Monday, December 7, 2009
What's next?
I'm sitting in my room, depressed about finals and my future and life in general, so I decided to go to my blog. And...here I am, 7 months after my last blog! It has been almost one year since I left for Barcelona, starting the best four months of my life. It's hard to say what made it so great; probably a combination of a lot of great people and experiences. I've talked about this with Megan, and we both have the most amazing and content feeling when we reflect on absolutely any event that happened (well, almost any...)! Now I am ending my 2nd to last semester of Jewell, and I still don't know what to do with myself! Grad school is going to wait a few years, leaving me to find SOMETHING after I graduate. What will it be: teach for america? ESL teacher in a foreign country? Nanny some spanish kids for a while and teach them english? Work in Yosemite? Work in Glacier? (I don't really want to be a park ranger...) Maybe start my dream job early and learn to be a whitewater rafting guide? Intern somewhere? I want to do something meaningful, yet I also want to earn some money..really, I just want LIFE to start. I feel as though college has been this dollhouse/prison where I play lots of roles that "prepare" me for my future, while being forced into doing menial homework and losing sleep over papers and tests that aren't going to matter down the road!! I know that I have the control and can do what I want with my life, but I think shrugging off the other expectations of college will help me. These 4 years have been amazing, and I do love my biology courses, and others as well, but I can think of better things I would like to do. I'll be doing some serious soul searching over Christmas break and really try to decide what's best for ME after I graduate.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Ahora, Soy aqui: At home.
Well, I suppose I should have some sort of reflection, now that my time in Barcelona is finished. Whether it is for the sake of this 'ACT-In' major, for the sake of family, or for my own sake, this would be good to write. But, I don't want to reflect and make the experience finally completely finished! I have adjusted back to home fairly well. After speaking with Megan, I should probably say really well! But, I feel...restless, like being here is just not quite enough. I love to relax at home, to talk to friends freely on my cell phone, to drive my car, to spend time with my family, and see the beautiful countryside. But something is missing, and I can't explain it quite yet. I know the obvious answer. I miss all of the people I have met these past four months, both Spanish and other Americans studying in the city, and I miss Isaac terribly. I cannot stop thinking about him, it seems. The city was great and I liked it, but it is the people I miss, not Barcelona herself. But, something else is different and I need to search out what it is. There are so many experiences in Barcelona I will never forget, and people who have made impressions in my life. I will most likely be going on a road trip to the east coast to visit most of my new friends (as that is where they all seem to live) with Megan. And don't worry, I'll be visiting Barcelona again as well, probably for longer than a visit. Isaac is not just a boy I dated and had a teary good-bye with. He is something else, special. He makes me so happy. For those that know me, I don't fall for guys easily. I am what you would call 'independent'..But Isaac is different from other guys I have known and I am excited to see what will happen, however difficult it may be to make a reality. I am up for a challenge! ;)
So, what happens now? Well, I am beyond broke and in limbo. I am moving up to my campus next week with research to do (I hope) and a job to find (quickly!). From there, I have GREs to worry about this summer, graduate school searching and applications, and senior year of college. And, as well, the possibility of taking a gap year to search out options for. Things are moving quickly and changing, and I am changed. But, I feel good about these changes, and am more ready for them than before I left the United States. Whatever the next months and years bring, I am excited to see! I will keep anyone who still looks at my blog updated (if anyone does look, since I am now home again). Hasta luego!!!
So, what happens now? Well, I am beyond broke and in limbo. I am moving up to my campus next week with research to do (I hope) and a job to find (quickly!). From there, I have GREs to worry about this summer, graduate school searching and applications, and senior year of college. And, as well, the possibility of taking a gap year to search out options for. Things are moving quickly and changing, and I am changed. But, I feel good about these changes, and am more ready for them than before I left the United States. Whatever the next months and years bring, I am excited to see! I will keep anyone who still looks at my blog updated (if anyone does look, since I am now home again). Hasta luego!!!
I am way behind...
