, what I want in an apartment, etc. I got literally 30 responses the first day. My mind just shut down at the thought of wading through all that. So what did I do? I took a nap. Then I woke up, reminded myself that I'm a big girl, and just went after it. I didn't bother responding to the ones that I didn't like or couldn't afford, but I managed to send out like 15 or so emails, and got a few responses.

First of all, yesterday was really good overall. I woke up at noon and went and saw two apartments. The first opened right up to the metro that would take me straight to the University, but it had cable internet (no WIFI) and no visitors allowed. But it was clean and the people were nice. The second also opened up to the metro in the same way as before, and the people were great, but there was no heat and I couldn't move in until the 17th, which is 4 days after my time ends here. Problem. And it was a little grungy. The first apartment had someone come clean everyday, but there was no window in the room, so no natural light or fresh air could get in. But, I figured I could put up with both of them if I need to, which made me feel better.

Last night I went out with a couple people from the group, including my roommate, and we had a great time. I once again made foreign friends (I just attract them I swear) and slept peacefully. Then today happened.

I woke up, on my own accord around noon, and had lunch at Burger King (sometimes you can't take 2 hours to enjoy several courses). I had made appointments to see 2 apartments, one at 5 and another between 5 and 7 in the afternoon. After lunch I came back, figured out how to get there, wrote down the addresses and headed on my way. I got off at the first metro stop, and went the wrong way for a few blocks, asked people where a major landmark was who for some reason didn't know (apparently I found a comun of people who live under a rock). I thought I was finally in the right vicinity so I called the guy to see if he could help me get there and he informed me that he had already rented the room. Awesome. Instantly pissed at him wasting my time, I stomped off to the metro to head over to the other appointment thinking that karma will smile down on me and this apartment will be more than perfect and I will be done searching.

Such false hopes. I arrived at the other apartment after another trek through the metro system and up a few blocks to discover I hadn't written down what floor it was on. So I called my friend and had him check my email, and pushed the buzzer, nothing. Waited a few moments, and pushed it again. Still nothing. I just walked away. If people are that rude, I will not go out of my way to rent from them. But I was still mad that I hadn't made any progress today. So I walked to the University and found some Cantaloupe gelato to make me feel better. It made me feel a little better. I made a couple appointments for tomorrow. One of them is in a location JCW (John C. Wilcox) said I shouldn't live, but I already made the appointment so I might as well check it out. The other one I'm hoping is good, it's a couple blocks from the university and the pictures make it look nice. It supposedly has a private balcony and built in storage. But it's a little on the expensive side. Which is so frustrating.

I'm going to start complaining a little, so if you don't like it, stop reading now.

The whole apartment hunting is really overwhelming. I know I'm going to have to compromise eventually, but I just feel like I still have time to look, but I'm kind of tired of looking. It's a slippery slope. And people want so bad to rent the place, but I don't want to live in a place I'm not going to be comfortable in. I know I'll find something, but today was so frustrating and discouraging. And I'm pretty sick of homework, we just have so much all the time and on top of trying to find an apartment and figuring out how to fit in to this city, it has gotten kind of a lot overwhelming at times. I know that once I find a place, and am no longer transient anymore, I'll feel a lot less overwhelmed.

But for now, I'm going to go do some (more) homework and try and go to bed soon. Ciao.

Saturday, Sunday, and Everything Between Now and Then

I have been kind of busy. But with just enough free time so sometimes I'm bored, but don't quite know what to do with myself. So I'll start where I left off.

Saturday I woke up at 12:45P. It was blissful. I went and looked at an apartment in the Gothic neighborhood, hated it, and walked around Las Ramblas before heading back to the dorms for dinner and more rest. Nothing really exciting about Saturday.

Sunday was even less exciting, I pretty much did homework all day. I did eat 2 lunches, one of them a really fantastic cous cous salad that was tasty but not really heavy and another a couple hours later of a sandwich with roast beef. I did homework all night and woke up the next morning early for class. The weekend wasn't really a proper start to living in Spain. But shit, I was so exhausted that it was exactly what I needed.

