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.

A week in BCN

Day 51 – October 18th – Saturday
Today was not a bad day, but not a good day either. I woke up earlier than I would have liked and only got about twenty minutes of siesta. We had a great meal for lunch of chicken and potatoes and onion rings. Also, I broke out the ranch dressing and A1 steak sauce that my parents had sent me and had Fernando and Teresa try it. They really liked the ranch, both taking the bottle for a second round. The A1 was liked, but not quite as much. I cleaned my room up after lunch, as it had been getting a little out of control and then Matt and I went over to school to utilize the internet for a while. I also got to talk to a few people from home which was nice. Apparently, nothing is happening in Columbus, but I still really miss it. Its strange because I have looked forward to coming here ever since I began to take Spanish classes and now that I'm here, I want to come home, though I am gathering quite a variety of stories. I will always have something to talk about for the next few years and Spain has also given me a new perspective on a lot of things. The world is definitely much larger than we think and the impact of decisions in the United States is very far reaching. The world has fallen into an economic crisis and I somehow feel like much of the blame falls on American shoulders. I know that the reasons are very complex, but the effects are simple. Prices keep climbing while salaries stay flat. In Spain, it is very hard to find a job right now and young people who have no experience are having even more trouble. Capitalism worships the dollar or the euro or the pound or what have you, and it teaches people to do whatever they can to get it. There is nothing wrong with this unless it causes people to do things that may be a little gray. I feel like I am going to live through a very interesting time in history and I hope that I do not become so apathetic that I stop watching. I will see the end of oil, which in itself will be an adventure. The world is already over populated now and I also believe that I will witness a world-wide pandemic, of which I will hopefully not be a victim. Every day life is definitely the best television program out there. Its been on the air for many seasons and each year it gets more and more complicated and emotional. Its better than any book I've read and more thrilling than any roller coaster. I've just gotten on and its just started to get good and I'm happy to be here, though each day bring more of a sense of fear. Change is coming and there is nothing that will stop it. Get ready. Its going to be an interesting century. I don't really know why I got into all that, but now I can barely keep my eyes open. Good night.
Day 52 – October 19th – Sunday
I woke up to paella today, which was of course delicious. I also met Fernando's sister whom had just returned from Italy. We had a nice little lunch and then watched an indoor soccer game. It was actually the final of the Indoor World Cup. Brazil versus Spain, and Brazil won in penalty kicks, but it was a very evenly matched game. Brazil is, of course, the super power, having won three cups in a row. I also did a practice run on my bike to school today. It took me eight minutes, much faster than the metro, which i have been using habitually. Now I can really just take my time in the morning. I remember last year when my roommates would leave a full 20 minutes before me, walking, and I would pass them on my way to class. The magic of the bicycle. After that, I headed over to my new friend Xavi's house to go on a little bike ride. Him, his roommate Sergio, and I went all over the city, hitting the beach, the sea, the Fórum and various other interesting places to ride. I'm definitely seeing the city in a new way. After riding for about two hours, I headed home and caught the end of the Barcelona soccer game, which they won 1-0 in a hard fought match against the Basque team of Bilbao. After dinner, it was off to do homework, as yet another week of classes is tomorrow. I will probably not get to ride to class every day. They do say that it is supposed to start getting cold eventually, but its still way up in the 70s every day. perfect riding weather, especially after the sun goes down.

Day 53 – October 20th – Monday
I rode to class for the first time today, which permitted me to leave the house fifteen minutes later than normal. It was nice not having to be in a rush in the morning. I got to do everything slowly. Eat breakfast, brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, etc. I got to school with minutes to spare, even though one of the straps to my pedals broke along the way. After class, I just rode around for a little while and explored a nearby park and then headed back for my last class. Then, I headed home, bought some stamps, and chilled out before dinner.

