epiphany

so apparently a weekend away from barcelona makes me forget where i am and how to get to class etc. i decided to give myself a few extra minutes of sleep this morning...not my brightest idea...and ended up rushing to class. i decided to try out a different metro line today because it drops me off closer to class. of course when i got there i got out at the wrong side and was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find the big building that i recognize. i finally found it and still made it to class before the professor. so on the way home for some reason i got off the red line and got back on in the other direction. i realized i wasnt on a green line when it was already too late. i had to go almost all the way back to school until i could switch. but i do not regret this mistake because it made me realize something. today in class we were talking about how we think spanish people lack manners because they dont say sorry or thank you or please most of the time. i saw a man sit down next to another man and basically sit on him but didnt say a word and the other man didnt react at all. in my head i was thinking "wow that was rude" and thought how i would have said sorry if i did that. But then i started to think...was that really something that deserved an apology? and when we say please and thank you over and over again...is that really necessary? I think that americans often overreact about certain things and overdo manners a lot. it almost is fake. even if this might be true, when i get back to america i am not going to stop being polite because in our culture i would be seen as a brat but my point is that i have been getting very offended and annoyed with how rude people are here but it is really just their culture and they might be doing the right thing not being so sensitive about everything.

a weekend in london

so our adventure to london had a bit of a rocky start but it was overall a success. Lets start from where i left off... that night we went to l'ovella negra to watch the barcelona vs. madrid game and it was insane. The place is huge and it was a lot of fun. Next time we need to make sure we get a table though. We got a huge pitcher of beer to split between all of us

After l'ovella negra we went to sutton and ended up getting a free bottle of wine for liz's birthday since i insisted on telling everyone we saw it was her birthday. such a good friend. when they give free bottles of wine they put sparklers on top and then they brought it over to us in VIP i was sure it couldnt be for us but it was!

so the next day we went to classes and came home and quickly packed for the airport.
our trip started out with us in a rush to get to the airport because of course we didnt leave ourselves enough time to get there. We got dropped off at the wrong terminal and had to take a bus to the other with about 15 mintues to spare before the gate closed. we were sure we werent getting on the plane. security was quick surprisingly and we ended up making it on the the plane. For the record, Ryan air is a huge joke. I swear these flight attendants were the rejects of all other airlines and this was thier last resort. We are 95% sure the flight attendants were drunk. I was sitting in the last seat so i could also hear them cursing while they were standing in the back. I slept the whole flight which was only two hours but id wake up when there was really bad turbulance. At one point when i woke up the flight attendants were walking aroudn with thier life jackets on... that was scary to wake up to. Once we got off the plane we were so excited that we survived and it was unreal that we were in london.

long story short, we hate stansted airport more than anything in the world and we all refuse to ever go there again. Right before we left jacques friend that we were supposed to stay with said he "didnt have the proper flat to accomidate us" so we were stuck hostelless with no place to stay so stansted was our home for the night. needless to say it was the worst sleep of my life but of course a huge adventure which is what this whole experience is about anyway. Our bus was at 11 the next morning and we got into central london around 12. I couldnt get wifi anywhere so i couldnt contact allie katie or lia so we just decided to wander by ourselves for a little. We ended up walking through hyde park and saw the princess diana memorial, buckingham palace, big ben, little ben, the london eye and the serpentine bridge and river.

After finally finding an internet cafe i got in touch with the girls and went to their flat. We ate and got ready to go out and went to a place called verve. The bars/clubs are a lot smaller there than here. After sleeping finally we woke up went went to see westminster abbey the london eye again and big ben close up. we also went to harrods which was awesome. 

after that we went back to the flat and got ready to go out. We had to pack up all our things and went to a place called monarch. We had to check our bags and left straight from the bar to go catch our bus. We once again did not leave ourselves enough time to get there and ended up getting to our bus just before it was about to leave. The bus right was rough and we then got back to our oh so loved stansted and ate. We went through security and the women before me got frisked so I was happy I wasnt going to be but of course i was. So violated. Then of course jacque liz and coreys bags had to be fully searched because they had liquids that were over the limits. it took us almost an hour to get through security. We ended up making our flight and trying to sleep the whole way back but it was very uncomfortable. The second we got back to barcelona we hopped in a cab and came back to our apartment and i took a shower and went right to sleep. We woke up at about 6 and did our homework and now its 2 and i need to go to bed soon to get ready for the week. 

