8...7...6... 2-0!

Pictures are a little out of order, but here is the scene after Barça won the game. Waving their flags and everything.
Here is Xavi and his bike.
This is a good view of how close I was to the action.

Day 104 – December 10th – Wednesday
Today was my last day of Spanish, so of course we had a test. Theres always a test on the last day. I did pretty well. It wasn't as hard as she made it out to be, but maybe that was so we would study more and get better grades. Either way, I'm pretty confident. I went to Catalán class after that and we learned a little about how our final is going to go in there. I'm not sure what to expect. She could make it very easy, but I don't think she will. There is a writing part though, which scares me a little bit. I'm not so good at writing sentences yet. At least now I know what to study: everything. I had my last lecture in Film class, which was nothing fun as expected and now all I have to do is write my paper. I have a week from today, so I'm not too worried. By this time next week I will have no more school related tasks to do and in addition, I will know all my grades. I won't give you any predictions. After dinner, I studied for Art class, having a final tomorrow. That is probably my favorite class, and I hope I'll do well on the final. The test isn't until 5pm, so I'll also have a lot of time beforehand to study more. Its all I do now, but it'll pay off. Time for bed.

Day 105 – December 11th – Thursday
The only thing I had to do today was take that Art test. I pretty much spent every minute studying that I was awake before the test. I felt pretty prepared going into it. It was definitely harder than the midterm, as it probably should have been. The works that she chose were just a little more obscure and not quite as typical of the artist as they could've been. I just wrote and wrote and ended up with about six pages of writing on six questions, so hopefully, that will transfer to points. I need an A in there as well. After the test, I went home for a little while before Xavi got off of work and we went to ride for a while. I consider it a kind of intercambio since we don't really speak English much, especially if there's anyone else there who doesn't speak English. I made it home for dinner, just a little late and then watched Cuéntame. We only get to watch it one more time, which is a tragedy. I'll have to try and find it somewhere on the internet. I pretty much just went to bed after that, as I was pretty tired and had to get up the next day for our Spanish class fiesta.

Day 106 – December 12th – Friday
Today we had a little party for out Spanish class in conjunction with the other advanced classes. It was fun, I guess, though we had to get up a little earlier than normal. I took water as my contribution to the party, which actually turned out to be pretty popular. I mean, it was what I wanted to drink, so its what I brought. We all got to hang out for a while and eat snacks and listen to Spanish music and chat. Then the teachers hanged out our grades, all done up on a nice certificate and everything. I got a “sobresaliente,” which is the highest grade possible. I didn't get 100%, but close enough. I feel like I learned a lot too and I know I improved immensely. My teacher confirmed that when I was saying goodbye to her. She's a good teacher and a cool person. I hope she's around when I come back here, though she is from Madrid. After the fiesta, I went to a nearby park with some friends and enjoyed the weather and being done with Spanish. Its crazy to think about how far we've come, now having less than a week left in Spain. Its hard to believe its almost over, then I look at the day count on my journal and see its over a hundred and that I've written forty pages and it kinda falls into place. I'm ready to come home though, I just wish that I would be done with school already! After the park, I went home and took a little nap before lunch. I definitely don't feel like studying today, but its kind of a fact of life right now. I'm worried about my Catalán final so I want to study it every day. I did study for a little while before going out with some friends. At the end of the night, we contemplated waiting for the metro to open, which was about two hours, but instead just walked. It wasn't that far. Also, Matt and I had the good luck to find abandoned Bicing bikes so we just rode those home and left them by the rest of the bikes at another station. Made it to bed by 4:30.

Day 107 – December 13th – Saturday
Today is probably the biggest soccer game of the year in Barcelona. The Barça-Madrid game draws spectators from more than twenty-five countries and many of the tickets go for over 500€. The drama leading up to this game has also been substantial. As Barça defeated the second place team, Valencia, last week 4-0, it seemed like they were almost unbeatable. In fact, the coach of Madrid claimed that Barça was invincible in Camp Nou. The next day he got fired. I don't know if that was the reason, as it seemed like he was already on his way out, but this is a huge game for Madrid and if your coach says you can't win, you won't. Fernando had informed me that teams almost always win after they change coaches. I had really wanted to go to the game, but I knew I just couldn't afford to pay those outrageous prices. I had talked to my friend Katiri the night before and she had a few extra tickets, but she was trying to make a little money. So imagine how excited I was when she called me around 8:00 and offered a ticket for 100€. I immediately jumped off my bed and got ready and went down to the stadium to meet her. I told Fernando that I wouldn't be eating dinner at home, as I was going to the game. I told him to look for me on TV. My seat was pretty awesome. I was down by the south goal, in the fifth row, sitting between a German guy with whom I spoke English and an old Catalán man with whom I spoke Spanish. After the first half, it was still 0-0 and we were all a little nervous. In the second half, we won a penalty kick, which almost always ends with a goal, unless you're shooting against Ikor Castillas, who's definitely the best keeper in Spain. He blocked it to maintain the 0-0 tie. The environment in the stadium was very volatile. There were riot police lining the field and two in every isle, but they didn't do so much. Whenever the Madrid players would come anywhere near the side line, within range of the fans, they would get showered with insults and even spit. They hate these players! Even the Spanish ones who helped Spain win the Eurocup last year get spit on equally. Lucky for the players that it was raining, so the spit probably had a lesser effect. Unfortunately, the two goals that Barcelona did score, one to Eto'o and the second to Messi, were down at the far end of the stadium so I couldn't see them very well. Theres also no instant replay in the stadium and the huge TV only shows the score, not even live action. Not that I would have taken my eyes off the action anyway. The crowd erupted into song with each goal and everyone jumped up and down. There were actually two people sitting right in front of me and the old man who didn't stand up with the goals. It was obvious that they were Madrid fans. As soon as he realized that, the old man would sing the songs and yell his insults louder and more in the direction of the kids in front. Never anything directly at them, but as soon as they left, after the second goal, he seemed much more content. As I walked out of the stadium, the cheering did not stop. “¡Madrid, cabron, saluta al Campion!” and many others. It was one of the most intense places I've ever been and will ever be. We had to wait for twenty minutes before we even got into the metro, but it was actually pretty quick. I went home and changed out of my wet clothes. The rain was the only downside of the game. Then me and Nick broke open a bottle of champagne and headed down to the Rambla where the after party was. By the time we got there, it was kind of late already and there were only about a hundred people. I got a little food, as I hadn't eaten since lunch and then we pretty much just went home, as it was already 2:00am. My legs were pretty tired from jumping around and walking a lot and my mind had had enough excitement for one day. ¡Força Barça!

11...10...9...

Day 101 – December 7th – Sunday – 11 days left
I didn't get up today until around 2pm, which was some much needed rest. When I got up, I talked to Fernando about how great the game was last night. He agreed and seemed to be in high spirits coming of such a fantastic win. I was a little bummed that I didn't go to the velodrome, especially when Xavi texted me to say that it was amazing, but i really did need the rest. I headed over to school to do some work and use the internet, though I didn't do any work, just basically watched movies and talked to some people on Skype. I'll be home so soon. I remember right before I was leaving that I had this sort of feeling, but much more the opposite way. I was scarred of the unknown, and almost didn't even want to go. But now that I've been here and seen that it is a big scary place, but that I can handle it with ease, I'm excited to go back to Columbus. I hope that all of my friends don't get tired of listening to my stories. The first time you go somewhere is always the hardest, whether it is the grocery store alone for a few hours, or to another continent and culture alone for almost four months. I will be glad to come home in less than two weeks, but I know I will be back. And next time, it will be easier. I got home in time for dinner and to see that Madrid was losing to Sevilla. Its always good news when Madrid loses. I studied a little bit after dinner, but not having school tomorrow kept me from really buckling down. Matt and I took a little walk to the Parc de Joan Miró when we both got bored and then came home and feel asleep.