Day 54 – October 21st – Tuesday
That first number keeps climbing higher and higher. Thursday is halfway. Hard to believe. Sometimes it feels like I've only been here a week, other times, like I've lived here for years, but most of the time I feel like I'm visiting. I refer to my house with Fernando and Teresa as home, but thats just because it's where I sleep and where all of my stuff is. Each day brings me closer to going to my real home. I don't mean to sound like I'm hating it here, I have fun every day and I'm making friends. I will definitely come back here one day, hopefully fairly soon. But it is far. It's not an impossibility to hop on a plane and come home for the weekend, as I've wanted to do a few times, but the price is simply not worth it. However, it is possible to hop on a plane and go to Milan, or Zürich, or Lisbon, or Amsterdam for the weekend, which I like. There is so much so see here, not just in Barcelona, but in Europe, that I know I cannot even scratch the surface. Also, with such a rich history, there is a lot to learn. I see houses almost every day that were built before George Washington's dad even planted the cherry tree. They've got wine here that has been aging since Lincoln. They've figured out a lot of social and physical aspects that we have yet to copy. The public transportation here is phenomenal. The metro runs from 5am to midnight, Sunday through Thursday, until 2am on Friday, and all night on Saturday. If you happen to be out during the week past midnight, the Night, or NitBus, is always on. If it comes down to it and you don't know your bus number and the metro is closed, you never have to wait for more than two minutes for an empty taxi. Also, I have recently been exploring the bike lanes, which line the right hand side of most streets. They are well marked, highly used, and respected by other drivers. Many times, on main streets, which are usually one way with one lane on either side, separated by a walkway, that go either direction, the bike lanes use the pathways between the outside lanes to avoid traffic. Everything flows very smoothly and there is no reason why you can't get to the far reaches of the city within 45 minutes. I rode back to school for my last class after a delicious lunch of fish, bread with tomato spread, and french fries. I have class until 7pm every day, but it really doesn't seem that late. I get home and I have a couple hours to do homework before dinner and then I either do more homework, or if i've finished, I can go out for a little while. Most often when I go out, I just walk around. I try to hit a different street each time so that I can look at new scenery. There are a good number of parks here too, or at least open green space and of course the plazas. Almost every metro stop is paired with a open plaza with chairs and benches. Throughout the day and late into the night, there are people milling around. It is not common to invite people over to your house. Instead, they meet at a park or a plaza. I think it makes the people a little healthier to get outside often and walk around a little bit instead of walking from their house to the car then from the car to the office and back. I see some of the oldest people I've ever seen in my life walking around at night. Tonight, I wrote about my family tree, but in my third language: Catalán. We've only learned four verbs, so what I say is pretty simple and repetitive, but it still makes me feel special to learn yet another language. About ninety percent of the kids here know at least two languages fluently by the time they go to high school and then they learn English. I think it really gives them an advantage. Nowadays, you can travel almost anywhere with only English, but learning more languages allows you to say things in a better way and maybe be understood a little better. I'm thinking about even taking a class or two in Portuguese when I get back. There's a class called “Portuguese for Spanish Speakers,” so why not?

Day 55 – October 22nd – Wednesday
Another day passed. It rained, which kept me from riding my bike. I forgot how slow and crowded the metro is in the morning. I had my test in Spanish class today. It went well. There were a few vocabulary words that I didn't know, but other than that, it was all pretty straightforward. I turned in my Catalán composition today, so we'll wait to see what she thought of that. I don't really know what she expects. There's only so much you can say with four verbs and I felt like I used everything I knew. We watched another movie in film class today. It's from 2006, directed by the famous Pedro Almodóvar, entitled “Volver.” It was a great movie, though it was just a touch strange. We watched it with Spanish subtitles, so no English whatsoever, but I pretty much understood everything. I recommend this movie to pretty much everything. It stars Penelope Cruz and deals with the role of women, and also had a large portion associated with death. It's an interesting take and may take a little while to digest, but I think thats part of the draw.

Sagrada Família and Bike

The Gaudí side of Sagrada Família. It looks kinda messy, but its just very very detailed.
The side of Sagrada Família with the Passion. you can see the modernist style.
Thats the outside of the Dalí museum behind me. One of the craziest buildings I've ever seen.

