Getting caught up... Derby Match!

Here is the best picture I got of the Piromusicál. Its kind of hard to see, but the fountain is down at the bottom. It kinda looks like smoke. The video should show it better.

Day 27 – September 24th – Wednesday
Today was a holiday, so of course, we didn't have school and we don't for the rest of the week. I'm loving the five-day weekend. We had a great paella for lunch, this time with meat (chicken and rabbit) instead of seafood. Personally, I liked the seafood better. After lunch, I had to take a little siesta after such an exciting night. I woke up in time for the Barcelona soccer game and watched it with my padre español. It was 2-0 at halftime in favor of Barça, but after fifteen minutes of the second half, it was tied up. At this point, I had to leave because we were going to see the Piromusicál. This was like nothing I have ever seen in my life. It took place in Plaça Espanya, which is where the palace and magic fountain are located. Basically, there was live music, recorded music, two huge TVs, the magic fountain (which is an intense fountain with lights and everything that changes shape and makes crazy designs with the water), and fireworks, all choreographed together. It was about a 45 minutes show and it utilized fireworks in ways I've never seen. They shot them in all directions and of all types, colors and sizes. I will add a video that I took so that you can get a taste for what it was like. It was amazing. I definitely thought there were a lot of people there, but when I heard the next day that there were about 1,250,000 people, I was blown away. It did take about twenty minutes before I even thought about moving from my spot, but everything seemed to clear out pretty quick. I didn't even think about taking the metro home. Also, Matt and I were hungry by this point so we stopped and got some falafel, which was quite delicious. It seems like every night I see a larger group of people than the night before. But, as there was literally half of Barcelona in the same place as I was last night, I think tomorrow night won't be quite as big. This Mercè festival has been quite phenomenal so far and it's nice that I can be in Barcelona for the biggest festival of the year.

Day 28 – September 25th – Thursday
Nothing to report today. It rained. I stayed inside for most of the day and then went to bed early because tomorrow is an excursion to the small coastal town of Sitges.

Day 29 – September 26th – Friday
I had to get up pretty early today, but luckily, our meeting spot was very close to my house, so not much walking and no metro needed. Once everyone was on the tour bus, we headed of on our excursion. First we stopped at the Codorníu Cavas, which is one of the biggest wine producers in the world. We took a tour through literally millions and millions of wine bottles underground and finally ended with a little sample, which was actually champagne rather than wine. It was an interesting tour, especially because our guide was pretty funny and would pull cute girls out of the crowd and get them to act as guinea pigs for things such as holding the glass properly, or just to stand by some wine barrels while he took a picture for them. Then we climbed back on the bus after a trip through the gift shop and headed to Sitges. It is a small town located on the cliffs by the coast, so you can imagine how picturesque it is. Unfortunately, on this particular day, it was pretty overcast and windy, but I still got some pretty cool panoramic shots. The clouds were doing some interesting things, so it made for a nice backdrop. We walked around for a while and sat on the beach, even though it was not sunny. The sand there was a little bit different of a consistency than in Barcelona, a little finer and darker. I did manage to spend a little money in the five hours we were there and then we climbed back on the bus and headed back to good ol' Barcelona, where apparently it had been raining all day. Not a bad day for an excursion. Tonight I went to La Oveja Negra (The Black Sheep) and discovered that pretty much any place with black in the name is friendly. I met up with the group of people that I had hung our with and Sitges and we also met a few Spaniards, one from Barcelona, the other from Uruguay.

Day 30 – September 27th – Saturday
I'm really enjoying this whole five-day weekend. I feel like I'm on vacation. I've been waking up around one or two in the afternoon and then just kinda laying around and eating before going out on the town. Today I changed my scenery a little bit and went to a beach that I'd never been to before: Selva del Mar. It turned out to be the surfing beach. Too bad I forgot my board. It was also nice because it was not crowded at all and there were no people trying to sell me beer every fifteen seconds. Also, there were some planes in the sky doing back flips and barrel rolls getting ready for the air show today. I did get in the water for a little while, and it was delightfully warm, but I decided to get out after I saw a little white jellyfish floating nearby. This beach had the biggest waves I've seen in Spain, though they were not more than three or four feet and it was pretty windy, so I'm guessing they don't get much bigger. I headed home from there to take a little siesta before the big game. Tonight was the derby match in Barcelona. That is, the game between the two teams within the city, F.C. Barcelona and Espanyol. And it was a crazy game! Barcelona controlled most of the first half, but Espanyol was the only one to score, but near the end of the half, one Espanyol player received his second yellow card and was sent off. The second half was more of the same. Barça controlling the ball, but unable to score, while Espanyol, with only ten men, build two solid lines in the back to ward off attacks. Finally, but only after I had put on his jersey, Tierry Henry managed to squeak one past on a miscommunication between the Espanyol goalie and his defender. So now it was tied up and things started to get crazy. They had to pause the game for almost ten minutes after people started lighting flares and fireworks. People even broke out onto the field, but just yelled a lot. It was interesting because in the US, they will not show anything that goes on when fans run onto the field, but here, they were following it like breaking news. They didn't go to a commercial break or anything. After they started back up, there were about twelve minutes of added time total. And it was just enough. Literally in the last seconds, Barça won a penalty kick, scored off of it and walked into the locker room. Espanyol fans stood in disbelief. That night, I went out wearing my Barcelona jersey, of course, and when I got on the metro, I was surrounded by Espanyol fans. A little scary, but we won, so I could look at them with pride.
Its still kind of hard to see, so I guess you'll have to wait until I can show you in person, but at least you can see a bit of the fireworks.

The Fórum and 30,000 people

This is the best picture that I have of the concert, showing how many people there were. Thats my friend Tony's head on the right side.

Day 26 – September 23rd – Tuesday
Today was our last day of intensive Spanish and we ended it in true American teaching style with a movie. It was completely in Spanish, so that was fun. I actually didn't really have trouble understanding anything, especially because we went over a lot of the vocabulary, including the vulgar words, before we watched it. It is called “Tapas” and I am sure you could find it in the States. I had actually seen part of it already. It takes place in a Bronx-like neighborhood of Barcelona and the streets that you see in the movie are very similar to the ones I see every day. After class, I finally got to change my traveler's checks! Yay! $1000 USD gets you about 650 Euro, so that part wasn't so nice, but hopefully this will last me until my birthday trip to Holland. After lunch at Burger King, probably the most plentiful fast-food restaurant, I went home and took a three hour nap before a dinner of salad and Spanish tortilla. I think I've mentioned it before, but it is egg with potatoes and onions, and it is delicious. After dinner, we went to El Gato Negro to meet up with everyone and then headed out to the Forum, which is definitely the hot spot for Barcelona youth. It was a free concert, thanks to Mercè. We had been there before and been impressed with how many people were there, but apparently, we never found the main stage. When we walked to the back of the pavilion, our jaws dropped. There was a huge amphitheater there with at least 15,000 people packed in. We thought about wading through, but there were just too many people and we knew we would get separated so we were content to stand at the top, which was probably the best view anyway. It was definitely one of the craziest experiences of my life. We hopped back on the metro at around 4:00 and everything calmed down. That is until Matt and I switched to another train. Right as the train was pulling up, someone let of a smoke bomb or tear gas or something, but all I saw was smoke as I jumped on the train. Then once on the train, some little Spanish kid thought it would be fun to break out the fire extinguisher. Thanks to my vocabulary lesson on vulgar phrases, I was able to understand all the things the other people with more sense were yelling at him. Basically, they were telling him he was stupid, but in a much meaner way. That didn't stop him though and he shot it off right before the next station, which, luckily, was mine. I'm not really sure why they have security cameras on the trains if they can't tell who does things like that because the kid and his friend, who was taping the whole thing on his video phone, ran right past all the security guards who were rushing to see what had happened. I consider myself lucky that I was getting on a train when something happened outside and I was getting off when something happened inside, but I was never really scared I was going to get hurt. We made it home without further incident and my bed was a welcome resting point. Tomorrow, Teresa is making another paella, this time with meat instead of seafood, so I have that to look forward to in the morning.