Monday consisted of class, and then a tapas lunch. Finally something interesting. A few of us went to a restaurant not too far from the University. It was decent, and I got to try something I had never had before: escargot. I was really impressed. I thought it would be kind of rubbery, but those little snails were so tasty. We also had bacalao (salt cod), eggplant and mozzarella salad that was delicious, marinated mushrooms, a bruscetta with blood sausage, onions, and cheese, and potatoes stuffed with prawns and hollandaise. I also had crema catalana for dessert, more on that later. Eating tapas with Americans who have never had them before is always interesting. In America you order what you want in a portion for just you, for the most part not sharing with people, except in family style situations. Tapas is little plates that everyone shares. But, being the Americans we are (they haven't beaten it out of us quite yet), we hoarded the plates that we ordered and just tried a taste of other people's, it was not the full on sharing session that tapas requires. After lunch I did more homework for the rest of the night. Homework during ILP will be the end of me.

Tuesday, I was tired again. I had managed to stay up late and negate all the good sleep I had gotten on the weekend. After class, I just wanted a sandwich and a nap. I got the sandwich, tuna with lettuce and tomato and mayo, and some french fries, but ended up getting back to the dorms at like 5P because we sat around talking, so no nap. But the conversation was good, so I'm not unhappy. More homework, but tonight I was feeling restless. I wanted to do something besides homework. So after dinner, Nick and I headed to the gas station for some more of my good friend, Don Simon vino tinto (1.38euro wine). Nick and I played cards and finished our tetra packs and then I sat out in the park talking to Tom until almost 3A. I definitely woke up with a little bit of the wine flu, not to be confused with the swine flu, because wine flu goes away eventually with the aid of food and hydration.

Wednesday was pretty dull, classes, sat around the dorm afterwards, pretty much the usual. Except for lunch. Eunice and I went to Flauta, which is a restaurant close to the University that is super popular and very tasty; it's the same restaurant we had our welcome dinner at last summer, and I have some really delicious memories of that so I decided that trying it for lunch would not hurt me. First of all, the place was packed, we actually had to wait for a table and it was a decent sized place, for Spain. I asked the man in front of me if he was waiting for a table and we started talking, he's been going there for years and suggested some things to look for. He was such a regular the manager came over and shook his hand, which is kind of a big deal in a place like Flauta that sees thousands of tourists and businessmen every week. Eunice and I decided on the Menu del Dia, a personal favorite, and I had the ensalad verdura for my first plate and conejo as my second. And crema catalana, something I've been craving for months, as dessert.

My salad came out and I knew from looking at it that it was going to be good. It was pretty, and was loaded with lettuces and ham and a sliced up fresh fig. Now, I had never eaten fresh figs, dried yes but never fresh. I have not been living properly without fresh figs, they are amazing. I could go on for hours about them, but I will tell you that I had one and have been searching for some ever since. Damn. The salad was perfect. Fig, lettuce, pine nuts, a cracker with goat cheese and dried figs mixed in, it was one of the best salads I've had in awhile. My second course was something else I've never eaten: conejo or rabbit in English. It came stewed with artichokes and carrots, and even though there were lots of little bones, it was tender and juice and definitely something I'll try again. Crema catalana is a lot like creme brulee, but a little bit creamier. I could eat it at every meal. In fact, I'm attempting a tour de crema catalana of Barcelona's restaurants. So far, Flauta has been my favorite.

Another highlight of the day, that evening my roommate's friend arrived from Nice. He's been traveling around Europe and is spending his last 8 days here. They were hanging out so late that he managed to miss the metro back to his hostel and ended up spending the night here. But for the first time in awhile I managed to go to bed before 2A.

I woke up on Thursday feeling great. Amanda, Nick and I made plans to meet up after class for paella, and I was once again feeling the itch to do something besides homework at night. After classes, Amanda and I took the metro and met up with Nick and sat down at a cute little restaurant with lots of people and had first courses of melon and jam for me and Amanda and shrimp in a garlicky tomato sauce for Nick. They then brought us the massive pan of paella mariscos (shrimp, crawfish, scallops, mussels, and clams), but we couldn't finish it there was way too much. We had dessert (crema catalana for me of course) and made our way back to the dorms. I stopped at El Corte Ingles to buy a beach towel and ended up purchasing the Sims 3 as well. I haven't really played it yet, but I will soon.