Day 49 – October 16th – Thursday
Today quite possibly was the best day I've had in Spain so far. I woke up in a good mood because I knew I had a short day of class today, plus it was Thursday, so no class tomorrow. I was very prepared for class, so it went very well. We were to read a story and answer some various questions on it. I, for one, thought it was a fairly straight forward story and the questions were pretty sensible. So I was on top of it in class, participating well, as usual. Then, after class, I went home for lunch and guess what was there. Thats right, my bike. I ripped it open right away and walked out of the house to go the bike shop to have them install my headset. There, I met a guy named Xavi (pronounced “chabi”) who i later found out was French. He hooked me up and did everything I needed very quickly. Then i headed back home to eat and finish putting it together. I finished just as I had to leave to go to Sagrada Família. It is definitely worth searching the internet for pictures of this national monument. It is the life work of Gaudí and absolutely phenomenal. Construction began in the late 1800s and by the time Gaudí died in 1926, only one tower, of the sixteen planned, had been completed. It is an extremely complex and ornate structure with every possible detail thought out. The towers have slots in them, as you can kind of see in the picture that I did post. These kind of resemble the slots in organ pipes and thats exactly what they are. When (eventually) music is played in this structure, the towers will act as amplifiers, broadcasting the sound throughout the city. One side of the structure is done in a very Gothic style, which Gaudí designed and depicts the birth of Christ. There is of course the holy family, the shepherds, the wise men, the angels, and many other important aspects of the early life of Jesus. On the other side, which was done in a much more modernist style by another Catalán artist, who's name I don't remember, depicts the passion of the Christ, complete with the kiss from Judas, Pontious Pilot, the whipping, the soldiers drawing lots, and everything else. I don't really like the style as much, its kind of cubic and too modern for me, but it was decided that each generation would add their own aspects to the cathedral. One student asked our teacher when she thought that it would be finished. She told us that when she was a child, she asked the same question and they told that probably around 2020. Today, it is obvious that that will not happen. She said that maybe, maybe when we are very old, like 80 or 90, we will be able to come back to she the inauguration ceremony, but much has changed since the time of Gaudí. People say now, that faith has died somewhat. It used to be that many people, when they died, would leave all of their money to the church, but this does not happen anymore. I imagine they at least make enough money each day to pay for the work that is done that day. I paid 8€ to get in, which was really paid by my school, and then another 2.50€ to ride the elevator to the top of the tower and walk around, far above the city. While I did feel a little cheated, having to pay to ride an elevator, it was worth it. We took the stairs down, which was also a little adventure. It was a spiral staircase down about eight stories. And it was straight down in a tight spiral that we were happy to be out of at the end. After this, I headed home and took my bike out on its maiden voyage in Spain. I pretty much got lost immediately, but Barcelona is a compact city, so I wasn't long before I started seeing landmarks. After I had ridden around for a while, my headset started to come loose, so I went back to the bike shop. Xavi fixed it for me right away and then invited me to ride with him and some friends after the shop closed. I readily agreed and met him outside the shop a little later. Also, I was thrilled to find out that this weekend is Paradise Weekend. Whats that you say? Well, its the biggest messenger race in Barcelona and I happened to get my bike the day before it started. After a bit of riding I headed home for dinner after agreeing to meet again tomorrow for the race.

Day 50 – October 17th – Friday
Today we went on a day trip with the ISA program to Girona and Figueras, two cities in the Costa Brava to the north of Barcelona, close to the French border. Girona, was just alright. I had been to the airport before to fly to Milan and it was pretty small. It turns out the city was pretty small as well. One interesting fact though, that Lance Armstrong used to live there back when he was training for the Tour in the Pyrenees. We saw the building where he had a flat and I definitely took a picture. After a few hours of walking around and looking at not much, we headed off to Figueras, the home town of Salvador Dalí to see his museum. He helped to design it and there are many things there that he did that are really not known about. I'll tell you, it was a very strange museum, as you can imagine. He was probably one of the most insane people ever to walk the earth and it shows magnificently. The building is covered in golden loaves of bread, referring to one of his famous paintings, “Loaf of Bread” and there are enormous golden eggs on the roof. Don't ask why. There is no understanding of Dalí, you must just accept what you see and try to imagine the mind that it came from. I've never seen so much detail as in his drawing, which are of his dreams, his nightmares. Each and every drawing is stranger than the one before. It may appear to have symbolic meaning, but no, its just Dalí. He died in 1989 and is buried in the museum itself. I have a picture of the crypt. It is a shame that he is not still alive, but neither is Gaudí. They have both left an extremely complex and amazing legacy that will never be truly understood (especially Dalí) but will always be appreciated. We were lucky to have missed a rainy day in Barcelona, but by the time I got home, it had dried up enough to do ride. I ate dinner (lasagna) and then went off to meet up with the group. It was surprising to see such a mix of people there. Of course, my French friend was there and plenty of Spanish people, but I also met a Swiss guy, a few other French people, a guy from Baltimore, and the organizer of the race was from Chicago. There were probably about twenty-five people all together, which I thought was pretty small. It was still a little wet, so we didn't actually race, instead we went to Montjuïc, one of the mountains, and had a nice little race up a very steep hill. I didn't win. I'm pretty out of shape after not riding for almost two months. I went home afterwards and then headed out on the town with a few friends. We were out pretty late, eventually going down to the beach. I grabbed the first metro home in the morning at 5am and went right to sleep.