Day 102 – December 8th – Monday
Today I was awoken by the sound of Tersea's familiar “a comer” (to eat). It was almost three, so lunch was a little late, but I had literally used it as an alarm clock. It was kind of hard to eat so soon after getting up, but we had a pretty good Spanish lunch. Starting of with a salad, the second plate was “berenjera frita” (fried eggplant) and these really delicious thin pork chops that are also fried. For “postre,” I had a couple of mandarinas. Today is a national Catholic holiday, the day of the Conception, so no one is doing anything here in Spain. I sat out on the balcony for a little while after lunch and just watched the people walk around. I'm getting a lot better at understanding the Spanish in the street; last night I got asked for the time, a cigarette twice, and directions. I only had the time, but the point is that I didn't have to ask for them to repeat it or anything. Sitting on the balcony today, I understood a lot of what was being said, but its a little dicouraging when you can't even understand the little kid who is screaming Catalán, although I am getting a bit better. This weekend, actually, I spoke Catalán with two different people on different nights. From one, an Russian-American student who had already taken a few courses, plus it being his fourth language, I got a language lesson, as his speaking and vocabulary in general was much better than mine. From the other, who was French and had lived in Andorra for a few years and was now studying in Barcelona as well, I got a culture lesson on how variable the Catalán language is. Catalunya is divided into four provinces, which create two different dialects. There is also Andorra, the only country to have Catalán as its national language, which lies in between France and Spain, home to all the best skiing. Their Catalán is different. There is also Velencian which is based on the same grammer, spoken to the south of Catalunya. Then, there is the Catalán of the Islas Bareales, in the Mediterranean. An example of the variant found here is the word for “dog.” In Barcelona, it is “gos,” while in Majorca (birthplace of Rafe Nadal), Menorca, and Ibiza, it is said, “cat.” This raises an obvious contradiction for the English speaker, but at least I have that one understood. Finally, there is a small region of Italy which also speaks Catalán, but I imagine the Italian influnece, which is already strong, is dominant there. Today, I got a lot of studying done, so I felt accomplished, but I didn't really go outside, so thats never fun. I did walk around after dinner for a while, hoping to see all the Christmas lights that Fernando and Teresa had gone to see earlier, but many of them were already turned off for the night.Everyone has to work tomorrow, including me, so I'm sure they're all asleep. I did a littl more studying before falling asleep. Its been a good weekend.

Day 103 – December 9th – Tuesday
Today I had my oral exam in Spanish class, which I didn't worry about too much beforehand and it turned out to not really be necessary. We basically just had to talk, which I am not bad at and not shy about. Also, it helped being in a group with two of my friends. We had to read a newspaper article that was just given to us, then explain it to the other people in our group and finally, answer their questions. Then, as the other two people in the group explained their article, we were expected to think of one question for them. My article was about the service that waiters provide in Japan, without ever accepting tips. Even without this incentive, the service there is considered to be the best in the world. I'm sure it is certainly better than Europe, which the article agreed with. After class, I went home to take a little nap, since I had extra time before lunch. I got about two hours in. After lunch, I studied at home for a bit before going to school to do more of the same. I did so right up until my next class, which was Art. Today, we talked about Antoni Tàpies. It was fairly interesting. He is actually still alive, but is 86 years old. i actually live very close to his museum and archives, but it is closed for reforms at the moment. He received some of his influence from Jackson Pollock. The genre of which Pollock was the pioneer, Abstract Expressionism, was the first to influence the art world of Europe, instead of America being influenced by Europe. They were also part of an art movement that fled from the idea that art could be profitable. They believed that art could not be worth millions of dollars, that it should not be hung as decoration in your house. Art was an idea and moreover a political weapon. Tàpies combines this philosophy with natural materials and hands-on painting to create rather ugly paintings with strong messages. After class, I got to video chat with Marissa for a while before I got kicked out of the empty classroom I was in and went home for dinner. After I ate, there was nothing else to do but study more. I'm so tired of it, but after tomorrow, I'll be finished with Spanish and then start finishing up my other subjects the rest of the week. I'll be back in the USSR, er, I mean USA next Friday. Thats hard for me to imagine, but it has been a long time coming.

Counting down the days...

My school. the cafeteria is on the right, in the glass room and this is one of the big courtyards.
Hotel across the street all lit up for Nadal. (thats catalán for Christmas)
Plaça de los Voluntarios. cool statue.

Day 97 – December 3rd – Wednesday
Well, my essay went well today. We had an hour to write twenty-five lines on what it would have been like if we had been born Spanish instead of American. I think I wrote about fourty lines in 45 minutes. There were four or five things that I said that I'm pretty sure she will like, so I'm pretty confident about how I did. In Catalán class, we learned something pretty interesting. We were talking about Nativity scenes. They have them here in Spain, of course, as it is a Catholic country, but they have an extra character that I have never seen before: the Caganer. It is a little boy, wearing a traditional Catalunyan cap, called a barretina, taking a poop. It may seem a little strange, or even vulger, but it has a connotation of equality. No matter who you are, king or pesant, president or homeless, you poop. Also, the “caca” is a form of fertilization of the world. There is also a character that they have associated with Christmas, similar to the practice of stuffing stocking, Caga Tió poops out small presents for children, but only after they sing a song, and they must sing it well and correctly. It may seem strange, but there are plenty of traditions, such as Thanksgiving for example, that are neither practiced nor really understood here. So I hope to see a Caganer on everyone's nativity scene from now on. In Film class, we watched a movie called “Las Horas del Día,” directed by Jaime Rosales. Before we even watched it, the teacher told us that it was an “inaction” movie. He was right, not a lot happened. It basically followed the life of a man named Abel as he went about his daily life. I liked it though, because there were a few aspects that were not truly explained, but were very thought provocing. It did very well at the Cannes Festival in France and I can see why. I would recommend it. After class, I headed home to study before dinner and then studied more after dinner. I feel like thats all I do now, but it is the end of the term, so I guess I should be doing that. I have a long weekend starting tomorrow, so I will have time to get a lot of studying in. Unfortunately, the ISA office is closed for the holiday on Monday, so it will probably be hard to find internet anywhere. I imagine that the school library will be closed as well and many of the internet cafés in addition to that. Oh well, we'll se how it goes.

Day 98 – December 4th – Thursday – 15 Days left
Last day of the week for school! In Spanish class, we had a review for our final, which went pretty well. Now I know how much I need to study. I went home for lunch and then took a little nap. By now, Paquita, thats Fernando's sister who always eats lunch with us, tells me goodnight when I get up from the table after lunch. She knows exactly where I'm going. After a nice hour and a half nap, Matt and I walked down to the Museo de Arte Contemporaria de Barcelona (MACBA) to meet our art class for a tour. There, we were introduced to the art of Antoni Tàpies, who is a Catalán artist who is actually still alive, though he is over ninety years old. His art is definitely modern. One work was about five feet by three feet of a metal base with sand on top, hanging on the wall. It had some places where you could see where he had pushed with his hands, but it was still just sand on the wall to me. Another one was called, “Four Grey Squares on a Black Background.” Thats pretty much all it was. The last one was a three-part work. First, there was another sand painting, this time with a wooden base and the word “Dissabte” (Catalán for Saturday) in the bottom corner. Next there were a bunch of chairs set up outside with little crosses pinned to the back of some of them. He liked chairs because when you are sitting, your body is inactive and only your mind is engaged. The third part was a bed frame with a couple blankets and drawers, hanging precariously from the wall. I forget what the exact title of the word was, as it was a Japanese word, but it basically means “to wake up suddenly” or “to realize.” It is an anti-war work and the word has the sense of waking up to the sound of bombs dropping or realizing how unjust something is. I like a lot of his concepts, for example, all of his works are three dimensional, so that digital media (cameras, video, etc.) cannot fully grasp the essence of the work, one must see it in person. Also, he believed physical contact with the art was very important, so many times you can see his hand prints or footprints in the sand. He also utilized a lot of natural elements like sand and wood because he recognized the natural beauty created by nature. His art is good, its just not something I would hang in my house. Maybe in the garage. I headed back home after that and had dinner. We had Spanish tortilla with zucchini and a soup that supposedly had eight different vegetables in it. We ate healthy tonight. Afterwards, Matt and I met up with Ana, Nick, and Vanessa at a bar called El Petit Apolo. It was a cool place with beer taps on each table so you didn't need to go up to the bar to order another. Instead, it was sold by the liter. After that, we walked over to Gato Negro to say hello and finished the night there. I have friends coming in tomorrow to visit Barcelona and it looks like they are going to have beautiful weather, as usual. It should be up in the 60s tomorrow, yes, in December, almost warm enough for the beach.

Day 99 – December 5th – Friday
I slept in late today, until about an hour before lunch. We had spaghettis again, which makes four days of either tortilla or spaghettis. Fernando joked that it was like war time, but I would like the quality of food to go up just a little. After all, we only have two more weeks here. After lunch, I went on a little bike ride to enjoy the great 65 degree weather we're having here, in December. The weather really is amazing. I took some nice pictures because not only was it warm, but there was not a cloud in the sky either. The sea was especially beautiful today. After my ride, I did a little Christmas shopping and then took a little nap before dinner. After eating, I went with Matt to Plaza Catalunya to meet with Ana, her roommate, and a few other people. I got to hang out with Tom, whom I hadn't seen since Vall de Boí. We started at el Gato Negro, but then headed over to the Catwalk club, or discoteca as they call them here in Barcelona. It was a good time at a pretty cool club. The first floor was House music, which is basically techno, but if you said that to a Catalán, they would say they're completely different. Upstairs was the hip-hop floor where we stayed most of the time. We had to stay out until the metro opened back up, but it wasn't too hard and we had a great time dancing. A good start to the weekend.