Well, it has been nearly a month, again, since I have posted..oops, mi culpa! My last two weeks in Barcelona were amazing! I was able to do so many things with Megan and with Isaac, and had many great adventures. Megan and I planted ourselves in a great hostel with apartment style rooms after we moved out of our residence. We went to an Espanyol game with Isaac, Jaime, and Jose on Sunday afternoon and had a great time watching them beat Valencia. We left the next day on a road trip to Granada, where we ate good tapas, visited Sarah Hartenberger, explored the Alhambra palace and gardens, and walked around the beautiful town and its gardens as well. When we returned to Barcelona, we left the next day to go on a trip with Isaac and Jaime's university to Lluret de Mar for a 'meeting' of engineering majors from all across Spain. This 3 day meeting was actually a sports tournament during the days and going out in the evenings. It was really fun, and my volleyball and basketball teams both got 2nd in the tournaments. I was in a beach volley pairs team, and also had a good time playing, although we were out in the first round. On Sunday, when we returned to Barcelona, I had a very chill afternoon and ate lunch and went to a park with Isaac. My next three days were a blur; I went gift shopping for the friends I hadn't gotten gifts for quite yet, I saw bits of Barcelona I had not made it to yet (including dragging Isaac to a park that was not so much a park as a forest on a hill in the middle of the city, to our surprise), and spent as much time as possible with Isaac. Wednesday went by so fast, it seemed to pass right before my eyes! I wanted it to last forever...but, Thursday morning came and I said hasta luego (NOT good-bye) to Isaac (it was the most unpleasant good-bye I have ever had to say) and checked in to my homeward flight.
However, the story does not stop there! Megan and I had the most miserable flight home IN THE WORLD! FIRST, our flight out of Barcelona was delayed by over 2 hours. This meant that when we reached Amsterdam, our flight from Amsterdam into the US had already LEFT. Now, we were already down because we had just had to say a very hard good-bye to our novios, not knowing exactly when we would see them again, and now we just wanted to be home again with our families. So, when we found out our re-booked flights were for 10:30am THE NEXT MORNING, we were very distraught. Then, we found out we got a 10€ meal voucher, a 5 minute phone call voucher, and NO hotel. Stupid KLM/Northwest. We walked away from the ticket counter crying. Megan proceeded to talk to 3 more people before giving up and accepting our fate. So, we booked a close hotel and went there after using our meal vouchers. The hotel was actually very nice and the bed was uber comfortable. We both managed to use skype and call home before my computer died. I lay down on the bed to read a magazine afterward and fell asleep within 15 minutes and was out for the next 10 or 11 hours. Our flight the next morning left on time and everything seemed good. Then came customs and immigrations in Minneapolis. I talked to almost every single person there before I was let out! First, I was randomly chosen to have my baggage checked by the agricultural, etc, control. Then, when going through the final checkpoint, they asked my age because I had claimed a wine bottle in my checked luggage. Oops. I went through another line, but the man there was nice, said I looked like an intelligent woman, and got me out of customs, with my wine! I made it to the flight and everything seemed awesome on our final flight! But...a storm was in KC..GREAT! We circled above for 45 minutes, then flew to Omaha, Nebraska until 8 pm (I was supposed to land in KC at 4 pm). I walked into the KC terminal at 9pm. Ohhh but the story's not over yet. Megan and I's baggage was put on the late flight to KC, instead of our own, so it didn't hit the terminal until 10:15 pm. Then, there was a long line in the parking lot, but we finally got onto the interstate at 10:30 or 10:45 and I made it home by 1 am. Thank the lord!! Sadly, the next morning I couldn't sleep late because my sleeping schedule was all messed up and jet laggy..OH, what a coming home story!
However, the story does not stop there! Megan and I had the most miserable flight home IN THE WORLD! FIRST, our flight out of Barcelona was delayed by over 2 hours. This meant that when we reached Amsterdam, our flight from Amsterdam into the US had already LEFT. Now, we were already down because we had just had to say a very hard good-bye to our novios, not knowing exactly when we would see them again, and now we just wanted to be home again with our families. So, when we found out our re-booked flights were for 10:30am THE NEXT MORNING, we were very distraught. Then, we found out we got a 10€ meal voucher, a 5 minute phone call voucher, and NO hotel. Stupid KLM/Northwest. We walked away from the ticket counter crying. Megan proceeded to talk to 3 more people before giving up and accepting our fate. So, we booked a close hotel and went there after using our meal vouchers. The hotel was actually very nice and the bed was uber comfortable. We both managed to use skype and call home before my computer died. I lay down on the bed to read a magazine afterward and fell asleep within 15 minutes and was out for the next 10 or 11 hours. Our flight the next morning left on time and everything seemed good. Then came customs and immigrations in Minneapolis. I talked to almost every single person there before I was let out! First, I was randomly chosen to have my baggage checked by the agricultural, etc, control. Then, when going through the final checkpoint, they asked my age because I had claimed a wine bottle in my checked luggage. Oops. I went through another line, but the man there was nice, said I looked like an intelligent woman, and got me out of customs, with my wine! I made it to the flight and everything seemed awesome on our final flight! But...a storm was in KC..GREAT! We circled above for 45 minutes, then flew to Omaha, Nebraska until 8 pm (I was supposed to land in KC at 4 pm). I walked into the KC terminal at 9pm. Ohhh but the story's not over yet. Megan and I's baggage was put on the late flight to KC, instead of our own, so it didn't hit the terminal until 10:15 pm. Then, there was a long line in the parking lot, but we finally got onto the interstate at 10:30 or 10:45 and I made it home by 1 am. Thank the lord!! Sadly, the next morning I couldn't sleep late because my sleeping schedule was all messed up and jet laggy..OH, what a coming home story!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Mi flore
Oh, I forgot to explain more about Sant Jordi's day... It is called the day of books and flowers, because men give roses to girls in remembrance of St. George giving a flower to the princess after he slay the dragon. Girls give books to men because April 23rd is Shakespeare's birthday and another great author's death day. There were thousands of stands for books and flowers of all colors and sizes. The whole city was full of flowers and flower sellers and books everywhere. It was amazing!! My two favorite things all at once. And, I received two lovely roses from Isaac! It was a beautiful day overall. The temperature was the warmest and sunniest this semester so far, and the overall tone of the day was very sweet. It was like a true, simple version of Valentine's Day, without the need to buy expensive gifts in order to show how much you care for someone. I loved it! That's all.