Milan! and catching up on posts.

Here is the famed Duomo of Milan. Isn't it cool?
A very typical scene in Milan. The trolly passing through an intersection.
This is the canal. Its a little blurry, but you get the idea.

Day 38 – October 5th – Sunday
Teresa made another paella today for lunch! And it was delicious. I'm afraid that anything they would make State-side would only disappoint, though the Barcelona restaurant probably has the best shot. After lunch today, I took a little nap and then went with Nicolas to Montjuïc Park, which is up on one of the mountains. There is a castle up there and it offers one of the best views of the city, as well as a view of the third busiest port in the world on the other side. It was very beautiful and I was very upset that I had forgotten my camera. It just means I'll have to go back! Afterwards, I passed out again, but only for a few minutes before dinner. Now I suppose I'll do my homework before I go to bed. Another week of school starts tomorrow, but then I will be in Milan for the weekend!!

Day 39 – October 6th – Monday
Someone asked me the date today and acted dumbfounded when i told her it was the 6th. I feel like I might be one of the only people that doesn't feel like its going very fast, but i feel like i've had a pretty full trip and see a lot of awesome stuff. Some people end up traveling almost every weekend, but not only did I not bring enough money for that, but I find myself in a city worth exploring already. I enjoy just walking around, trying to hit a different street each time and just go a little farther. I can't imagine the things I'll see once I am not only mobile, but autonomous. The metro makes everything close, but you can't really choose where you stop and its also underground, so you don't see what you pass. Once I have my bike, which my parents have so graciously agreed to ship to me, nothing will stop me. Who knows what I pass on my way to school? While it is a city much larger than Columbus as far as population, it is much smaller in area. i could probably walk across it, from mountain to mountain, in three hours at the most. I'm sure my bike will give me an even better feel for this already great city.

Day 40 – October 7th – Tuesday
Today I had to wake up extra early because I had to meet with my group to prepare for a presentation latter today. It was hard to get up two hours earlier, but I did get a siesta before lunch, thanks to my four and a half hour break. We presented on Gaudí's Modéjar style, which includes my favorite of his works, El Capricho. If you don't know a lot about Gaudí, you need only to do a Google images search, but I will tell you a little bit. Born in 1852, he was a contemporary of Karl Marx, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Write. While his work was not truly appreciated until after his tragic death in 1926, he has risen to a spot of prominence in the world of architecture today. He was dedicated to his work and also to the church. In the last sixteen of his years, he was totally dedicated to the Sangrada Familia, his life's work. He even lived there. He often said that his las client could be no one other than God. He died a pauper and was actually taken to a hospital for the poor due to his appearance and it was almost a day before he was found. He only left the small, temporary structure he had built for himself twice a week; once for mass, and once to go and muse on the sea. His other source of inspiration was nature. “There is a book that all the world must read. It is the most important and most beautiful book ever written. It is written by God and it is called 'nature.'” It was on a trip to the nearby cathedral that he was hit by a trolley and killed. After class, I started writing a paper for my Spanish class, but was rudely interrupted when my computer insisted that I restart it. Yep, just as I was finishing the paper, it was all gone. So now I must stay up late and rewrite it, all because I am trying to get my work done before I go to Milan. Now its bed time.

