On Sunday morning we got up and made ourselves really productive so we could go to Sitges again that night for the parade. Megan studied for her midterm and I got some things done that I had been putting off. We decided we would be FCBarcelona futbol players, and we looked good! We also painted our faces again, as well, to be fun. We left the dorm around 7pm and were in Sitges by 8ish. While in the metro we were the only ones looking Carnivalish, but by the time we got to the train station, we saw many more people in costume! We actually got seats by each other on the train ride (amazing). When we got to Sitges, we went to the center of town (Megan got another muffin) and saw where the parade would start, and then followed the route out to the beach front. We stood in line for some Pans sandwiches, then took them to a good spot on the parade route. We soon decided the spot would not be good because people could push in front of us, so we walked down the sidewalk till we found openings right at the barrier and got ourselves a place there (while probably squeezing people to the right and left to us, but oh well). The parade took forever to get down to the street we were on but around 9:45 we finally saw it (it started at 9). It was the slowest, and most awesome parade I have seen in my life, haha. The first float was our favorite from the past weekend and the red-costumed men danced with us (through the barrier) and took pictures! Throughout the course of the parade, people from almost every float came over to take pictures or atleast commented excitedly at our FCB jerseys; they loved them! Either that, or they would mention RealMadrid or Espanol, two rival teams. When that happened, we would boo them or just chant in their faces. We had some indian girls bow to us, and a few girls from another float started up the Catalan anthem for the team, which we knew some of. We were very popular that night, and loved every moment of it! My favorite floats were the first one, and then the 80s themed one, where we had lots of attention from some adorable guys, and the Chiquita Banana themed one as well. Our cameras were used well; Megan's died, and mine died at the end of the night after going through two pairs of batteries! Every once in a while we thought the parade might be over, but then another float would come around the corner. At about 12:30am, we were tired of being behind the barrier, and wanted to go exploring, so we cut through the street to the other side and made our way down till we could see down the street the floats were coming from. We thought about staying, but then just decided to go up that street where there were no barriers. On the way, we came across some scantily clad men who wanted us to stretch our legs on a wall with them since we were in sports costumes, and then began worshiping us! It was hilarious. Megan was lifted up into a rugby position (we would have never known except that we experienced a game before) and I was lifted up at one point as well. We went over to the street where the parade was coming from and the boys all sneaked through the barrier of policemen. We were stuck to the side and watched a few more floats before Megan convinced me to run through. And we did! The parade became ten times as fun when there was no barrier, because we just danced in the streets with the paraders, or on the sidewalks with other costumed people!
To be continued... (I got tired of typing. Go visit Megan's blog for ALL the details, haha)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Carnaval!
This past weekend, which started out as a nice, relaxing three day weekend, turned into mass chaos, crazy, parade-chasing fun and excitement! It all started when Megan and I left for Sitges on Friday afternoon around 2:30pm. We were set to spend the night in the little town which would soon become crowded with people searching for the most fun. When we got there, the town was DEAD. In fact, it was dead until 7pm, because that was when people were finally off of work and strolling in the streets. (We forgot about the fact that it was still a weekday b/c we were in weekend mode.) We asked a policeman for directions to our hotel and started walking. Pretty soon we heard music in the distance and walked into a plaza to find lots of costumed people and two large floats with base pumping from their speakers! It was a mini-parade! We danced around because the song was a great one (Rise Up) and then decided to continue to our hotel. We had to walk up and down the beachfront 3 times and asked two more people until we finally had success and checked into the hotel. We then went to find a snack and walk around the town. We did find our snack and then while looking for someplace to eat it we happened upon the parade again, this time going down the street! So we sat on a low wall and just enjoyed it as the (2 float) parade went by. By this time, we had decided that the man driving the tractor of the second float was pretty good-looking, as were other costumed men, so we were content :). After eating, we decided to follow where the parade had gone and found a schoolyard of some sort where children were running around and loud techno music (like the kind you would find in a club) was playing. These kids were crazy; half were dancing around like maniacs, and the others were playing a game where they all pulled each others pants down..Confusing children. We kept walking and thought we had lost the parade forever, but then we found it again, parked and all the costumed people were eating refreshments. We walked on because we figured it was finished but then hurried back when we heard the music start up again! They probably recognized the two blonde Americans acting like groupies by then, but we didn't care. We took some more pictures, then walked back to our hotel, stopping along the way to see the Palau de Maricel and walk through the sand on the beach.
At the hotel, we met up with Crissy and Caitlin and two friends that were with them. We eventually left the hotel again to explore some more and find food and a grocery store with them. While out, Megan and I found a great pastry shop with delicious muffins (I'm pretty sure Megan fell in love with hers; I just thought mine was good. It didn't beat 85cent Boqueria muffins). We then found 2 euro masks (mine broke the next day on the way home) and a very large grocery store next to the train station. While there, Megan and I decided to make sandwiches for dinner, and not eat out. We walked back towards the center of town with our purchases and what did we find but the parade, again! The others hadn't seen it yet so we caught up with it and it parked itself in the square and the people in the parade danced around for a while. When it slowed down, we split up with the girls and went back to our hotel to eat and get ready. It took us a long time to get ready because we hadn't used face-crayons before to decorate our faces, but we looked pretty good by the time we were finished! Crissy, Caitlin, and Kristen also used the crayons.
We all left the hotel together and went where the guy at the front desk told us we were find the most people. We were lost at first, but just ended up following the loads of people dressed in costume and found the street of bars. We were definitely the minority since we didn't have a costume and drunk people kept asking us "Que es tu disfraz?" Everyone's costumes were very neat but we never found anyone from the parade with the extra-cool costumes. Later on in the evening we met up randomly with five people from our hall who had come to Sitges later in the afternoon and said hi; a few of the girls were upset because they had lost their bags-with their stuff in them, a phone for one girl, and a phone, camera, and ID for the other girl. I felt sorry but there wasn't much we could do at that point. We went home soon after that and fell into our bed. I say singular because although there were two beds in the room, one was bigger and since it was FREEZING, we took the blankets from the second bed and piled them all on so we could be warm! We also slept in our jeans. That's the sort of quality we get for 18 euro apiece.