Day 100 – December 6th – Saturday
Today, I had a few visitors. My friend Channing who is studying in Amsterdam and her friend Susie coming from Germany were making a trip to Barcelona after stopping in Toulouse, France, and picked up their French friend Christof, who also had a friend studying here. While he was hanging out skating with his friend, we did a little modernism tour. Starting at the Sagrada Família, we walked up to the Hospital de San Pau and then took the metro over to Passeig de Gràcia and saw Casa Milà and Casa Batlló as we walked over the Gaudí paving stones that cover the sidewalk. After that, as it was dark, but not time for dinner yet, we grabbed a coffee and walked around a little more. Barcelona is beginning to fill with Christmas light, lining the streets and adorning some hotels and businesses. The Rambla is also covered in Lights. We made our way down to Plaza Reial for some paella at a restaurant down there. It was pretty good, but nothing compared to the ones we make from scratch. After eating, we headed over to an Irish pub where they were showing the soccer match and met up with the Frenchmen. Barcelona was playing fantastically and to the delight of the French, their contryman, Tierry Henry, scored a hat trick (three goals) and Barça won 4-0. I was so proud of them. There is nothing like blowing out the second place team to show your power. Next is Real Madrid and with so much momentum, its hard to imagine that we can lose. After the match, we headed over to the jazz club that I had gone to last week. Just walking down the street, I saw three or four random people that I knew. It was kind of crazy and really made me miss home, where I get to see all of my favorite people every day. We danced until the club closed and then I headed home. I'm supposed to go to the velodrome tomorrow, but I don't think I can do it. After two nights in a row dancing and being out until the wee hours of the morning, my legs and my mind need a break. I plan on sleeping in late and then getting up for lunch and to study.

Here come finals...

Day 95 – December 1st – Monday
As December begins, it is getting pretty cold here in Barcelona. At about 50 degrees during the day and dropping into the 40s at night, its still no comparison to Ohio right now, but everyone here complains and complains about the cold. I do think its cold, but thats mostly because I don't have more than a couple jackets here. However, when I'm riding my bike, I keep warm that way. Today was a normal Monday at school. Spanish class is actually coming to an end, which means a lot of work to do and even more studying. We have an in class writing Wednesday and then an oral exam next Tuesday and on next Wednesday is the big, long, comprehensive, exam. Friday should be fun though, as it is a party and they are handing out diplomas, whatever they mean by that. Catalán class was good as well, though it will probably be my hardest final. I don't think it will be a whole lot of vocabulary, but she keeps telling us that it will be tougher than the first one, which was very easy. We'll see. All I know is that I've already started studying a bit. Film class should be a pretty easy one to finish out. All we have to do is write a five-page paper in Spanish about the movie that we already have presented on. With the help of all the notes from everyone in the group, it should go smoothly. After class, I met up with my friend Xavi to ride bikes. We rode around for a while with four other guys. It turns out that they had gone to the Velodrome today that is just outside of Barcelona. We were joking that we almost have a whole team. They are planning to go again on Sunday and have invited me along. I'm excited to experience my first velo ride. For dinner, I made an American specialty for my host family: Ramen Noodles. They liked it a lot. I told them it was typical of college students. We also had fried white fish and pinto beans. It was a very filling meal. Afterwards, I, of course, did some homework before going to bed. Down to seventeen days and a travel day.

Day 96 – December 2nd – Tuesday
Just another average day at school. We're starting to talk about final exams, which, for me, is more exciting than intimidating. It looks like all of mine are pretty well spaced apart, so I should have enough time to study for them all. Tomorrow I have my in class writing for Spanish class, so I hope I don't forget to take my dictionary. That would be bad. I've done in class writings before, also in Spanish, so this won't be a new experience for me. In Art class, we have a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona (MACBA) on Thursday to learn about Antoni Tàpies and other Catalàn artists. Then, next Thursday, we have our exam and then we're done. I've come close to the end of a very long four-month road. I definitely feel like I have learned a lot and I should come home with very good grades. After class, I talked for a while on Skype and then went home for spaghettis for dinner. After dinner, as I was studying, I got a call from Ian informing me that his dad and my mom had gone to visit our prospective house and that it was basically perfect. As we talked, our parents were on their way to the landlord's office to take care of paperwork. That is definitely exciting for me. Its hard to imagine that we were organized enough to get a house taken care of from six time zones away. We move in the 22nd of December, so I'll even spend a few days at home, which I'm sure will make my parents happy. After that, back to studying. In the next two weeks, I have to budget my time carefully and balance work and play. To bed! To prepare for my essay tomorrow.

Update! almost done...

Day 90 – November 26th – Wednesday
Wow! Day ninety. Thats a long time to be away from your friends and family. Trust me. It has been a long time, but now it is coming to an end. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I won't be with anyone to whom I am related. Thats a first. I will be having all the traditional food, as ISA has organized a dinner for us at a restaurant that overlooks the sea. Today was just another normal day at school, nothing special to report. We watched another depressing movie in film class, “Lunes del Sol” (Mondays in the Sun). It was about a group of dock workers that gets laid off because their shipyard is being closed down to make room for luxury apartments. It was a well done movie, with many big name Spanish actors that, for the most part, are unknown in the States, but it just wasn't happy. It just put me in an unmotivated and a “life sucks” kinda mood. Oh well, I did get over it before dinner, so I suppose it wasn't that bad of a movie. It did end happily for a few people. We had oriental vegetables and hardboiled eggs for dinner, which is a pretty hardy and tasty meal. Then I read a Spanish story for homework and then went to bed.

Day 91 – November 27th – Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving!! Its a shame that we didn't get school off here, but I'll just have to pretend that tomorrow was our holiday. I had an average day at school, nothing too special. In art class, we talked more about Salvador Dalí and his craziness. He followed a lot of Freud's works and definitely considered himself a Narcissist. We learned a lot about the symbols which he utilized in his surrealist paintings, many of which may be impossible to understand. He claimed to be a “paranoiac surrealist,” which means that his logic, though perfect, was completely different from that of a normally educated people. This paranoia is what makes him so hard to understand. It states that one can see different things in the same thing as well as the same thing in different things. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to comprehend what Dalí may have seen. His paintings, however, are not without their genius. Just look at “Cisnes Reflejando Elefantes” (Swans Reflecting Elephants), for example. You see the swans, and their exact reflection is that of an elephant. His use of double images, better said, multiple images, is astounding. “The Metamorphosis of Narcissis” is a good example of these double images. It is pretty easy to see some of them, but others, you must stare at the painting for a few minutes before they emerge. After class, I went home and made a few calls to family. This is the first time I have been without anyone to whom I am related to on Thanksgiving, but its okay, I still got my turkey, even here in Spain, where no one really knows what Thanksgiving is all about. We had a nice dinner organized for us by our study abroad program at a really nice restaurant down on the sea. We had a delicious mozzarella and tomato salad to start and then mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy, vegetables, and to finish off, apple pie. It was quite delicious, all of it. It was very Thanksgiving-esque, but at the same time it didn't let you forget you were in Spain. Afterwards, we and Nick caught the last metro out to one of my friends houses that I ride bikes with. He's from Baltimore and is studying in Barcelona for a year. He had had a Thanksgiving dinner earlier, but we only got there in time for dessert, which is fine since we were stuffed anyway. We hung out there and chatted for a while about all kinds of American things before calling it a night. I had a happy Thanksgiving, even though I wasn't with many of the people for whom I am thankful for.

Day 92 – November 28th – Friday
I slept in today, as is custom on Fridays. We had a delicious meal for lunch of macaroni and ribs mixed together. Its a strange combination, but it comes together very well. After lunch, I went with my roommate and his cousin, who is visiting, to the Gothic quarter to do a little Christmas shopping. I had in mind something I had seen before, and I was able to find the shop again and purchase it. Then, I went to the ISA office and spent a little time on the internet, doing nothing in particular. I went home and took a little nap before dinner and then we had “rape” to eat. Thats angler fish and its delicious. After dinner, I went out with Nick for a little while, to no where in particular. I made it a early night, as I'm supposed to go ride bikes tomorrow so I don't want to be too tired. Tomorrow is also an important soccer game for Barcelona against Sevilla. Its their first real test, so we'll see how it goes. I must admit, I'm a little nervous.