Day 41 – October 8th – Wednesday
I had a very full day today. I left the house around 10:30 am and didn't get back until dinner time, around 9 pm. First, I had Spanish class, as always and then Catalán. I now know four verbs! After class I went to the ISA office to finish the paper that I wrote twice yesterday and print a few things. From there, it was pack to school to watch a movie in class of Cine Español. The movie we watched today was called “Belle Epoque” directed by Fernando Trueba. It also starred a very young Penelope Cruz. It was a comedy and it actually made me laugh a few times. After class, I met with my Spanish conversation partner for the first time. Her name is Mar and she is from a Barcelona suburb and graduated from Pompeu Fabra University last June. She was very nice and her English was not that bad. She has studied in England before, so she was comparing my English to “true” English. We actually spoke Spanish most of the time, but she kept trying to get me to speak English so she could listen. We chatted for about an hour and then both headed to the metro. We'll meet up again after I get back from Milan. We go there tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited, but I think it will probably be a pretty stressful trip. We're flying out on RyanAir, which is the European version of SkyBus, and almost everything I hear about it is bad. Aside from the cheap fares, they charge you for everything else. To check in, to check bags, to use the bathroom, to eat food. I just hope they don't charge me for my carry on. We'll see, but I bout a ticket, so I better get there.

Days 42 thru 45 – October 9th thru 12th – Thursday thru Sunday
I'm going to group these days together because it was my trip to Milan, Italy and it is easier for me to remember the trip as a whole rather than day by day. We left Thursday evening after classes and flew with RyanAir, the European equivalent to SkyBus. I have mixed feelings about the airline. Yes, the flight was cheap, only 60€ round trip, but we had to go to Girona, which is a 21€ round trip bus ticket, and we flew into Orio al Serio airport, outside of Milan, so we had another 14€ bus trip to and from Milan. Its quite possible that we could have gotten a direct flight for less money and definitely less hassle. I can use my Metro card for Barcelona to get to the main airport. Also, during the hour and ten minute flight, the flight attendants were pretty much selling things the whole time, which was a little annoying and kept me from sleeping. But the transportation is probably the least important thing about the trip. Once there, we found our hotel quite easily thanks to the directions given us by the website. It was a one-star hotel, but it was actually pretty nice. We had a private room for the three of us, our own bathroom, and fresh sheets every night. The same cannot be said for any hostel. We were also pretty close, only about 800 meters, from the Stazione Centrale and the metro, so transportation within the city was easy. The first day, we wandered around taking in Italy, which looks a lot like Spain, until we found a restaurant that suited out tastes and wasn't too expensive. The menu of the day included a pasta dish, salad, a meat dish and wine for only 10€. A deal. And of course, the food was delicious. From there, we headed to the closest gelatería (ice cream store) for some famous Italian gelatto. It was also fantastic. They do it a little different, but they've been doing it forever. Its a lot creamier and they would never think of mixing in candy or nuts or anything of that sort. After this tasty treat, we walked around and window shopped. There was no way we could buy much of anything. I saw a pair of Prada shoes for 330€ (almost $500) and I'm sure they weren't the most expensive. We did find a place with some deals though: the flee market. Not only did they have almost any kind of fruit, vegetable, seafood, or meat you could ever want, but they also had deals on clothing and other small gifts. This is where I did almost all of my purchasing. That night, we went to where we thought would be a big night life spot, but I guess 9:00pm was too early. We had a bottle of wine at a nice little wine bar and listened to some music. They played all American hits from the 70s and 80s mixed in with a few Soul classics. I didn't hear any Italian out of the speakers. The Italians were pretty nice and the ones who didn't speak very good English were able to understand our Spanish well enough. Italian and Spanish are very similar. We headed home from there for a good nights sleep before a day of sight seeing. The first thing we did the next day was go to the Duomo, which was probably one of the most impressive things I've seem, not only in Italy, but in Europe. It is the third largest cathedral in Europe, which I kind of consider the world, as I don't really think many other places were big into the cathedrals. It was absolutely gigantic and extremely ornate. Sculptures and gargoyles and crosses covered pretty much the whole building. It was also free to get in, which was a plus. From here, we took a little walk down the fashion strip of Milan. It is the fashion capital of the world, so there were all kinds of name brand stores, from Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Armani, Luis Brunel, Chanel, and a bunch of other names I can't spell. Basically, there were like two stores that I could afford anything inside, but it was still kinda fun too look. It turns out that the most fashionable color right now is purple. At least one in four, men and women alike, were wearing it, so i had to buy myself a purple shirt. We ended up back at the same restaurant for lunch as the day before. This time we all got calzones, which turned out to be huge and delicious. After a trip back to the hotel to drop off a few things and clean up, we went to another church that our guide book had told us was arguably the most beautiful in Milan. After seeing the Duomo, we had to check out its competition. Of course, this church was not nearly as big, but it was quite pretty. There was actually a wedding ceremony taking place as we entered, so we stayed and watched it for a while. I didn't understand a word, but it looked like a nice ceremony and both the bride and groom said “I do.” That night, we went to the canal district for dinner. It was very picturesque, though there were probably only about six inches of water in the canal. We got there right at sunset which made for some good pictures. Most of the restaurants on the canal were either too expensive or too crowded, but as soon as we turned the corner, there was a perfect place. The wine was cheap and good and they had about thirty different kinds of pizza. Also, the pizzas were huge. I could barely finish, but of course I did. We headed back to the hotel after this and went to bed. We were all pretty tired from walking around all day. In the morning, we checked out and walked down to the bus station. there was another flee market there so we poked around for a while and then went to McDonald's for lunch. It was actually cheaper than in Spain and they had a 1€ menu! You could even get a hamburger for 50€ cents. Still pretty much the same quality as the States though. Once again, we had a bus ride, plane ride, and another bus ride ahead of us. We were all ready to go back to Spain. Italy is nice, but its not the same. It actually felt almost like going home when we arrived back in Barcelona, just in time for dinner.