In the morning we dragged ourselves out of bed for breakfast since it was free (and good: orange juice, coffee, toast, bocadillos) and then packed up and jumped on a train back home. But, we didn't leave before seeing the parade TWICE more that morning, once on the streets near our hotel, and again from across the train tracks. Haha that parade loved us!
The daytime on Saturday was uneventful. We went to lunch, slept till 5, and then did stuff till dinner, and went to find a parade in Barcelona after dinner. The parade took forever to find but we finally took a metro across town and heard the parade in the distance. We caught up with what was left and watched it go by. It was not that fun but still enjoyable. Afterward, we thought we might go out, but decided instead to find churros and chocolate. We gave up soon on that idea and decided instead to get flurries at McDonald's and eat them on the NitBus home. We found the Nitbus and got on, and rode around for a while before thinking, hmm, we've been on the bus a long time...Then the bus driver stopped at a stop and the only other person got off. He made hand gestures at us to leave, but we just thought he was being weird. Then the bus driver flashed his lights at us. We hurried up the the front and asked where we were, and he told us Forum. Well, we got off of the bus, really confused, and asked some people where the nearest metro stop was, and went there, still feeling very giggly and confused. When we found it, I remembered that it was the place where I had been on a field trip earlier that week and was on the OPPOSITE end of the city and near the sea. We took a really long metro ride (what we were avoiding in the first place by taking the bus) and finally made it home after 2am. We thought we'd be home at 12:30...Turns out we took a bus going in the wrong direction and they didn't loop. Oops.
At the hotel, we met up with Crissy and Caitlin and two friends that were with them. We eventually left the hotel again to explore some more and find food and a grocery store with them. While out, Megan and I found a great pastry shop with delicious muffins (I'm pretty sure Megan fell in love with hers; I just thought mine was good. It didn't beat 85cent Boqueria muffins). We then found 2 euro masks (mine broke the next day on the way home) and a very large grocery store next to the train station. While there, Megan and I decided to make sandwiches for dinner, and not eat out. We walked back towards the center of town with our purchases and what did we find but the parade, again! The others hadn't seen it yet so we caught up with it and it parked itself in the square and the people in the parade danced around for a while. When it slowed down, we split up with the girls and went back to our hotel to eat and get ready. It took us a long time to get ready because we hadn't used face-crayons before to decorate our faces, but we looked pretty good by the time we were finished! Crissy, Caitlin, and Kristen also used the crayons.
We all left the hotel together and went where the guy at the front desk told us we were find the most people. We were lost at first, but just ended up following the loads of people dressed in costume and found the street of bars. We were definitely the minority since we didn't have a costume and drunk people kept asking us "Que es tu disfraz?" Everyone's costumes were very neat but we never found anyone from the parade with the extra-cool costumes. Later on in the evening we met up randomly with five people from our hall who had come to Sitges later in the afternoon and said hi; a few of the girls were upset because they had lost their bags-with their stuff in them, a phone for one girl, and a phone, camera, and ID for the other girl. I felt sorry but there wasn't much we could do at that point. We went home soon after that and fell into our bed. I say singular because although there were two beds in the room, one was bigger and since it was FREEZING, we took the blankets from the second bed and piled them all on so we could be warm! We also slept in our jeans. That's the sort of quality we get for 18 euro apiece.
In the morning we dragged ourselves out of bed for breakfast since it was free (and good: orange juice, coffee, toast, bocadillos) and then packed up and jumped on a train back home. But, we didn't leave before seeing the parade TWICE more that morning, once on the streets near our hotel, and again from across the train tracks. Haha that parade loved us!
The daytime on Saturday was uneventful. We went to lunch, slept till 5, and then did stuff till dinner, and went to find a parade in Barcelona after dinner. The parade took forever to find but we finally took a metro across town and heard the parade in the distance. We caught up with what was left and watched it go by. It was not that fun but still enjoyable. Afterward, we thought we might go out, but decided instead to find churros and chocolate. We gave up soon on that idea and decided instead to get flurries at McDonald's and eat them on the NitBus home. We found the Nitbus and got on, and rode around for a while before thinking, hmm, we've been on the bus a long time...Then the bus driver stopped at a stop and the only other person got off. He made hand gestures at us to leave, but we just thought he was being weird. Then the bus driver flashed his lights at us. We hurried up the the front and asked where we were, and he told us Forum. Well, we got off of the bus, really confused, and asked some people where the nearest metro stop was, and went there, still feeling very giggly and confused. When we found it, I remembered that it was the place where I had been on a field trip earlier that week and was on the OPPOSITE end of the city and near the sea. We took a really long metro ride (what we were avoiding in the first place by taking the bus) and finally made it home after 2am. We thought we'd be home at 12:30...Turns out we took a bus going in the wrong direction and they didn't loop. Oops.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Week six
This week hasn't been too eventful, but exciting none the less! I went to the Fiesta de Laia on Sunday and in the evening went to the Correfoc events. Correfoc translated means 'running with fire' and that is what was happening! There were tons of people in the plaza in front of the Catedral and interspersed with the spectators were people, young and old alike, wearing capes and dancing around with sticks that had firecrackers attached to them. They were like big sparklers that exploded at the end and blew sparks EVERYWHERE. I soon found out why all the spectators were wearing hoods; at one point a (dead) spark flew into my hair...scary! But more than scary, the festival was exhilarating. Along with people holding firecrackers, there were tall dragons and horses and other creatures that also spun around and flung sparks everywhere. A few large drum groups added to the mood with fast drum beats. Near the end of the festival the drum groups took their place on a raised area of steps and began a sort of 'drum-off' between the groups. I was lucky enough to have already been on the steps and right next to them. The green team was clearly better, haha! I was very glad I got to see this festival. But, I found out while at the festival that the Castellers had been in the plaza earlier; I had no idea! I hope they are back in Barcelona before the semester is up. (Castellers are a group of people that create human towers, it is a very cool experience and a symbol of Catalunian pride.)
As for the rest of the week...
I decided one of the older ladies who works in the cafeteria is a word I will not post on this blog. She is mean, never smiles, gives me dirty looks, and the past few times I have asked for sack lunches and she never gives me what I want even when I specifically ask for it. On Monday she turned around and ignored me before I was even done speaking. Grr. I do not like her. Cheese is good, but when I get a foot-long sandwich with only cheese and I asked for ham, I am not a happy camper. I'll see what happens next week.