Thursday night I wanted to go out, meet people, drink too much, something I haven't really done since I've been here. So Nick and I went, to La Oveja Negra, a bar I frequented last summer. They have damn good sangria and we got a pitcher and we found a table where some guys were playing a game. Turns out, they were Spanish, they were really nice and fun, and they were playing a rendition of quarters. I spent most of the evening talking to Elias, who spoke English, and he spoke English while I spoke Spanish and we corrected each other, it was awesome. Elias and I exchanged numbers and hopefully will hang out soon. He'll be really good for my Spanish and I might be good for his English. I drank entirely way too much sangria and Nick and I took a cab back to the dorm where I passed out, finally in clean sheets. However, one small problem. I had managed to lose my metro pass and my room key card at the bar. I know they were in my pocket and must have fallen out when I went to the bathroom. Being inebriated, I was naturally pissed, but now I'm over it because I'm never going to find them and they were replaceable, it just sucks. Class all day today, but today was good because Mireia (easily my favorite) gave us a list of colloquialisms, so now I know how to say all kinds of things to tell people to fuck off or whatnot. I did miss the first 2 hours because I was exhausted and straight up not in the mood, but I got it together for the last 2. The language program is intense in a way that I appreciate because it will help me a lot later on, but monotonous and I feel like a second grader. After class we found some cheap sandwiches and then I headed back to the dorms for a nap. At 6:30P I trekked over to an apartment that I thought would be okay. It was tiny, and I'm not talking tiny American standards, I'm talking tiny Spanish standards. Veto.

Tonight I didn't go out, since I'm still kind of recovering from last night, and tomorrow I'm seeing two apartments. Hopefully I find one I like soon, searching and the mere thought of having to settle somewhere else again really makes me stabby. Until next time, try something new everyday, you never know what will change your life.

Thursday and Friday.

So the second half of the week was a tad more exciting and exhausting than the first half, not that the first half was boring, but I didn't really do anything but sleep and go to class. I finally got out and enjoyed some of the city, and its food of course.

So Thursday was our last day of class for the week, and also the day when paella typically shows up on the menú del día. So I recruited Eunice, Adam, and Matt to go searching for it because it was absolutely criminal that I had been in Barcelona for 5 days without paella or sangria. The only problem is that it is August, and everything is closed so people can go on vacations. What is this vacation shit? So we walked to a place near the university that I had been last summer, and lo and behold, it was closed for vacacciones. I was at a loss. Besides the shot bar up the street (which was also closed since it was 2 in the afternoon), I didn't really know anything in the area. So we walked around and came across a café with both a menú and paella, but no paella on the menú.

I decided that I was in the mood for a classic Spanish meal of ensalada de rus, croquetas, y patatas fritas. I also ordered sangria, I was done with class for the week, why the hell not? The waiter brought out a liter of sangria, and I was parched and may or may not have polished off the entire thing before my meal came, the only witnesses have been sworn to silence. When in Rome, drink like an American? The croquetas came out first. They are fried balls of bechamel mixed with chicken or ham, these were chicken. Typically Americans think they're fried cheese. They are very Spanish and molt delciosa. The ensalada de rus was another story entirely. I like to order things that I have no idea what they are so I can try lots of different things, which is what I did in this instance. When the ensalada de rus came out, I pretty much started drooling because it looked like straight up, Southern style potato salad. I love a good potato salad. Guess what. Surprise tuna. Now, don't get me wrong, I like tuna, canned or fresh; however, I do not like surprise tuna invading things that would be just fine without it. I really just need to stop expecting things to be other things that I am familiar with and expect them to be seafood. I finished my croquets and patats frits, which were delicious, but after three bites of ensalada de rus, I pushed that to the side.

After lunch, I was quite buzzed, and we headed back to the Collegi for an orientation meeting which I don't really remember all of. I think I signed something, which may have resulted in me signing my life away, but I seem to still have my freedom and everyone else was doing it. I was also not allowed to nap, since sleeping was taking up too much time. So I went back to my room after the meeting (which was a serious buzz kill) and looked online for an apartment. I decided at 6:30P that is was high time for me to have a mobile phone, so I set off to get one. I went to FNAC and the guy was helpful but they didn't have the phone I wanted. It was also an eye opening example of how much Spanish I understand but cannot speak. Well, maybe it was the sangria that was keeping me from forming sentences? The guy at the counter told me I spoke well, but I think él quiere ir de cañas conmigo. ¿Quién sabe?