Tiempo vuelo
Palabra de el mes: "Tiempo vuelo" = Time flies!
I checked my last post, and yep, it was from April 2nd, the week before spring break! Time has flown too fast for my liking, and in only a few weeks I will be back in the states again. I am so happy in so many ways to be coming home, but I am also sad in so many ways to soon be leaving. So sad, in fact, that I am not going to talk about those reasons. But, as you will soon find out from my mom, I am staying an extra week. I decided that if I came home on the 8th knowing that I had the chance to stay a little bit longer, I would regret it forever and kick myself for not taking the opportunity. A certain person might have had some influence on my decision as well. So I'm changing my flight and coming home on the 14th, just before Jewell's graduation. But never fear, because I will be in the midwest this summer and never far from home!
So, what have I been up to in the past month? Answer: A LOT.
Let's start with spring break...Well, I'm not going to post about it now because that will be a big undertaking, but in a few short words, it was an amazing trip with tons of epic failures that didn't ruin the trip, only made it more exciting!
So after spring break...I actually had homework, with two papers due and things to do to prepare for the end of my classes! I also hung out with Isaac almost every day for at least a few hours. The trip I was supposed to take to Granada with the dormitory fell through on the weekend of the 17-18th. I was sad but also relieved because I had homework to do anyway.
Last week, I did not sleep much. I spent about 20 hours between Monday night and Thursday morning editing an 80 page paper for my sustainability class because I volunteered to be the editor and chief, along with another girl. Worst/best decision of my life! Worst because I stayed up till 3 one night, 4 the next, and 5 the last night working on it, and best because it was a piece of **** before Aura and I did our magic and turned an unorganized non-believable mess into a solid A paper. I'm pretty proud.
Then, after all of these nights with little sleep, Thursday was both Sant Jordi's Day (St. George who slayed the dragon and the patron saint of Catalunya) and also Pacos 2009, a big event my dorm hosts that is a spin off of the oscars in which students get 'Pacos' and Miss/Mister so and so. Not only that, but I also played in 2 hours of volleyball matches with Isaac and his friends, along with Megan, because they needed female players. So I went to sleep at 5 in the morning, got up at 9:45, ate, finished the paper, played volleyball from 12-2, ate lunch with Isaac, went to class from 3:45-7pm (and was so tired I couldn't even fall asleep in class), then came home and napped for an hour, before having to get up to shower and look nice for the Pacos, which lasted from 9:45-12:30. Then, afterward, instead of going to sleep like I should have, if I was in my right mind, I changed my shoes and went with Megan to meet up with Jaime and Isaac, and we then went to the 'Pacos After-Party' with our entire dorm to a discoteca. O, jessica. So I got home very late, then got up a few hours later to eat breakfast and study, because o yes, I had a spanish test that day! But I rocked the test, it was very easy. Afterward I came back with Megan and did laundry and then went to a rugby game in which they were playing a really good french team. So good that in the second half, the forwards on each team switched jerseys and played for the other team, so that they would be more equal. We invited friends to come with us to the game, and 6 girls came (the rugby guys were happy about that, haha). Afterward, a man from the french fans insisted we come onto the field and take a photo with the teams and other fans, so we did. Afterward, we waited while all the players went to shower and then walked to a fiesta del dia of the mathematics department with the UPC team. It was similar to the fiesta del dia of the engineering department I went to a month earlier. I stayed there for a bit, then left with the girls and went back to the dorm to eat dinner, shower, and take a nap. Afterward, I went back to the fiesta del dia with Megan, now a fiesta del noche for a while. The fiesta was also a sort of stoplight party with nametags in red, yellow, and green, which made it fun. The rest of the weekend was fun as well, and I slept in and spent most of it with Isaac.