On Wednesday I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. The funny thing is, I don't know why I was having a bad day. It started when I entered Spanish class and suddenly did not want to be there, AT ALL. Class was terribly long, and then I stalked right out the door and got on a bus home. While I was angry at the world on the way home I decided I wanted to go to the beach. I got home, put on my running shoes, and started the long commute to the beach (not having a personal vehicle sucks sometimes here). When I saw the ocean, I instantly felt ten times better. I went and sat for a while on the shore and then began running. It helped tremendously. I left when it got too chilly for shorts and headed home. I think I was just feeling suffocated by the city in general. It is so different, with so many people, and so much noise, and I had to get away. The mountains weren't close so I went to the beach!
On Thursday Megan and I met up with Chrissy and Caitlin for some Japonese buffet at this place called Castell. Megan and I were wary of the restaurant at first but the girls assured us it was delicious. And it was! It was a restaurant with tables situated next to a revolving belt of small Japonese dishes. We just had to grab what we wanted off the conveyor belt! For the price we paid, we got a very big deal. We stuffed ourselves and had a great time doing it. Megan even tried the sushi and enjoyed it! I think that at the end ( I counted the plates) I had between 20-30 pieces of sushi roll...they were cut small but still! I even tried clam, and thought it was ok.
During my sustainability class we took a field trip to the Forum, a huge building built specifically for a 2004 conference and that now just houses tons of information about Barcelona Projecta. BP is a plan to advance the city's sustainability and connect the city's communities and people in various ways. We watched a really cool interactive video. Our teacher tried to get us up to the roof but we weren't allowed. Mediterranean Oc. was fairly boring, but David and I did add Paul to our group for the presentation/paper, which our teacher has told us nothing about so far..I guess we won't worry seriously about it till he does! He also hasn't told us anything about our midterm, happening two classes from now. I guess I won't worry about that either.
Thursday night after dinner, I wasn't planning on doing anything, but we were chatting with the spanish students on our hall, and it was kind of collectively decided that we should all go to the pub. So we put together a large group, 13 or so, and walked down to the pub and ended up staying till 1:30 in the morning. It was a lot of fun! Eloi told us that the rugby players, when we went to watch their game last week, thought we were nice. I was confused by what he meant, because we never talked to the players, but then he further explained that it implied good-looking. Ah, makes more sense now! Megan and I walked back with Xavi and Ludo, who had to be up at 7 in the morning, and they told us that our Spanish vocabulary has improved A LOT since the beginning of the semester! That is really cool, because it doesn't seem as though it has, but they said we are speaking really well.
We also were told about a dorm sponsored trip to Granada in March. It involves going to Granada and doing a room-exchange with the Col.lego Major in Granada so we don't have to pay for a place to stay, only the travel there and back. It sounds like a really neat idea and I will probably go, because I really want to see the south of Spain.
Today Megan and I are going to Sitges, a small town thirty minutes away that has a Carnival celebration. We are meeting up with Crissy and Caitlin and staying the night in a hotel tonight. During the day there are parades and costumes and such, and at night, well, you know :). It should be a lot of fun!
As for the rest of the week...
I decided one of the older ladies who works in the cafeteria is a word I will not post on this blog. She is mean, never smiles, gives me dirty looks, and the past few times I have asked for sack lunches and she never gives me what I want even when I specifically ask for it. On Monday she turned around and ignored me before I was even done speaking. Grr. I do not like her. Cheese is good, but when I get a foot-long sandwich with only cheese and I asked for ham, I am not a happy camper. I'll see what happens next week.
On Wednesday I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. The funny thing is, I don't know why I was having a bad day. It started when I entered Spanish class and suddenly did not want to be there, AT ALL. Class was terribly long, and then I stalked right out the door and got on a bus home. While I was angry at the world on the way home I decided I wanted to go to the beach. I got home, put on my running shoes, and started the long commute to the beach (not having a personal vehicle sucks sometimes here). When I saw the ocean, I instantly felt ten times better. I went and sat for a while on the shore and then began running. It helped tremendously. I left when it got too chilly for shorts and headed home. I think I was just feeling suffocated by the city in general. It is so different, with so many people, and so much noise, and I had to get away. The mountains weren't close so I went to the beach!
On Thursday Megan and I met up with Chrissy and Caitlin for some Japonese buffet at this place called Castell. Megan and I were wary of the restaurant at first but the girls assured us it was delicious. And it was! It was a restaurant with tables situated next to a revolving belt of small Japonese dishes. We just had to grab what we wanted off the conveyor belt! For the price we paid, we got a very big deal. We stuffed ourselves and had a great time doing it. Megan even tried the sushi and enjoyed it! I think that at the end ( I counted the plates) I had between 20-30 pieces of sushi roll...they were cut small but still! I even tried clam, and thought it was ok.
During my sustainability class we took a field trip to the Forum, a huge building built specifically for a 2004 conference and that now just houses tons of information about Barcelona Projecta. BP is a plan to advance the city's sustainability and connect the city's communities and people in various ways. We watched a really cool interactive video. Our teacher tried to get us up to the roof but we weren't allowed. Mediterranean Oc. was fairly boring, but David and I did add Paul to our group for the presentation/paper, which our teacher has told us nothing about so far..I guess we won't worry seriously about it till he does! He also hasn't told us anything about our midterm, happening two classes from now. I guess I won't worry about that either.
Thursday night after dinner, I wasn't planning on doing anything, but we were chatting with the spanish students on our hall, and it was kind of collectively decided that we should all go to the pub. So we put together a large group, 13 or so, and walked down to the pub and ended up staying till 1:30 in the morning. It was a lot of fun! Eloi told us that the rugby players, when we went to watch their game last week, thought we were nice. I was confused by what he meant, because we never talked to the players, but then he further explained that it implied good-looking. Ah, makes more sense now! Megan and I walked back with Xavi and Ludo, who had to be up at 7 in the morning, and they told us that our Spanish vocabulary has improved A LOT since the beginning of the semester! That is really cool, because it doesn't seem as though it has, but they said we are speaking really well.
We also were told about a dorm sponsored trip to Granada in March. It involves going to Granada and doing a room-exchange with the Col.lego Major in Granada so we don't have to pay for a place to stay, only the travel there and back. It sounds like a really neat idea and I will probably go, because I really want to see the south of Spain.