After that failed attempt at getting a cell phone, I took the directions of the nice man at FNAC and went over to El Corte Inglés. I will talk about that place another time. I managed to find something that satisfied my needs and finally made it back at 9P. When I got to the Collegi, I went straight to the menjador for dinner, once again picked at my food, and gave Adam 2euros to buy me wine for later.

I returned to my room after dinner for a shower and a 1.38euro tetra pack of wine. It is safe to say that I was drunk not once, but twice in one day. I didn't even finish the whole tetra pack, although someone did. Adam, Eunice, and I headed to Kitty O'Shea's Irish Pub where I had a Heineken and we played Gin Rummy. Eunice, a noob at Gin, kicked our asses. She also did not consume 1.38euro wine straight from the carton, which may have had something to do with her winning streak. We returned since someone wasn't feeling well and I apparently spent some time chatting on the internet before sleeping.

Friday arrived and I got to wake up 2 hours later than usual. I was hungover as hell and wanted nothing to do with people or the outdoors, which was pretty much the exact plan for the day. I managed to get myself dressed sensibly and make it to the dining room to wolf down a croissant and some juice before getting on the bus for an excursion, also known as: the day where they tried to show us everything in Barcelona at once.

We started off at La Pedrera, Gaudí's famous building in the heart of the city. The building itself is amazing. Gaudí was the father of ergonomic and sensible architecture, or at least it seems like it (don't get offended, I don't know that much architectural history). The terrace of La Pedrera is the best part, and the fact that you don't have to workout that day after climbing all those stairs to the top. The view is amazing, as well as the giant protrusions shaped like skulls and some covered in mosaics. Beautiful. We had like 45 minutes to explore, but I plopped down in a shady spot and drank it all in: the breeze, the view, the fact that I'm in Barcelona. After that, I walked down the stairs and down the street to get a cold soda and we got back on the bus and headed over to La Sagrada Familia.

If you see one thing in Barcelona, it might be La Sagrada Familia. This piece of architectural art has been a work in progress for like 130 years and won't be done until at least 2030. But damn. It is incredible. The ornate detail and unique structure is breathtaking. The spires seem to break the clouds. For 3euro (ish), you can go halfway up one on an elevator. I did it last summer and it was the best view of Barcelona possible, I'm certain. Gaudí dedicated most of his life to its construction, and the façade is dedicated to the Holy Family and the back is a modernistic tribute to the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. It is so different, from one side to the other, and you could probably spend half a day studying it. We took half an hour. But I got some sweet pictures before getting back on the bus and passing out for a bit. It's not going anywhere, so I'll definitely check back later.

By now my hangover was a distant memory and once a few minutes to admire the church had passed, we headed to Park Güell, which I was the most excited about since I never went last summer. It was breathtaking. Rolling hills covered in stone passageways and a terrace that looks out over Barcelona, all the way to the sea. And everything mosaics cover much of the surfaces. We only had an hour and a half to explore, and I could easily have spent a day there, and plan to once it cools down and the damn tourists go home. It's a beautiful place, people playing music, fresh air. The Spanish are all about the best places to get fresh air. And the terrace at Park Güell is definitely one of the best. They provided us with lunch, so I had tuna (see I do like tuna, when it is not a surprise) with tomatoes and olive oil on baguette and a bottle of water while I listened to Spanish guitar and let the fresh breeze blow over me. It was so picturesque it was almost disgusting. After lunch, I walked around the park some, taking pictures and really just taking it in, and eventually headed back to the bus since we still had 2 stops left on our tour.

The next stop was Montjuic, which is a mountain kind of at the southwestern part of the city. This is where the MNAC and the Olympic Stadium are located. We stopped off at the Olympic Stadium for some photo ops and to check it out, and then headed to the Miró Foundation for some intake of modern art. I'd seem some of Miró's work before, and it's interesting. Lots of bright colors and lines and shapes. The tour guide was an art history major and she added a lot of interesting details about the paintings that I otherwise wouldn't have known, like what Miró's female figure looked like and that to him femininity was all about maternity. It was interesting but after a long day we were all starting to fade.