Day 93 – November 29th – Saturday – 20 days left
By now, Fernando knows that I don't take breakfast on the weekends. I again slept until just before lunch time and then went back to sleep for a little while. After that, My friend Mike, who's from Baltimore, called me to go riding. We rode around for about two hours, hitting a bunch of new places and enjoying the cool night. After making our way back to our home turf, we stopped at an Irish pub for a Guiness and to watch the first half of the Real Madrid – Getafe game. It was 0-1 at half time, so I was pumped. I went home to eat dinner, after which we saw that Madrid had lost 1-3, a good result for Barcelona, whose game starts just afterward. Barça was also able to get the result they needed, thanks to two goals by Leo Messi. This pushes them in to first place by a margin of six and I'm sure it will put a little bit of panic into the Madrid crowd. Barcelona has been playing magnificently so far this year, and I like it imagine that its just because I'm here. They can feel my spirit urging them on, wanting one goal after another. I think I'm going to go to the game next week, which is at home, as it will be my last chance. I think Mike is going too, so I'll have a friend to go with. After the Barça game, my friend Tony from Texas called me and we went out with a few of his Russian friends and their German friends. We were joking about how the two Americans were hanging out with a bunch of people usually seen as the enemy, at least in James Bond movies. We went to a club that the German, Max, had suggested. He has been here in Barcelona for over a year now and says it is the best music he has found. It was a kind of swing/soul/jazz club, with old episodes of Soul Train playing on the video projectors. It was a great time. We even talked to the owner for a little while, who was a middle-aged Mexican man who was obviously loaded. It was supposed to close at 3am, but they went almost until 4 and then we hung out a little longer outside before I finally made it home around 5:30. Thats the beauty of Saturday, is that the metro runs all night.

Day 94 – November 30th – Sunday
After such a late night, you can assume that I didn't wake up early today. I got up, ate lunch, and went right back to bed. After that, I went to school to utilize the internet and video chat with Marissa for a while. Its always nice to see her face. I hung out in the library for a while, just chilling and watching random videos on Youtube. When I went home, I found that Matt and his cousin had returned from Rome so I sat and talked to them about their trip for a while before dinner. We had fried rice and a pork chop to eat, which was not quite enough. We decided it was time for another trip to our favorite cervezería for some “patatas bravas.” I think I've mentioned them before, but they are my favorite tapa. Its basically fried potatoes with ketchup and another delicious spicy and creamy sauce on top. I consider them Spanish fries. I also had an “American” hamburger, which was delicious. It had a thick strip of bacon, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and an egg on it. The egg was a little unexpected, but turned out to be a great idea. Afterwards, we headed back home, full, and I did my homework and went to bed. Another week of school lies ahead, but the Monday after tomorrow, is a holiday.

A couple days and a lost week.

I'm missing a few days here, as my computer decided that it would turn off and not save my most recent entries, but thats ok. The pictures below are from The Fundació Miró, or the Joan Miró museum, which is on top of Mountjuïc, the Hospital de Santa Creu i San Pau, Also, I got the long-awaited picture of my host family, Fernando and Teresa.


Church on top of Tibidabo.
The third busiest port in the Mediterranean.
One of the old guns in the castle of Mountjuïc. They were originally pointed at the city to keep the trouble-causing Cataláns under control. Under Franco, not only was the Catalán language suppressed and the people forbidden to trade with the rest of the country, but the city was also attacked a few times by their own countrymen. Its no wonder they want independence now.

Here is the view of the city from the top of Montjuïc. You can also see Tibidabo off in the distance. (clicking on the picture will make it bigger.)
Yes, its a hospital, in the Modernist style. Actually about 24 different buildings, each with its own specialization. And all the care done here is entirely free for the patient.
The main building, built like a funnel in the direction from which comes the wind as to help circulate fresh air through the hospital and avoid the spread of disease.
Joan Miró: a famous abstract Catalán artist from the early 20th century. Contemporary of Picasso and Dalí.
He is abstract, but his symbols are always used in the same way, so once you understand one picture, you can use the same for all others. he is famous for his use of bright, primary, colors, making his paintings easily identifiable.


Day 85 – November 21st – Friday
Today I woke up refreshed after a nice long sleep. Today I had in mind to climb both of the mountains in Barcelona on my bike and thats basically what I did. There were a few other places that I had wanted to take some pictures of first. One was a Joan Miró sculpture called “Dona i Orgell” (Woman and Bird). It is flanked by some walls of legal graffiti that is supposed to be some of the best in Barcelona, so I took some pictures of that too. Afterwards, I went to see the palace which is now a museum at the bottom of the first mountain, Montjuïc. I snapped a picture and thens started the climb. It was a difficult one, but I didn't have to stop. It wasn't necessarily that steep, but I felt like I would never get up to the top. I did and even got to the castle. I had been there before, but unfortunately had forgotten my camera. Its a great view out over the city on one side and the port and sea on the other. Also, it being Friday and the last time I was there a Sunday, there was a lot of action going on which was fun to watch. There were probably about five or six cruise ships waiting there and fifteen or so freighters scattered throughout the sea waiting for their turn in port. Next was Tibidabo, which is the highest point in Barcelona. It is topped by an old convent, a large church, and an amusement park. Right away, I could tell this was going to be a much harder task. First of all, it was a lot harder to go down Montjuïc than up. Having no brakes and only one speed made me have to swerve my way down, trying to control my speed. Then I had to deal with the midday traffic through the city. By the time I started to actually climb, I could tell I was much further than I had expected. In addition, the grade was much steeper and my legs already has the fatigue of one mountain in them. One point, I was on a particularly steep section, going slow but as fast as I could. A man standing on the sidewalk saw my trouble and shouted a few words of encouragement. I waited until I was out of his sight before I stopped and took a breather. It didn't help that I didn't really know what street to take, only to keep going up and toward the mountain. I made it up to the highest road before I realized that there wasn't really any way to get there. I still felt accomplished, so I didn't feel too bad about turning around. There were a few other bikes making the climb, but they were all on nice, full suspension, mountain bikes. I'll admit, I was a little jealous of their gears and brakes. I was glad to have lunch waiting for me at home. everyone was pretty impressed when I told them what I had done. It was definitely the highest and longest hills I've ever climbed in my life. After lunch, I took a nice long nap. That night, I went out with Filip and one of his friends who was visiting. She was from California, but she had originally met Filip in Serbia and was now studying in Rome. We started at Gato Negro and then went to the Rambla to show here the real night life of Barcelona. I didn't get home until pretty late, but with nothing to do tomorrow, no problem.

Day 86 – November 22nd – Saturday
I literally did almost nothing today. I woke up at 2:00, just in time for lunch and then went back to sleep for about five hours after that. I woke up again it was dark outside, so I figured I'd go do something. I went to school for a little while and used the internet and then went back home to watch The Sevilla-Valencia soccer game. I only saw the first half, but I guess it ended up 0-0, so I didn't miss much. I met with Filip and his friend again and another friend after dinner, but went home much earlier. As much as I slept during the day, I was still pretty tired.

Day 87 – November 23rd – Sunday – 26 days left
Today, I got up fairly early and met Nick to go to a flea market. It was basically just books, movies, and posters, but we did find a few hidden treasures. They also had a lot of soccer cards, which was kinda cool. Across the street, there was a big group of people that piqued our interest so we walked over. It turned out to be the soccer card trading central. There were little kids and old me alike and I have a feeling that the kids were hustling the men. Afterwards, we went to one of the only authentic Irish pubs in Barcelona. That is, there were actually Irish people working there. I had some delicious fish and chips and then we walked back home through the Rambla, which is a much different place during the day. There were a good number of street performers out, including an Edward Scissorhands impersonator. He was exceptionally good and very popular. It is amazing how still some of these people will stand until someone drops change in their cup. Then they move around, or bow, or something like that. I've read in the papers that some of them make quite a good living. During the summer months, they rake in up to 1000€ a day. And they're not there from 9-5pm either. Normally its only a few hours. I took another little nap, which is probably one of my favorite things to do here. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, rather I think it helps me take advantage of the time I am awake and enjoy it more. There was a Barcelona game on tonight, but Messi is having a little trouble with his quad, so he wasn't to play. It shouldn't have been a very tough game anyway, but it did end up causing a little stress as the team was not playing together very well at all. They did manage to scrape out the tie, so they will keep moving up above the rest of the field. Matt and I took a little walk to kill some time after dinner and then I headed to bed. Another week of school awaits.