Today Megan and I are going to Sitges, a small town thirty minutes away that has a Carnival celebration. We are meeting up with Crissy and Caitlin and staying the night in a hotel tonight. During the day there are parades and costumes and such, and at night, well, you know :). It should be a lot of fun!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
What holiday?
Ugh. I detest Valentine's Day. It is a holiday invented by stores and restaurants and flower shops to get people to spend money for no good reason. I would hate it even if I had a significant other to celebrate it with. I don't intend to do anything remotely related to Valentine's Day today, including wearing red/pink (Meg's idea)! But enough of that!
This week wasn't too exciting, but I have a lot of little comments about things that have happened. On Sunday evening Meg and I went to our second futbol game (the first one was free). We had better seats than the first game, even though they were still nosebleed section, and we made it in time for the fight song before the game started. At halftime, we went to find everyone else from Jewell who were also at the game. They were in a section below ours, and in order to get to them we had to jump a barrier, which was probably not allowed. The barcelona stadium is set up so that the gate you go inside takes you directly to your section and no where else. It is really, really hard to go find better seats and crowd control is everywhere. Definitely not the Royals stadium where you can go sit on the bottom level if you want. Well, we found the boys and sat with them for a while, but it was COLD and windy so we eventually left. We saw all three of the goals that were made so we didn't miss out!
I'm entertained by something new everyday in my two Tuesday/Thursday classes. Last week we taught my teacher how to properly say 'feces' in English. The only word equivalent he knew was 'shit' and boy did he use it, to talk about the fish and the seagulls and the little plankton and nutrients, etc. He figured something was up when the whole class kept giggling with the way he used the term. We taught him a few different words that were a little less crude. I've heard my Spanish teacher say it as well when talking about caca, so maybe it is just a perception that Spaniards have of how America uses that term..very strange.
Thursday, Megan and I went with Eloi (a student on our hall) to a rugby match. We had never seen one before and were excited to go. The game was a match between UB and UPC, two local universities. Eloi normally plays for UPC, but he was injured (shoulder) and so was not playing in the match. On the way to the match, he made a comment, out of the blue, that we looked very "American". We asked him to enlighten us as to why, and he just said everything and then mentioned our sunglasses (it was sunny out, others had on sunglasses as well!), our blonde hair, our shoes..I guess we're not trying hard enough to blend in, but oh well. I'm not going to change those things, I'll just have to look American. The rugby match itself was very different. I enjoyed watching, but it just seemed like 30 men competing to see who was the toughest. It also looked like a painful game, and I didn't see how it is much related to football. UPC was slaughtered and lost by 8 goals or more, but no one seemed too disappointed.
Yesterday, Megan and I walked around Barcelona in the afternoon in the process of finding a hotel her sister is thinking of staying in when she visits. We were in a very neat area of town, but the coolest thing we found was a little hole in the wall candy shop named "Happy Pills". You can buy jars of different sizes that look like prescription containers, put a label on them, and fill them with any sort of candy. It was a brilliant idea and very cute. We are definitely coming back. Some people might get happy pills as their souvenir, haha.
Yesterday was my first Spanish midterm! I actually think I did pretty well on it. I was worried because I don't know how she tests, but the test was not bad at all. Also, at the end of class she brought us an example of a spanish cultural afternoon snack (but for little kids, I think). It was delicious! It was a type of milk made from Chufas (also called Horuchata, or Tiger nuts) and tasted sort of like soy milk, but sweeter. She compared the nuts to almonds. She gave us a sweet bread to dip into the milk as well.
My last thought has to do with the girls' dressing habits over here who are from the U.S...this is probably the 'style' and is totally in right now, but why does every girl have to wear tights, only tights, with every outfit? Tights are NOT pants, and they don't cover anything, even if you can't see skin...About half the girls in every one of my classes wears tights, and just with normal shirts, not even something that will halfway cover their butt. The other day in class, three girls went up to the board to answer a question and they looked like triplets, with boots, tights, maroon shirts of some sort, and a scarf. Made me wanna barf. The worst is that many girls just don't have the body shape to look good in that sort of outfit. If you look nice, then go for it, but dress for your body, because tights don't hide anything! That's all of my complaining over that subject, haha. Tomorrow I am going to a festival in another part of the city. I'm not sure what it is about, but my spanish teacher mentioned dragons and free food and music so I'm going to check it out!
Ciao!
This week wasn't too exciting, but I have a lot of little comments about things that have happened. On Sunday evening Meg and I went to our second futbol game (the first one was free). We had better seats than the first game, even though they were still nosebleed section, and we made it in time for the fight song before the game started. At halftime, we went to find everyone else from Jewell who were also at the game. They were in a section below ours, and in order to get to them we had to jump a barrier, which was probably not allowed. The barcelona stadium is set up so that the gate you go inside takes you directly to your section and no where else. It is really, really hard to go find better seats and crowd control is everywhere. Definitely not the Royals stadium where you can go sit on the bottom level if you want. Well, we found the boys and sat with them for a while, but it was COLD and windy so we eventually left. We saw all three of the goals that were made so we didn't miss out!
I'm entertained by something new everyday in my two Tuesday/Thursday classes. Last week we taught my teacher how to properly say 'feces' in English. The only word equivalent he knew was 'shit' and boy did he use it, to talk about the fish and the seagulls and the little plankton and nutrients, etc. He figured something was up when the whole class kept giggling with the way he used the term. We taught him a few different words that were a little less crude. I've heard my Spanish teacher say it as well when talking about caca, so maybe it is just a perception that Spaniards have of how America uses that term..very strange.
Thursday, Megan and I went with Eloi (a student on our hall) to a rugby match. We had never seen one before and were excited to go. The game was a match between UB and UPC, two local universities. Eloi normally plays for UPC, but he was injured (shoulder) and so was not playing in the match. On the way to the match, he made a comment, out of the blue, that we looked very "American". We asked him to enlighten us as to why, and he just said everything and then mentioned our sunglasses (it was sunny out, others had on sunglasses as well!), our blonde hair, our shoes..I guess we're not trying hard enough to blend in, but oh well. I'm not going to change those things, I'll just have to look American. The rugby match itself was very different. I enjoyed watching, but it just seemed like 30 men competing to see who was the toughest. It also looked like a painful game, and I didn't see how it is much related to football. UPC was slaughtered and lost by 8 goals or more, but no one seemed too disappointed.