We got back to the dorm around 5:30 and I started to watch Top Chef on my computer but passed out and woke up drooling on myself. I decided this nap was okay after the day's adventures, and it was only like an hour or so. After dinner, I promptly changed into my comfortable clothes and spent the rest of the evening catching up on TV and reading. It was ridiculously wonderful to relax and go to sleep without setting an alarm. For now, I'm going to go work on graduate school application stuff, but I'll recap the weekend and today soon. Hasta pronto.

Els classes de ILP

Forewarning: this is going to be a bit lengthy. That said, I am so happy to finally be here and be excited about it. I was the same way last year. Between the jet lag and culture shock, I was a little turned off to Barcelona the first 2 days. Not that I didn't want to be here, I was just a little closed off to so many new things coming at me at once. Not anymore! I'm almost over the jet lag (I could still sleep for days), and new things and this strange and exciting city are just exciting, and not scary. I hope this is making sense, I did just wake up from an accidental nap.

So the last time I wrote was before classes actually started. Well, they've started. And oh wow.

Monday morning they told us we needed to be at the Universitat de Barcelona (in the very center of the city) no later than 8:40A so we could find out where we placed before classes started. So I woke up at 7A, went to breakfast at 7:30A (more on food later), left for the bus stop at 8A, and made it to the university by 8:30A. They used letters to divide us up and no one really knows which group is the worst and which group is the best. Which is fine with me. I'm in group C, and there's another Illinois student in my group, Tom, and the rest are from California. At 9A, we walked into our first class.

Our first class is grammar with Monica. She talks kind of fast and makes the funniest noises when we say something wrong. Perhaps like a monkey? But I'm learning a lot about grammar. Things I should know but that are slowly coming back to me. Monday we dove right into it, with the usages and structures of ser and estar. Ser and estar are verbs you use to describe things, describe location, and they have all kinds of other uses. They mean 'to be' in English, but in Spanish there are two different types of 'to be' and it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out which one to use, because there isn't a distinction in English. We've spent the last 3 days learning when and how to use both and being honked at when we're wrong.

After clase de gramática, we move to culture and literature class. We don't really have to read books or anything, this class is more about understanding the culture and history of Spain so we can understand things about the country we're living in for the next year. I'm not quite sure the name of the profesora, but she has a lovely voices that I have to fight against lulling me to sleep. So far the score is me: 2, sleep: 1. Monday we talked about languages of Spain, Tuesday was when sleep took over and I don't really remember, and today we got to ask her questions about Spain and why some things are the way they are. I learned that closing everything on Sunday is an old tradition to give people time to see their families and rest, since many stores are small and owned by one family. And also, a lot of things are closed right now because all of Europe is on vacation. Still deciding what I think about this.

Después de cultura y literatura, vamos a la clase de Catalá. Catalan is the easiest hour for me so far because I took an entire semester of it this past fall. Mireia (the teacher) chooses immersion as the best means for teaching us, so she speaks Catalan the entire time. I think Catalan is easier than Spanish personally, but I might be the only one that feels that way. We've learned how to say our names/who we are, where we're from, and our age. I haven't really learned anything new, it's mostly been a review.

After Catalan, we have composition with another Mireia. I adore her. First of all, everything she wears, including her hair, is bright colors, and the woman is 50+ and sweeter than chocolate creme pie. Also, she looks like she belongs in a Tim Burton movie, like The Night Before Christmas. She's tiny, stick thin and short, and she has giant eyes. I think it's her expressiveness that makes me think she and Tim Burton would be fast friends. And she is so kind and helpful. She'll answer any questions we have and is overjoyed to give us directions to places to try. Tomorrow she's giving me directions to her favorite paella restaurant. I think she and I will get along well. Composition is really helpful, since we're going to be in regular classes soon and will have to write. Everyone seems to hate composition, but I Mireia makes it bearable.

Finally, conversation class. Where we talk. And are constantly corrected. Because our Spanish is very elementary and we say things that don't make sense. I like our profesora for conversation, she has a lot of energy and is eager to help us understand. Conversation is a nice way to end the 5 hour repertoire of classes. It's not to heavy, but I still learn a lot.