More from sunday and some more days

I did make it out of the house today, though it was pretty late. Nicolas called me around 10:00pm and we went down to the beach for some fireworks. It was cool to see out over the water and the Spaniards definitely know how to do it. There were plenty of booms and flashes, and even a nice grand finale. I was pretty impressed.

Day 25 – September 22nd – Monday
Today started off horribly. First of all, I had to wake up earlier than usual because my test was at 10:00 instead of the normal hour of 12:30. Also, I am out of money and had wanted to go to the bank to change some travelers checks. So I left the house even a little earlier to stop at Caja Madrid on my way to class. I figured they're a bank, they will take these, but no. He sent me to a different bank, but by this point, I had to just go to school. There, I took my test, which went fine and I finished quickly, but we were supposed to go on a field trip to see los Gigantes, as I had mentioned before, but we also had a meeting for our program at the same time. The meeting was mandatory, as we were to receive our schedules for the remainder of the semester. I got my schedule, only to find out that my new Spanish class is in four different classrooms, one for each day that I have it, though I do actually have a few culture classes in some of the same rooms. At least I was scheduled for the correct classes and I know I will get credit for them. This I attribute to my conselor at Ohio State, who actually knows who I am. One girl piped up during the meeting and said that she went to a very large university and actually didn't have a counselor. I laughed at this as Ohio State, with 60,000 students, is the largest in the nation. It actually turned out to be a blessing not to go on the field trip, as it started to rain as I was leaving the meeting. I had asked one of our directors where I should go to change money and when I came out of the metro at the proper stop, it had begun to pour. I eventually got to exchange a little bit of cash I had, but I didn't know I would need to have my passport to exchange traveler's checks. Also, there was no commission to change cash, but there was a 9€ charge for the traveler's checks. I though that it was supposed to be advantageous to travel with them, but so far, it has cost me 2% to get them in the first place, lots of trouble trying to find somewhere to change them, and now it will cost me 9€ more and I will have to cash all of them at once to avoid being charged another commission fee. If I had lost them, it would have been worth the extra payment, but cash seems to be the universal currency here. One thing that made me smile was the man who offered to change my money himself. He pulled out his calculator and offered my a great rate, but I had to pass. Probably one of the most obvious scams ever outside of emails telling me I won $30,000,000 from a bank in South Korea, if I will only pay the taxes for it up front... It rained almost all day, so I haven't been back outside. Plus, I don't know if i really like it out there.

The Mercè begins

Day 21 – September 18th – Thursday
I have to admit I haven't really been enjoying myself the past few days. It seems that I have settled into a schedule, but that doesn't really equate to much. I could always go walk around, up and down the streets of Barcelona, but that gets old after a while. I don't have a whole lot of friends here and a few of the friends I do have go to another school, which is close by, but they still have a completely different schedule. Today, as my 21st day here, leaves 92 days left. Right now, that seems like a eternity. Tonight I am going to an ISA function, which I have been avoiding for the most part because they are usually filled with people I don't think are worth making friends. However, I am not going alone, so if it is as lame as it could be, we'll just leave. I have a feeling I might have to suck it up and befriend a few of these kids. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. After tomorrow, we are basically finished with our intensive language course. We have an exam on Monday and then on Tuesday, we are going to see “los gigantes.” You may have seen something similar to this. It is a part of Mercè, which is the annual festival of Barcelona. “Los gigantes” and giant human-like structures that are part of a parade. I'm not sure how many of them there will be, but it is one of the main attractions of the festival. There are people below each one that make them dance to the music as they move down the street. It would be a good way to end the course and start of another long weekend, this time, five days.

Day 22 – September 19th – Friday
We had a nice little review session in class today for our test on Monday. I don't really know why, but I was in the mood to talk. Maybe it was because class was going slow, or maybe because I actually wanted to review, but either way, my teacher said that she has noticed improvement in my speaking skills, which is definitely true. Sitting at the dinner table is a lesson in itself. After dinner, Matt and I met up with Nicolas to go to a few concerts. The Mercè festival has started, so there's really no reason not to have something to do at night. First we went to see some Spanish rock band, who was actually not to bad. They seemed to be pretty popular too. Then we hopped over to another nearby stage where we watched a woman from Portugal perform. She, like most of the Portugese I've met, did not speak Spanish that well, but her English was very good. She definitely had rhythm and I really enjoyed her show. Then we hopped back over to the first stage to see who was there. It was actually an American band and I don't think the guy even knew how to say thank you in Spanish, but it was pretty good music. I reminded me of Coldplay a lot and I was surprised to see so many Spanish feeling it too, even if they couldn't understand it. Then came the band that Nicolas had been waiting for. They turned out to be a cover band of bad American music from the late 80s to early 90s, so we left pretty quick. They were, unfortunately, very popular with all the Spaniards. Oh well, they'll catch up with music in a decade or so after its all changed again. After that, we caught the last metro home and went to bed.