Sunday I finally studied for my history test (essay prompts), and slept a few hours Sunday night and had my final Monday morning. I think it went well. I came back, took a nap, went to lunch, and went with Megan to the Parc del Laberint. It was cool, but had many blocked off construction areas. We consoled ourselves by throwing sticks and small rocks at ducks and turtles! Afterward, in the evening, I saw Isaac and a few of his friends (Jose, Padu, y Sergio) and had a great time discussing such things as American Football and the swine flu epidemic, haha.
And now, today, finally. I had one final and one class. In my class, I found out the good grade on the big big paper I completed. I took the final next in my Oceanography class and did well enough, especially since on the paper due two weeks previously, I received a solid A and that alone was worth 30% of the grade, more than the final. Now on to enjoy the rest of my time in Spain!
I checked my last post, and yep, it was from April 2nd, the week before spring break! Time has flown too fast for my liking, and in only a few weeks I will be back in the states again. I am so happy in so many ways to be coming home, but I am also sad in so many ways to soon be leaving. So sad, in fact, that I am not going to talk about those reasons. But, as you will soon find out from my mom, I am staying an extra week. I decided that if I came home on the 8th knowing that I had the chance to stay a little bit longer, I would regret it forever and kick myself for not taking the opportunity. A certain person might have had some influence on my decision as well. So I'm changing my flight and coming home on the 14th, just before Jewell's graduation. But never fear, because I will be in the midwest this summer and never far from home!
So, what have I been up to in the past month? Answer: A LOT.
Let's start with spring break...Well, I'm not going to post about it now because that will be a big undertaking, but in a few short words, it was an amazing trip with tons of epic failures that didn't ruin the trip, only made it more exciting!
So after spring break...I actually had homework, with two papers due and things to do to prepare for the end of my classes! I also hung out with Isaac almost every day for at least a few hours. The trip I was supposed to take to Granada with the dormitory fell through on the weekend of the 17-18th. I was sad but also relieved because I had homework to do anyway.
Last week, I did not sleep much. I spent about 20 hours between Monday night and Thursday morning editing an 80 page paper for my sustainability class because I volunteered to be the editor and chief, along with another girl. Worst/best decision of my life! Worst because I stayed up till 3 one night, 4 the next, and 5 the last night working on it, and best because it was a piece of **** before Aura and I did our magic and turned an unorganized non-believable mess into a solid A paper. I'm pretty proud.
Then, after all of these nights with little sleep, Thursday was both Sant Jordi's Day (St. George who slayed the dragon and the patron saint of Catalunya) and also Pacos 2009, a big event my dorm hosts that is a spin off of the oscars in which students get 'Pacos' and Miss/Mister so and so. Not only that, but I also played in 2 hours of volleyball matches with Isaac and his friends, along with Megan, because they needed female players. So I went to sleep at 5 in the morning, got up at 9:45, ate, finished the paper, played volleyball from 12-2, ate lunch with Isaac, went to class from 3:45-7pm (and was so tired I couldn't even fall asleep in class), then came home and napped for an hour, before having to get up to shower and look nice for the Pacos, which lasted from 9:45-12:30. Then, afterward, instead of going to sleep like I should have, if I was in my right mind, I changed my shoes and went with Megan to meet up with Jaime and Isaac, and we then went to the 'Pacos After-Party' with our entire dorm to a discoteca. O, jessica. So I got home very late, then got up a few hours later to eat breakfast and study, because o yes, I had a spanish test that day! But I rocked the test, it was very easy. Afterward I came back with Megan and did laundry and then went to a rugby game in which they were playing a really good french team. So good that in the second half, the forwards on each team switched jerseys and played for the other team, so that they would be more equal. We invited friends to come with us to the game, and 6 girls came (the rugby guys were happy about that, haha). Afterward, a man from the french fans insisted we come onto the field and take a photo with the teams and other fans, so we did. Afterward, we waited while all the players went to shower and then walked to a fiesta del dia of the mathematics department with the UPC team. It was similar to the fiesta del dia of the engineering department I went to a month earlier. I stayed there for a bit, then left with the girls and went back to the dorm to eat dinner, shower, and take a nap. Afterward, I went back to the fiesta del dia with Megan, now a fiesta del noche for a while. The fiesta was also a sort of stoplight party with nametags in red, yellow, and green, which made it fun. The rest of the weekend was fun as well, and I slept in and spent most of it with Isaac.
