The Final Entry --sry it took so long.

This is the picture of the last time I sat on my bed in Spain.

Almost 40,000 words have been included in this blog, and I know some of you read every one. thank you all for your support throughout my travels and I'm glad you enjoyed my writing!

Day 108 – December 14th – Sunday – 5 days left
I woke up today after a good night sleep at about noon. I sat around until lunch and then went over to school to write my dreaded paper. I had it in my mind to finish it today, and thats what I did. Its definitely not my best work ever, but its not that bad. It took me long enough, four hours or so, but I still have tomorrow to revise and edit it before its due. I think tomorrow may also be my last day with my bike. I need to go to a few places to figure out what the best way to sent it is. Fernando has recommended a few places. hopefully it wont get banged up this time. I went home for dinner of pizza and then studied for Catalán until I went to bed. Tomorrow is my last day of school, pretty much, although I do still have one trip on Wednesday with Catalán to the Christmas market and I'm supposed to go to Film class as well to turn in my paper. We've finally entered the last week, I can't believe it.

Day 109 – December 15th – Monday
Today was unofficially my last day of school. I got up early, well, at the normal time for Spanish, to study for Catalán. In the end, I don't know how much any of my studying helped. The test was pretty hard, but at least it was over pretty quick. I don't think I did bad, but I didn't do amazing either. Now we just have to wait and see how hard she grades them. After that, I went over to the ISA office to proofread and print off my paper for Film class. Today was my last day with my bike, as I am going to send it out tomorrow and of course it was pouring rain most of the day. Matt and I got our last Döner Kebab, which was delicious, and then I went to Film class. I handed in my paper at the end because, after all, I had it done and I didn't really want to have to come back just to hand it in on Wednesday. I rode home, through the rain, for the last time and then disassembled my bike and packed it up. Since I was in the packing mood, I kept going and now I have about two-thirds of all my stuff in my suitcases. All the beautiful presents for you all are packed away and waiting for their last trip. We ate dinner and then went out to meet up with a few other fellow students who were also done with classes and had a few beers. We left when the bar closed and headed back. The only thing I have to do tomorrow is send away my bike. I'm hoping it will be kind of cheap because I really don't have that much money left. I am going to send it to the bike shop, of course, but I'm pretty sure that I will get home before it gets there, so I'll be waiting for it.

Day 110 – December 16th – Tuesday
Well, I had a nice little adventure searching for prices for my bike today. Got to use my Spanish quite a bit and I thought I did quite well. The first place I went, SEUR, which is like UPS, told me it would be right around 800€ for airmail. That is obviously ridiculous, and thats what I told him. My best option is going to be through the post office, which is how it got here in the first place. So I went to the Correos office and they had good news, and bad news. More bad than good. First they told me that they can't send it by plane because it is more than 100cm in length. It is 110cm. Then they said that they could send it by boat, where the restrictions are less so, but that of course it would take longer. About two months. However, that appears to be my only option and it was only about 70€, so I suppose thats what I'll do. Luckily, I have a few other bikes that will have missed being ridden in the meantime. After that ordeal, i went over to ISA and just sat around and watched a movie online. When ISA closed, I went home and took a nap before dinner then we went out for a while. We went to Oveja Negra first and met up with a bunch of other students who also had the same plans as us. After the Black Sheep, we went to a club called City Hall. We got there around one and left at 3:30 or so, just as it was getting packed. It was pretty cool. Two floors with different kinds of music. There was a random break dance competition in the middle of the dance floor for like 15 minutes that was kinda cool. I had no trouble going to sleep when I got home.

Day 111 – December 17th – Wednesday
I woke up today around noon and went to meet with my Catalán class to tour the Mercat de Santa Lucía, which is a Christmas market. They had pretty much everything you could want as far as traditional Christmas decorations and nativity figures. Most of it was kinda junky, but I got my Caganer, so thats all I needed. We also saw the big, life-size, nativity scene in the Plaça de Sant Jaume, which is where the government buildings are. We walked around there for a little while and then I went home for lunch. After eating, Matt and I walked over to the post office with my huge box and shipped my bike back home. 81€ in total, which is about how much it cost to send it over here in the first place, but it is by boat, so they say it will take about two months to get home. I hope they just say that and then it takes like a month. Oh well, I'll just ride one of the other four bikes I have in the meantime. After coming back home, I headed over to the ISA office again. Its a nice day, but I really have nowhere else to go in the city, so I'll just watch another movie. When ISA closed, I headed home and tried to take a little nap, but couldn't really fall asleep. I got up to go to the bathroom and then ended up talking to Fernando for like a half hour about Spain and America and the global economic crisis. He said he hopes he's wrong, but that the true crisis comes in 2009 and that it will probably end in another world war. We had a nice dinner of soup and tortilla and then I met up with Nick, Ana, Filip and Tony and we went to Gato Negro for the last time and then to some skater bar that I'd never been to before. We said our goodbyes, with promises to visit and then headed out. To mine and Matt's luck, there were some Bicing (public use) bikes outside the bar, so we just hopped on them and got home a lot faster and with style. We even stopped at some monuments on the way and snapped some pictures. We decided that we should keep them overnight and then use them tomorrow to get around. We hauled them up to out room and then went to bed. Tomorrow is our last day!

