hey all,
as my time here has dwindled, my motivation for blog updates (and schoolwork) have similarly diminished. my sister arrived here on friday, and i've been doing a bit of tour-guiding, although the weather has not been exactly cooperating. anyway, i took my last exam yesterday, packed up today, and am jetting off with cindy to london tomorrow for five days before heading home for good. who knows the next time that i'll be able to take a 30 euro easyjet flight over to london, so might as well aprovechar. today i introduced my sister to the concept of baguette-and-tomato lunch picnics, which we enjoyed on our trek around montjuic...rain and all. tonight we're having a last tapas dinner out with my program friends, and tomorrow's agenda includes a walk on the beach, parc de la ciutadella, la boqueria, and the all-important xocolata amb churros, all before heading to the airport in the early evening.
i feel a lot differently about barcelona now than i did originally, after spending four months here and after traveling to various other spanish cities and other european union countries. besides feeling frustrated with the amount of catalan spoken here, and the intense feelings that many barcelona residents (in particular, students), have about using catalan, learning about the history of catalonia- especially how they've really been screwed over and oppressed during Franco's rule, and even today- as the richest autonomous region in Spain...while Madrid takes all of their money and makes all of the appropriate decisions- has really given me some perspective. i can't say that i can make an informed opinion about the situation, but originally writing it off as a bunch of whiny and entitled catalans yammering about wanting to keep their money was a kind of immature opinion.
the problems that spain has with its economy, with immigrants, with diversity- are the same problems one finds EVERYWHERE. spanish people think that americans are xenophobic, we (at least, the people in my program) have found spanish people racist and ridiculously politically incorrect. these are all results of the current situations in our respective countries. catalonians are afraid of the andalucian (READ: moroccan/north african/arab/muslim) immigrants. americans are afraid of immigrants from latin america. i think that we could relate on this subject, but instead we like to focus on how OTHER people or countries are intolerant, racist, etc. whatever. it's not just america, though. that is somewhat comforting.
barcelona is to spain like boston or another northeast city is to america. they are not concerned with formalities like greeting strangers on the street or saying "sorry" if you bump into someone. they are concerned that the "others" are taking their hard-earned money from tourism and industry and subsidizing pointless and dying economic activities. they have become obsessed with "multiculturalism" and "multicultural" activities and displays as this is becoming more of a necessity.
the city itself is beautiful and never boring, and i'll miss spending weekend days just wandering around the backstreets, always running into some remains from when the romans put up walls around "barcino," catalonian nationalist protests, and castellers doing their thing in some plaza or another. i have seen more art and history here than I had in nineteen years in the states. and that's not to mention my other travels- they each had their own blog updates, so i won't bother to recap.
and with that, VISCA CATALUNYA LLIURE.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
leaving barcelona in ten days
i feel very weird about having this little time left in barcelona. i have no motivation to do my work- it's about the last thing on my mind. honestly, though- i've kind of done what i wanted to do and seen what i wanted to see here. additional time wouldn't really be desirable. i'm about ready to come home, but at the same time i'm kind of dreading all the things i'll miss about barcelona- friends, food, and speaking spanish, most of all.
on a more interesting note, the firemen of barcelona flooded the streets yesterday on bikes in protest of their working conditions. imagine a bike parade/protest of about 150 firemen slowly making their way up one of the busiest streets in barcelona, honking horns and in full fireman garb. it was one of the most simultaneously obnoxious (quite loud) and amusing sights i have ever seen.
oh, barcelona.
on a more interesting note, the firemen of barcelona flooded the streets yesterday on bikes in protest of their working conditions. imagine a bike parade/protest of about 150 firemen slowly making their way up one of the busiest streets in barcelona, honking horns and in full fireman garb. it was one of the most simultaneously obnoxious (quite loud) and amusing sights i have ever seen.
oh, barcelona.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
un chien andaluz
greetings from sevilla! i have not yet blogged from one of my weekend trips outside of barcelona, so i figured i´d take advantage of our sweet free hostel internet to do so. i´m here now in sevilla with my friend jenny from my program. sevilla is in the south of spain, in andalucia. we spent all of friday here, spent saturday in cordoba (a very small city about an hour and a half away), and are back here for our last day before flying out tomorrow.
