First Weekend in Barcelona - UPDATED WITH LINK and VIDEO!

Hello Everyone. Sorry for not posting this past weekend. The internet wasn't working and I haven't been able to log on today. But the internet's fixed :) Read below for my first  weekend in Barcelona....

Check out the Barcelona 2011 Album for all my photos.

SATURDAY

Today, I had another fantastic day exploring Barcelona and falling more in love with this incredible city. I’m so happy I have three and a half months to experience, relish, and cherish everything this city has to offer.

Morning Jetlag & Metro Madness

This morning I experienced jetlag for the first time since I arrived. I was very good about not taking naps in the afternoon but for some reason this morning, I was ready to start the day at 6:30 am. My second session of Orientation didn’t start until 9:00 am so I figured I should respond to some e-mails and log on to Skype. I skyped my parents for the first time and it was nice to see them again. It was my mom’s first time ever using Skype…. So congratulations to her (with my dad’s help as her IT person when the connectivity failed).  It’s funny but the days go by so slowly here (but in a good way) so it feels like I’ve been away for a long time.  

Once Bianca and I were ready to go, we headed out to the Metro but had some issues. She inserted her ticket and walked through the entrance. When I inserted my ticket, it spit it back out and said it was invalid. It was 8:35 and it takes us 20 minutes to arrive so I started fretting. I tried another machine and that also said it was invalid. I tried Bianca’s ticket, then mine again, and it just failed. So I was trapped on one side and Bianca on the other. We called for help and the attendant inserted my ticket and it went through. I blushed and apologized for not trying the other machines.

At IES & Scavenger Hunt

Upon arrival at IES, I joined the Spanish class I was assigned to (but plan on testing out shortly) and participated in class discussion on study abroad expectations and goals and culture shock incidents while in Barcelona so far. As Native speakers, I think myself and another student from the Dominican Republic may have intimidated the other students in the class while speaking to the instructors because we have a more advanced vocabulary and also more comfort/fluidity with the language.  For some reason, I was assigned to this class but the instructors approached me after class and said I should be either in a higher level of Spanish or just take another area studies course (which I plan on doing). I’ll speak with the Director of Academics on Monday to discuss my other class options.

We got out of our class session early since there was relatively little participation aside from the interactions between myself, the student from the Dominican Republic and the instructors. So, we got started on the scavenger hunt everyone in the program was supposed to do. The grand prize to the group who has the most answers correct gets a free trip to Montserrat. Second prize is free tickets to museums or something. We got started shortly after class ended and had an amazing time exploring La Ribera District and La Cituadella Park.  I think it’s my favorite part of the whole trip so far, I definitely plan on going back and exploring some more. Some of the highlights of the scavenger hunt included:  Santa Maria del Mar (a beautiful Catalan-gothic style church), Museo Picasso (didn’t walk in, just walked by, but plan on going back soon), Princesa street (LOVE this…absolutely charming), and Museo de la Xocolata (DEFINITELY plan on going back since I am a chocoholic), and Ciutadella Park. As my parents would know from my first trip to NYC, I’m an obsessive photographer  (I took two rolls of film of the Statue of Liberty alone when I was 8) and took dozens of photographs within a 2 mile radius of La Ribera District.  

Oh and I tested out my French during the Scavenger Hunt. At one point, we had to take a group picture in front of a monument and noticed some of the other tourists were speaking French. So, I politely asked in French, "Pouvez-vous faire du foto si vous plait?" So, Madame deBree, I have not forgotten my French - I didn't even have to think about it! In fact, one of the girls in the group (who had just found out I was fluent in Spanish and English) asked, "Oh , you speak French, too?!"

Here  are some of my favorite shots:

Cascada con el carro de L'Aurora

Elephant Statue at Ciutadella Park

Ciutadella Park

Museo de la Xocolata

Carrer de la Princesa 

Carrer de la Princesa 

On my way back to IES, I stumbled upon this charming musician. He specialized in New Orleans Jazz. Who knew I would hear New Orleans Jazz in Barcelona, Spain. Go figure. Take a listen!