Day 23 – September 20th – Saturday
I was hoping to go to the bank today, but apparently, banker's hours are even more restrictive in Spain. The tobacco store was open though so I was able to buy stamps. After waking up at noon, I took a nap after a lunch of whitefish, sausage and salad. I sleep a lot here, but so do all Spaniards. If we didn't take a siesta, we couldn't stay out until five in the morning. As I mentioned before, the Mercè festival has started at tonight was a very unique spectical. My teacher had told me to go because it is something that they would never let happen in the states. It is called Correfoc and is kind of like a cross between the running of the bulls and a Chinese fire dragon. Basically, there are people dressed up as devils and dragons have pitchforks with fireworks attached that shoot sparks out until they burn out and explode. The idea is when the devils come toward you with the sparking pitchforks, you run away. Some people, however, choose to stay with the devils and dance while getting showered in sparks. Of course they are pretty much completely covered in clothing to prevent burns. We were told not to wear anything we cared about in case we got hit with some sparks. It was pretty impressive. I took a video to try and give you a feeling as to how it was and how close we were. There were definitely so barriers anyway and it seemed like the police preferred to stand far back. After this, we decided to walk up to Plaça Catalunya, the center of the city, and see what was going on up there. When we got there, I got a call from my Spanish friend, Jordi, who also happened to be in the same plaza. We met up with him and his girlfriend after minimal language barrier issues (I couldn't figure out how to say, “where should we meet?” so i just told him where I was and he came to me) and went to El Gato Negro to wait for a few friends. After that, Jordi had told us about a concert that was kind of far away, but it was supposed to be good and the Metro ran all night so we went. The metro was packed and everyone was going to the same place as us. I'd say there were about 10,000 people there when we arrived, all young Spaniards. Except from my friends, I didn't hear English the rest of the night. It was an electronic concert, so not my favorite genre, but it was a pretty crazy environment. We jumped around to sound for an hour or so, but there were a few other stages so we went to check them out too. The music wasn't bad and we were surrounded by Spaniards, so it was a good time. We left around 4:00 and there were still people showing up. I got home dead tired. I'm definitely going to have to take a siesta tomorrow, no matter what time I wake up.

Day 24 – September 21st – Sunday
I literally did nothing today. I didn't even leave the house. Not even to walk out on my balcony. I slept until 1:00, or 13:00 as it would be here, and then ate lunch at 15:00 and went to sleep til 19:00. I have had a great discovery though. I can pirate some sort of signal in my room from the hotel across the street. So now I can use Skype a lot more and hopefully keep my phone bill down a little bit. I have a test tomorrow in Spanish, so what time I have spent awake, has been studying, though I'm not really doing much. I'm not that worried about the test. It seems pretty straight forward. I do have to get up earlier tomorrow than usual though, as my test is at 10:00 am instead of normal class time of 12:30. Wish me luck, even though luck has nothing to do with it.

To the velodrome, to no avail

Day 19 – September 16th – Tuesday
Today I woke up tired, probably because I didn't take my siesta yesterday, so it was pretty tough sitting through a two and a half hour class. I'm feeling pretty aggravated about the bike issue, but I figure I might as well go out to the velodrome. It took me about a half hour one way in the metro to get there, as it is pretty much on the far north edge of the city. There are places further away, but not many. I got there and actually wasn't that impressed with the track itself. It definitely gets a lot of use and there is also a soccer field in the middle, so you can see what sport they really care about. There were a lot of bikers around. There was a mountain bike trail off to the side, with lots of people on nice bikes. There was also a BMX racing circuit with a bunch of little kids practicing on it. I stood and watched a few runs because I've never really seen that kind of stuff. When I asked about a bike frame, they of course told me to go to a bike shop. When i told them the bike shops sent me here, then I got passed around by a few people until I talked to the Cataluña track team coach. He pretty much told me no right away. Not only did they not really have extra frames, even though I walked by a few rooms full of them, hanging from the walls, but there was no way they would have one to fit me, as I am apparently the tallest person ever. “We just don't have the materials,” was the answer I got. I pleaded with him for a minute, but it was evident that he wasn't going to try any harder to help me, so I left. It's a little perplexing how little anyone has tried to help. They either pass me off to someone else, or just tell me, “No.” I mean, I work in the business and we always try and help people if we can. Apparently there's no such thing as customer service in Spain. So I got back on the metro and rode another half hour home. After such a demoralizing day, I had to stop at one of my favorite restaurants for a Döner Kebab, which is similar to a gyro and just as delicious. It definitely made me feel a little better too. After dinner, Matt and I met up with Nicolas and went to El Gato Negro. I guess we're regulars there now because the manager asked me how I was doing as soon as I walked in. I've also made friends with the doorman, who is actually from Portugal. He speaks very good English, but his Spanish is not so good. Imagine that. So I practice my Spanish and he responds in English. He told me he hasn't seen his family in three years because he doesn't have enough money to travel home. It kind of made my problems seem smaller, but at least he has a cool job. He is a good friend and I talked to him for about an hour just about random stuff. We hung out until the bar closed and then said “hasta mañana” and went to bed.

Day 20 – September 17th – Wednesday
It's very hard to believe that I've only been gone for about three weeks. It seems like before too long, I'll have to pack all my stuff up and head home. Its kind of hard as this is definitely the longest I've been without my loved ones ever. No one in this country loves me, which sounds sad and depressing, but its true. I know Fernando and Teresa like me and everything, but they constantly have a flow of students, so I know once I leave, there will be someone coming to replace me. I really just want a hug, but there's really no one to give it to me. I just try and think about what it will be like coming back, even if it is a long way off. Despite that little sob story, today was better than yesterday. Class went quickly and I felt like we did a lot of constructive activities. So far it has seemed pretty easy, but we have a test on Monday so I'll let you know after that. After class, I went to the ISA office, as is becoming custom, to use free internet. It is a little taste of home, as the office is very modern and comfortable. We stopped by the grocery on the way home for some snacks, but they've definitely never heard of Doritos here. They do have Pringles though. We had Spanish tortilla and calamari for dinner, which was very good and then I did my homework and headed to bed. It feels good to have a day pass quickly.

Another post! Wow, I'm actually keeping up!

Here is a nice view of part of the city. on the right you see one of the two mountains in Barcelona, which are not really that tall. this one it Mont Monjuic.

Day 18 – September 15th – Monday
Happy anniversary Marissa! (Oh, how cute! :-)) Its tough going back to class today after such a long break, but it was a good weekend. Of our three-week “intensive” language class, this is the only full week because of what Spaniards refer to as “un puente.” This means that if the holiday falls on a Thursday or a Wednesday, there is also no school for the rest of the week. I really enjoy this practice, but it does kind of mock the whole “intensive” thing when we only have one full week. We do, however, have homework every night, but I've always thought this was synonymous with Spanish class, ever since Sra. Conrdon. I went to the ISA office before class to print off the first draft of my paper and then headed back there after class to make a few free phone calls through the internet. Skype is a pretty amazing tool and I seem to have found a very good place to sit in order to have a good connection. Afterwards, Matt and I walked home and stopped at El Corte Ingles, with is kind of like a Wal-Mart meets Macy's type store with everything from high fashion to groceries. After this, I went off to try and find a bike frame, which I have been putting off too long. I had gone last week to a bike shop nearby, but they had only sent me to a different one. So now, I thought I would be set, but no, when I asked the man at Tómas Domingo, a pretty corporate looking shop, he sent me to the velodrome. Well, I had been wanting to go there anyway, so I don't care that much, but I am really itching to ride, so the longer it takes, the better it will feel once I get to do so.

Here I am standing in front of the field. Behind me in the stands in reads "Més que un Club," which translates to "More than a team." Look how nice and perfect the grass is.
Here are the teams lined up for the team anthems. Barcelona on the right, Racing on the left.