andalucia is beautiful. i really like sevilla and i liked our day trip to cordoba, but i cannot imagine studying here, just because they are SUCH small and provincial cities. it has only just become apparent to me how ¨unspain¨ barcelona is, compared to here. people go to church on sundays. people we don´t know have struck up conversations with us in restaurants, on public transportation, on the streets- interested in where we are from and praising our spanish skills (haaa). this has been a really nice change from the impersonality of barcelona, but at the end of the day, i´m a northeasterner at heart, and hey, that´s what i´m used to and prefer. also, we´ve basically done everything that was recommended in sevilla in about 36 hours. boredom would set in quickly.
highlights from the trip have included sevilla´s cathedral, plaza del toros (where bullfights are held and have been since the 1700s), alzacar (palace of the christian kings from the 1550s), archive of the indias (museum that traces the development and exploration of the americas by spanish explorers), a few very nice parks, and some really excellent food, at far less expensive prices than one can find in barcelona. our trip yesterday to cordoba was also really fun, but tiring. the main focus of the day was the mezquita, mosque built from the 8th to 10th centuries. you can´t imagine just how big a mosque could be- but there is a cathedral built INSIDE of it, that takes up a fraction of its area (the christians decided to make their own mark on the place when they took over). it was incredible. we also visited the synagogue in the old jewish quarter, and the alcazar there as well. even the train ride from sevilla to cordoba through the andalucian countryside was gorgeous.
i spent last weekend in lisbon with another of my program friends. i won´t go into detail about it here so as not to make this entry ridiculously long. lisbon was my least favorite trip so far, although i´m definitely glad i went. the city just seemed lacking in personality (not to mention people- at 2 PM on a gorgeous saturday afternoon, the streets in the city center were empty. weird). this past week was nothing too exciting, mostly just classes and projects in preparation for this trip. we did, however, have a program thanksgiving dinner on thursday. the food left a little something to be desired (good, but not american thanksgiving), but it was a really nice thing to do, and great to eat at a nice restaurant with the other CIEE kids.
now, i´m getting into the final stretch with only two weeks of classes left. i am going home in exactly three weeks, and leaving barcelona in less than that (london first)! after three months here, it´s a little weird to think about. most people here have the same thoughts- ready to go home, but we will miss barcelona, our friends, and the overall experience a LOT. however, it´ll be nice to have next weekend in barcelona after a month straight of traveling; i´ll have to do the last things that i want to do in the city before it´s time to go. but luckily, my lovely sister will be arriving in barcelona in 12 days (!!!), and then i´ll get to show her the sights before we hit up london.
note to the british pound: i´m watching you. just keep on falling in value.
andalucia is beautiful. i really like sevilla and i liked our day trip to cordoba, but i cannot imagine studying here, just because they are SUCH small and provincial cities. it has only just become apparent to me how ¨unspain¨ barcelona is, compared to here. people go to church on sundays. people we don´t know have struck up conversations with us in restaurants, on public transportation, on the streets- interested in where we are from and praising our spanish skills (haaa). this has been a really nice change from the impersonality of barcelona, but at the end of the day, i´m a northeasterner at heart, and hey, that´s what i´m used to and prefer. also, we´ve basically done everything that was recommended in sevilla in about 36 hours. boredom would set in quickly.
highlights from the trip have included sevilla´s cathedral, plaza del toros (where bullfights are held and have been since the 1700s), alzacar (palace of the christian kings from the 1550s), archive of the indias (museum that traces the development and exploration of the americas by spanish explorers), a few very nice parks, and some really excellent food, at far less expensive prices than one can find in barcelona. our trip yesterday to cordoba was also really fun, but tiring. the main focus of the day was the mezquita, mosque built from the 8th to 10th centuries. you can´t imagine just how big a mosque could be- but there is a cathedral built INSIDE of it, that takes up a fraction of its area (the christians decided to make their own mark on the place when they took over). it was incredible. we also visited the synagogue in the old jewish quarter, and the alcazar there as well. even the train ride from sevilla to cordoba through the andalucian countryside was gorgeous.