The Capital of Europe: Zürich

Days 77 thru 81 – November 13th thru 16th – Thursday thru Sunday
I woke up today bright and early and headed over to the ISA office to print off my itinerary. I was so early, in fact, that they weren't yet open. I had about twenty minutes, so I went and had a coffee and then went back. I corrected my essay for Spanish class, which I got a nine on, and printed everything I needed. Then I headed back to my house, got my lunch and went off to catch the bus. I made it to the airport with plenty of time and then got to Zürich without any problems. Ian was waiting for me at the airport and we took the train into town. Zürich is a small, Swiss town. After being there for three days, I felt like I could find my way around. Ian's friend Tylan, also a Buckeye, was visiting as well. We went out to dinner, where I learned right away just how expensive Zürich is. They call it the capital of Europe because its where all the money is and they arn't lying. I saw a few Mazzeratti's, thousands of BMWs, a couple Bently's and a Rolls Royce. The next day, we walked around for a while while Ian was in class. Three of Tylan's friends had also come to visit, so we had a little crew. We walked down the Bahnhofstrasse, which is the main shopping street in Zürich. With stores like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuittan, I've never seen such expensive things in my life. Many places had prices in the window, so we knew whether or not to bother going in. Of course, everything is in Swiss Francs (Switzerland is not on the Euro, nor technically in the European Union), but its about $0.90 to every franc, so its easy to tell that the alligator gloves in the Prada window that say 2390.00 franc, are ridiculously expensive. One store we went into to look at scarfs. They were 450 franc. Some prices looked more like bar code numbers than prices. It was quite outrageous. At the end of this street is Lake Zürich. We eventually got there without spending all our money. It was a very pretty lake and we could see off into the Alps in the background. Very picturesque, though it was a little hazy. We met up with Ian after he got out of class and we did a little more shopping, this time at more affordable stores. That night, we met some other people studying at Ian's school and went to a bar that they knew of. I liked the bar because they had some retro bikes for sale there, though they were also kind of overpriced. There was also a Tour de France poster of Lance Armstrong on the wall. We stayed there the rest of the night and then took a taxi home. Even that wasn't cheap. In the morning, Tylan and his crew came over to Ian's house from their hotel and we made omelets. They were delicious. Also, I had my first Dr. Pepper in Europe. It was delicious as well. More walking through the little town followed. There were a lot of nice little shops that were only slightly expensive. For dinner, we went to a sushi place, which was quite delicious. I had my first taste of fish eggs, which I suppose you really should call “caviar.” Nothing special. After that, half of the group stayed out while we went back to Ian's house to watch the Ohio State football game through Skype video. How cool is that? After the game, in which Ohio State beat Illinois, we headed out and met back up with the rest of our crew. We went to the same place as Ian, Tylan, and I had gone to to eat my first night in town. The downstairs turns into a bar at night. We hung out there for a while, but went home fairly early. We were all a little tired, and I had to get up early to travel the next day. I woke up at nine and headed to the train station. It is definitely a pretty nice station and the trains are in extremely good shape and a smooth ride. I made it to the airport with still almost two hours before my flight. Here, you don't really have to get to the airport early. I felt like I should've tried to cut it a lot closer because the only thing worse than waiting for a plane, is waiting in the doctor's office. By this point, I think I'm pretty good at traveling and I think I could make it to almost any gate in any airport in under a half hour. I had a great flight home on Swiss airlines. They're by far the best company I've flown with. Their flight was fairly inexpensive and they still gave me snacks and a piece of chocolate and a free drink, even if I want a beer or wine. I made it home in time for lunch in Barcelona and then took a great two hour nap. After that, I headed over to school to upload pictures and update my blog. I went home in time for dinner and then went over my school work before heading to bed. It was a great trip, and my second to last. When I told Fernando that it was my last, he said, no, no it wasn't. The last trip, you always go feet first, laying down.

Day 75 – November 11th – Tuesday – 38 Days remaining
Not a whole lot to report today, just another day of class. I have a test tomorrow in Spanish, so we reviewed for that. We started talking about a new painter in Art class: Joan Miró. He lived through the Spanish Civil War, WWII and forty years of a military dictatorship. His generation is ofter referred to as the lost generation due to the fact that they never really had a chance to properly grow up, live and work according to their own views. Miró strongly opposed Franco and was pushed into exile in France for this. His style is very easily recognized, using bright primary colors and simple symbols with universal meanings. The sun, the earth, the sky, birds and the stars are almost always present in his works. He did survive to see the beginning of democracy in Spain before dying in Palma de Mallorca in 1983. After class, I headed home and studied. In addition to my Spanish test, I have a short exam in Catalán. We have been told by both teachers that their tests will be easy, but teachers are liars. Just kidding, but we'll see how it goes.

Day 76 – November 12th – Wednesday
Today was essentially my second and last day of school this week, after being in Holland Monday and traveling to Zürich tomorrow. I had my test in Spanish class, which was not as easy as advertised, but I think I still did pretty well. Also, we had more of a quiz in Catalán. I'm pretty sure I got at the very least an A, if not a “sobresaliente,” which is an A+. In film class, we watched a movie called “Tesis,” directed by Alejandro Amenábar. It was a thriller about a film student doing her thesis (hence the title of the movie) on violent film. In the process, she discovers a “snuff” film ring and almost becomes a star of one of these films. (A snuff film is a recording of a murder or suicide where everything is real, no special effects, no makeup.) While the content was a little macabre, it was a very well done movie and I was still trying to decide who the killer was until it was made obvious. Its a good film and not too gory or shocking, though at one point everyone in the class jumped. I recommend it if you like to be scarred just a little bit. After class, I hung out at school and Skyped a few people, as has become custom for me, and then headed home for dinner. I had hoped to meet again with my intercambio partner (language exchange), but she couldn't do it until tomorrow and I will already be off on another international adventure. Again, I will write one big entry on Zürich when I get back and hopefully have some great pictures.

The land of windmills and tulips!

The happy Scholtens Family. Marijn, Janna, Robbert, and Henk.
If you think you see a bike, you see ten. the bike parking garage is on the right. Sorry for the blurry picture, but it is forever imprinted on my mind.
Hard to see, but the letters spell out I AMsterdam (I am amsterdam)
Across the street is part of our group.
Me and a canal. you can see that it is impossible not to have a bike in almost any picture.