Day 16 – September 13th – Saturday
Today has to be one of the longest awaited days in my life. Today we are going to a Barcelona F.C. soccer game! How exciting! Barça has been my favorite team since i picked a favorite team and stopped buying jerseys on how they look. As this may be a once in a lifetime experience, Ian and I went for pretty good seats, at a price. 84€ and I won't do the conversion for you, but we were in the 19th row from the field. In a stadium that is just a touch larger than the Horseshoe, we felt pretty close. Beforehand, we took a tour of the stadium and saw the locker rooms, the little chapel that is on the entryway to the field, and the team benches. We also were able to go up in the media booth to get a bird's eye view. There is also a museum in the stadium where they have all the different trophies that have been won over the years as well as jerseys signed by legends such as Diego Maradona and Johan Kruyff. Barcelona F.C. was founded in 1899 by a Swiss man named Joan Gamper, so as you can imagine, it has quite the interesting and varied history. Before the game, Ian and I went to one of my favorite restaurants in my neighborhood for a snack and a beer. When I told the waiter, who now recognizes me, where we were heading off to after leaving, he replied with the familiar battle cry of Forca Barça. We hopped on the metro where there were a lot of people heading to the game. We talked to one man, in English, who was going as well. It turns out he was from Turkey and was equally excited to see the game. There was also an older gentleman sitting across from me who, when he saw our Barcelona shirts, commented to a nearby woman something in Catalán. After he was done, the turk asked her to translate to English, but she said her English was not so good. When I asked for Spanish, the man turned to me and told me in Spanish about how he had been a season ticket holder basically his whole life and how he remembered back in the old days when it was truly a Catalán team. Now, only four of the twenty-two players are actually from Cataluña, so how can it be a Catalán team? Also, he said their focus has changed from fútbol, to dinero. He pointed to my shirt, which has the sponsor across the front, Unicef. He said, of course, Unicef is a good sponsor, but all the other ones, mostly beer and cell phone companies only mislead. Its about the sport not the money. He told me he was a journalist and showed me his card that allowed him media access. He showed me his season ticket card which showed how long he had held his tickets and then he told me he hadn't been to a game in four years. He was definitely old-school, and times have definitely changed, but I still enjoy hearing his viewpoint and I hope he knows it didn't fall upon deaf ears. As for the game itself, it started out great. Barça controlled the ball the majority of the time and passed around Racing (their opponent) as I'm sure racing would have done to the Crew. Yet at half time, still 0-0. At half time, Ian and I moved over to sit with my Spanish friend Jordi, who was close by with his girlfriend. Leo Messi, of Argentina, my favorite, entered the game early in the second half to the cheers and bows of the fans. The little boy sitting next to me stood up and bowed down, cheering Messs-iii, Messss-iii. They love him here and he did get a goal on a penalty late in the half. However, this was not to be enough. Racing followed with a goal of their own only about 8 minutes later and this was to be the final, 1-1, much to the dismay of the fans who whistled and waved their white handkerchiefs in disgust. I was disappointed not to witness a win, but it was still probably the highest quality soccer I've ever seen.

Day 17 – September 14th – Sunday
Today was Ian's last day in Barcelona and there wasn't a whole lot to do. As I said before, almost everything is closed on Sundays, so we just kind of walked around for a while and looked at the people. We walked through Las Ramblas, where Ian picked up a few post cards and then I headed home for lunch and he went off to the train station. That night, I met up with my friend Nicolas, who had been on vacation with his host family for the past few days. I heard about his trip, including when he ate and animal's face; the cheek, tongue, and brain. He drew the line at the eye, but he kept if down and had a good trip anyway. He said it was nice to be fully immersed in Spanish for the whole week, without speaking English for four days. Now he can feel himself getting better each day, as can I. But I will spare you all the trouble of translating and keep these entries in English.

Day 13 – September 10th – Wednesday
Last day of school this week, thanks to Cataluña Day and it went smoothly. I do have to write a composition and find a way to print it, but I have a four day weekend to do it. I met up with Ian in the Metro after class and we shot the breeze for a little while before meeting up with the ISA group at 6:00 to go to the Picasso Museum. It was nice to be able to get Ian in for free, too. It was a cool museum and we got to see a lot of the evolution of his art. Many people think of cubism when you say Picasso, but he was quite a talented realist as well. They say he never actually went fully into cubism because one can still recognize the form of his paintings. I had already seen “Guernica” in Madrid, so I has hoping to see “The Guitarist,” but it wasn't there. However, “Las Meninas” was. This is an interesting painting because it is actually Picasso's take on a famous painting of the same title by Velázquez, the famous Spanish realist. Originally painted in the 16th century, Picasso's version is quite different, of course, but all the parts are there. He did change the prominence of some aspects, such as bringing out the original artists self-portrait from the background and making it the focus. I had never heard of artists covering the work of others, similar to what some people do with music, but it was very interesting to see. Then Matt and I headed back home for siesta and dinner while Ian when to the hostal for the same. We met up again afterwards and headed down to the beach. We walked along the docks for a little while and saw the biggest yachts and sailboats I've ever seen as well as some wildlife. A whole school of minnows was up near the side, with a couple jellyfish and larger fish amongst them, searching for dinner. By the time we made it to the beach and sat watching the waves for an hour or so, the police came along and kicked everyone off for cleaning. I guess they clean the beach every night, which explains why its so clean. Some beaches in the States could use the same thing. After they had moved on to a farther part of the beach, we walked along on the sand until we got down near our school. Here, we picked up the NitBus, or NightBus, which runs from midnight to 5:00am and called it a night. We'll see what tomorrow is like, as it is the biggest fiesta in all of Cataluña.

Day 14 – September 11th – Thursday
I spent most of today on the beach, as was the idea in the minds of thousands of other Spaniards. It is quite beautiful just sitting there watching the people and the boats go by. There were actually not as many people trying to sell cold drinks today, which made it even more enjoyable. We had some delicious spaghetti for lunch with lots of cheese on it, but a rather small dinner of potato chips and deviled eggs. So after dinner, Matt and I went out to find a little more food. We were supposed to meet up with Ian, but apparently he fell asleep because I didn't get a call from him until 1:00. We did, however, make our first Spanish friends, Carlos and Gordi. We met them at El Gato Negro where they were celebrating Gordi's birthday, which was a few days earlier. We talked for a few minutes before they invited us out with them to a discoteca (this is pretty much just a dance club). They had free passes for entry, so we went. We hopped in a cab and ended up at a two-floor club near the sea. I've never been anywhere like it. We hung out here for a little while, danced to a few songs, and then took off. I thought there were a good amount of people there, but Carlos said he knew of a much better place. So we again hopped in a taxi (its pretty cheap when you split it between four people, only about 2 euro, which is not that much more than the Metro) and this time we actually ended up on the same street that I live on, just a little further up the road. This club was pretty nice and it was packed out. There were about four different rooms, each with its own type of people and music. We spent most of our time in the main room, as it had the most girls, and Carlos was chasing all of them. As for me and Gordi, we both have girlfriends, so we just picked out the girls for Carlos. The next time I checked the time, it was 4:30 and Matt and I were getting tired. It seemed, however, that Carlos and Gordi were just getting started. I did get both of their phone numbers though and they are also going to the Barcelona F.C. game on Saturday, so I will see them there if I don't call them tomorrow. They said I should get seats in the upper deck because they have seats in the lower deck and I can just come sit with them. Getting home just after 5:00am, I feel like a real Spaniard and I feel like I took full advantage of Cataluña day, but now, all I want is sleep.