i spent last weekend in lisbon with another of my program friends. i won´t go into detail about it here so as not to make this entry ridiculously long. lisbon was my least favorite trip so far, although i´m definitely glad i went. the city just seemed lacking in personality (not to mention people- at 2 PM on a gorgeous saturday afternoon, the streets in the city center were empty. weird). this past week was nothing too exciting, mostly just classes and projects in preparation for this trip. we did, however, have a program thanksgiving dinner on thursday. the food left a little something to be desired (good, but not american thanksgiving), but it was a really nice thing to do, and great to eat at a nice restaurant with the other CIEE kids.
now, i´m getting into the final stretch with only two weeks of classes left. i am going home in exactly three weeks, and leaving barcelona in less than that (london first)! after three months here, it´s a little weird to think about. most people here have the same thoughts- ready to go home, but we will miss barcelona, our friends, and the overall experience a LOT. however, it´ll be nice to have next weekend in barcelona after a month straight of traveling; i´ll have to do the last things that i want to do in the city before it´s time to go. but luckily, my lovely sister will be arriving in barcelona in 12 days (!!!), and then i´ll get to show her the sights before we hit up london.
note to the british pound: i´m watching you. just keep on falling in value.
Monday, November 17, 2008
ohhhh champs elysees
i am the most stereotypical college study abroad student ever: "oh hey guys! you know, just jetted in from paris this morning, headed to lisbon on friday, then it's to andalucia a week from then." whatever, i'll never be able to do this again in my life.
last week, my parents continued their stay on the iberian peninsula. having visitors is great because it gives one an excuse (and the ability) to do all the touristy things that one would never usually do in daily life. thus, i am about done with barcelona art, history, and culture. this is good because i am not here for much longer, not even factoring in two more weekend trips.
on thursday night my parents and i left for paris. the three following days were a whirlwind; three days is NOT a lot to do everything in paris, which is exactly what we did. the art museum trifecta (louvre/musee d'orsay/pompidou), eiffel tower, cruising the seine, pantheon, notre dame, sacre coeur, and some neighborhood perusing- featuring montmartre, the marais, and others. oh, we also managed to eat excellently. and i thought bread in barcelona was good. the crepes are also ridiculous (sorry, reading terminal market, i still love you). i won't even really describe everything we did/saw/ate, because it was all so great. i even spoke a few words of french, probably the ten or so words i know. paris might be my favorite city that i have visited so far, besides barcelona, of course.
i knew i was back in barcelona this morning when i saw/experienced: signs in catalan and a catalonian flag draped over an apartment on my way to school, sun and ridiculously unseasonably warm weather, people that pushed and shoved in the crowded metro without saying "perdon."
last week, my parents continued their stay on the iberian peninsula. having visitors is great because it gives one an excuse (and the ability) to do all the touristy things that one would never usually do in daily life. thus, i am about done with barcelona art, history, and culture. this is good because i am not here for much longer, not even factoring in two more weekend trips.
on thursday night my parents and i left for paris. the three following days were a whirlwind; three days is NOT a lot to do everything in paris, which is exactly what we did. the art museum trifecta (louvre/musee d'orsay/pompidou), eiffel tower, cruising the seine, pantheon, notre dame, sacre coeur, and some neighborhood perusing- featuring montmartre, the marais, and others. oh, we also managed to eat excellently. and i thought bread in barcelona was good. the crepes are also ridiculous (sorry, reading terminal market, i still love you). i won't even really describe everything we did/saw/ate, because it was all so great. i even spoke a few words of french, probably the ten or so words i know. paris might be my favorite city that i have visited so far, besides barcelona, of course.
i knew i was back in barcelona this morning when i saw/experienced: signs in catalan and a catalonian flag draped over an apartment on my way to school, sun and ridiculously unseasonably warm weather, people that pushed and shoved in the crowded metro without saying "perdon."