So class runs for 5 hours straight, we get a couple short breaks, but it is really intense. I'm already thinking and translating in my head, which is a good sign that the language program is sticking. We usually have class 5 days a week, but this week we are going places on Friday so there's no class, which is nice. I'm really glad they do the language program because my Spanish was extra rusty and I would have sunk like the Titanic.

So, what else have I been doing besides class? Well, napping, quite a bit. Between waking up at 7:15 for class and jet lag, I'm a lot tired. And I foolishly stayed up late the other night (like 3A) to finish my book (The Help, which I HIGHLY recommend if you want something about race relations in the South around the time of the Civil Rights Act; it was excellent, I even cried).

Monday I walked around and went shopping for some things. I went to El Corté Inglés and bought a notebook and a planner. And then I went to the cell phone store to ask them some questions. Still no cell phone but I'm hoping tomorrow it will happen. I just need to stop napping and get my shit together. Tomorrow I will not nap, I promise.

So something else I've been getting a lot of questions about: the food. The dorm food is, well, between mediocre and terrible. Breakfast is probably the tastiest and usually consists of pastries like croissants or cheese danishes, donuts, fruit, yogurt, cheese, ham, cereal, and juice or milk or water. The dorm doesn't provide us lunch. But dinner is kind of touch and go. Last night's dinner was really good. We had chorizo baked into croissant dough, which is like the Spanish version of pigs in a blanket, a pork stew, fried zucchini, steamed carrots and peas, french baguette rolls, and this amazing melon that I get to the dining room early for. But tonight, not so good. There was a hot dog in mustard sauce, noodles with ham and a creamy sauce that after an uncivilized amount of salt and pepper tasted pretty good, watermelon, and bread. Another thing that has appeared is fried cauliflower, which is nasty as hell. We have french fries a lot, also. I'm just glad that lunch gives us the opportunity to try really delicious Spanish food.

I've only had lunch twice since my last post, yesterday I chose to sleep immediately after class. A lot of people in the program either don't eat lunch or just eat bread and an apple stolen from the dining room. This is not satisfying for me. I get cranky. So I've decided that it's totally worth it to eat lunch. Monday, we went to the cafe across the street from the University. I had a club sandwich and fries and Fanta Naranja. The sandwich was chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg. It was so good. Today, Eunice and I went to a cafe in L'illa which is a mall near the dorm. I had a guacamole sandwich and a salad. The sandwich was guacamole, thick fresh mozzarella slices, greens, tomato, sprinkled with herbs on a crisp multigrain bread with oats on top. Really tasty and refreshing. The salad was lettuce and chicken and croutons and parmesan with a creamy dressing, I think it was their version of caesar, and it was really good. Eunice and I also had dessert, for the first time since arriving in Spain. I had a tart with limoncello curd and raspberries, it was okay, pretty sweet and not as fresh tasting as I would have liked. Eunice had cheesecake which was phenomenal. It was rich but not too sweet, and I had been having a cheesecake craving so I definitely had a couple bites of that. So lunches have been good and tomorrow I'm going to try the paella place Mireia is going to give me directions to.

For now, I must go do my homework and get to bed at a decent hour so that I can wake up at 7:15A and get to class. I'll try and blog more often, do more, and nap less. Tomorrow is the last day of class for the week and I already have lots of plans for the weekend that I'm super excited about. But I'll make you wait until they actually happen. Also, I'm going to try and post pictures in my next post, but I really have to get homework done now, so you will have to tremble with anticipation until then. Fins aviat!

The Last 24 Hours

The last 24 hours have been interesting. After writing my last post, I headed down to the Menjador (dining room in Catalan) for dinner. I was almost dizzy with jet lag and starving so food was definitely welcome and I had some expectations but was curious to see what they were serving us. One of the graduate assistants that flew over with us said that we would get tired of the food, which I quickly understood why.

The dining room is large and luminous with brightly colored tables and chairs, a large, steaming buffet and a self-serve espresso machine at the end. You get a tray and a glass (I've been getting multiple glasses because I require lots of water) and the primer plat (first plate) is salad with lettuce, tomato, carrot, and corn from a can. A very Spanish salad that you put oil and vinegar on. I also had pasta with meat sauce, sausage, and french fries. Jet lag made dinner kind of patchy for me.