Yesterday, Megan and I walked around Barcelona in the afternoon in the process of finding a hotel her sister is thinking of staying in when she visits. We were in a very neat area of town, but the coolest thing we found was a little hole in the wall candy shop named "Happy Pills". You can buy jars of different sizes that look like prescription containers, put a label on them, and fill them with any sort of candy. It was a brilliant idea and very cute. We are definitely coming back. Some people might get happy pills as their souvenir, haha.
Yesterday was my first Spanish midterm! I actually think I did pretty well on it. I was worried because I don't know how she tests, but the test was not bad at all. Also, at the end of class she brought us an example of a spanish cultural afternoon snack (but for little kids, I think). It was delicious! It was a type of milk made from Chufas (also called Horuchata, or Tiger nuts) and tasted sort of like soy milk, but sweeter. She compared the nuts to almonds. She gave us a sweet bread to dip into the milk as well.
My last thought has to do with the girls' dressing habits over here who are from the U.S...this is probably the 'style' and is totally in right now, but why does every girl have to wear tights, only tights, with every outfit? Tights are NOT pants, and they don't cover anything, even if you can't see skin...About half the girls in every one of my classes wears tights, and just with normal shirts, not even something that will halfway cover their butt. The other day in class, three girls went up to the board to answer a question and they looked like triplets, with boots, tights, maroon shirts of some sort, and a scarf. Made me wanna barf. The worst is that many girls just don't have the body shape to look good in that sort of outfit. If you look nice, then go for it, but dress for your body, because tights don't hide anything! That's all of my complaining over that subject, haha. Tomorrow I am going to a festival in another part of the city. I'm not sure what it is about, but my spanish teacher mentioned dragons and free food and music so I'm going to check it out!
Ciao!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday in Tarragona
Yesterday, Megan and I went to Tarragona, a Spanish town with Roman roots about an hour down the coast. We took a train and were in T. by 10:15 am. We decided to wing it and just walk into the town and see what we could see. We did, however, come across an information booth and a lady gave us a map and circled some areas where we would see the most interesting ruins and buildings. The area of town we walked around was the 'old town' and had lots of shops, as well as the ruins and tunnels and churches interspersed. It was COLD out, because of the wind and the clouds.. We walked by the ampiteatre (spanish spelling), the Circ Roma (a long underground tunnel where races were held), other places, and the large Catedral. While at the ampiteatre, we stopped to play in a park; it was very tempting to swing and climb on the equipment. The only place we went inside was the Catedral, and it was absolutely beautiful and very old! We were not supposed to take photos, but we did sneak a few. The inside was full of arches, and side rooms with artwork, statues, sculptures, paintings, etc. The main sanctuary was huge. We got to watch someone ring the bells for noon, which was very neat. The Catedral also had an outdoor courtyard surrounded by a semi-open passageway, very beautiful as well. Afterward, we went to find lunch, and had some not so good pasta. We then walked to the more modern area of town to see the Rambla Nova and the Castels statue. This tree lined walk was a smaller, more peaceful version of Barcelona's Las Ramblas.
After our escapades with the statue, we walked to the beach (a very long walk..but worth it). We rolled up our pants and walked into the surf for a refreshing and COLD bit of water. We also met some boogie borders who were enjoying the surf (they had wetsuits to keep them warm!). We continued our walk to the rocks and walked to a point jutting into the sea to take some photos, before heading back to the train station. On our way to the station, we ran into some people from our hall who did not leave as early as we did, said hi, and then went home. I really liked the town and all there was to see. I would like to go back when it gets warmer to visit the beaches, as Tarragona supposedly has the best beaches in the Catalonian province of Spain.
After our escapades with the statue, we walked to the beach (a very long walk..but worth it). We rolled up our pants and walked into the surf for a refreshing and COLD bit of water. We also met some boogie borders who were enjoying the surf (they had wetsuits to keep them warm!). We continued our walk to the rocks and walked to a point jutting into the sea to take some photos, before heading back to the train station. On our way to the station, we ran into some people from our hall who did not leave as early as we did, said hi, and then went home. I really liked the town and all there was to see. I would like to go back when it gets warmer to visit the beaches, as Tarragona supposedly has the best beaches in the Catalonian province of Spain.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Barca, Barca, Baaaarrrr-ca!
Tonight, myself, Megan, Paul, Elana, and Ana went to a Barcelona Futbol game! It was so much fun. We were in the nosebleed section, but were sitting by a group of really dedicated fans so we cheered and chanted with them. The experience was exciting. They even did the wave, and it went around the stadium almost 3 times! You can't get that to happen at the Royals stadium anymore...Barcelonians love their futbol and cheered up a storm. Plus, instead of booing or hissing, they whistle when something bad happens. Megan and I had our scarves and waved them around when Barca scored (Final score:2-0), but it was also very cold so I'm glad we had them.
Other thoughts for the week:
Every time I go to class, I realize how easy classes will turn out being this semester. I only got my first real piece of homework this week, a 5-6 page essay. In my two science classes, maybe it is the fact that I am a biology major and 3/4 of the class has no science background. I revealed myself as the nerd/teacher's pet in Oceanography when I explained the results of a paper that NO ONE understood..I can't help it that the paper was about the exact same concepts my jewell research is about! But now the teacher looks at me for answers when the rest of the class has blank stares. I better get some brownie points for my sacrifice! But the other reason I feel as though classes will be no challenge is because for two of them, we spend the first hour of the 1 1/2 hour long class asking questions about the reading and not learning anything new on the powerpoints he prepared. And in one class, the big paper/presentation I was worried about-well it's a whole class effort so each person writes a total of maybe 3 pages. Piece of cake. Oh well, I won't complain; I could use a relaxing semester for once. I'm still learning interesting things.
Here are some quotes from the professor of both my science classes, Xavier de Pedro. He makes class worth it with his fun, comparisons. I've already mentioned the one about squid and cake..
"Diatoms are like boxes of shoes. That sink."
Speaking about Sea Urchins "They are like cows but in the water."