Sunday, November 9, 2008
i was trying to think of a clever title for this entry
and came up empty. my wit just isn't what it used to be. i have, however, become more adept at expressing sarcasm and generally joking around in spanish, which is no easy task.
the highlights of this past week included Fun With Midterms and election madness. Even for my extremely difficult to understand and succeed 20th century spanish literature class, my midterm was kind of laughable. One of my program friends put it best when we reconvened upon completion of the exam, "was that a test? or a cute little exercise?" definitely the latter. i am not complaining. now it's basically smooth sailing until a little bit of work in the form of papers and tests starting at the beginning of december.
i don't really have much to say about the election, because i'm pretty sure everyone knows how it turned out. i feel very positively about it and all, but i'm just kind of election-ed out. it was very exciting at the time though- i watched the returns (til 6 in the morning spanish time...poor choice) with seven other CIEE kids. we stocked up on chips and oreos to give the six hours of spanish commentary more of an american feel. i now get approving smiles and nods when i have to reveal my place of origin, so that's pretty cool. i also consider it a huge plus that joe biden and barack obama both seem to be able to identify africa as a continent. hell, they can probably name all of them as well! humor aside, i am determined to try and go to the inauguration.
this weekend has been excellent. it included a thursday night at la oveja negra for jenny's pre-birthday celebration, and then both my parents and tara arrived on friday! i have been playing tour guide to my parents, taking them to la boqueria, la catedral, sagrada familia, parc guell, MNAC, the olympic stadium, and the montjuic castle...plus some delicious tapas. tara has kept herself busy whilst i entertained the rents, and joined me and some other friends for a couple nights out. i will not be in barcelona for a weekend again til the first weekend in december, sniff sniff. it's been great seeing my family and also talking wayyy too much about tufts- what more could i ask for.
this week i'll be tour guiding a bit more, and then it's off to paris!
the highlights of this past week included Fun With Midterms and election madness. Even for my extremely difficult to understand and succeed 20th century spanish literature class, my midterm was kind of laughable. One of my program friends put it best when we reconvened upon completion of the exam, "was that a test? or a cute little exercise?" definitely the latter. i am not complaining. now it's basically smooth sailing until a little bit of work in the form of papers and tests starting at the beginning of december.
i don't really have much to say about the election, because i'm pretty sure everyone knows how it turned out. i feel very positively about it and all, but i'm just kind of election-ed out. it was very exciting at the time though- i watched the returns (til 6 in the morning spanish time...poor choice) with seven other CIEE kids. we stocked up on chips and oreos to give the six hours of spanish commentary more of an american feel. i now get approving smiles and nods when i have to reveal my place of origin, so that's pretty cool. i also consider it a huge plus that joe biden and barack obama both seem to be able to identify africa as a continent. hell, they can probably name all of them as well! humor aside, i am determined to try and go to the inauguration.
this weekend has been excellent. it included a thursday night at la oveja negra for jenny's pre-birthday celebration, and then both my parents and tara arrived on friday! i have been playing tour guide to my parents, taking them to la boqueria, la catedral, sagrada familia, parc guell, MNAC, the olympic stadium, and the montjuic castle...plus some delicious tapas. tara has kept herself busy whilst i entertained the rents, and joined me and some other friends for a couple nights out. i will not be in barcelona for a weekend again til the first weekend in december, sniff sniff. it's been great seeing my family and also talking wayyy too much about tufts- what more could i ask for.
this week i'll be tour guiding a bit more, and then it's off to paris!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
madrid, dinner parties, and too much rain
now i remember why i try to update on a weekly basis- this might be a long entry, just as a warning. I am splitting it up into three parts for easy reading.