Side notes: i love london its beautiful and i would definitely go back. 

people in london are MUCH more friendly than people in barcelona

i am in love with their accents and i miss it already

it was great to not have to worry about a language barrier for a few days and it was hard to remember to speak in spanish when we got back here

the food there is SO much better and there is a lot more to choose from

i appreciate the barcelona weather so much

i was so happy to see some of my best friends and i miss them so much

allie is officially 21!!!

Adios!

week 2 of classes

once again, i clearly suck at updating this blog...but anyway from where i left off. We ended up going to la oveja negra which means black sheep in spanish to watch the soccer game. We ended up getting there too late and decided to see how packed George Payne was. We met a boy on the way to la oveja negra who happens to be on the barcelona track and field team. We went to a little bar near campus called bica bica bar which was full of locals. We left before the game ended because subways stopped running at 12 so we wanted to get home. Thursday we went to class and then we went to diplo at razzmatazz. diplo is a dj. the place was insanely packed

Diplo was awesome except for the fact that corey lost her purse. The next day we got up and went to la segrada familia (or the drizzle castle church- mom) which was one of the most beautiful/interesting pieces of architecture i have ever seen

We went home and that night we went to shoko where we had a few issues so we ended up going to catwalk. The next day we went to parc guell which is the gaudi park

we got there during sunset which was beautiful but we want to go back  when its light out. The hike up there makes me not want to go back, but its too pretty not to. We went home and went to one of Liz friends from school's apt to pregame. We then went to a place called elephant which was a very cool place but not too many people were there. We had fun anyway. Afterwards we went to one of our friends chris's (that we met at diplo) apartment or PENTHOUSE. yes he lives in the penthouse suite. We had to go see it. We kind of felt like we got pushed out but it was very late so it was understandable. Sunday we woke up pretty late and went to go find a mexican restaurant to eat at. We ended up getting lost and settling for an irish pub. The food was good and close enough to mexican. So then comes the beginning of a new week of school. Professors here assign tons of reading which is not my cup of tea. Its hard for me to pay attention to reading something and actually retain what i read but im trying. Monday we had classes and that night we tried to book trips and ended up failing miserably except for buying skrillex tickets for berlin march 23rd. We booked our CEA trips which is a weekend in Madrid a weekend in Valencia and a few other day trips and "experiencing catalonia" trips which we figured out we might have to end up backing out of in order to go on weekend trips to other places. Yesterday i went to classes and after class Jacque and I went to george payne  and got some nacho comfort food which i think will be happening a lot. When we got home i did my spanish homework and went to take a nap which turned into a full night of sleep. We were planning on going out but since we are going out tonight (liz's 21st birthday) we decided it was better to be well rested. I got a new pillow which i was hoping would give me a better night sleep but last night wasnt that great so i dont know if im just getting used to it or what. So i went to classes today, in my first class we had our first field trip to the history of barcelona museum. The museum was built on top of old roman structures that were dug up years ago. It was really cool and interesting to see but of course i forgot my camera so i had to use my blackberry camera.

 this was the original sign of barcelona. it was orignally called "barcin" until more discoveries were made that revealed the actual name was barcelona. I went to my spanish class after and i am starting to understand more little by little. There are times when i feel completely lost in class but other times when i know exactly what she is saying. I think with time i will become more comfortable. On the way home i made my first solo trip to consum (the grocery store) which was successful except that i couldnt figure out how to weigh fruit so i just ended up putting it back...fail. So tonight we are going to la oveja negra and hopefully getting in to watch the fc barcelona vs. madrid game and then probably going out for Liz's birthday. tomorrow night we are off to London! 

