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!