MADRID:
Last weekend, everyone in the CIEE liberal arts program (plus three smaller programs that CIEE has going on in Barcelona) went to Madrid. We traveled in style, on the ave (high speed train), which makes the ~315 mile journey in a mere two hours, forty-five minutes. upon arrival, we took a few hour walking tour of the city and got a little Madrid history lesson. Pictures of all of this are up on facebook/photobucket, by the way. The rest of the day was more or less uneventful, we got some food, wandered some more, and called it an early night. Saturday was intensely scheduled- we toured the Prado and the Reina Sofia. First, the Prado. As I told my Mom (who scoffed at my pretentiousness), I think I have been dreaming about the Prado for a good five or six years. It was overwhelming and amazing- where else could you find Carvaggio, Velazquez, Goya, El Greco and Raphael basically every time you turned a corner. After that, we grabbed lunch in Retiro park, close to the museum, and then headed over to the Reina Sofia for an abrupt transition to the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum itself is small, but had some of my favorite Dali and Miro...and Guernica is there. Enough said. After the Reina Sofia, we were left to our own devices. I had a long leisurely dinner out with Juniper, Jenny, Kim, and Christine, and then we met up with some other program kids. I got to witness and partake in the custom of "botellon," and then we just hung out at a bar for awhile. Very relaxed and good times. At times like those, I wonder why I even (very occasionally) bother with clubs.
The next day we were mostly on our own, which was great because I spent most of the day with Tara (my friend from Tufts who is studying abroad in Madrid for the year). We went to this ridiculously big flea market, shopped for a little, and then got lunch. It's good to see someone who you know from longer than...two months ago. We got back to Barcelona late that evening. One of the most fun weekends I've had, definitely.
SCHOOL/MIDWEEK MISCELLANEOUS THINGS:
I actually had to put forth some effort in school this past week. It's midterm time, and all that. My intense midterm (Spanish literature) is this Wednesday, but my other tests haven't been too problematic. After I finish this entry, I have a loooot of 20th century Spanish literature to read, and hopefully comprehend.
The highlight of last week was Wednesday night- my friend Christine's mom was in town for the week, and got a short-term rental apartment for her stay here. She went on a trip mid-week to Madrid, so Hannah, Kim and I cooked some delicious pasta and HOMEMADE GUACAMOLE, among other things. That is something you take for granted in the states/at college- being able to cook dinner with friends, hang out, watch TV, etc. I can have people in my residencia room, but it's tiny- and the kitchen is definitely not dinner party material. But anyway, it was good times...oh, and we went to see high school musical three beforehand. don't judge. it fulfilled my long unfulfilled desire to see a movie ACTUALLY in english (not dubbed).
THIS WEEKEND:
well, as everyone knows, friday was halloween- some people (american people) dress up and go out, and some clubs have halloween specials catering to americans. I, for one, never am a major halloween fan, so I relished the opportunity to NOT dress up without feeling like a terrible person. Instead, I spent Friday wandering around. I went with my friend Juniper to get Indian food in Poble Nou, an area of the city to where I had never been. The food was AMAZING, and it is now my new favorite place. I had missed Indian food dearly. The rest of Friday was not too exciting.
Yesterday, Juniper and I wandered some more. First, to a plaza in the old city where artists set up their work on Saturday mornings. Next door, there was also an artisan market that only occurs on the first weekend of the month, with vendors selling cheeses, honey, breads, candles, etc. After that, we had both been talking about how we have hit a point in the semester where we have started missing people and things from home...we addressed this by going to FNAC (a big department store in plaza catalunya) and spending a lot of time in the english literature section. Even though I'm in the middle of my Teddy Roosevelt biography, I bought a Murakami book. It just looked so good, and I hope that Kyle is proud of me. Later, my friend Hannah's cousin is in town, so a few of us went out for tapas at one of our favorite places. We spent awhile at dinner, and then went to a few bars conveniently located close by. Another very fun night- I have very few weekends left here, so I'm trying to make it count. It's weird to think about.
Sidenote: today, yesterday, and for the past five days (since Wednesday)- the weather has been AWFUL. It has rained every day. It really lessens one's motivation to do anything when it is pouring- we're talking like an inch accumulation of rain, not just little showers. I liked barcelona better when there was a drought.
THE FUTURE:
that sounds ominous... anyway, the main thing on my short-term radar screen is tuesday's election. i'm not sure what we'll do here, but we'll probably go somewhere to watch the returns. nerve-wracking. then, my parents are coming this friday! i'll show them around the city, and then we're going to paris the second weekend they are here. which brings me into my travel schedule. I'll be in Paris November 13-17, Lisbon from the 21st to the 24th, and Sevilla/Cordoba (Southern Spain) from the 28th to December 1st. Excitement! Have I mentioned how amazing study abroad is for the travel opportunities alone?
sorry that was so long, happy november, and happy (i sincerely hope) almost election day!