Day 15 – September 12th – Friday
With no school again today, I woke up right before lunch, with is usually right around 2:30pm. After lunch, I met up with Ian and we walked around the city for a little while, before meeting up with the group at Plaça Jaume to go to the Picasso Museum. Ian just kind of tagged along and the ISA directors seemed to not notice or not care, because he came into the museum with us for free. This was a pretty cool museum, though I liked the one in Madrid more. Picasso was a very talented artist, and although he is best known for his more abstract work, he could paint in pretty much any style at a very high level. Many of his portraits are considered different because in addition to showing the physical characteristics of his subject, he is also able to convey a sense of what their personality is like. One painting, of his grandmother, was interesting because she always refused to sit for him and when she did, she told him he had one hour. What he did with that hour was quite phenomenal. I also learned that many times artists would go to the art museum and sit and copy the paintings they liked, of course in their own style. Picasso did this as well, which was my favorite painting of this museum. He copied Velázquez's “Las Meninas” in a few different styles including cubism and impressionism. There was an entire room full of these at the museum. It was interesting to see what he considered the more important parts of the painting. After the tour, we headed back home, where dinner was waiting for us. I had asked earlier if Ian could also come, not only to see a typical Spanish house, but also to experience the wonders of Teresa's cooking. She made paella for us and it was phenomenal. I will unload the picture I took of it and maybe you can pick out some of the ingredients. It of course had rice and then a few different kinds of seafood, including, but not limited to, calamari, oysters, mini-octopus, and another type of shellfish. I'm not the biggest fan of seafood, but this was perhaps the greatest meal of my life. Ian was equally impressed and Teresa was loving how excited he was. Though he doesn't speak Spanish, so I was translating for him, there is something international about, “wow.” Needless to say, we all had seconds and definitely were not hungry for the rest of the night.

This is a picture of the bullring in Madrid that was mentioned in a previous post.

Day 12 – September 9th – Tuesday
I had my second day of class today and am starting to settle in. I got a “muy bien” (very good) on my first homework assignment, so I must be doing something right. I like my teacher a lot. I've figured out she's about 28 years old and she is also of French and Spanish decent. Her name is María Trouillhet-Manso. You can see the French in her first last name. All Spanish people take on both last names of their parents, father's and then mothers, though her email address only includes her first last name. She insists that we call her María and not Señora because, she says, Señoras are older and have families and children and what not and she is still single and young. After class, Matt and I went to the beach again where we laid of about an hour, just soaking up the Mediterranean sun. It was pretty peaceful, except for two things. One, the onslaught of Moroccan immigrants trying to sell drinks. “Cervesa, agua, Coca-Cola, cervesa, agua, Coca-Cola, cervesa, agua, Coca-Cola.” Never ending. As soon as one would walk by, another on came into the picture. The other thing was all the little Asian women walking around offering a massage, aggressively. One of my friends actually gave in and got a twenty minute foot massage for five Euro, and said they were actually really good, using oils and everything, but still I don't want to listen to you're sales pitch every five minutes. Ian also arrived after dinner tonight and we went to find his hostel, which is off of Las Ramblas, the main drag in Barcelona where street performers, vendors, and pick-pockets can be found at all hours of the day and night. He hopped on the Metro without realizing that it was almost midnight, which is when the Metro stops running during the week. There was a nice Italian family down there too in the same predicament. The father had asked me how to get to Universitat, which was also my stop, so I just told them to follow me, but when we got off the train and got to where we needed to pick up our next one, it was clear there wasn't another one coming. With me speaking in Spanish and him responding in Italian, just like me and Jessica have done in the past, I eventually got across to him that we would both be walking home. They seemed not to care at all and just laughed and said okay. So Ian and I started our little trek. It really wasn't that far and we had El Gato Negro waiting for us, where we had a chance to catch up, so it wasn't too bad. Its nice to see a face from home. We left when the bar closed and woke a sleeping taxi driver to get Ian home.

Day 13 – September 10th – Wednesday
Last day of school this week, thanks to Cataluña Day and it went smoothly. I do have to write a composition and find a way to print it, but I have a four day weekend to do it. I met up with Ian in the Metro after class and we shot the breeze for a little while before meeting up with the ISA group at 6:00 to go to the Picasso Museum. It was nice to be able to get Ian in for free, too. It was a cool museum and we got to see a lot of the evolution of his art. Many people think of cubism when you say Picasso, but he was quite a talented realist as well. They say he never actually went fully into cubism because one can still recognize the form of his paintings. I had already seen “Guernica” in Madrid, so I has hoping to see “The Guitarist,” but it wasn't there. However, “Las Meninas” was. This is an interesting painting because it is actually Picasso's take on a famous painting of the same title by Velázquez, the famous Spanish realist. Originally painted in the 16th century, Picasso's version is quite different, of course, but all the parts are there. He did change the prominence of some aspects, such as bringing out the original artists self-portrait from the background and making it the focus. I had never heard of artists covering the work of others, similar to what some people do with music, but it was very interesting to see. Then Matt and I headed back home for siesta and dinner while Ian when to the hostal for the same. We met up again afterwards and headed down to the beach. We walked along the docks for a little while and saw the biggest yachts and sailboats I've ever seen as well as some wildlife. A whole school of minnows was up near the side, with a couple jellyfish and larger fish amongst them, searching for dinner. By the time we made it to the beach and sat watching the waves for an hour or so, the police came along and kicked everyone off for cleaning. I guess they clean the beach every night, which explains why its so clean. Some beaches in the States could use the same thing. After they had moved on to a farther part of the beach, we walked along on the sand until we got down near our school. Here, we picked up the NitBus, or NightBus, which runs from midnight to 5:00am and called it a night. We'll see what tomorrow is like, as it is the biggest fiesta in all of Cataluña.