Other thoughts for the week:
Every time I go to class, I realize how easy classes will turn out being this semester. I only got my first real piece of homework this week, a 5-6 page essay. In my two science classes, maybe it is the fact that I am a biology major and 3/4 of the class has no science background. I revealed myself as the nerd/teacher's pet in Oceanography when I explained the results of a paper that NO ONE understood..I can't help it that the paper was about the exact same concepts my jewell research is about! But now the teacher looks at me for answers when the rest of the class has blank stares. I better get some brownie points for my sacrifice! But the other reason I feel as though classes will be no challenge is because for two of them, we spend the first hour of the 1 1/2 hour long class asking questions about the reading and not learning anything new on the powerpoints he prepared. And in one class, the big paper/presentation I was worried about-well it's a whole class effort so each person writes a total of maybe 3 pages. Piece of cake. Oh well, I won't complain; I could use a relaxing semester for once. I'm still learning interesting things.
Here are some quotes from the professor of both my science classes, Xavier de Pedro. He makes class worth it with his fun, comparisons. I've already mentioned the one about squid and cake..
"Diatoms are like boxes of shoes. That sink."
Speaking about Sea Urchins "They are like cows but in the water."
Rome-The Finale
Oh, Sunday..
After we gave my gifted bottle of wine away, we ran off to see the inside of the Colosseum. It was fantastic and spectacular and I imagined the movie Gladiator while inside, as well as the movie Jumpers since they go into the bottom in that movie. It seemed crowded on a random Sunday in February so I can only imagine what it is like in the summer..After walking through it, we walked over to the Trastavere neighborhood, with its tiny, winding streets and lots of restaurants and found some lunch! I had yummy italian pasta with a tomato, salad, bread, and vinagrette appetizer (I ate Megan's appetizer as well), plus a chicken breast with more salad. It was a good meal. We explored the streets of Rome more and walked along the river back to Vatican City. We thought about buying some masks for Carnival, but they looked very cheaply made (being from a street vendor, what more could we have expected?). We then walked across the river to find 'the best Gelati in Rome' at a place called Della Palma. A guy trying to get us to come on a pub crawl at the Colosseum told us about it. The gelati was delicious, but the line was long. I guess everyone knew about Della Palma. After eating we hurried back to the hostel to grab our bags, and caught our bus at 4:30. Our flight left 30 minutes late at 7:50, and we were back in our dorm rooms by 11pm Sunday night. It was a blast and I will return someday!
After we gave my gifted bottle of wine away, we ran off to see the inside of the Colosseum. It was fantastic and spectacular and I imagined the movie Gladiator while inside, as well as the movie Jumpers since they go into the bottom in that movie. It seemed crowded on a random Sunday in February so I can only imagine what it is like in the summer..After walking through it, we walked over to the Trastavere neighborhood, with its tiny, winding streets and lots of restaurants and found some lunch! I had yummy italian pasta with a tomato, salad, bread, and vinagrette appetizer (I ate Megan's appetizer as well), plus a chicken breast with more salad. It was a good meal. We explored the streets of Rome more and walked along the river back to Vatican City. We thought about buying some masks for Carnival, but they looked very cheaply made (being from a street vendor, what more could we have expected?). We then walked across the river to find 'the best Gelati in Rome' at a place called Della Palma. A guy trying to get us to come on a pub crawl at the Colosseum told us about it. The gelati was delicious, but the line was long. I guess everyone knew about Della Palma. After eating we hurried back to the hostel to grab our bags, and caught our bus at 4:30. Our flight left 30 minutes late at 7:50, and we were back in our dorm rooms by 11pm Sunday night. It was a blast and I will return someday!
Saturday in Roma
Well, on Saturday we were up at 5 am and down to drop our stuff in the luggage room by 5:30am. The hostel worker who was in love with me (from here on out: Alli) opened up the kitchen 1 1/2hrs early for us so we got a quick breakfast and juice and then we were to the train station by 5:45am and on our train at 6! I thought the ride was only 6:12-7:40 to get to Napoli; however, we fell asleep at 7:45 when we weren't there and woke up again at 8:45, 10 minutes before pulling into the Napoli station...It was a little bit longer than I thought. We got on an aboveground metro for a 30 minute ride to Pompeii scavi (scavi means excavation or ruins, I'm guessing). Turns out we got on the wrong train, because one stop before ours, we went off in another direction, so we got off at a random stop down the rail, not knowing what to do except wait for a train coming in the opposite direction. We also found bathrooms in the station there where you have to squat and there are foot traction marks to help. LOL. We made it back to the train we needed and met a neat older couple from England who helped us out and told us neat things to see in Pompeii.
Me at the strange station, when we were slightly lost on the outskirts of Napoli.
The ruins at Pompeii were very neat and much bigger than I anticipated. I was exhausted and starving by the time we came out the exit into the town of modern day Pompeii. We definitely experienced the ruins, probably doing many slightly illegal things (I don't believe Megan was supposed to climb inside the baking ovens..). We also pretended to run away from the "lava" and captured our fun in pictures. After leaving, Megan and I grabbed 2euro calzones, which were greasy and delicious, and walked back to the metro station. We got back to Naples at 2:30ish, bought tickets back that left at 4:30, and then went off to find more pizza, since Naples is the city where Pizza was invented. We found some good pizza that was huge (think medium sized Pizza Hut pizza, but only 5euro) and took half of it back to Rome with us in to-go boxes.
We weren't planning on leaving Naples so early, but our plan to go to the crater on Mt. Vesuvius was ruined when we found out the bus that normally travels there was shut down because of the snow on the peak. The only way to get there was a 50euro taxi ride, and that wasn't even to the summit.
A very friendly man from Naples tried to be friends with us on the train, but he spoke maybe 20 words of english and we knew 5 words in Italian. It was awkward and we claimed we needed to sleep; he then periodically stared at us so we just looked out our window. When the conductor came by to check tickets, we were made fun of because we didn't slide them into some machine before getting on the train (how were we supposed to know that?). He did this by saying lots of things in Italian to the other passengers and then laughing loudly. He then asked if we were from California (the blond hair, maybe?) and proceeded to pinch Megan's cheek and say "Ciao bebe" before moving on to other passengers. We were back in Rome by 7:15ish and ate the remainder of our pizza for dinner. We then decided that we would be really lame if we spent Saturday night in our hostel room so we threw a nice shirt and make-up on and went to a bar close by. We had a lot of fun, surprisingly, and found out a lot about the bartender (a 25yr old from North Carolina. It's amazing how we meet americans where ever we go). He told us we should see the Colosseum lit up at night, so when we left we hopped on the metro and went to the Colosseum (which was beautiful at night) and then went home.