MADRID:
Last weekend, everyone in the CIEE liberal arts program (plus three smaller programs that CIEE has going on in Barcelona) went to Madrid. We traveled in style, on the ave (high speed train), which makes the ~315 mile journey in a mere two hours, forty-five minutes. upon arrival, we took a few hour walking tour of the city and got a little Madrid history lesson. Pictures of all of this are up on facebook/photobucket, by the way. The rest of the day was more or less uneventful, we got some food, wandered some more, and called it an early night. Saturday was intensely scheduled- we toured the Prado and the Reina Sofia. First, the Prado. As I told my Mom (who scoffed at my pretentiousness), I think I have been dreaming about the Prado for a good five or six years. It was overwhelming and amazing- where else could you find Carvaggio, Velazquez, Goya, El Greco and Raphael basically every time you turned a corner. After that, we grabbed lunch in Retiro park, close to the museum, and then headed over to the Reina Sofia for an abrupt transition to the 20th and 21st centuries. The museum itself is small, but had some of my favorite Dali and Miro...and Guernica is there. Enough said. After the Reina Sofia, we were left to our own devices. I had a long leisurely dinner out with Juniper, Jenny, Kim, and Christine, and then we met up with some other program kids. I got to witness and partake in the custom of "botellon," and then we just hung out at a bar for awhile. Very relaxed and good times. At times like those, I wonder why I even (very occasionally) bother with clubs.
The next day we were mostly on our own, which was great because I spent most of the day with Tara (my friend from Tufts who is studying abroad in Madrid for the year). We went to this ridiculously big flea market, shopped for a little, and then got lunch. It's good to see someone who you know from longer than...two months ago. We got back to Barcelona late that evening. One of the most fun weekends I've had, definitely.
SCHOOL/MIDWEEK MISCELLANEOUS THINGS:
I actually had to put forth some effort in school this past week. It's midterm time, and all that. My intense midterm (Spanish literature) is this Wednesday, but my other tests haven't been too problematic. After I finish this entry, I have a loooot of 20th century Spanish literature to read, and hopefully comprehend.
The highlight of last week was Wednesday night- my friend Christine's mom was in town for the week, and got a short-term rental apartment for her stay here. She went on a trip mid-week to Madrid, so Hannah, Kim and I cooked some delicious pasta and HOMEMADE GUACAMOLE, among other things. That is something you take for granted in the states/at college- being able to cook dinner with friends, hang out, watch TV, etc. I can have people in my residencia room, but it's tiny- and the kitchen is definitely not dinner party material. But anyway, it was good times...oh, and we went to see high school musical three beforehand. don't judge. it fulfilled my long unfulfilled desire to see a movie ACTUALLY in english (not dubbed).
THIS WEEKEND:
well, as everyone knows, friday was halloween- some people (american people) dress up and go out, and some clubs have halloween specials catering to americans. I, for one, never am a major halloween fan, so I relished the opportunity to NOT dress up without feeling like a terrible person. Instead, I spent Friday wandering around. I went with my friend Juniper to get Indian food in Poble Nou, an area of the city to where I had never been. The food was AMAZING, and it is now my new favorite place. I had missed Indian food dearly. The rest of Friday was not too exciting.
Yesterday, Juniper and I wandered some more. First, to a plaza in the old city where artists set up their work on Saturday mornings. Next door, there was also an artisan market that only occurs on the first weekend of the month, with vendors selling cheeses, honey, breads, candles, etc. After that, we had both been talking about how we have hit a point in the semester where we have started missing people and things from home...we addressed this by going to FNAC (a big department store in plaza catalunya) and spending a lot of time in the english literature section. Even though I'm in the middle of my Teddy Roosevelt biography, I bought a Murakami book. It just looked so good, and I hope that Kyle is proud of me. Later, my friend Hannah's cousin is in town, so a few of us went out for tapas at one of our favorite places. We spent awhile at dinner, and then went to a few bars conveniently located close by. Another very fun night- I have very few weekends left here, so I'm trying to make it count. It's weird to think about.