Day 112 – December 18th – Thursday – The Final Day
We woke up around noon today and made a paella for the family. Teresa was very excited to see us in the kitchen cooking. It actually turned out very very good. I'm confident that I can make it in the states now, though I doubt the ingredients will be as fresh. After lunch, we said goodbye to Paquita, who was also there, and took a few pictures. Then Matt and I took a little bike tour. We went down to the Palace and took a few pictures and then rode up the coastline to school. Matt stayed there and I kept riding around for a while, seeing random places and things that I had, for the most part, seen before. I was actually out riding for over two hours and only headed home when it was getting dark. I finished up what little packing remained before dinner and then again tried to take a little nap. After all, the taxi is picking me up at 4:00am tomorrow, so I won't be sleeping much tonight. We had a nice last supper and then watched Cuéntame for the last time. I hope to find it somewhere on the internet. Maybe its on iTunes. After that, I went over to my friend Mike's house to say bye to him and also to Xavi, who was there as well. Hopefully, I will see them both again. I went home early, as there was really no point in staying out late, unless to try and sleep the whole way home. Time to travel for a long time.

Day 113 – December 19th – Friday
As ISA was thoughtful enough to arrange for a taxi, I was picked up by a Mercedes taxi at 4:30am in order to head to the airport for my 7:30am flight from Barcelona to Madrid, then a 12:30 flight from there to Philadelphia. My final connector from there to Columbus was scheduled for 5:30pm. So, right from the get go, I knew I was in for a big trip. So, after getting to the airport, to fly with Vueling, which is kind of a Spanglish word for “flying,” I ran into my first hiccup. I was tremendously early for my flight, which is fine, but I wanted to make things go smoothly, so I started checking in and all that junk. I even recognized a few other students in the terminal. Upon checking in, I got my first wiff of bad news. It seems that the maximum weight for luggage was a mere twenty kilos. I happened to have close to fifty, putting me at more than twice the allowable weight. Of course, this wasn't really a problem because I could just pay for all the weight that I was over, at ten Euros a kilo. So when I was asked for over 300€, close to $500, not only did I tell them it was outrageous, but I couldn't have even paid if I wanted to. I just didn't have that much money left after four months abroad. So here I am, at 7:30 in the morning, trying to argue, in Spanish, to get myself, with all of my things, on the plane. The nice girl at the desk was full of help. She told me to ship stuff home, which I told here was a dumb idea because that was also expensive and took forever and if I took the time to do that, I'd miss my flight. Her next advice was to pack the over weight into my carry-on, which was over the weight limit for carry-ons already. However, it was pretty obvious that no matter how hard I tried, there was no way to get thirty kilos into my bag. Its big, but its not a suitcase. After pleading with them for a while, and I guess working my charm a little bit, she gave in and only charged me for eight kilos, about $80. I was satisfied with this compromise and told the girl thank you and that I loved her, and she told me not to miss my flight. Of course, I didn't and soon I was well on my way to America. Arriving in Madrid, I had to get my bags and then check then again for my international flight. This was very easy compared with last time, just a few hours prior. Word of advice: do not joke about having drugs or anything questionable in your bag. These people will not put up with it. There was a kid in line in front of me who was nervous, and when asked why he said, “Because planes crash. No, just kidding, because I have heroin in my bag. Just kidding.” Bad idea. He was promptly screened more thoroughly and a note was put on his name to have his bag searched upon arrival state-side. I had no problem answering questions about my bag, even though I did have to get a few questionable items, like tulip bulbs, back with me. As I hadn't really slept yet, I passed out for a few hours during my layover and then grabbed a bite to eat with my last few euros and hopped on a flight to America. I was seated by a nice lady from Costa Rica, who lived in D.C. We talked for a while in Spanish about what else than soccer. I had a Barcelona jersey on and she said her son would have loved it. I tried my best to sleep the whole time, as the television selections seemed to favor the feminine population of the passengers. I took two melatonin pills, but they didn't really work. Instead, I sat there listening to classical music and fading in and out of sleep. The night before, we had become aware of a storm system that would be moving through the New England area, so I was even skeptical that we would take off from Madrid, but we did. When we got to Philly, the weather was horrible, but they can only keep you in the air for so long. We did have to circle for a little while while the runways were consolidated, during which one of the grossest sandwiches, served to me about an hour before, which I ate out of sheer hunger, got to my stomach, and I had to reach for the barf bag. I gave them their disgusting sandwich back, liquefied. Upon arrival, I had to get my bags one more time and go through customs. It turns out that if you don't declare anything, they don't check you. And since the cute little drug dog didn't smell my heroin (just kidding), I was free to pass. The flight to Columbus was pretty relaxing. We flew out of the storm, so everything settled down and we landed without a problem. I walked through the airport with a smile, overjoyed to be back, especially after such taxing travel. I saw my mom waving to me from the other side of the security checkpoint and I knew I was home. It had been the trip of a lifetime, but Dorothy was right, there's no place like home.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Counting down the days...

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

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

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

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

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

Here come finals...

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

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

Update! almost done...

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

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

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

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

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

A couple days and a lost week.

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


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

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


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

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

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