sidenote: some things ive noticed/learned- people are not very friendly unless they live in your apartment building

 its obvious were americans and people will stare at us and try to rip us off

guys hairstyles are shaved in the front and dreads in the back

the reason why people are so big on pda and smoking is becuase during the franco dictatorship the only time you could kiss your significant other was at bus stops saying goodbye and smoking was outlawed so once his ruling was over people when crazy. i know theres a lot more but i cant think of it at the  moment and im way overdue for a siesta. 

Adios!

first week of classes

 so obviously i'm not very good at updating this blog but i think once i get in a pattern i will update more often. Basically I haven't updated because classes started this week and I got sick so my days have consisted of going to class and going to sleep. So lets start from where i left off...sunday. After liz and i went on our adventure-which consisted of us walking to starbucks and trying so hard to order in spanish and them ending up saying "iced caramel macchiato" and "iced latte". Also the man asked me if we were from another country but i though he asked for exact change so i have him 20 cents. I feel so stupid not understanding the language. Another thing that is taking a lot to get used to is euros. Since there are 2 euro coins and 1 euro coins they are actually worth something. At home change doesnt exist to me- i put it in my piggy bank and cash all my change in and thats when it becomes real money. Also people prefer to give you euro coins instead of bills so its hard to manage all of the coins. Back to our adventure... after we went to starbucks we walked a little more to areas we havent been and went to a panaderia (bread store) which is basically just a storefront with all different types of breads and croissants. There was a dog standing next to us while we were waiting on line. There are dogs off leashes everywhere here and they are so well trained and stay right next to their owners. I got a croissant with chocolate in the middle and it was amazing. We sat in a park and watched the little spanish children play like the creeps that we are. We went home and got Jacque up and we went to campus to figure out how to get to our 3 different campuses. Its about a 20-30 minute metro ride to campus and its about a 10-15 minute walk between campuses. CEA decided to be confusing and made certain classes be in a different building for the first week of classes so that was hard to understand. We got really lost but ended up being able to figure it out. We went home and started getting ready to go to the W which is the biggest hotel in barcelona and is shaped like a sail. Paris hilton and Shakira and a lot of other celebrities have parties there. There was free entry so we decided we might as well go while we can get in for free.

view from the W

the W

Our super expensive/classy watermelon drinks

da roomies

We went home and got ready for classes the next day. I woke up with a horrible sore throat and no voice- perfect for the first day of classes! I felt horrible. My monday/wednesday classes end at 2:30 so i just had to keep telling myself i was going to go home and sleep right after class. I had my barcelona past and present class first. I really like the professor he seems really funny and it doesnt seem like its going to be too much work. Second i had intermediate spanish I. Surprisingly, i understood a lot of what the professor was saying and somehow got the confidence to answer a few questions. I went home straight after class, still feeling miserable, and went straight to sleep. I woke up around 6 when jacque and liz came home, talked to them about our days quick and went back to sleep until 12 and then i ate and went straight back to sleep walking up at 830 the next morning. I woke up feeling a little better, but still very bad so i made an appt for the doctor that night. I went to classes and first i had my photography class. This was probably the class i was most excited for and i was very disappointed by it. When the professor asked if people had experience with photography only one other person raised their hand. 3 people had slr cameras and everyone else had point and shoot cameras. Im sure the class will still be good i will just have to make the most of it for myself and not worry about the other people in the class. After this class i had a 2 hour break so I went to go eat with a girl i met before class. We went to George Payne which is an irish pub and i got a chicken caesar salad. It ended up being a 2 for one deal so we got lucky on that one. We went to starbucks for a little. Then I had world religions. This class seems like its going to be a lot of work. We have a 20 page paper which is unreal. I think a lot of people are going to switch out of that class. I think its going to be very interesting but a lot of work. Next i had Intercultural interactions the psychological perspective. The professor was from dublin and had a thick brogue. I think im going to enjoy this class a lot as well but it is also going to be a lot of work. After classes I went home and jacque and i went to the doctors. We got lost on the way there and ended up being a half hour late. The receptionist did not speak a word of english but i was somehow able to get by talking to her. The doctor was a nice little old man who spoke english. Its funny because the people who speak english here will still throw in a "si" and "gracias" here and there. Ive even caught myself doing it a few times. The doctors office was very cool with book shelfs filled with books as the walls. He said the office belonged to his father before he took over. He said that it was just a very bad cold but with bad post nasal drip so he gave me a zpac. The european zpacs are only 3 pills with 250(?) milligrams. I took one when i got home, did my spanish homework, and went to sleep. I had serious anxiety dreams (in spanish) about me getting lost on the way to class last night, maybe from the zpac, but i woke up feeling 75% better so the dreams were worth it. I still dont feel great but i think it will go away quick. I went with jacque this morning to get phones but they were taking so long i was scared i was going to be late for class so i left. I ended up taking a different metro line than usual but somehow found my way there which makes me think i know this area more than i give myself credit for. I made it to class on time and came home right after classes. I am going to go actually get the phone now, go to the grocery store, and run a few errands before everyone else gets home. Theres a barcelona vs. madrid soccer game on tonight so we are going to a bar to watch it. 

