"Advanced Spanish for Academic Discourse"...

...is the name of the intensive Spanish course I am taking here for the first three weeks. For reasons unknown, I placed into this (higher) level, along with three other CIEE kids. Now, I have taken through Spanish IV at Tufts, which amounts to pretty much nothing...but the placement test gods have spoken, and I have gotten through the first two days of class unscathed. I'm here to learn the language, so I might as well challenge myself. Although we are spoiled by only being in class 3.25 hours a day, Monday-Friday for these first three weeks, it's still 3.25 hours in a row of Spanish, and nothing but Spanish. I have to hang on my teacher's every word to understand what she's saying, but I get the gist- we already have homework though! The three-week class alone is going to involve an interview, a few two-page essays, an oral presentation, a "seminar" presentation (as in, we teach the class about something), and a final project. But I like the challenge- and I got an affirmation of my abilities after class today when I asked my teacher if there was some sort of mistake that got me into the class. She was a little offended by my hesitation, and assured me that it was not a mistake, and that I have "good opinions." I wanted to say that I have good opinions in whatever language, but that doesn't mean I should be in advanced Spanish...but decided not to press the issue.

ANYWAY, enough about class. Last weekend we went on a day trip to Penedes (wine country) and Sitges (small beach town about an hour away). In Sitges we got to enjoy the beach, the food, and the ancient architecture for a few hours, before heading to Penedes, where we learned more than I could ever remember about differences between wines, how wine is made, etc. Then we got to do a tasting involving white wine (vino blano), red wine (vino tinto), and cava (like champagne- except from spain). It was delicious. This also took place at about 5 o clock, so the bus ride back was quite quiet as we all went to sleep.

On Sunday, my friend Sarah and I were determined to take full advantage of our first completely CIEE unplanned day to explore. We started out in Barri Gotic at El Museu Diocesa de Barcelona which had an interesting collection of medieval religious art, plus some of Gaudi's furniture and household items, and a temporary exhibit by modern impressionist painter Richard Urgell. It seemed like they kind of just threw together a bunch of random art, but it worked. Outside in the plaza afterwards there were a bunch of Barcelonians playing music and doing a traditional dance, so we stopped and watched. Then, it was time for Gaudi. We spent a few hours in la Sagrada Familia. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful and amazing it is. Besides getting to see the intricacies of the exterior sculptures and carvings and the interior stained glass, we took an elevator up and climbed these winding staircases around the top. Definitely the highlight of the day, although Park Guell (Gaudi's second most famous work besides la Sagrada Familia) certainly did not disappoint. The design was amazing, and we took quite a hike up to the top of the small mountain on which it is situated. Altogether a great day.

Yesterday, after class, I visited el Parque de la Ciutadella, a huge expanse really near our residencia, where the zoo, another Cathedral, and Catalonia's parliament building are located. Later, our CIEE group went to a flamenco show near las Ramblas, which was also amazing. Today, a few of the girls in my program and I got lunch after class at this amazing paella place (at 3:30...which is when most people are eating lunch. i really like the european eating schedule), and then wandered around las Ramblas, hitting up some shoe stores and la Boqueria- the most famous outdoor market in Barcelona. We were particularly enchanted by the dried fruit. As you can see, there's rarely a dull moment here.

Congratulations if you read that all. More to come soon!