Sunday I finally studied for my history test (essay prompts), and slept a few hours Sunday night and had my final Monday morning. I think it went well. I came back, took a nap, went to lunch, and went with Megan to the Parc del Laberint. It was cool, but had many blocked off construction areas. We consoled ourselves by throwing sticks and small rocks at ducks and turtles! Afterward, in the evening, I saw Isaac and a few of his friends (Jose, Padu, y Sergio) and had a great time discussing such things as American Football and the swine flu epidemic, haha.
And now, today, finally. I had one final and one class. In my class, I found out the good grade on the big big paper I completed. I took the final next in my Oceanography class and did well enough, especially since on the paper due two weeks previously, I received a solid A and that alone was worth 30% of the grade, more than the final. Now on to enjoy the rest of my time in Spain!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
I don't know what to call this post...more updates!!
I'll start with last Wednesday, where I was just about to get to in my last post. Megan and I were invited by Isaac, Jaime, and Eloi to a fiesta del dia their university (UPC) was holding. This fiesta was an all day event that students went to between classes and had food, drinks (the innocent and not so innocent kinds), music, and tables for organizations that were fund-raising or just advertising. Megan and I went after our class (well we actually left Spanish class early) and were there from 3:30ish to 9. We witnessed spaniards singing The Beatles and Wonderwall, really well actually, "Flying Flan", a competition to see who could catch flan in their mouth from the farthest distance (SO SO hilarious!! and I got flan splattered on me from being too close to a guy catching it), and Catalan flag shots, another competition between a lot of guys and a few brave girls to see who could down 9 shots of alternating beer/sangria the fastest. When they were in order, the shots represented a red and yellow Catalan flag (very patriotic ha ha). When the fiesta was winding down, I went with Isaac to see if he could find another helmet so he could take me home on his motobike. He didn't find one, but we ran into a few rugby friends of his and ended up walking down diagonal to have a few drinks with them. I primarily just sat there and looked pretty while he and his friends talked in Spanish. I could understand a lot of the words they were saying but had a hard time stringing them into sentences and understanding the whole thing, but I was still proud of myself. Isaac or Jose, the other guy who knew english well, would occasionally fill me in on what was happening or make sure to include me in the conversation. However, a lot of the convo was about rugby and I didn't mind just relaxing since I know nothing of rugby!
Thursday was pretty uneventful, but on Friday I had no classes! Because of this, Megan and I decided we would go to Montjuic with our sack lunches and see MNAC and the Botanical Garden. We also wanted to see the Labyrinth park but that didn't work out. MNAC is the museum of Catalan art, where they have preserved a lot of art from churches and monasteries that would have been destroyed or stolen if it wasn't removed. When we got to the museum, we discovered that we had to pay and decided it wasn't worth it at the time, so we went to the free exhibit (which was NOT cool). Afterward, we went to find the garden. We found a small, wild-looking garden and explored it and ate our lunches there. At first I thought it was the botanical garden but after walking through it we found it was WAY too small to be so. However, the garden was beautiful and had actual dirt paths. We stayed there until a group of 7 yr olds showed up and started running and screaming everywhere. We then walked up past the Olympic stadium and got some good views of the whole of Montjuic mountain, and afterward found the Jardin Botanic behind the stadium. Before going in, we saw a really nice looking patch of flowers and ran and lay down in them! It was refreshing to lie in grass for once. We then got up and went inside the garden and oh was it beautiful!! It was set up with plants from 8 different areas, including California, Africa, the Med., Australia, etc, and a lot of flowers were in bloom. We walked around and often caught a whiff of something magnificent, in which case we would stop and look around until we found the culprit and then go stick our faces in the flowers to soak up the smell!! We walked around until it was almost time to head back to the dorm to get ready for a birthday party! we had to go to that evening. Before we left the garden we found a little boardwalk area over a large goldfish pond, and decided to take some pictures of us doing cartwheels, jumping, etc etc...Well, we returned to the dorm and got ready to go out, and then met Jaime at UPC. It was Isaac's and one of his friend's birthdays and they were all celebrating together. I got to meet tons of new people and had A LOT of fun! We all went out to eat Chinese together, which was delicious, and then went out to a bar, where Isaac's friends attempted to get him and his birthday pal really drunk..those hombres traviesos!
Saturday was a bumming around day because it started raining and then rained ALL day long (it hasn't stopped yet and it's Thursday now!) On Saturday evening Megan and I went to a show called Opera y Flamenco. It was really intense and we both enjoyed it! However, when the show was done, we were flamenco'd out. The show had a violinist, violist, guitarist (2), vocalist, drummer, and pianist. There were also 2 opera singers and 2 flamenco dancers. They would basically just go from song to song, dance to dance, and intersperse these with Opera pieces like the Habanera from Carmen. At one point the female flamenco dancer had a dress on with a very long skirt that she kicked around with her heels and she tripped and fell down HARD. However, that girl was good cause she got right back up and made it seem like the entire fall was part of the act. Megan and I weren't sure that it was actually an accident (but it was :D). After the show we went to Pizza Hut to try their pizza. It was not good. At all. I'll wait till I'm back in the states to have pizza hut again! We then went home and went to bed!