Adios!

tres

-       I'm starting to realize that it is going to be a lot harder than i thought to update this everyday and even come close to describing things accurately. We are so busy all the time i feel like were constantly running around except for yesterday we just bummed around all day. Two days ago we woke up around 12 and hung out around the apartment until it was time to go to the scavenger hunt. We were excited to do the scavenger hunt because its supposed to help us learn about our area of the city and the winners got a "smart pack" which is a bunch of trips to choose from like kayaking, skydiving, etc which we really wanted. We left about an hour before the scavenger hunt started and we got something to eat. I got pasta pesto which was good but the portion was way too big to finish so quick. We went across the street to the market where we were supposed to meet and there were 6 other CEA students there 2 boys and 4 girls who live close to us. They all seemed really nice. We waited for about a half hour and nobody from CEA showed up so that was disappointing. We went home and hung out until we had to go to the welcome reception. The welcome reception was at a museum on the water so it was really nice. This was the view:

fThere were various tapas there and I ate salmon which for anyone who knows me knows that is a big deal because I hate fish. We all weren't really in the friend-making mood so we all kind of talked to the people we already knew. We ended up coming back home and getting ready to go out. We went to duvet which is another club. All of the clubs here are very classy and have couches and stages in the middle of the dance floor and give drinks in tall glasses. We got 4 drinks and it was 40 euro...needless to say we don't plan on buying drinks out that often. We all lost each other throughout the night and decided that it can not happen again and I need a phone. Yesterday Liz and I woke up around 11 and left to go get coffee. Instead we ended up getting ice cream and pastries. We didn't realize how far we walked and by the time we got back we were dead. We both ended up taking another nap and I woke up around 7. We hung out and then got ready to get something to eat/go out. We left around 11:30 and went to a place called pans to eat which is kind of like a subway. We walked to the main strip where all of the clubs are and were going to go to a bar called hot bar which is a bar where you play games with the bartender and if you win you don't have to pay for your shots. We walked in and got looks from all of the locals. It was really crowded and the age range was probably around 25-30 so we felt a little uncomfortable and left. We ended up just going home. Were still all lacking sleep. Its 11:11 here no and Liz and I are going to go venture off again!

