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

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

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

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

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