Day 46 – October 13th – Monday
Back to class today after an adventurous weekend. Last Thursday I had turned in a paper for my Spanish class that I had put a lot of work into. In fact, I had to write it twice. The first time, just as I was about to finish, my computer decided that I should restart it. Now. No choice. And of course, I had neglected to save. So it was back to the drawing board. I did still have my ideas, but I had though I was doing a good job. Well, it turned out not to matter too much. I got an eight out of ten with the chance to revise and gain another point, so I'm happy with that. Also, the Spanish grading scale is a little different. An eight is actually a low A and tens are very rarely given out. Also, a seven is a solid B. Catalán class was hectic today. We're learning more and more every class. Today was all about family. It is difficult to learn the words in Catalán when they do not always have a direct translation to Spanish or English, but I still feel accomplished when I leave the class. Once you learn a second language, it definitely becomes easier to learn a third. Also, I have started to interject Catalán phrases into the conversation at the dinner table, much to the delight of my Señora. During my two hour break today, I got a little taste of home with Burger King for lunch. The menu is a little different and the restaurant itself is a lot more classy. They have a few flat-screen TVs incorporated into the menu display and they could probably seat a hundred people inside. Though it is a little comical to see the word “chicken” all over the place in there. In film class, we watch “El Espíritu de la Colmena” directed by Victor Erice, which translates to “The Spirit of the Beehive.” It was a very good movie that really makes you think. It is a metaphor, of course, but for what I haven't really decided. I thoroughly enjoyed it. After class, I headed to Corte Ingles, which is the major department store here to buy a razor. The one closest to me is the main on in Barcelona and is six stories high with a restaurant at the top. I went in a different entrance and immediately got lost. I enjoyed wandering around for a little while, but my bag was heavy of my back, full of books and my computer, so I found another entrance and went outside to find the way in that I knew. I got what I needed within a few minutes and headed home. It turned out to be a good thing that I had had a big lunch at Burger King, as we had two fried eggs and french fries for dinner. but Teresa did make “manzanas al horno” (baked apples) for desert, which are always delicious. As the rooms in this house are never empty, the woman from Canada who had been staying with us for a few weeks left yesterday morning and last night, two Norwegian girls arrived for a week. I don't understand why they come for a week, as there is really no hope to learn much Spanish in such a short time, but Matt and I helped them to learn a bit about Barcelona by taking them to see a few of Gaudí's houses nearby that are all lit up at night. It was a nice little walk up the highest class street in Barcelona on a clear, warm, night.

Gaudí is Gaudy

This is the front of Casa Milá, hidden by a tree. the locals think it looks kinda like a rock, so they call it La Pedrera, (piedra is spanish for rock) but I think its amazing.
Gaudí is famed for his unique ironwork, all of recycled iron. this is the front door to La Pedrera
Here is a picture of the top floor and roof. As you get higher up, the windows get smaller. This is so that each floor has an equal amount of light. gaudí was very demorcatic.
Here is the amazing roof! You can see the "guards" standing in groups or alone, as well as the staircase off to the right and a water tank in the back. its kind of hard to see, but off in the distance, with a crane standing beside it, is the Sangrada Familia.