Settling in

So i ended up taking little naps yesterday and woke up to each roommate moving in. I love all of my roommates except one we haven't really gotten to know yet because she has a boyfriend here and she has been hanging out with him the whole time. After we all got here Lucas, the man who helped us move in, brought us to the closest metro and showed us how to get home. Once we got home and everyone got a little more settled we went to go explore and find a place to eat. We ended up asking a lady for a recommendation and just walked around until we found something that sounded like something we would want. We went to a small bar/restaurant. It seems that almost every restaurant is also a bar. Also each restaurant has a special menu each day that has an appetizer, a meal and a dessert for about 8 euro which is awesome. At the restaurant we went to the man spoke a little english and they only had one english menu but we were able to get by. Its really hard adapting to speaking simple words. I still catch myself asking for "water" instead of "agua" but i've gotten saying "gracias" down. After we ate we went to a small supermarket near our apartment. We got small things like some water, soap for the bathrooms, and of course 2 bottles of wine for 1.70 euro. We came home with the intentions of going to sleep but once our other roommate started getting ready to go out we were all tempted to also. We all got ready and drank our wine around 10. Jackie (my roommate) and I went to the ATM to get euros and Jackie and I raced- she used the spiral staircase and i used the mini elevator. It was my first time in the elevator alone so i ended up going to the wrong floor which i think was a parking garage. Of course we were crossing the street and I realized I left my debit card at home. We went back and left to go on our walking adventure to Sutton (pronounced suit-on) We had to ask for directions about 7 times and we discovered that there are no street signs and the street names are written really small on the sides of the buildings in concrete. We ended up getting a little lost so stopped in on another bar and got a beer and a shot and some olives. There were also two baby onions that we made Jackie eat. We got the rest of the directions to Sutton and finally made it. The promoters name was Michael Jordan and Liz kept thinking it was Michael Jackson. We got to the door and we said to the door name "We're with Micheal Jordan" and the door man said "Oh are you" We asked the bartender for a Long Island iced tea and she straight up just said NO so we said strong drink and she literally poured us each half a glass of vodka, finishing the bottle, and then some drink that tasted like lemonade. The club was packed but it was all American students. We just danced a lot and Jackie and I lost Corey and Liz. We stayed till 4:30 and took a cab home. We ended up getting home right after Corey and Liz. I got the lovely shirt above at the bar. We went to sleep and woke up at 8 which was rough. We took the metro and went on a tour. We thought it was a walking tour but thank god it was on a bus. There would have been no way we would have been able to survive if it was a walking tour. Our tour guide was awesome and is from the U.S. and studied abroad 12 years ago and fell in love with the city and never left. He kept saying that we were the slacker group because it was obvious that we were all very tired/hungover. There was a group of girls who were clearly on drugs and they were being so obnoxious screaming things out and one girl fell on the bus. They asked our tour guide if they could be let off at a random place so who knows if they're still alive. We went to a lot of places on the tour that I want to go back and see. I forgot my camera so I missed out on some prime pictures, but we have plenty of time to go back. After the bus tour we went to eat and then had an orientation. Liz and I were in the same orientation group and we were so giggly and delirious that I thought we were going to get kicked out of the session. After orientation all we wanted to do was sleep, but since the department store was close we stopped there to get sheets and a blow dryer and stuff. I was near death at that point but we somehow survived and went to burger king. French fries were patatas but chicken tenders were still chicken tenders. I asked for a soda assuming she would know the word but the lady looked at me like i had four heads so i had to think quick and said bebidas which she understood. Its difficult because they mainly speak catalan here instead of spanish and they are very against being considered spanish so its difficult to communicate because we don't want to be offensive by speaking spanish but its all we know and I dont even know a lot. My roommates know a lot more spanish than I do so im lucky they do most of the talking. You have to go out of your way to make conversation with people which I plan on doing more of when I brush up on my spanish a little. We took the metro back and got a little lost on the way back. I took a shower when we got back which was surprisingly not bad at all. The water pressure wasn't horrible and it stayed hot the whole time. Our shower is a nice size also. I went to sleep right after my shower and we ended up sleeping till 12:30. We all were a little hungry so we walked around to see if anything was still open. We found a little place and the man there was probably the friendliest man we have met so far. He went out of his way to show us what each tapas(which is like an appetizer) was and explained what they were. We had croquettes and calamari( no not the full squid...even though that was an option). The coke here is a lot more sugary but its good. He spoke to us in all english and was even joking around with us a little which we haven't had yet because the humor here is a little different and with the language barrier its hard to joke around with people. We told him we would definitely be back and he said he'd be waiting for us so i'm sure we will be going there often. Once we got home everyone got into their pjs and now were just relaxing. Its 4:48 am here now...but since we don't have anything required tomorrow until 4 were all going to just sleep in and relax and try to get ourselves back to normal. So i guess i should go to bed now!
Adios!