Nothing exciting has happened since then. I've actually had homework to do (I know, amazing) and it has been rainy and dreary. Although yesterday my Spanish class went on a field trip to a market where our teacher had us sample these special donuts that Catholics eat during Lent. Guess what they have in them....Anis and Cinnamon. Anis, as in the alcohol that is in Absinthe...These donuts tasted WEIRD. Those Spanish Catholics....Today I am getting ready to go to Germany for a week!!! I'm so excited!! Frankfurt, St. Goar, Schwalmstadt, Freiburg/Triburg, Nuremburg, and Prague!! Say a prayer for me and my travel safety, por favor. And tonight I am going to see Isaac again as well :)
Goodbye for now and love for all!
Thursday was pretty uneventful, but on Friday I had no classes! Because of this, Megan and I decided we would go to Montjuic with our sack lunches and see MNAC and the Botanical Garden. We also wanted to see the Labyrinth park but that didn't work out. MNAC is the museum of Catalan art, where they have preserved a lot of art from churches and monasteries that would have been destroyed or stolen if it wasn't removed. When we got to the museum, we discovered that we had to pay and decided it wasn't worth it at the time, so we went to the free exhibit (which was NOT cool). Afterward, we went to find the garden. We found a small, wild-looking garden and explored it and ate our lunches there. At first I thought it was the botanical garden but after walking through it we found it was WAY too small to be so. However, the garden was beautiful and had actual dirt paths. We stayed there until a group of 7 yr olds showed up and started running and screaming everywhere. We then walked up past the Olympic stadium and got some good views of the whole of Montjuic mountain, and afterward found the Jardin Botanic behind the stadium. Before going in, we saw a really nice looking patch of flowers and ran and lay down in them! It was refreshing to lie in grass for once. We then got up and went inside the garden and oh was it beautiful!! It was set up with plants from 8 different areas, including California, Africa, the Med., Australia, etc, and a lot of flowers were in bloom. We walked around and often caught a whiff of something magnificent, in which case we would stop and look around until we found the culprit and then go stick our faces in the flowers to soak up the smell!! We walked around until it was almost time to head back to the dorm to get ready for a birthday party! we had to go to that evening. Before we left the garden we found a little boardwalk area over a large goldfish pond, and decided to take some pictures of us doing cartwheels, jumping, etc etc...Well, we returned to the dorm and got ready to go out, and then met Jaime at UPC. It was Isaac's and one of his friend's birthdays and they were all celebrating together. I got to meet tons of new people and had A LOT of fun! We all went out to eat Chinese together, which was delicious, and then went out to a bar, where Isaac's friends attempted to get him and his birthday pal really drunk..those hombres traviesos!
Saturday was a bumming around day because it started raining and then rained ALL day long (it hasn't stopped yet and it's Thursday now!) On Saturday evening Megan and I went to a show called Opera y Flamenco. It was really intense and we both enjoyed it! However, when the show was done, we were flamenco'd out. The show had a violinist, violist, guitarist (2), vocalist, drummer, and pianist. There were also 2 opera singers and 2 flamenco dancers. They would basically just go from song to song, dance to dance, and intersperse these with Opera pieces like the Habanera from Carmen. At one point the female flamenco dancer had a dress on with a very long skirt that she kicked around with her heels and she tripped and fell down HARD. However, that girl was good cause she got right back up and made it seem like the entire fall was part of the act. Megan and I weren't sure that it was actually an accident (but it was :D). After the show we went to Pizza Hut to try their pizza. It was not good. At all. I'll wait till I'm back in the states to have pizza hut again! We then went home and went to bed!