When we returned to the hostel and went to our room, I found that someone was sleeping in my bed and my things were on the floor...very confused, Megan and I went to the reception to complain and also to get a place to sleep for the night! Who was working by Alli, and he claimed that the room was not overbooked, although we had our beds reserved until the next morning. He got us into another room with only one person in it, although it was not a female dorm room. Before he left, he gave me a bottle of wine as a gift, which I said thank you for and good night. Megan then shut the door in his face. The next morning, we left the wine on the table in the room with a note, giving it to the random guy who was still asleep.
To be cont'd...
Me at the strange station, when we were slightly lost on the outskirts of Napoli.
The ruins at Pompeii were very neat and much bigger than I anticipated. I was exhausted and starving by the time we came out the exit into the town of modern day Pompeii. We definitely experienced the ruins, probably doing many slightly illegal things (I don't believe Megan was supposed to climb inside the baking ovens..). We also pretended to run away from the "lava" and captured our fun in pictures. After leaving, Megan and I grabbed 2euro calzones, which were greasy and delicious, and walked back to the metro station. We got back to Naples at 2:30ish, bought tickets back that left at 4:30, and then went off to find more pizza, since Naples is the city where Pizza was invented. We found some good pizza that was huge (think medium sized Pizza Hut pizza, but only 5euro) and took half of it back to Rome with us in to-go boxes.
We weren't planning on leaving Naples so early, but our plan to go to the crater on Mt. Vesuvius was ruined when we found out the bus that normally travels there was shut down because of the snow on the peak. The only way to get there was a 50euro taxi ride, and that wasn't even to the summit.
A very friendly man from Naples tried to be friends with us on the train, but he spoke maybe 20 words of english and we knew 5 words in Italian. It was awkward and we claimed we needed to sleep; he then periodically stared at us so we just looked out our window. When the conductor came by to check tickets, we were made fun of because we didn't slide them into some machine before getting on the train (how were we supposed to know that?). He did this by saying lots of things in Italian to the other passengers and then laughing loudly. He then asked if we were from California (the blond hair, maybe?) and proceeded to pinch Megan's cheek and say "Ciao bebe" before moving on to other passengers. We were back in Rome by 7:15ish and ate the remainder of our pizza for dinner. We then decided that we would be really lame if we spent Saturday night in our hostel room so we threw a nice shirt and make-up on and went to a bar close by. We had a lot of fun, surprisingly, and found out a lot about the bartender (a 25yr old from North Carolina. It's amazing how we meet americans where ever we go). He told us we should see the Colosseum lit up at night, so when we left we hopped on the metro and went to the Colosseum (which was beautiful at night) and then went home.
When we returned to the hostel and went to our room, I found that someone was sleeping in my bed and my things were on the floor...very confused, Megan and I went to the reception to complain and also to get a place to sleep for the night! Who was working by Alli, and he claimed that the room was not overbooked, although we had our beds reserved until the next morning. He got us into another room with only one person in it, although it was not a female dorm room. Before he left, he gave me a bottle of wine as a gift, which I said thank you for and good night. Megan then shut the door in his face. The next morning, we left the wine on the table in the room with a note, giving it to the random guy who was still asleep.
To be cont'd...
Monday, February 2, 2009
ITALY
Me encanta Italia! Love it! I want to go back asap. Warning: this will either be an extremely long blog, or I will do it in sections, in which case you will get to read the "Chapters of Rome" :)
My new Italian vocabulary (spelling might not be correct):
Grazie "Thank you"
Prego "You're welcome" "Go ahead" "Alright" etc etc. (They say this word for everything"
Dove e ... "Where is.."
Qui si dice? "How do you say?"
brutto "ugly"
Ciao "Hi" "bye"
Bella "Hi" "beautiful" or "Hi beautiful"
Thursday night:
Megan and I left for the airport at 5:30, which involved the metro and then an hour long bus ride, because Ryanair is in Girona, not in Barcelona. Our flight left (on time, thank goodness..I have heard horror stories about Ryanair) and we got to Rome early, at 10:35 or so. However, our bus heading from the airport to Termini Station in the center of Rome did not leave till 11:30. We got to Termini at midnightish, and only had a few minutes walk to our hostel. The hostel is called Alessandro's Downtown, and is in a great position in the city. We were in a female, 8 bed dorm, got continental breakfast, plus a free pasta dinner (though only on Friday), and clean blankets, sheets and pillows. All of this for only 12euro a night. I was pleased. We settled down, and were up the next morning at 7am with a full day ahead of us.
Friday:
We grabbed breakfast and put our things in the luggage room. While in there, the man who checked us in the night before came in and told us we shouldn't be out at night alone and if we ran into any trouble, to call the hostel up and he would be on duty. Nice of him, but we are adults and can take care of ourselves...We then went to Termini to get a day metro pass. Who shows up while we are buying our tickets but Alli, the hostel night worker. He tries to advise us on which ticket to get, and then proceeds to come with us onto the metro because he wants to show us around town. However, as we find out as we walk around with him, he has only been in Italy 10mos and is originally from Egypt. He doesn't have many friends, works every night, and hasn't visited hardly any of the sights in Rome. He didn't know the name of most everything we visited. Some tour guide..We finally got rid of him at noon. During that time, we visited the Spanish Steps (Trinita dei Monti)
which was pretty because there were no tourists there, then walked down to Piazza del Popolo (beautiful) and the Pincio for a nice overlook of the city. We got on the metro and went one stop over, then walked down to Palazzo di Giustizia (a huge, beautifully decorated parliament building) and some pretty churches. We saw the Ara Pacis from across the river. We then walked down the river front, which is yucky and ugly, BTW, to Castel Sant' Angelo.
We continued walking and saw the entrance to the Vatican City with St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. This was my favorite visit of the entire trip, because St. Peter's is SOOOO beautiful. I wish we would have taken a tour of the inside.