HOLA BARCELONA

well for starters...it just took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to write a new post because everything is in spanish.....clearly i have a lot of learning to do.
Anyway...starting with the airport. We ended up going to the wrong terminal at first but then finally getting to the right one. somehow my bag wasn't over weight...which i don't think was possible...but that was lucky. when i got to security i forgot to take off my shoes and didn't take my laptop out of my backpack so i got in trouble before i even got here. When i got to the gate i waited for about 20 minutes to start boarding. There was a man sitting next to me taking pictures of himself and all i kept thinking was "please dont let me be sitting next to him on the flight" and guesssssss what....i was. He is from barcelona and started speaking to me in spanish and i could somewhat understand but when it came to answering i drew a blank and just started saying I DONT KNOW I DONT KNOW. embarrassing. not to mention i couldnt figure out how to pull my tv up so he had to reach over me and help me. i watched whats your number. it was good i actually loled a few times which was embarrassing. the other man sitting on the other side of me smelled a little funky and when i decided to sleep a little so did he...except he decided he was using both seats. i tried to make it clear that he was bothering me by how he was sitting but he didnt get it so i was squished in a ball. none the less the flight was not horrible. once we got to london we got right on the flight to barcelona except we had to take a bus and we got to walk on the plane like how celebrities do. I ended up having my own row which was a nice change from my previous flight. Once we got to Barcelona I went down to baggage claim and I was lost. I saw a girl and a guy who seemed just as lost and I talked to them and they are both in my program so we worked together to find our bags (which didn't get lost!!!!) and find the CEA people. they actually were right there when you got out of the terminal which was great. I took a cab with one other boy who happens to know people from my town. When i got to my apartment there was a man waiting outside to show me in. The elevators are very small. He asked me to try to use my key to get into the apartment and surprise surprise it didn't work when i tried. One other roommate was here, Corey. The man showed me a few maps and said he would be back later to show us around and drop off the other roommates. Of course once he left i realized he took my key but don't worry he came back and i got it. Surprisingly there are no other CEA students in this building, but there's another group of girls in an apartment a block over. Our apartment has a nice big living room 4 bedrooms (all very different) and two bathrooms. we also have a balcony(which is accessible unlike the london girls) a kitchen and a washing machine, and don't forget the window-like hole in the wall to hang your clothes to dry! So all i have done so far is unpacked and now I'm sitting in my bed waiting for the rest of the roommates to come. Im physically exhausted but I don't want to go to sleep. Also, it still doesn't feel like im here. I will post pictures soon!
Adios!

Heres some pictures of our apartment:

schedule!

Finally got my schedule!
Monday/Wednesdays
11:05- 12:30- Barcelona Past and Present
12:50- 2:15- Intermediate Spanish I

Tuesdays/Thursdays
11:05-12:30-Photography in Barcelona
2:30-3:55- World Religions
4:10- 5:35- Intercultural Interactions: A Psychological Perspective

I am so happy with this schedule because I got every class that I wanted/needed. I was so nervous I wasnt going to get all of the classes. And of course FRIDAYS OFF! One step closer!

one week!

in exactly one week I will be an hour into my flight to heathrow. I will arrive in heathrow at 6:25 am and leave at 7:30am and by 10:30am I will be in BARCELONA. unreal