The plan was to go to the Festa Mayor de Gràcia which is this huge and amazing festival. So we walked to the metro stop, which was about 12 minutes away, and took it all around the city to the area that the festival was supposed to be in. As I had suspected from looking at the website, the festival had ended the day before, but there were still a ton of people walking in the streets so we just kind of wandered around looking for a place that would hold our group of 10. Spanish bars and restaurants are mostly small, you can have 4 people at a table, and you would never really take a big group without warning the place first. So it was kind of hard to find somewhere, and no one really wanted to make a decision. I was tired of walking around so I just walked in somewhere and everyone followed me.

The bar was tiny. With literally enough space for the bar stools and people to walk past them. Not really conducive to 12 people who want to sit and drink. But we made it work. The bartender was nice. First I had a beer, which was incredibly refreshing after walking around in the sticky heat for an hour. I wasn't planning on getting anywhere near drunk, because all I wanted was really good sleep, and that was never going to happen if I drank too much. But then the bartender pulled out some sort of mystery liquor for one of the waiters and I had to try it. It was called Licór de Hierbas (herb liquor) and smelled TERRIBLE. You're supposed to drink it after dinner for digestion, and it's like 60 proof. So I ordered a chupito (shot) and was of course egged on by the group I went out with.

Everyone smelled it and grimaced, as did I. But I took it. And it was surprisingly good. It had a sweet, earthy taste and it made my tongue numb and my insides warm. And I am positive it aided in my digestion. I stayed a little longer, but didn't drink more, then Adam and I headed back to the Collegio because I was practically falling asleep on the bar. We made it to almost 2A and when I got back I got on the computer and didn't fall asleep until 4A.

At 9A someone stopped by and knocked to see if we were going to breakfast. I woke up but was intent on going back to sleep but I just couldn't, so I trekked down to the menjador for a breakfast of pastries, fruit, juice and milk and coffee, and ham and cheese. It was satisfying but not particularly noteworthy.

After breakfast some people headed to the beach, but I was feeling so sleepy and didn't know how I would fare sitting out in the sun for a long time, so I decided to stay back and read/nap/watch TV. After a couple hours of lounging I decided that I was hungry and should see outside at least once today. I was thinking I would stroll around, check out some shopping, get to know the area a little. I forgot something important. Everything, and I repeat EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday (they call it Fiesta). Particularly in this neighborhood, where there are very few neighborhoods.

I managed to find a restaurant, Pans y Company, where I had a sandwich and fries and Fanta Naranja. The sandwich was definitely the best thing I've had here so far. It was fresh baguette with garlicky mayonnaise, grilled zucchini, caramelized onions, bacon, and sausage. SO TASTY. And I got to eat afuera (outside) on a beautiful day. It was a lovely lunch.

After lunch I hiked back to the collegio, since nothing was open and no one was out. That's another thing, there were hardly any people around. Which makes me wonder what Spanish people do on Sundays. Laundry? Nap? Eat? All of the above? I could speculate for days but I'll try and make some Spanish friends and figure it out instead.

After lunch I read, and then managed a really nice 2 hour nap. At 5P we had an orientation meeting and took a placement exam. I was still hazy from my nap and probably did not do very well. It's just a placement test. They explained some things to us, and gave us some stuff to help us get around the city and navigate the program, which was nice.

After that, I watched the Project Runway season premier, because I figured out how to watch American TV abroad. Now, before everyone gets all huffy about doing American things and such while I'm abroad, I should tell you how I feel about it. I'm American, that I cannot change. And there will be some things that I say and do and are interested in that I blame on my identity as an American. And oh boy, do I love television. However, I definitely think that I should try as much as I can as often as I can and if I have a choice between doing something American or hanging out with Americans versus doing something Spanish or hanging out with Spaniards, I choose the latter. So don't worry, I will gladly abandon American culture if it means learning and experiencing things about the country I'm in.

Back to Project Runway. I can't tell whose going to win, I wasn't particularly impressed with anyone, and I wish they kept that girl on for the drama. Because you know she was going to do crazy shit every single time. We'll see what unfolds.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, which I will explain more about tomorrow, since this has gotten quite long even though my day was mostly uneventful. Classes are for 5 hours and then I'll probably go to the beach or to buy a few things I need. Not ready for a cell phone yet, need a resident card, but you can add me on Skype if you want to chat (username: scotti.wingfield). Until tomorrow!