Nothing exciting has happened since then. I've actually had homework to do (I know, amazing) and it has been rainy and dreary. Although yesterday my Spanish class went on a field trip to a market where our teacher had us sample these special donuts that Catholics eat during Lent. Guess what they have in them....Anis and Cinnamon. Anis, as in the alcohol that is in Absinthe...These donuts tasted WEIRD. Those Spanish Catholics....Today I am getting ready to go to Germany for a week!!! I'm so excited!! Frankfurt, St. Goar, Schwalmstadt, Freiburg/Triburg, Nuremburg, and Prague!! Say a prayer for me and my travel safety, por favor. And tonight I am going to see Isaac again as well :)
Goodbye for now and love for all!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
bueno bueno bueno
This past week and a half has been pretty busy for me and has made me realize more reasons why I love Spain! Me encanta Espana! I'll start with last Wednesday, when I went to a wine tasting session hosted by a local wine shop and IES after classes. It was very cool, actually, and I learned things like how to differentiate between good and bad wines and old and young. Things such as the "Brightness" and "shininess (sp.)" of the wine, and how clear it is, and also the different color hints when the glass is tilted all determine quality. You can tell the age by the consistency of the wine and its darkness (with a red wine). To determine the consistency you have to swirl the wine in the glass and watch the liquid drip down the side back into the remainder of the glass (I would have never thought of this myself!) I was able to try a cava (champagne, but made especially in Catalonia), a very delicious white wine, and two red wines, one older than the other. The teacher had us smell each wine before tasting, then swirl and smell for a stronger scent, and finally to taste and then notice whether the smell was similar to the taste. The white wine smelled like peaches and tasted really really good! Even the red wines were surprisingly good, and the older wine actually tasted kind of like wood, a sort of juniper. All in all, it was a really good experience and I was able to try quality spanish wines!
After the wine tasting, I went with Megan to a rugby game that our mutual friend Eloi invited us to. They were playing the French Navy (apparently they play all sorts of teams from different countries to get practice since there are few teams in Barcelona). We had a great time, and the field was down by the beaches, although it was night so we didn't get to enjoy any view. The game was hard to keep up with without someone who could explain what was happening as it went on, but we occupied ourselves by talking to some guys who were from the navy and knew some spanish and some english but mostly French. They were fun, but we were secretly glad when the game was over and Eloi called us down to say hi. He immediately introduced us to Carlos, a guy who was a player but coaching as well, and said we should stay with him while everyone showered, and then afterward the two teams would get together to eat and "celebrate" the game, ha ha. So, we went into the sports complex, to this large room that was their "club" and had all their awards, photos, and gifts from teams they had played. It was pretty cool and they laid out food and drinks, and well, Megan and I were one of the few people there NOT boys and NOT on a team, ha ha. There were a few girls with the French team, but we felt pretty special! As you can imagine, in a room full of 50 rugby players and us being one of 4 girls total, we were very content :D. We had a great time and ended up hitting it off with a few players (Mom knows the result of this, ha ha).
My next adventure didn't start until Friday. On Friday and Saturday my days were filled with fun..Oceanography field trips! yay! (not really). They would have been ok, but with the travel time and just general waste of time, I was glad to be done on Saturday night. However, on Friday I went with the classes to Palamos in the Costa Brava region, an hour and a half or so from Barcelona to see a fishing museum, a harbor, some nets, and a fish auction and market. The auction was the coolest part because I had no idea the fishermen sold ALL of their catch through an auction to keep the prices fair and let everyone know total catches. Basically to keep the fishermen honest. We left town at 1:30pm and returned a little after 7pm. Saturday was a MUCH longer day. I left Barcelona at 8:30 (well it was really 8:50 because IES never does anything on time!) and did not return until 8:30 at night. We traveled to the Ebro Delta to see a museum and various parts of the delta, including lagoons, rice fields, bays, and the beach front, and then a secluded beach with a Posidonia Oceanica seagrass meadow nearby. It had potential to be really interesting but I felt as though we spent most of the day in the bus traveling from place to place :(. However, I did see wild flamingos...LOTS of them and they were fairly close and really, really cool! That was the most fun part of my day. After I got back and ran to dinner ( I was starving. But then again, I am always starving by the time I get to have dinner!), I got ready to go out for the night, because a lot of us on the hall had tickets to a club that night to see an artist, "girltalk", perform, if that is what you can call it. He mixes music, all he had to do was technically push play on his computers, and he's not really a DJ either..I don't know what he is, really, but his music was pretty cool. The club, Razmatazz, was crazy and Megan and I didn't let each other out of our sights all night for fear of getting lost in the mass crowds of people. Our friends, well, they disappeared fairly quickly, though we ran into them randomly throughout the night. The club itself was really neat, with 3 floors, and different rooms of different sizes that played types of music like pop, house, alternative, rock, etc., plus the main dance floor where Girltalk was performing. Oh, and Megan had rented a scooter that day so we scooted there and back, saving the hassle of the metro! We got lost on the way to the club and had fun finding our way using bus-route maps at the bus stops, and finally found the club in the end.
Sunday was low-key, with only homework, gotta have a rest day!
