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

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

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

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

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

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