Day 35 – October 2nd – Thursday
I'm very happy to report that today is my last day of school during the week, every week. I had my art and artists class again today and we talked about Antoni Gaudí, who is one of the most famous architects in the world and most definitely the most famous Spanish architect. As part of the course, we have to give a presentation, and my group is presenting on Gaudí. So, it is lucky that we are going tomorrow to visit the Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera. It is the last house that Gaudí built before his retirement to dedicate himself to his life's work, La Sangrada Familia, which is a cathedral which was still unfinished at the time of his death (1926) and still stands unfinished today. The rest of the day, I just sat around. I have a big day tomorrow, so I'm not going out.

Day 36 – October 3rd – Friday
I think this is the first time I've mentioned this in my blog, but I am going to Milán, Italy, on Thursday of next week through the weekend. So today, we booked out hostal. Its going to be about 120€ round trip for flights and lodging, so not too bad for a weekend in Italy. I don't really know what I should do while there, other than go to the Duomo, see the Last Supper painting, and perhaps a soccer game. Fernando told me that there is soccer in Milán every weekend, as neither A.C. Milan nor Inter Milan have their own stadium. I would rather see A.C. Milan, as this is the team that Ronaldinho left Barça to go play for. After lunch, we headed off to visit the Casa Milà. It was quite a sight to see. It is hard to believe, but the people who ordered it built, did not like it when it was finished. They hated it so much, in fact, that they sued Gaudí himself. He won, and promptly donated all the money he won to charity. In my humble opinion, they should have known what they were getting. It wasn't the first house he had designed, and many of the others are even more over-the-top. I will have to put some pictures of this up, as it is heard to describe in words. There are very few straight lines, as Gaudí tried to imitate nature in his buildings. There are two indoor, open air patios and the structure is held up by 270 arches, creating a skeleton which can be seen in the top floor. The most amazing part, however, is the roof. With both stairway entrances and water reserves, all looking the same, as well as what are referred to as “the guards,” the roof is covered in strange looking bulbous forms, all surrounded by winding walkways. You can see the Sangrada Familia in the background and there is a part that seems to frame it in the background. I will post that picture for sure. Taking six years to complete, Casa Milà is probably the most famous of his works and definitely one of the most interesting. That night Matt and I went out with the usual crew, but I met Nicholas' friend Stefani tonight, who is Swedish and Spanish. She has lived in Spain for a while now and I think she enjoyed trying out her English, though her Spanish was better. I ended the day at four with the Barça-Atlético game to look forward to tomorrow. I have one more bike shop I need to go to as well.

Day 37 – October 4th – Saturday
I slept until three o'clock today and then woke up and had lunch. Fernando and Teresa were gone for most of the day to a barbarque just outside of Barcelona. Because of this, Matt and I ate lunch alone. After eating, I went in search of the last bike shop that gives me hope. I found it, eventually, but it only brought more of the same. This time, they actually had a track frame, which I have been looking for, but it was a nice one and was going for 1000€. Far too much for me to pay. I don't really know what to do about the bike situation now. Not having a bike is really the one thing that is keeping me from enjoying Barcelona as much as I could. Tonight was also a big game for Barça. Playing against Atlético Madrid, it was their first real test in league play. It went magnificently. After only two minutes, Barcelona had scored their first goal and after ten minutes, it was 3-0. At the end of the game, with a scoreline of 6-1, Barça had proven themselves tonight and Fernando had lost 5€ to his son, Ferrán, with whom he had bet on the game. I'm not sure why, as I slept so late today, but I am tired and there is really nothing going on tonight, so it is off to bed at await a new day.

Clases begin!

Day 31 – September 28th – Sunday
Today, as are all Sundays, was filled with lots of sleeping. I woke up with the smell of chicken and potatoes, one of my favorite Teresa originals in the air. It was a delicious lunch, as Teresa dumped almost half of a chicken onto my plate and then made me eat more potatoes. I barely had room for desert. Afterwards, I did not take a siesta because I had school the next day and wanted to be able to go to bed early. I did have internet for most of the day though, so I made a few phone calls and even got to video chat with Marissa for a while. It was great to see here shining face on the other end, moving around and interacting with me. It made me feel a little closer to home. Later on in the evening, I called Nicolas and we headed out to the mall, which is just a few metro stops away. In hindsight, I should've guessed, but almost everything except a few restaurants and the movie theater was closed. It was a pretty nice mall though, kind of reminded me of Easton, though not nearly as big. So after walking around for a while and looking at all the beautiful things in the windows, but not having enough time for a movie, we headed home. At least I didn't spend any money. I got to bed early, but it only made me wake up before my alarm and lay in bed for an hour, but I wasn't too tired in the morning.