Monday, well, I went out on my first date in Spain, with Isaac, who I had met at the rugby game last Wednesday. I had a great time, and although we struggle with communication a little bit, he knows a good amount of English, that with my Spanish, we get along just fine! Es Perfecto. I'll leave it at that :) Oh, and he's still around, in case you are wondering :):)
Tuesday I went to another rugby match, a double-header with UPC vs Harvard. Tara and Megan came with and we had a good time since it was an afternoon game and sunny and nice. The UPC boys ended up losing but fought hard. They were just too tired the second game, when Harvard had put out fresh players and they had none because a lot of guys were in classes. I said hi to Isaac afterward and chatted for a bit before I, too, had to go to class.
Oh, and I have heard that a spoonful of sugar in the milk here makes it taste better, so I am going to try it and see what happens!
After the wine tasting, I went with Megan to a rugby game that our mutual friend Eloi invited us to. They were playing the French Navy (apparently they play all sorts of teams from different countries to get practice since there are few teams in Barcelona). We had a great time, and the field was down by the beaches, although it was night so we didn't get to enjoy any view. The game was hard to keep up with without someone who could explain what was happening as it went on, but we occupied ourselves by talking to some guys who were from the navy and knew some spanish and some english but mostly French. They were fun, but we were secretly glad when the game was over and Eloi called us down to say hi. He immediately introduced us to Carlos, a guy who was a player but coaching as well, and said we should stay with him while everyone showered, and then afterward the two teams would get together to eat and "celebrate" the game, ha ha. So, we went into the sports complex, to this large room that was their "club" and had all their awards, photos, and gifts from teams they had played. It was pretty cool and they laid out food and drinks, and well, Megan and I were one of the few people there NOT boys and NOT on a team, ha ha. There were a few girls with the French team, but we felt pretty special! As you can imagine, in a room full of 50 rugby players and us being one of 4 girls total, we were very content :D. We had a great time and ended up hitting it off with a few players (Mom knows the result of this, ha ha).
My next adventure didn't start until Friday. On Friday and Saturday my days were filled with fun..Oceanography field trips! yay! (not really). They would have been ok, but with the travel time and just general waste of time, I was glad to be done on Saturday night. However, on Friday I went with the classes to Palamos in the Costa Brava region, an hour and a half or so from Barcelona to see a fishing museum, a harbor, some nets, and a fish auction and market. The auction was the coolest part because I had no idea the fishermen sold ALL of their catch through an auction to keep the prices fair and let everyone know total catches. Basically to keep the fishermen honest. We left town at 1:30pm and returned a little after 7pm. Saturday was a MUCH longer day. I left Barcelona at 8:30 (well it was really 8:50 because IES never does anything on time!) and did not return until 8:30 at night. We traveled to the Ebro Delta to see a museum and various parts of the delta, including lagoons, rice fields, bays, and the beach front, and then a secluded beach with a Posidonia Oceanica seagrass meadow nearby. It had potential to be really interesting but I felt as though we spent most of the day in the bus traveling from place to place :(. However, I did see wild flamingos...LOTS of them and they were fairly close and really, really cool! That was the most fun part of my day. After I got back and ran to dinner ( I was starving. But then again, I am always starving by the time I get to have dinner!), I got ready to go out for the night, because a lot of us on the hall had tickets to a club that night to see an artist, "girltalk", perform, if that is what you can call it. He mixes music, all he had to do was technically push play on his computers, and he's not really a DJ either..I don't know what he is, really, but his music was pretty cool. The club, Razmatazz, was crazy and Megan and I didn't let each other out of our sights all night for fear of getting lost in the mass crowds of people. Our friends, well, they disappeared fairly quickly, though we ran into them randomly throughout the night. The club itself was really neat, with 3 floors, and different rooms of different sizes that played types of music like pop, house, alternative, rock, etc., plus the main dance floor where Girltalk was performing. Oh, and Megan had rented a scooter that day so we scooted there and back, saving the hassle of the metro! We got lost on the way to the club and had fun finding our way using bus-route maps at the bus stops, and finally found the club in the end.
Sunday was low-key, with only homework, gotta have a rest day!
Monday, well, I went out on my first date in Spain, with Isaac, who I had met at the rugby game last Wednesday. I had a great time, and although we struggle with communication a little bit, he knows a good amount of English, that with my Spanish, we get along just fine! Es Perfecto. I'll leave it at that :) Oh, and he's still around, in case you are wondering :):)
Tuesday I went to another rugby match, a double-header with UPC vs Harvard. Tara and Megan came with and we had a good time since it was an afternoon game and sunny and nice. The UPC boys ended up losing but fought hard. They were just too tired the second game, when Harvard had put out fresh players and they had none because a lot of guys were in classes. I said hi to Isaac afterward and chatted for a bit before I, too, had to go to class.
Oh, and I have heard that a spoonful of sugar in the milk here makes it taste better, so I am going to try it and see what happens!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)