Sidenote: today, yesterday, and for the past five days (since Wednesday)- the weather has been AWFUL. It has rained every day. It really lessens one's motivation to do anything when it is pouring- we're talking like an inch accumulation of rain, not just little showers. I liked barcelona better when there was a drought.
THE FUTURE:
that sounds ominous... anyway, the main thing on my short-term radar screen is tuesday's election. i'm not sure what we'll do here, but we'll probably go somewhere to watch the returns. nerve-wracking. then, my parents are coming this friday! i'll show them around the city, and then we're going to paris the second weekend they are here. which brings me into my travel schedule. I'll be in Paris November 13-17, Lisbon from the 21st to the 24th, and Sevilla/Cordoba (Southern Spain) from the 28th to December 1st. Excitement! Have I mentioned how amazing study abroad is for the travel opportunities alone?
sorry that was so long, happy november, and happy (i sincerely hope) almost election day!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
new picture site / lazy weekends in barcelona
for those of you non-facebook users, you can finally access my pictures! the address is: www.photobucket.com/andreamlowe/ - i've only put up the highlights to make both of our lives easier. i haven't taken pictures in awhile, but more to come this weekend, when our program takes us to Madrid. Speaking for myself, I haven't had the chance to travel anywhere else in Spain, so it will be nice to see the capital of the country, and check out a city twice as big as Barcelona (and, you know, the Prado). There is also talk of a possible trip to Valencia for halloween weekend, and a trip to Andalucia (south of Spain- possibly Sevilla and Cordoba) for the end of November and early December. If that works out, it would be a pretty nice survey of what Spain has to offer.
The past week has been the most uneventful in the almost two months (!!!) that I've been here. After the five-day Italy excursion immediately followed by three days in Stockholm, I really needed to relax, catch up on work, and sleep. And that is exactly what I have been doing. It's been fun though- I checked out a few more museums and neighborhoods while Mimi was here and got together with Democrats Abroad on Thursday night to watch the debate. The weekend, as I said, was very relaxed. On Friday, we found this store that sells American/British food called "A Taste of Home"- where we promptly stocked up on cookie dough and peanut butter. You know, essentials. We then ate said cookie dough the following day, when we crashed Kim's homestay for an afternoon of laziness and Almost Famous (I was the only one who had seen it! blasphemy). Like I said, pretty chill weekend, with a couple really fun nights out for Sarah's birthday, which we celebrated again two nights ago with dinner at a Mexican restaurant- my first non-Spanish food in Spain, which I very much appreciated for the high-quality guacamole, and the actual spice and hotness of my food. People in Spain seem very hesitant to cook spicy things.
Most importantly, I went to the oldest bar in Barcelona, where Ernest Hemingway (and Picasso, Gaudi, etc.) used to hang. My cool factor has increased exponentially.
also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR SISTER WHO IS TWENTY-THREE TODAY.
The past week has been the most uneventful in the almost two months (!!!) that I've been here. After the five-day Italy excursion immediately followed by three days in Stockholm, I really needed to relax, catch up on work, and sleep. And that is exactly what I have been doing. It's been fun though- I checked out a few more museums and neighborhoods while Mimi was here and got together with Democrats Abroad on Thursday night to watch the debate. The weekend, as I said, was very relaxed. On Friday, we found this store that sells American/British food called "A Taste of Home"- where we promptly stocked up on cookie dough and peanut butter. You know, essentials. We then ate said cookie dough the following day, when we crashed Kim's homestay for an afternoon of laziness and Almost Famous (I was the only one who had seen it! blasphemy). Like I said, pretty chill weekend, with a couple really fun nights out for Sarah's birthday, which we celebrated again two nights ago with dinner at a Mexican restaurant- my first non-Spanish food in Spain, which I very much appreciated for the high-quality guacamole, and the actual spice and hotness of my food. People in Spain seem very hesitant to cook spicy things.
Most importantly, I went to the oldest bar in Barcelona, where Ernest Hemingway (and Picasso, Gaudi, etc.) used to hang. My cool factor has increased exponentially.
also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR SISTER WHO IS TWENTY-THREE TODAY.
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