Day 14 – September 11th – Thursday
I spent most of today on the beach, as was the idea in the minds of thousands of other Spaniards. It is quite beautiful just sitting there watching the people and the boats go by. There were actually not as many people trying to sell cold drinks today, which made it even more enjoyable. We had some delicious spaghetti for lunch with lots of cheese on it, but a rather small dinner of potato chips and deviled eggs. So after dinner, Matt and I went out to find a little more food. We were supposed to meet up with Ian, but apparently he fell asleep because I didn't get a call from him until 1:00. We did, however, make our first Spanish friends, Carlos and Gordi. We met them at El Gato Negro where they were celebrating Gordi's birthday, which was a few days earlier. We talked for a few minutes before they invited us out with them to a discoteca (this is pretty much just a dance club). They had free passes for entry, so we went. We hopped in a cab and ended up at a two-floor club near the sea. I've never been anywhere like it. We hung out here for a little while, danced to a few songs, and then took off. I thought there were a good amount of people there, but Carlos said he knew of a much better place. So we again hopped in a taxi (its pretty cheap when you split it between four people, only about 2 euro, which is not that much more than the Metro) and this time we actually ended up on the same street that I live on, just a little further up the road. This club was pretty nice and it was packed out. There were about four different rooms, each with its own type of people and music. We spent most of our time in the main room, as it had the most girls, and Carlos was chasing all of them. As for me and Gordi, we both have girlfriends, so we just picked out the girls for Carlos. The next time I checked the time, it was 4:30 and Matt and I were getting tired. It seemed, however, that Carlos and Gordi were just getting started. I did get both of their phone numbers though and they are also going to the Barcelona F.C. game on Saturday, so I will see them there if I don't call them tomorrow. They said I should get seats in the upper deck because they have seats in the lower deck and I can just come sit with them. Getting home just after 5:00am, I feel like a real Spaniard and I feel like I took full advantage of Cataluña day, but now, all I want is sleep.

Day 11 – September 8th – Monday
Today was my first day of intensive Spanish language. I placed into the Advanced level, which is what I expected to do, so hopefully I will learn a lot. I was kind of surprised that many of the people in my class did not seem to know Spanish nearly as well as me, but for the most part, they are at least minors, so they will be willing to try hard. As is normal for first days, much of the content was over the way class is going to be and also what is expected of us. It was similar to that of a US classroom, though the grade scale is actually a little more forgiving. I still plan on getting A's. We also talked a little about characteristics and I learned a good number of new adjectives. After class, Matthew and I ate our packed lunches of a bacon and cheese baguette and an apple and headed down to the beach, of course. After all, its only a couple blocks away. Then we headed over to the study abroad office, where we get internet for free, and I was finally able to put up some pictures. There were a few of our friends there, so we got to see them too. We don't all go the Pompeu Fabra, some go to the University of Barcelona, so it is a little rare that we see them, unless it is planed. I left with Nicholas and we wandered around this city for a while, aimlessly. You can do that here, without worrying about getting lost because there is always a metro close by. And from the metro, it is possible to get anywhere in the city. For dinner, around 9:30pm, we had a Sra. Teresa original. Chicken a la Teresa which was, in a word, wonderful. She said that if we liked it so much, she would make it once a week and i truly hope she does. After this, Matthew and I went down the street to D'or Cervecería, which has a great selection of over 50 beers. If I'm here long enough, and I think I may be, I may even try them all. After two beers and some patatas brevas, which is fried potatoes with a special sauce that makes my mouth water even now, we headed back home. When coming home, it is custom to say hello to whomever is there, and I happened to mention that I needed to call Marissa, mi novia. Teresa then asked if I had a picture. Of course, I did and readily showed it to her. From here, we got into an in depth conversation about life and love and even the afterlife and the existence of extraterrestrials and other worlds. It was easily the deepest conversation I've ever had in Spanish, and very interesting to me. They both had quite a bit so say and I'm glad that my mastery of the language has reached a level where I am able to understand almost every word. I am only sad that I could not add more to the content myself. Hopefully, by the time I leave, I will be able to do so. Matthew and I know that we are lucky to have been placed in such a good host family, and tonight further confirmed that. Well, it is of to bed for me, as I have to get up and do my homework tomorrow before class. Also, my friend Ian, who is studying in Zurich, Switzerland, is coming to visit tomorrow for the long weekend here in Catalunya. (Catalunya is the province in which is Barcelona and this Thursday is their holiday, so no class then or Friday). Fernando has promised to take us to the Barcelona soccer stadium for a tour of the museum and the field. Maybe Ian and I will also be able to catch a game this weekend.

Day 7 – September 4th – Thursday
For breakfast today we had a piece of fruit and coffee, but a type of coffee I'd never seen before. It was soluble. So I filled my cup with milk, and then added the coffee powder and drank it cold. It sounds strange and it was, but it was pretty good and Fernando was right, cold coffee is quite refreshing when its hot outside. The next time Matt and I looked at the clock, it was 9:30, giving us only a half hour to get across town. So we hopped on the metro, making sure to get on the right train and transfer to the next one smoothly, as time was a factor. When we got off the metro, we found that we weren't the only ones who had no idea where to go next. But there is strength in numbers, so our little group of about twenty-five clueless Americans with a map eventually figured it out and got to the test, only a few minutes late. The placement exam consisted of three parts: multiple choice, essay, and interview. The eighty multiple choice questions got harder as the numbers got higher, so we were told to stop when we were completely guessing. There were three different levels of essay questions, from which we were supposed to choose one of two prompts. The interview was one-on-one with a teacher from the university. I was able to answer all eighty questions and easily surpass the 100-word requirement for writing (I chose a prompt regarding what I thought of Spaniards having had just a little bit of interaction with them) and I felt like I did pretty well on the interview. When asked a question, I tried to give at least a two or three sentence answer, unless it was a yes or no kind of thing. We'll find out tomorrow for sure how well we did. With the beach being so close to school, it was really the only logical destination after a stressful morning. So we went for a little walk and grabbed some food while looking at the beautiful Mediterranean the whole time. Then we checked out some shops in town, including an official F.C. Barcelona shop, while waiting for the group to take a little walking tour of Barcelona. We walked around the Gothic quarter of the city, which really just means that its the most ancient part. Many of the ruins are actually under ground, as they have been destroyed and built over top of over the centuries. Barcelona was founded 300 years before Rome by local pagan groups, but has been ruled by the Carthaginians, Romans, and Muslims. The Romans were of course famous for the roads and their columns, so we saw some ancient roman columns and the intersection of the road they built. Whenever the Romans conquered a city, they continued their road system with one road north to south and another east to west. After this tour, it was back to Fernando and Teresa's house for a little siesta before dinner. And what a delicious dinner it was! Steak and potato fries (they weren't French) with ketchup (of course. According to Teresa, all Americans love ketchup.) and some delicious watermelon for dessert. After a shower, Matthew and I met up with a few friends to see what kind of nightlife was in the area. Before I came here, I got all kinds of input on where I should go, what I should see, and all that kind of thing. Of course, I took all this with a grain of salt because Barcelona is a big place and what are the odds that I'm going to find one little hole in the wall? One bar I was told was a must was El Gato Negro (the Black Cat), which just happened to be one of the closest bars to my house, right around the corner. It was a nice little place, filled with locals, so you knew you weren't getting overcharged. We hung out there until it closed around 2:30 and headed home. Tomorrow, we have orientation at Pompeu Fabra at 12:30.