We walked the wall of the city for a while to get to a close metro, and took it back to Termini for the second half of our day. We went to eat lunch at a little cafe nearby, where we both had big bowls of pasta (me:ravioli, meg:gnocchi) that were delicious and cheap. After lunch, we started our second big walk of the day, down to the Colosseum and everything around it. We walked for a good 4 or 5 hours in the afternoon, and 4 in the morning. However, I still felt that Rome was a very accessible city and very walkable. In only one day, we walked around a majority of the big sights in Rome. Here are a list of things we saw Friday afternoon:
Colle Oppio
Domus Aurea
Colosseum
Arco di Costantino
the outside of a big area of ruins that you had to pay to get inside (Palatino and Areo di Tito)
Foro di Nerva
Foro di Augusto
Foro Traiano
Mercati Traianei
Colonna Traianei
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II
Pantheon
Palazza Madama
Piazza Navona
Fontana di Trevi
yea...We saw some cute little streets while exploring the city, and grabbed a pastry to eat at the Pantheon (Mine was delicious, megan did not like hers). While walking to Trevi Fountain, we were cold and saw a streetside cafe with heated lights. We stopped to put our hands up to the light, and a man (who we now think was perhaps an owner) eating suggested we sit down. We told him no, thanks but we had plans for dinner, and he offered us a glass of champagne on the house. Well, how could we resist a glass of champagne at a cute, warm cafe in Italy? After enjoying it, we found him to say Grazie, and he kissed our fingers and told us to enjoy our time in Rome. We fell in love! We then walked to Trevi fountain, but stopped to enjoy some NUTELLA gelati (mmmm so delicious) and ate at the fountain. We threw a coin in the fountain, because the superstition is that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you will come back to Rome someday. Afterward, we headed back to the hostel for a free plate of pasta (wasn't very good but still food, and we were starving) and were in bed, exhausted, by 9pm. We had a reason: We needed to be up at 5am for our Saturday adventures!
To be continued...
My new Italian vocabulary (spelling might not be correct):
Grazie "Thank you"
Prego "You're welcome" "Go ahead" "Alright" etc etc. (They say this word for everything"
Dove e ... "Where is.."
Qui si dice? "How do you say?"
brutto "ugly"
Ciao "Hi" "bye"
Bella "Hi" "beautiful" or "Hi beautiful"
Thursday night:
Megan and I left for the airport at 5:30, which involved the metro and then an hour long bus ride, because Ryanair is in Girona, not in Barcelona. Our flight left (on time, thank goodness..I have heard horror stories about Ryanair) and we got to Rome early, at 10:35 or so. However, our bus heading from the airport to Termini Station in the center of Rome did not leave till 11:30. We got to Termini at midnightish, and only had a few minutes walk to our hostel. The hostel is called Alessandro's Downtown, and is in a great position in the city. We were in a female, 8 bed dorm, got continental breakfast, plus a free pasta dinner (though only on Friday), and clean blankets, sheets and pillows. All of this for only 12euro a night. I was pleased. We settled down, and were up the next morning at 7am with a full day ahead of us.
Friday:
We grabbed breakfast and put our things in the luggage room. While in there, the man who checked us in the night before came in and told us we shouldn't be out at night alone and if we ran into any trouble, to call the hostel up and he would be on duty. Nice of him, but we are adults and can take care of ourselves...We then went to Termini to get a day metro pass. Who shows up while we are buying our tickets but Alli, the hostel night worker. He tries to advise us on which ticket to get, and then proceeds to come with us onto the metro because he wants to show us around town. However, as we find out as we walk around with him, he has only been in Italy 10mos and is originally from Egypt. He doesn't have many friends, works every night, and hasn't visited hardly any of the sights in Rome. He didn't know the name of most everything we visited. Some tour guide..We finally got rid of him at noon. During that time, we visited the Spanish Steps (Trinita dei Monti)
which was pretty because there were no tourists there, then walked down to Piazza del Popolo (beautiful) and the Pincio for a nice overlook of the city. We got on the metro and went one stop over, then walked down to Palazzo di Giustizia (a huge, beautifully decorated parliament building) and some pretty churches. We saw the Ara Pacis from across the river. We then walked down the river front, which is yucky and ugly, BTW, to Castel Sant' Angelo.
We continued walking and saw the entrance to the Vatican City with St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. This was my favorite visit of the entire trip, because St. Peter's is SOOOO beautiful. I wish we would have taken a tour of the inside.
We walked the wall of the city for a while to get to a close metro, and took it back to Termini for the second half of our day. We went to eat lunch at a little cafe nearby, where we both had big bowls of pasta (me:ravioli, meg:gnocchi) that were delicious and cheap. After lunch, we started our second big walk of the day, down to the Colosseum and everything around it. We walked for a good 4 or 5 hours in the afternoon, and 4 in the morning. However, I still felt that Rome was a very accessible city and very walkable. In only one day, we walked around a majority of the big sights in Rome. Here are a list of things we saw Friday afternoon:
Colle Oppio
Domus Aurea
Colosseum
Arco di Costantino
the outside of a big area of ruins that you had to pay to get inside (Palatino and Areo di Tito)
Foro di Nerva
Foro di Augusto
Foro Traiano
Mercati Traianei
Colonna Traianei
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II
Pantheon
Palazza Madama
Piazza Navona
Fontana di Trevi
yea...We saw some cute little streets while exploring the city, and grabbed a pastry to eat at the Pantheon (Mine was delicious, megan did not like hers). While walking to Trevi Fountain, we were cold and saw a streetside cafe with heated lights. We stopped to put our hands up to the light, and a man (who we now think was perhaps an owner) eating suggested we sit down. We told him no, thanks but we had plans for dinner, and he offered us a glass of champagne on the house. Well, how could we resist a glass of champagne at a cute, warm cafe in Italy? After enjoying it, we found him to say Grazie, and he kissed our fingers and told us to enjoy our time in Rome. We fell in love! We then walked to Trevi fountain, but stopped to enjoy some NUTELLA gelati (mmmm so delicious) and ate at the fountain. We threw a coin in the fountain, because the superstition is that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you will come back to Rome someday. Afterward, we headed back to the hostel for a free plate of pasta (wasn't very good but still food, and we were starving) and were in bed, exhausted, by 9pm. We had a reason: We needed to be up at 5am for our Saturday adventures!
To be continued...
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