Days 71-74 – November 7th -10th – Friday thru Monday
Here is the long awaited entry on my trip to the land of windmills and tulips. That is, of course, Holland. I headed off Friday afternoon after getting a nice rest the night before and had no transportation problems. After arriving at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, I took the train to the central station and then went outside to try and meet up with my friend Ian. Immediately upon leaving the station, I noticed the bikes. In fact, there was a bicycle parking garage three stories high right in front of me. I imagine there were easily 10,000 bikes just in there. Not exaggerating at all. Once I tried to could how many bike I saw in one minute. Just one. I lost count at around 200. I found Ian after a little bit of wandering around and we ate with the friends he was traveling with and also my friend Mike Cass, who has made a little trip to Europe for a few weeks, at a Chinese restaurant. After this, we went to a coffee shop and had a “coofie draankin,” as it is said in Dutch, and waited for our tour guide. She's not really a guide, but she is a student at OSU who is studying in Amsterdam. She asked us what we wanted to do, but we really just wanted to wander around, so she led the way. We walked along a canal for a while and up through the middle of the city, even catching a glimpse or two of the red light district. It is quite a fantastic city and like no other place I've been in my life. The mix of languages is even more so than in Barcelona. I counted at least height before I stopped counting. It seemed like each group of people we passed spoke a different language. After a long day of traveling and knowing that we had a big day ahead, we went to bed pretty early, but awoke early as well. The next day, Saturday, we checked out of the not-so-nice hotel and wandered around and got lunch before more exploration by foot. We eventually got to the Van Gogh Museum, which was our final destination. It was a nice museum with a pretty large collection of Van Gogh as well as many contemporary works and inspirational pieces. I enjoyed the time there, but I must admit that Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dalí are leaps and bounds beyond Van Gogh. Many of his paintings seem like he didn't spend very much time on them, with thick, sloppy brush strokes and uninspired content. I've never been one for still lifes. I am sure there are much better Dutch painters. We left the museum and went to get lunch. After that, we stopped at another coffee shop before the group headed out to catch their trains. I did as well. From Amsterdam to Gröningen is about two and a quarter hours in train. I slept most of the way. There, at the train station, was Henk to pick me up. Though we haven't seen each other outside of pictures for fifteen years, and I'm sure I've changed a bit more than he has, we found each other quickly on the platform. Even in Gröningen, there is a bike parking garage of over four thousand bikes. On the ride home, our conversation was bilingual. As many Europeans are, Henk is at least trilingual. I'm not sure how many languages he speaks, but we used both that I knew. Upon arrival to their nice little typical Dutch house, I again met Janna, who was elated to see me and the two boys, whom I have seen grow up through pictures. Marijn is now fourteen and Robbert is twelve. They both speak English quite well, though Marijn is a bit more shy and prefers to game on the computer. Robbert was very friendly and wanted to talk. He has only just started taking English in school this year, but he has learned quite a bit just from watching television. He is a big fan of National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. I sat and talked and had a cup of coffee for a while before my yawns made it was obvious that I needed to go to bed. Robbert has been kind enough to lend me his bed for the night and, complete with American flag comforter and pillowcase, it was quite comfortable. I was woken up in the morning by Henk who came in and set a radio on the table, playing the BBC news. Today we are taking a walking tour of the city of Gröningen. It is a nice little town of about 150,000, more when school is in session as there are a high number of students. We went to lunch at a restaurant near the town square. Apparently, it is the largest bar in Europe. At first, I was skeptical. After all, there are a lot of bars in Europe and many of them are big. But as the tour continued, I realized just how many rooms there were. Probably fifteen different bar services and then a room or two to go with each. I'd like to see that place on a Saturday night. On our city walk, we hit all the big landmarks, including the Martini tower, which is the sign on Gröningen. We stopped at another popular café for a coffee and then finished up our self-guided tour. It was a very quite town, partly because it was Sunday, but also, we went to a few secluded parks that are surrounded by little houses. They were very nice and I would like very much to live in one, though they certainly are small. Henk tells me that there are places just like them in Amsterdam. In a city so large and full of life, a place so quite and peaceful is at a premium. We went to dinner at the pancake house, which is a very Dutch tradition. It was a good meal, but we ate at only about 6:00. After being accustomed to eating three and a half hours later, it was just too early for me and I couldn't finish mine. Upon returning home, I played a few games with Robbert and Janna before Robbert was forced into bed. Then I stayed up talking with the parents. We talked of everything basically. Politics, royal families (which they follow as religiously as many people in the states follow celebrities), the Euro vs. the dollar, Obama, socialism, bicycles, friends, and so on and so forth. I suppose I yawned enough times to be sent to bed, but really I had been yawning all day and wasn't particularly tired, but I was going to wake up early in the morning to go to Robbert's English class and be grilled by eleven- and twelve-year-olds. I woke up without the help of the BBC today and took a shower and had breakfast. Then, Janna and I rode bikes (yes! I was very excited to ride a bike in the Netherlands!) over to Henk's office. His building is very interesting and impressive. It is supposed to be a wholly organic building in design. Not in the way of materials, but in shape. There are mostly straight lines, which my knowledge of Gaudí tells me is not organic, but there are no right angles. You will have to see pictures, as I took a few, but it was a very impressive building. The stairs spiral upwards and the walls change color as you get higher and higher, making a rainbow. Henk works on the fourteenth floor, but we first went to the sixteenth to get a good view of the city. I'm pretty sure we were in the tallest building. Let me tell you, there is not a single hill in Holland. Not one. After yet another cup of coffee (I drank more coffee there than I have in my whole life, but it was very delicious), Henk rode with me over to Marijn and Robbert's school. It turned out that there were four Americans in the building today, which was quite unusual. The other three were all from the southern states but now living in Sweden. One man was there with his wife, whom was expecting their tenth child. All of their children were homeschooled. Poor kids, poor mom! They're reason for homeschooling was that the Christian schools in Sweden didn't always have a large number of Christian students nor Christian teachers. I mean, to each their own, but from what I've seen of homeschooled kids in the states, sure, they're just as smart, usually even a little more advanced in some areas, but they are often years behind socially. I imagine this is multiplied living in a foreign country. I doubt they kids are learning Swedish very well, if at all. However, the man was very adamant about how his wife, and moms in general were the best teachers for their kids. All ten of them. After this class, I went over to another class, but only for a little while as I had to catch a train to Amsterdam before my flight. Janna and I rode bikes back to the house, which was only about five minutes away, and had a little lunch before she drove me down to the station. She walked me to the correct train and waved as it pulled away. She had given me a day pass train ticket, which I no longer needed once I reached my destination, so I gave it to a grateful girl standing by the ticket machine. I then sat around for a couple hours waiting for the plane, then sat in the plane for a while, then sat on the bus to get home, and finally made it. I really like traveling, but it is a little time consuming. Especially when you're utilizing multiple forms of transport. This weekend, I used a bus, airplane, tram, metro, train, bike, car, and of course my feet. I got home and told my señores all about it and gave my señora some tulip bulbs which Janna had given me. The Scholtens were a fantastic host this weekend and I would really like to go back. I think I may see them next year, though, as they are trying to plan a trip to the states. Robbert is exceptionally excited about this. I think no one in the family would have any problems communicating.

Fianlly! Pictures of the Pyrenees!

Day 69 – November 5th – Wednesday
I woke up this morning and went to ask my house father who won. He answered, “1-1. Messi entered in the second half and scored the tying goal.” No, who won the election? “Oh don't worry, they won before so they will still move on to the next round of selections.” No, Fernando, the president of the United States. “Oh, oh, oh, I don't know.” So we went and turned on the TV to see the news. I was pretty excited as is everyone in Spain. I had a pretty normal day at school, after Spanish, I had Catalán and we finally learned how to conjugate verbs. In film class, we watched a movie called “My Life Without Me,” directed by Isabel Coixet. It was about a 25-year-old mother of two who find out she has advanced ovarian cancer and three months to live. Definitely the single most depressing two hours of my life. Almost every scene makes you just want to cry. I don't really recommend watching it unless you want to have a horrible day. After class, I went home and studied for my exam in art class. It is probably going to be pretty hard, so I am studying as much as I can. I've re-read all the reading for the class and tomorrow I will read my notes and some more information that the teacher has posted online. Hopefully I will be prepared. I really just want it to be over because I am going to Holland this weekend and I'm pretty excited. I will be visiting my mom's penpal that she has had since high school. I remember meeting them once, but that was at least ten years ago if not more. I am probably going to stay in Amsterdam for the first night, as my friend Ian is going to be there, ans then head off to Grönigen in the morning. I made it to bed pretty early tonight even though I was studying a lot. I'm fighting a stress-induced cold, so the more sleep the better, especially with such a big weekend ahead.

Day 70 – November 6th – Thursday – 44 Days left
Today was a day full of studying until about 5pm when my test started. It really wasn't as bad as it could've been and I felt like I was definitely prepared. We had to talk about two works by Gaudí and two by Picasso and then answer two questions about the texts that we had read. I wrote a lot, so hopefully that will transfer to points. After class I got a beer from the cafeteria to reward myself and then made a few Skype calls. I'm definitely going to go out tonight, as my flight isn't until the afternoon tomorrow. A lot of my friends are travelling today, but there will be a few of us to go out and have a good time. I'm excited to hang out with my Serbian friend, Filip, as I haven't seen him in quite some time. He goes to Autonomous University of Barcelona, so I don't get to see him unless we hang out outside of class. I will add some pictures with this entry and write a big long entry about my trip to Holland. Buen viaje!

I know i'm slacking on the pictures, but i'll get to it eventually.

Day 62 – October 29th – Wednesday
Yet another day of school. The most interesting thing of the day is the movie I watched in film class. It is the movie I will be presenting on, so surely I payed good attention. It was called “Vacas,” (cows) and was directed by Julio Médem in 1992. It is about the feud between two families in Basque Country, which is a very independent-minded province in the north of Spain. They are families of ax men, which is a cultural sport that really only is practiced in Basque Country. It takes place during the Carlist and Civil wars in Spain during the 1930s. It was quite a strange movie, but it was pretty interesting. After school, I met with my group for our presentation for a few minutes and then headed home for an early dinner and off to the Built to Spill concert. I had been pretty excited all day to see them. I had seen them about four years ago, almost on the same day actually, and it was a great show. They are one of my favorite bands, so I was nice to know every song they played. The concert was at the Sala Apolo, which is a rather small place, but that just means you can get closer to the band. We were off the the right, just two rows back. The rocked the house for sure. It was fun to yell things to them in our best American English, which they may have been surprised to hear. They would say short things to the crowd, but I'm not sure how much they Spaniards understood. It was great show and I was very satisfied. We even got out in time to take the metro home. This concert may have been the best money I've spent on the whole trip. It was really nice just to get away from everything for a few hours. I wasn't in Spain, I wasn't in America, I was in Sala Apolo. I wasn't thinking about school, or politics, or much else. It was a good escape.