Day 8 – September 5th – Friday
Orientation was short and sweet. I placed into the advanced class for Spanish, which is right where I thought I should be. We also got a few little books. One was about Barcelona and its culture, which will probably be pretty helpful. It covers everything from the history of the city to the art of the pick-up. After a packed lunch of Spanish tortilla sandwich (egg and potatoes with lettuce and tomato), Nicolas, Matthew, and I took a little trip out to the Olympic stadium. This was very cool to see. As we rode the tram out of the metro system, it was easy to imagine Olympic athletes of that time such as Pete Sampras and Demitra Navertalova standing in the same place. I was searching for the velodrome, but thats probably one of the more obscure places, though I did see track bikes on many of the banners. We ran out of time before we found it, but I did get to stand in my first European soccer stadium, that of the lesser-known Barcelona team, Espanyol. We went back to the city in order to catch a bus on a panoramic tour of the city. We drove past the city's old bullring, its new, highly ornate bullring which seems to have a lot of Jewish influence (go ahead, figure that one out) and also past the cathedral. The cathedral was interesting because it was constructed in two phases. The first half under the direction of famous Spanish architect Gaudí, but when the plans were burned during the civil war, it had to be finished in a much more modern manner by another architect who's name I don't remember. But while both sides definitely show some kind of religious influence, they are strikingly different. Next we stopped off at a park that was designed by the same Gaudí, called Parc Güell. It is one of the biggest parks in Barcelona and a place where Gaudí himself used to live. It is very ornate, but still natural. I will post pictures of it. We then headed home for a siesta and then dinner, which was very good, and i wish i could tell you what it was. It was a kind of beef stew with something that seemed like a cross between peas and lima beans as the main ingredient (Mom, I'm sure you would have liked it, don't worry) and with onions and carrots as well. I went out to see Nicolas' house, as his family is out of town and suggested that he have a couple people over so he wasn't lonely. We hung out for a while and got a beer at a local tapas bar and then I caught the last metro home a little before 2:00. Tomorrow is our first Saturday in Barcelona and we really have nothing to do, so I'm hoping to go to a bike shop that I saw during our bus tour. I've GOT to get a bike running so I can really start to learn the city and stop paying for the metro. I've already seen a few single-speeds of fixed gear bikes riding around, so maybe I can make some friends that way too.

Day 9 – September 6th – Saturday
Nothing much to do today, as it is Saturday. I went to the internet café for a little while and then ate lunch with Fernando, Teresa, and their son Ferrón. It was some kind of sausage in a potato based sauce. Good, but bland. It is the weekend, which means that the Magical Fountain is up and running. This is a very spectacular spectical indeed. It hints at the fountains of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, though smaller and more complicated. The show is Thursday through Sunday from 9:00 to midnight, every half hour and it draws quite a crowd. We made it there for the 11:00 show which featured music from artists such as Queen, the Police, and Cher. Lights combined with misting fountains made it look like the water was on fire and the grand finale shot water at least ten meters into the air. Afterwards, Nic and I just kind of crawled our way back to the University district where I live, stopping for a drink here and a baguette there before going to El Gato Negro, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places.

Day 10 – September 7th – Sunday
Sundays are lazy days in Spain. Almost nothing is open except a few tapas bars and other restaurants. I was trying to figure out what all these people did, and then i walked past a huge line at the cinema. Also, I noticed that Tersesa, my señora, was inside all day talking on the phone and Fernando relaxed with a cigar while watching an old war movie. After not getting up until 1:00pm, I didn't really do anything all day. We did eventually make it to the beach, where we saw just how gay-friendly Barcelona is (only on a section of the beach), got some delicious kabob from a nearby shop and headed home. After penne pasta for dinner, I pretty much went to bed. Tomorrow is the first day of class, so a good nights rest will be good.

Also, here are some pictures. I hope you like them! http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026428&l=3bfc7&id=59102876

First entry

Disclaimer: These entries will be a few days behind, as internet is hard to find and also very expensive. There will also probably be multiple days under one post. I hope you all enjoy my posts as I am enjoying Barcelona. Please comment!

Day 1 – August 29th – Friday
We arrive in Madrid and take a taxi to the hotel. i was lucky enough to sit next to a fellow study abroader who also happened to be Puerto Rican. so as she chatted away with the cabbie, in an attempt to make friends and earn a fair price, and i sat by adding in my random questions every few minutes. The first place i went was El Corte Ingles, which from its name, you can tell its pretty American. it resembles an American grocery store, yet there are subtle differences. you can't buy botox shots in the states and of course everything is in liters and euros. there is, of course, a starbucks right outside, though i neglected to go. Next, i took a 7 hour nap. then i woke up, ate some food, had a beer or three and went to bed.

Day 2 – August 30th - Saturday
I've never seen such an extensive breakfast buffet. sausage, eggs, gazpacho, beans, bread, 6 types of juice, 12 types of fruit, yogurt, coffee and really tasty water. After breakfast, my hotel roommate, Nicholas Tapia, and I go for a little walk around Madrid. down la calle princesa, through the Parque del Oeste, where apparently, Spaniards are very open with their sexuality, and there was a wild parrot! After grabbing a bite and a beer at McDonald's, we headed back to the hotel and i participated in my favorite Spanish tradition to date: the siesta. that night, we went out to an Irish pub named O'Connell's (yes, it was very Irish) with 2 Serbians (Philip and Ana), an Englishman (mitch), and a Texan (tony). after a few drinks theres, nick wanted to go find a salsa club. so after walking around looking diligently for el Son Cubano, we finally discover it and pay the 8 euro cover charge to do some intense dancing. mostly with women our mothers' age. not that there weren't younger girls, but the older women were sitting by us and they seemed to appreciate it more. turns out one lady had a 20 year-old son named Nicholas, whom she hadn't seen in quite some time, so dancing with my half Mexican 20-year-old friend Nicholas was very fun for her. These two ladies were from Uruguay and Colombia, respectively, bringing out country interaction number up to five. Madrid is truly a melting pot, though i hear that Barcelona is even more so. We left the club 2:30am, just as it was popping off. I don't know how, but our sense of direction guided us through this city of 4 million to our hotel. what a night!

Day 3 – August 31st – Sunday
We're supposed to go do some site seeing with the group today, but we'll see about that. its time for another great breakfast buffet. Well, that was wonderful. Today, me and Nick skipped the ISA trip to the Valley of the Fallen and El Escorial in order to do some sight seeing of our own. We hopped on the metro at Argüelles and rode to nearby Sol to check out the largest flee market in Europe and it WAS huge. we probably walked about 2 miles just among the shops and stands just watching the people and listening to the sounds. Next, we wondered around some of the back streets of Madrid looking at the other little shops, most of which were closed, as it was Sunday After getting slightly confused and lost on the metro, we made it back to the hotel, grabbed some food, and again participated in the siesta. After that, it was off to the Plaza de Toros with Tony, Max, and Philip, to watch the most controversial pastimes of Spain, the bullfight. Yes, they killed the bull, actually six of them. Yes, it was bloody. Yes, it was very exciting and an extremely unique experience that can be found nowhere in the states. I took plenty of pictures. It was definitely the most unique thing I've seen so far. I also had a hotdog for dinner, though the actual hotdog was the only part that was traditional. After that, some kind of mayo/ranch/mustard sauce and then fried onions, lettuce, tomato, and some other unrecognizable, but equally delicious toppings. Tomorrow we leave Madrid nice and early to travel to Toledo in our next stop before Barcelona. Madrid was amazing and its only supposed to go up from here, so we'll see how much better it can get.