Day 32 – September 29th – Monday
First day of extended and culture classes and so far I haven't had any trouble finding my classes. The school is fully attended now, as regular Spanish students have started class as well. It is a lot more crowded, but I'm used to classes of anywhere from thirty to three hundred students and so far my largest has been a little over twenty. I had my first Catalán language class and really enjoyed it. It is taught in Spanish, but its not really that difficult. We mostly focused on the Catalán culture and talked a lot about the Mercè festival that just ended. It seems like we will also be focusing on conversational Catalán and proper pronunciation. They are trying not only to teach us more about the area in which we are staying, but also to help us be more accepted by it. My last class of the day goes from 5-7pm, which is kind of late, but it is considered afternoon until 8pm here. It was my Images of Spain in Contemporary Theater class. We are going to watch eleven movies over the course of the semester. Of the eleven, I had only heard of one and have never seen it. I think it will be a pretty interesting class. Tonight, I had actually planned to go out to the movies to see “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” but we kind of got a late start getting there and were about twenty minutes late, so we decided to wait for the next show, which I didn't realize was only on Friday and Saturday. So instead we enjoyed some tapas and wine and then went home. I stayed out later than I expected tonight, so a siesta tomorrow is a must.

Day 33 – September 30th – Tuesday
Today I only had one new class, which was my Spanish Art and Artists class. I think it is going to be very interesting. Of course there are many Spanish artists, but we are going to focus on five, of which I am sure you will have at least heard of three: Gaudí, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, and Tàpies. The last name is the only one I had not heard of and I guess he is actually still alive, though he is more than ninety years old. This class will be even more interesting because we are going to take three or four field trips to places that would normally cost money to visit. It seems pretty common for classes to take trips here, which I think is just great. Its always nice to get out of the classroom once in a while.

Day 34 – October 1st – Wednesday
More class today. Good news! I like all my classes and I feel like I'll learn a decent amount in all of them. In my language class (I should probably specify which language: Spanish) we talked about a test called the D.E.L.E. which is given by the Instituto Cervantes. It is an official recognition of proficency in the Spanish language and is really the only way that a foreigner can be recognized as knowing the language. It seems like a really good idea, especially when coming back to the States, so I am planning on taking it when it comes around in November. Then she told us it was 175€, which seems a little steep. We'll see how if I can afford it when the time comes. There's a meeting about it on Monday, so I'll learn more about it then. Today, in my other language class, I learned the Catalán alphabet. It is basically the same as the English alphabet, without the famous “Ñ” of Spanish. Then we got into the accents in the Catalán language and things started to get difficult. With O and E the accent can point either way (é or è), each one calling for a different sound. Also, when it is not accented, the “e” makes an “a” sound. I'm kind of wondering what I've gotten myself into, just as I'm learning Spanish well, but I still learn more in that class than any other so it's pretty fulfilling. We watched our first movie in Film class today, called “Viridiana,” directed by Luis Buñuel. It was made in 1961 and is in black and white, but the interesting part is that is was made during the reign of Franco and was outlawed until his death. The irony is that the Spanish director was invited by Franco himself to return to Spain after twenty years abroad to film this one movie. However, the only reason Buñuel accepted was because he knew he would make a film that would not be accepted by the harsh dictator. Throughout the movie, there were many things that I picked up on that would even be considered a little racy today. Just the fact that the main character, a nun, took off her shoes and socks would be enough for the film to be banned. It is hard for us to relate, but up until 1975, this is the way it was in Spain. i really enjoy learning about what it was like. My padre Español, Fernando, was three years old when the civil war started, eight when Franco took power, and forty-three when Franco finally died. To hear his stories about drinking champagne in the streets after the death of their dictator is one of my favorite things about living with these people. They grew up in a completely different time, when you couldn't even kiss your wife in the street or speak the Catalán language outside of your family, and I think he gives them a unique point of view on the world today.