Soooo today there was (is) a general strike going on in Barcelona due to the lowering of salaries and government changes to the work force. Basically, what this meant for me was that the entire city was shut down as well as all forms of transportation. So what did I try to do? Go to the bookstore, of course. What better to do on a day with no metro than try to walk an hour and a half to find school books? Wrong.
The way there was gorgeous. I had a loverly walk through sections of the city with beautiful architecture, saw a gorgeous garden/parkish thing, and generally had a lovely hour + walk to La Central. Plus I got there without getting lost, so I was pretty pumped when I walked through the doors of the store.
I walked around for a few minutes trying to find the books on my own, but quickly gave up when I realized that I was never going to be able to find what I wanted as quickly as the nice people working at La Central. So I ask the nice lady sitting behind the counter where I can find the 6 books on my list. Answer? NOT HERE.
No joke. I wanted to cry. Not ONE of the books I wanted was in this book store which supposedly has everything. They were all at the OTHER La Central in La Raval. Can I go get them at La Raval now? Answer? NO. Why? effin' strike. So while it was fantastic not to have class today, the strike made it impossible for me to do anything productive. IMPOSSIBLE!
The best part was getting lost on the way home haha. But I got to pass Sagrada Familia (even though I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to pass it haha) and miraculously found my way back to where I needed to be walking.
Despite my initial frustration with my lack of success on this visit, I realized I had a nice walk through the city and saw some places that I definitely want to visit again that aren't that far from my apartment. Plus, now I know where NOT to go for books haha.
Anyways, I'm off to the gym!
Enjoy the stories of my epic fails :-)
Hahah bye all!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Some Things Just Must Be Discussed
Ok, So I know I already posted today, but I've been meaning to write a blog on this topic for a few days now and I MUST do it now.
Topic: Dogs that look like their Owners...or visa versa.
Seriously, it's crazy here. Maybe I just don't notice it in the US, but EVERY ONE HAS A DOG THAT LOOKS LIKE THEM HERE. The dogs even ACT like their owners. Today, I saw two elderly women coming back from the gym. One had white white hair slicked back into a pony tail. On a leash next to her?: a snow white dog with slicked back fur. Said woman was talking to another woman with light red hair with white spots. On her leash? You guessed it, a dog with fluffy light read hair and white spots. Even better? The women were arguing while their dogs were barking at each other. Seriously. No joke.
The other day I saw a woman with osteoperosis walking her dog who looked like it had one of the McDonald's arches implanted in its back.
It's crazy. I can't stop comparing people to their dogs now.
Anyways....that had nothing whatsoever to do with my life here in Barcelona, but enjoy anyways.
Topic: Dogs that look like their Owners...or visa versa.
Seriously, it's crazy here. Maybe I just don't notice it in the US, but EVERY ONE HAS A DOG THAT LOOKS LIKE THEM HERE. The dogs even ACT like their owners. Today, I saw two elderly women coming back from the gym. One had white white hair slicked back into a pony tail. On a leash next to her?: a snow white dog with slicked back fur. Said woman was talking to another woman with light red hair with white spots. On her leash? You guessed it, a dog with fluffy light read hair and white spots. Even better? The women were arguing while their dogs were barking at each other. Seriously. No joke.
The other day I saw a woman with osteoperosis walking her dog who looked like it had one of the McDonald's arches implanted in its back.
It's crazy. I can't stop comparing people to their dogs now.
Anyways....that had nothing whatsoever to do with my life here in Barcelona, but enjoy anyways.
OOOOO VIVA LA FIESTA!
Hola a todos!
For those of you who understood the S Club 7 reference, 10 gold stars. Also, we´re solemates.
Anywayssss this weekend has been carazayyyyy. But let´s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start, if you ask me ;-) haha)
Thursday I had my first Medieval History class at UPF and it was so amazing! The teacher was so funny and spoke slowly enough so that I could understand him without being completely lost! SUCCESS! haha. Trin had a pizza party for the end of Spanish classes (YESSSSS) and then I had a lovely night in sleeping. Always good.
Fridayyyy...Oh yeah. Ok So we went with Eulaulia to see Castelles (human towers) in Plaça Sant Jaume as part of the start of Merçe (which is the huge party celebrating Barcelona...bascially a 4 day fiesta for the entire city...pretty good deal right?). The Plaza was SO SO full of people, it was a little claustrophobic. But that´s ok, the human towers were SO cool (although a bit terrifying) and we got to see a lot of catalan culture with the parade of giants and all.