Day 4 – September 1st – Monday
Today we enjoyed our last breakfast buffet at Hotel Husa Princesa right before all the loud American girls arrived, which was nice. Now we pack up all our belongings and visit el Museo de Reina Sofia before heading to Toledo. At first, I was skeptical about this museo, mostly because Nick's guide book didn't rate it as high as the Museo Prado, which is nearby, but I was very plesantly surprised. It is home to one of my favorite and most famous paintings: “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso. It was amazing to actually see this masterpiece in person after learning so much about it in my time studying Spanish. It is VERY big and sends a very powerful message. Also, there was a series of pictures showing the painting in different stages so that one could see how Picasso's thought evolved and the order of things being added. One of the strongest images in the painting, the eye with the light bulb in it at the top was originally a sun. Also, the light bulb and the flower, which stems from the broken sword, were almost the last images to be added. This museum also housed a few of Dalí's painting, which are always fun to look at. We all wonder what our dreams mean and even what the really look like. Dalí was able to capture his with stunning vitality and imagery. Such detail and genius (or insanity) cannot be ignored. I can't wait to go to the museums dedicated to these most famous Spanish artists. The Museo Reina Sofia also had an exhibit on some new ideas that are just developing in the field. Theo Jansen, whom i had actually already heard of, has created a new species of dirt moving animals out of electrical tubing and zip ties which operate solely on the power of the wind. You have to see these beasts to believe them. They are incredible. There was also an exhibit that involved a video camera which when you stepped in front of it, the “mirror” made from various things (one was made of trash, another “weaved,” and the third out of light bulbs) responded to your movement. Its a little hard to explain, but it is amazing to watch in action. After the museum, which thoroughly surpassed my expectation, we bid our farewells to Madrid and took a little bus ride down to Toledo. I don't know how long it took because I slept the whole time. After checking into our hotel, it was time to find some food. Unfortunately, our hotel was not as conveniently located as before and the closest restaurant was about a twenty minute walk. Luckily, the hotel had a very nice restaurant. I got calamari and an interesting take on lasagna which was delicious. And it was very outrageously priced either. With a full stomach, all I could do next was watch a little TV and go to bed.

Day 5 – September 2nd – Tuesday
The breakfast buffet at Hotel Beatriz was not as good as that of Hotel Husa Princesa, but still better than any continental breakfast in the states, and included in the price of a room. After this, we went on a bus and walking tour of Toledo, which was fairly interesting. The town of Toledo is home to only about 78,000 people, but it is a prime location for defense as the highest point in the area. Founded well before Christ, it has been occupied by Romans, Muslims, and Christians alike, each leaving behind their own history. The Arab influence in easily seen in much of the ancient construction, though some old mosques have since been converted for other uses, such as synagogues. The cathedral was probably the most impressive building, having a bell tower almost 100 meters high which houses the largest bell in Spain. However, this bell was only rang once, and when it was, it broke all the glass in the area and even broke the bell itself. After a nice two-hour stroll, we got food and wandered around for a bit. Then it was back to the hotel for siesta and then some pool time. This evening we had a meeting with our ISA directors about our homestays. This was an interesting meeting that revealed a lot about many of the people who came on this trip. From the beginning, I was surprised by the number of people who don't speak Spanish at all. Many of them at least attempt to learn or understand, but others sat there complaining the whole time that they didn't understand a word. If they just tried to listen, maybe they could start to pick some of it up and surprise themselves. I guess I am one of the lucky ones, being able to understand pretty much every word, even when I'm not paying close attention. So for me, the more Spanish they speak, the better, while it would be better for many of these kids to study abroad in England. Also, as the ISA directors have told us plenty of times, it is very uncommon to be noticeably drunk in public. I can't tell you how many of these kids, more often the girls, come down to breakfast wondering what they did the night before. Its very easy to see where the term “ugly American” comes from. But at least a handful of us aren't here for an extended spring break and I've found many of them. After the meeting, I again ate a wonderful dinner in the hotel restaurant and made a couple new friends. I also had the most in depth conversation since leaving the states with my friend Nicolas and our new friend Jamie. We ran the gamut from politics to friends at home and even touched on spirituality a little bit. By the end of dinner, we were good friends with plans to spend time together in Barcelona. We have an early wake up call tomorrow (7am) and as I stand on my balcony talking to people back home as the clock reaches for 1am, there are taxis pulling up to the hotel to take thirsty kids our to the clubs. We'll see how many of them keep us from leaving on time tomorrow.

Day 6 – September 3 – Wednesday
Happy Birthday Mom! I was the first one to wish her this on the day, thanks to my being six hours into the future. And sure enough, as I sat on the bus, waiting to pull out of Toledo, we were waiting on one person who was soon discovered in a drunken stupor in their room, having slept through the wake up call and repeated knocks on their door. But that is behind us now as we tear through the countryside at 100 km/hr towards the city I've been waiting to visit as long as Spanish has been a part of my life. The countryside is quite interesting to look at, though I've been fading in and out of sleep. There are steep cliffs covered in trees and fields with bails of hay. There are also sunflower fields and wind farms, though not all of the windmills I've seen so far are actually moving. But they are giant! I'm sure that each blade on the propeller is at least twice as long as our 55 passenger bus. After our eight hour drive, we made it to Barcelona! I met my temporary father, Fernando, at the bus and we walked about five minutes to his apartment. It is small, but homey. My roommate Matthew Jones and I share a room off to the side of the flat. We are on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the street. I enjoy standing out there watching the little cars and motos drive by. We also met Teresa, our Señora, and their son. We had a nice dinner of salad and Spanish tortilla, which is egg and potato and very delicious. We enjoyed a piece of fruit for dessert. I liked talking to Fernando and Teresa during the dinner, getting a different perspective on the world. They enjoy talking about sports because, as Teresa said, politics is too controversial, the economy is too bad, and the weather is always beautiful. They have had many past students stay with them and they had many stories about them. They have had people from Germany, Austria, Japan, and of course the United States. Of the Japanese, they spoke of their extreme reverence to their parents, even to the point of arranged marriages. Fernando said he would NEVER put up with anything of this sort. I'm glad we agree on this, as well as many other things. He is probably one of the biggest F.C. Barcelona (thats the soccer team here) fans I've ever met and has already told me that he will take me to a game and see the museum and even walk on the field! How exciting! After dinner, Matt and I went out to find an internet café, which we found only about a block away. After that, it was to bed as we have a placement test in the morning and will have to ride the metro for the first time to get there.