Lunch

For lunch, I ate out at a local restaurant with my group since we worked up quite an appetite after a good 2.5 hour scavenger hunt.  However, the pizza here is expensive! I split a vegetarian pizza of 10” with another girl and it was 8 Euros, not to mention my Sprite was 2.25 Euros.  I planned on ordering from the Menu Del Dia but those are only available from 1 – 3 pm Mondays –Fridays apparently. I think from now on I’ll buy my lunch from the grocery stores to save money, especially since the pizza wasn’t good enough to be 8 Euros.

My first siesta (hopefully one of many!)

All of the things described above wiped me out such that by the time it was 3:30 pm I was heading home on the metro for my first siesta! Bianca was still out with friends so it was my first time navigating the metro alone and I felt so independent. The metro here is so easy to use (despite all the signs written in Catalan) and very efficient. Before I knew it, I was at Isabel’s freshening up and getting ready for my (are you ready for it?) 3 hour nap. 3 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. I’ve never been a napping person but I really needed to catch up on sleep since I’d woken up at 6:30 this morning and I’ve been walking a lot.  I set an alarm but I guess I was so tired I turned it off.  My nap was longer than expected but that’s very typical for Spaniards! As they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” but in this case, “When In Barcelona, do as the Catalan do!”

Evening

I woke up at 7 pm to find Bianca asleep in her bed as well. She woke up around 7:45 pm, so we were both exhausted. We mosied about the house and had dinner at 9 pm with Isabel and her childhood friend Pilar (who will be taking care of us while Isabel is away for a week).

Bianca and I met up with Bonnie and Jessica  and attempted to go to a flamenco bar but apparently the last show had recently ended.  So, we were on a mission to find some ice cream/gelato. It took an hour of walking around the city until we finally settled with an ice cream place (can’t remember the name) recommended by a local. It was delicious, so delicious I didn’t take a picture quickly enough for the blog. Afterwards, a friend of Bianca’s called and asked if we wanted to go to a bar near Las Ramblas. I was curious about the night life but didn’t plan on drinking so I tagged along to see what it was like. The bar owner was overly friendly to the point where he was artificial and kept asking why I looked so sad. I explained to him that I’m not sad, but I simply didn’t want a drink. Every 15/20 minutes he would do this and I just stopped responding and ignored him. The girls finally finished their drinks around 2 am and I was exhausted. They wanted to go to a club but I wasn’t so keen so I went home on the metro alone. Because of my siesta, I didn’t fall asleep until about 5 am…so no more siestas for me. Or at least, no more three hour ones or late afternoon ones.

SUNDAY

Lazy Morning

I woke up feeling groggy and exhausted from the late night on Saturday. I honestly don’t know how other kids in the program manage to go out every single night and still go to class. Our classes don’t start until next week but I really don’t want to go out again that late, it makes me feel so unproductive and tired the next day. 

Beach
Bianca and I had a late breakfast at 12 pm and decided to go to the beach with Bonnie and Jessica. I was ready in about 10 minutes but Bianca likes to put on her make up, do her hair, etc so we didn’t leave the house till around 2 pm. When we finally left, we met up with the other girls at the metro and took a bus down to the beach. It felt  like a very long ride with all the stops but we arrived around 3 pm. I lathered on some 60 SPF since I am sunburn-prone and soaked up some Mediterranean sun. Then, we went swimming in the water and boy it was warm (well, compared to Carmel/Santa Cruz). It wasn’t luke warm, but it was definitely swim-able. The water was also very salty so when I got some water in my eyes it stung a bit due to the acidity. I came back after my swim and laid down on my towel ( I ended up taking a quick 15 minute power nap). We left around 5:30 pm and took the bus home. Since dinner isn’t served until at least 9 pm around here and the trip to the beach made us hungry, we stopped by a placed called Martin’s Bar and had bocadillos (Spanish sandwiches that can have potatoes, chorizo, cheese, etc). I ordered a half-size portion of the chorizo bocadillo but was still hungry so I ordered a torilla de patata (potato sandwich). 

One of Barcelona's finest beaches

From left to right: Jessica, Bonnie, Alexis, and Bianca

Evening Shower and Dinner

I took a nice hot shower when I got home, talked to my mom for a bit, and had a nice dinner with Isabel, Bianca, and Pilar. I’m off to bed now (10 pm) because this weekend was absolutely exhausting and I just want a good night’s rest.