Day 63 – October 30th – Thursday
Last day of school for the week, as usual. I had Spanish class and then we had a field trip for Catalán. We went to the Mercat Boqueria, which is a Catalán market located on the Rambla, the main plaza walkway in Barcelona. It was very interesting and reminded me of the North Market, but a little more intense. They had some types of seafood and food in general that I had never seen before. Much of the seafood was definitely still alive. The crabs kicked their feet and the muscles opened and closed. One lobster seemed to be making a run for it, but the lady running the stand grabbed it back to fate at the last second. There were whole flounder, called platija in Spanish, and angler fish, called rape in Spanish (don't worry, you pronounce the “e” on that) and the olive stand had about twenty different varieties. I've never seen avocados that big either. The only thing I bought was a fresh smoothie. They had just about every combination you could imagine (papaya, coconut, kiwi, raspberry, and of course all the standards like banana, orange, and strawberry) and they were delicious. I think I got mango-pineapple. After that, we went to another very Catalán place called the Castanyeria. It is a seasonal thing, during the winter months. They sell chestnuts roasted over an open fire as well as yams cooked the same way. The yams were delicious, especially with butter and sugar, but the chestnuts needed salt. This is traditionally part of the festivities associated with la Festa de Tots Sants (All-Saints Day), which also happens to be my birthday. I headed back to school after that to do some work before class and then we watched a movie in film class called “Vacas” (Cows), directed by Julio Médem. It is the movie that I will be presenting on, so I payed attention as much as I could. It took place in Basque Country, in the north of Spain in a rural town. It was basically about the rivalry between two families of aizkolari. This is a rural ax sport practiced in Basque Country where two men go head to head and see who can chop through the set number of logs first. I've seen the same type of competition on the Outdoor Games in America, but I'm pretty sure this was where it originated and they took it quite seriously. It was a good movie, but pretty complicated. I still don't really fully understand the “lighted pit” as they called it that is in the forest. Go ahead and watch the movie and see if you can enlighten me. Nothing else really to report from today, but tomorrow we leave for the Pyrenees where I will be spending my birthday, so thats pretty exciting. They're expecting snow, as one would hope in the mountains, so I'll be excited for that too.

Days 64 and 65 – October 31st and November 1st – Friday and Saturday
Today we set off for our Pynenean adventure, that is to say we left for the area known as Vall de Boí. It is high up in the Pyrenees mountains, just about five miles from France. It was a four hour bus ride, but it really wasn't that bad. Once there, we stopped to see some Roman churches from the eleventh century that were kind of cool. Its crazy to think about masses going on there over 800 years ago. I also learned that it was widely believed that the world was going to end in the year 1000 and many Christians were basically scared into going to church because of this. When the world didn't end, many people left the faith and the church had to find a new way to recruit. Once we got to our hotel, I settled in and changed my clothes and we went out on the small town to find some dinner. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant, which was pretty good. They also had the best service that I've ever received in Spain. After dinner, as it was going to be my birthday at midnight, everyone wanted me to go out with them. We walked around, through the rain, until we found a kind of mall that had four or five bars inside. One of them was having a Halloween party that night and was all decorated with spider webs and orange and black streamers. It seemed a lot like something that would happen in the US. We went to a few of the places there and then walked back, through the rain, to our hotel. After getting home around 3am, our 8am wake up call was pretty early. I felt like I had slept for twenty minutes. Luckily, I was able to get a little breakfast and then we had an hour long bus ride to the park, so i got a nap. We went to the Pyrenees National Park and had a guided tour for about two hours. I really enjoyed myself, rolling huge snow balls, throwing snowballs at people, I even made a snowman, though it was not very good at all. One of our program directors was telling me about how this was the fifth time she had seen snow in her life. Its something she only sees on post cards. She was pretty impressed with my snowball rolling skills as well. She said, “This isn't the first time you've done this, is it.” She'd obviously never had this kind of experience. I enjoyed walking around and taking some beautiful pictures, a few of which I have posted, but my feet were quite wet and cold by the time we headed back. Everyone went back to the bus and changed their socks then we ate lunch. After that, it was another four hour bus ride back to Barcelona. That night, we went to Gato Negro, as I hadn't really been in a while. It was all decorated for Halloween as well, which I guess is fitting as it is the Black Cat. There, we ran into a guy we had met there a few weeks before who had come with his cousin and another friend this time. We talked to them for a while and it turns out that they were Gaiego. Galicia is the province in the northwest corner of Spain, just above Portugal. They have their own language, just as the Cataluñans do. Just as Catalán is a mix of Spanish and French, Gaiego is influenced heavily by Portuguese. Apparently, just as the Cataluñan accent is very recognizable, the Gaiego accent is as well. All my friend's cousin had to do was order a drink and the Catalán girl next to him turned and said, “Oh, you're Gaiego.” The same thing probably happens with me being American. We I eventually headed home, bed was a welcome place. I hadn't really slept a lot over the weekend and had done a lot of walking, running, and jumping around. It was a good weekend, especially because it was my birthday and it was lots of fun to spend it in the mountains.

Day 66 – November 2nd – Sunday
Today, Fernando woke me up around 1:30 because it was paella day and we wanted to watch Teresa make it and take notes. I wrote down pretty much everything that they did, including different variants that they said were good. It was a delicious paella, so I'm hoping I can replicate it. The only problem might be the freshness of the seafood. The muscles and cuttlefish were actually still alive at the time of purchase and some of them were still opening and then snapping shut when we dumped them in the stew. It might seem a little cruel, but they do taste delicious. After lunch, I went over to school and met with my group for our presentation tomorrow on the movie, “Vacas.” After that, I called a few people through Skype, with is an amazing invention and may one day replace your phone. It's free to call anyone else's Skype account, worldwide, and its $10 a month for worldwide calling to all cell phones in the US and Canada and any land line anywhere. Pretty good deal if you ask me. I hopped on my bike and headed home for dinner. Today, on my bike, round trip to school, took me twenty-one minutes, which is less than one way in the metro. Plus its free and healthy. The bike really has been a blessing here and has allowed me to feel like my life hasn't really changed that much living here. A dinner of spaghettis replaced any calories I might have lost, then I studied a little bit, as I have a big week this week and went to bed.

Day 67 – November 3rd – Monday – 47 days left
As you can see, I've started the countdown and the days left are much fewer that the days here. I really feel like I've gotten a feel for the city though and I'm enjoying myself. I can ride my bike to pretty much anywhere I want now, though I have yet to climb the mountains. It takes me about twenty-five minutes, round trip, to school, which is about the time it takes my roommate to go one way in the metro. Today in Spanish class, we got loaded up with homework. We have a paper due on Wednesday, which I was on top of it enough to do today, and have a ten page story complete with six pages of exercises for Thursday. But after my 93% on the midterm of last week, I still feel like I have a good hold on the class. I also had my presentation on the film “Vacas” (Cows) in my Spanish Theater class. It went well enough and it feels good to be over with. Now I can enjoy the rest of the movies until I decide to write our final paper. After school, I met up with my friend Xavi at the Arc de Triumf and we rode around for a little while with some other biker kids. This time, I made it home just in time for dinner. On the news, which we habitually watch while eating, they spoke, as they do every night, of the election in America. Fernando was telling me that he cannot remember a time when there was as much coverage of an American election as there has been this year. It interesting how much attention the rest of the world is paying to this election. I won't get into it very deeply, but the people over here seem to agree with the poles in the States. Tomorrow, should be a nice day. I have Spanish in the morning, then I get to go home for lunch and then lay around until a field trip with my art class to the Picasso Museum. Look how cultured I'm getting here!

Day 68 – November 4th – Tuesday
After Spanish class I headed over to the ISA office to print off my paper, which I was on top of and completed early, and then went home for lunch. Its amazing how the Spanish news never stops to talk about the election! I took a nice little nap after lunch and then headed off to the Picasso Museum. It was my second time visiting it and I have to say it was better the first time. My favorite painting from before is off at an exhibition along with a few other paintings. But it was better than sitting in class, thats for sure. After dinner, I was time to study. I have a big midterm in art class on Thursday and a lot of reading to do to prepare for it. I did make it to bed pretty early. I decided not to stay up until 6am to see who wins the election. Its in the hands of the gods now, I've done all I can.

uumm... just another update.

Day 56 – October 23rd – Thursday
Last day of school for the week, and it was a quick one. In Spanish class, we had kind of a strange class. We switched teachers for a day. I don't really know why. The topic for the day was “argot” or “slang,” as we call it in English. So I learned how to yell at someone and tell them they're a horrible driver and all that good stuff. I went home for lunch, which was delicious. It was macaroni with some kind of sauce and then pork ribs mixed in. Teresa was telling me how all meat gives more flavor if it is cooked with the bone in. I guess thats probably because of the marrow in the bones, but I have no idea how to explain that in Spanish. Today Matt was leaving to go to London for the weekend, so he came by to pack up before our art class. I took a little nap after eating but forgot to set an alarm and it was only because Matt texted me to have me bring some things he forgot that I woke up. I got to ride my bike back to school, as it had stopped raining. We had a good Art class. We've moved on from Gaudí to talk about Picasso now and its very interesting. I've never really had a class like this so I pay very good attention and try to pick up as many details as I can. Today, the teacher was trying to think of the word for “cage” in Spanish, as her first language is Catalán, and I actually knew it! I was pretty proud of myself, as its not really a common word (jaula). After class, I figured I'd just ride around for a while, as I had a few hours before dinner. I went all the way up and down the seaside, which was very beautiful. It was night and the only people in the water were the surfers. There's really not any waves here, but they still try. As Matt was gone for the weekend, I had to eat a whole Spanish tortilla to myself. It was quite a lot and I was definitely full for the rest of the night. After dinner, I went out on the town with Nick. We were going to try and check out some new places from a guide book he has picked up at the Girona airport, but it turned out to be for people a little older. The one place we did go, we were probably the only people under thirty. So we ended up going to a place called Dow Jones, just like the stock market. Its kind of a cool place because the price of the drinks is live, as if you buy a Heineken, the price goes up. And every so often, everything crashes and the drinks go down to their minimum price. Its a cool idea, but its definitely a bar in America. There's a Statue of Liberty in the corner and they were showing baseball on the TVs. I didn't realize that the World Series is starting! The Phillies and the Devil Rays? Who saw that coming? I definitely am rooting for the Devil Rays, as Kenny Lofton has found his way there and I want nothing more than for him to get a ring before he retires. After hanging out there for a bit, we headed over to El Gato Negro, where everyone knows out names. However, they have a new doorman, which is a shame because Sergio was so cool. We chilled there until they closed and actually met the owner, who was really nice and definitely liked lighting the shots on fire, which is the specialty there. We headed home when they closed and slept very well. Welcome weekend!

Day 57 – October 24th – Friday
I got a pretty good rest last night and woke up to a delicious lunch of beans and cauliflower and a nice thin steak. Afterwards, I headed out on my bike for a nice little ride. I really didn't have a destination. I wanted to go ride past some Gaudí building that I had yet to see, but I pretty much just ended up riding around. I took some pictures, of the statue of Christopher Columbus, of the palace by the port, of my bike against the sea. Then I rode up to the Fórum, as I had the night before and took a few more pictures. I rode along the beach up there and saw a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before. I saw a 150-foot yacht that also had its own helicopter. How much does that cost? Very caprichoso, if you ask me. (“Caprichoso” is one of my favorite adjectives, meaning that its completely unnecessary, but you get it anyway.) Just riding around by myself really made me miss home. Its fine to be alone, but I didn't really want to be. Its no fun hanging out by yourself when you don't want to. My bike has opened a lot of doors here, but it has also closed a few. None of my American friends here have a bike, so the only people I will ride with are Spaniards. This is good, but I don't really know any. My one friend is always working until the evening and also, I feel like him and his friends are pretty happy with the friends they have and don't really need any more. I really just wanted to ride through Columbus, where I would probably run into someone else riding that I knew and would ride with. I talked to my friend Eric today, who told me that my friend Mike may be making a trip to Europe while Ian and I are still here. Eric was very jealous, saying how he wanted to come hang out in Europe, but he can't afford it. I told him I was here, and one thing I really wanted to do was just come hang out in Columbus. Once you've made a place your home for twenty years, you can't just change it. I am in a foreign land, in every aspect. I passed halfway through on Thursday, so now it starts to end. I'm not sure how much I'll miss it, but I know I'll be glad to be home.

Day 58 – October 25th – Saturday
Another day to myself today, but a little more fruitful. After waking up from an interesting dream where I was working at Dairy Queen, I had lunch and then went on a little bike ride. There were a few Gaudí houses that I had only studied in class so far and wanted to see for myself, so i went in search of them. I got quite a few looks, riding around on my gold and orange bike, which leads me to believe that it is the most beautiful bike in Barcelona. Or at least the most unique. I went to see Casa Vicens first, which is one of my favorites. Its mostly make of brick with lots of intricate ironwork. Also, on top of the brick, there is a peculiar sort of blue and white checker pattern, which really makes the house stand out. After that, I went in search of the Pabellones Güell, which was the stables for the Güell family. It is one of the larger and more famous works of Gaudí, especially known for it front gate, which has a dragon intertwined into it. While the gate is actually accredited to Josep Jujol, one of Gaudí's apprentices, it is how well the building comes together as a whole that is most impressive. This finished my mini Modernism tour for the day and I headed back home, where I caught the end of an unimportant soccer match, took a little nap, and then headed of to school to utilize some free internet. After that, I had some Chinese food for the first time in Spain. There are Chinese restaurants all over the place here, but I had yet to make it in, mostly because I associate Chinese food with buffets and most of the places I've seen are not buffets and are kind of expensive. Ferrán, the son of my host family had requested it for dinner, so naturally, they offered it to me as well. We ordered take out and it was pretty delicious, just the same as in the States. As we were eating, the Barça soccer match began, which is the only team that matters. After twenty-five minutes, it was 4-0 Barcelona. They would go on to mark one more goal and end the match 5-0. Good job! With all of my friends outside of Barcelona, my roommate in London, a few of my friends in a group that had gone to the Pyrenees this week (I go next week), and a few others in Italy for the weekend, I stayed in and relaxed. After all, I had ridden quite a bit today and didn't really feel like going out anyway.

Day 59 – October 26th – Sunday
Today was a very relaxing day filled with sleep. I woke up around noon, but after the time change it was 11am, and then sat around and did a little homework until lunchtime. After lunch, I watched the first half of some random soccer game that was on (Sundays always have soccer) and then took a three hour nap, waking up just in time for the Atlético Madrid – Villareal game. It was pretty exciting. At half time, 2-0 Atlético. Then, after twenty-five minutes of play in the second half, it was 4-2 Villareal and it ended up 4-4. With eight goals, who wouldn't be entertained. I ate dinner and by that time Matt had returned from London. With nothing else to do and it being a nice, cool, night, we walked around for a while and he told me about his British adventure. We eventually turned around, after being amazed at how far we'd come in so little time. Its a little strange to see monuments that before you've only associated with metro stops. I went to bed and surprisingly had no trouble falling asleep.

Day 60 – October 27th – Monday
The big 6-0! Its hard to believe we've been here this long, but honestly, I'm looking forward to coming home. I'll bring plenty of good memories with me, of course, but I'll return to my home. Today I rode my bike quite a bit, running here and there. It reminded me of home, having to run errands on my bike. I didn't have class until 1pm today because we were to have a language exchange with an English class at night instead. I went to the ISA office to print of a worksheet, then had to return home because I had forgotten my bocadillo (sandwich) for lunch. God forbid I go without my bocadillo! I putzed around for my two hour break and then sat through another cinema class before our intercambio. It was a good use of class time and good Spanish practice. I think the Spanish students also enjoyed talking with us Americans. After class, I went home for dinner of spaghettis (clearly, you don't eat just one). Then I went off on my bike to find the Sala Apolo, a concert hall, which one of my favorite bands is going to be playing at on Wednesday. I had wanted to see them the last time they came to Columbus, but it was postponed for six months and I was unable to go. What luck that they come to Barcelona while I'm here! Of the remaining six weekends, I will be traveling for three of them. I think that will make my time left here go fairly quickly, but I am kind of itching to get back. I've never really liked long vacations, and this has been the longest. While I won't be glad to see the Ohio weather, I think seeing my friends, family, and girlfriend will make up for it.

Day 61 – October 28th – Tuesday
It literally rained all day today, which one of my teachers told us really is pretty rare. Usually, it will rain for a few hours, and thats it. Not today. I woke up and the ground was wet, though nothing was actually falling, so I rode my bike to class. When I walked out after class to go home for lunch, it was coming down fairly hard. I tried to wait around for a few minutes to see if it would let up, but it was evident that the clouds were here to stay, so I roughed it through the rain. Actually, by the time I got home, it had lightened up quite a bit, just barely sprinkling. I did my reading for art class, took a little nap, and ate lunch. By that point, it really had begun to pour. I reluctantly bought a new metro pass, as mine has expired, but fortunately didn't have to use it, as a friend was there to get me through. (This is common practice and though it is punishable by a 40€ fine, I've only ever seen them checking cards one time.) I sat through art class, which is actually pretty interesting since we're learning about artists who are directly influenced by the city of Barcelona and Cataluña, but we don't get a break and sitting for two hours straight gets tiresome. I again snuck onto the metro, this time with the help of my roommate, and headed home. I did a little homework before dinner. I was supposed to go on a bike ride with my friend Xavi after he got closed the bike shop, but it was still pouring rain, so I figured we could wait until another day. I called him anyway, just as not to be rude, and it turns out he's also going to the Built to Spill concert tomorrow, so I'll see him then.