Friday night I went with Laia and a bunch of kids from the Pingree exchange (YAY!) to see a concert in Plaça Espanya which was so so cool. We all met up and walked over together and had a great night dancing and hanging out despite the rain. The only downfall: going to bed at 4 and having to get up at 9 is never a good thing.
Saturday I had to drag myself out of bed at 9 to go to Sitges with the Trinity grouppp. To be honest, I was kind of dreading it at first because our schedule was so full and I was dead on my feet, but it ended up being SO SO fun. We walked around for a bit and looked at pretty houses and then...we went...to the Bacardi House.
Ok so the museum of Bacardi wasn´t the most enthralling thing in the world. BUT. At the end, they taught us how to make the original and TRUE Mojito! First they showed us how, and we were like oh cool, mojitos. THEN they started putting ingredients out in front of us and we got to make our own! Holy crap they were so good. I have tasted heaven, and it comes in the form of a true Bacardi mojito. sooo the trip was a success, to say the least haha.
No, but really, after that we walked around, had a great lunch at this pizzaria, ate way too much, saw beautiful churches and buildings, and went to the beach for a while. In all, it was a really gorgeous day.
Helena and I came back to Barcelona and went to see the Correfoc which is a tradition of Merçe when people run through the streets dressed as demons with fire because...well we don´t really know why. But everyone was dressed up with sweatshirts and scarves covering their mouths and protective eye gear and I´m standing there in a dress...sooo we got a little scared and decided to leave before we got burnt to a crisp.
Instead, we went to see OK GO! (the only american band at Merçe haha) which was really fun. I left to go meet up with Laia again and we walked back to Plaça Espanya to go to MAXIMUM, the biggest party of Merçe. And when I say biggest, I am NOT kidding. Holy crap, there were SO many people there. We tried to get in and dance, but it was literally impossible. I got pushed and pulled in so many directions, it was unbelivable. So instead of subjecting ourselves to torture, we decided it wasn´t worth it and hung out where there weren´t so many people. Again, walking back at 3 am with 5 hours of sleep under my belt was pretty tough, but it was all worth it when I fell into bed and slept until noon today (which, as you all know, is EXTREMELY strange and rare for me). And now I´m just chilling with Laia until I have to go home and do homework and go to the gym because I can´t stop eating here because the food is TOO DAMN GOOD. urgh.
Anyways, that´s my life up to date! I don´t have a list for today because I´m too tired to try to be witty, but I´ll try and do one next timeeee
Love you all!
For those of you who understood the S Club 7 reference, 10 gold stars. Also, we´re solemates.
Anywayssss this weekend has been carazayyyyy. But let´s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start, if you ask me ;-) haha)
Thursday I had my first Medieval History class at UPF and it was so amazing! The teacher was so funny and spoke slowly enough so that I could understand him without being completely lost! SUCCESS! haha. Trin had a pizza party for the end of Spanish classes (YESSSSS) and then I had a lovely night in sleeping. Always good.
Fridayyyy...Oh yeah. Ok So we went with Eulaulia to see Castelles (human towers) in Plaça Sant Jaume as part of the start of Merçe (which is the huge party celebrating Barcelona...bascially a 4 day fiesta for the entire city...pretty good deal right?). The Plaza was SO SO full of people, it was a little claustrophobic. But that´s ok, the human towers were SO cool (although a bit terrifying) and we got to see a lot of catalan culture with the parade of giants and all.
Friday night I went with Laia and a bunch of kids from the Pingree exchange (YAY!) to see a concert in Plaça Espanya which was so so cool. We all met up and walked over together and had a great night dancing and hanging out despite the rain. The only downfall: going to bed at 4 and having to get up at 9 is never a good thing.
Saturday I had to drag myself out of bed at 9 to go to Sitges with the Trinity grouppp. To be honest, I was kind of dreading it at first because our schedule was so full and I was dead on my feet, but it ended up being SO SO fun. We walked around for a bit and looked at pretty houses and then...we went...to the Bacardi House.
Ok so the museum of Bacardi wasn´t the most enthralling thing in the world. BUT. At the end, they taught us how to make the original and TRUE Mojito! First they showed us how, and we were like oh cool, mojitos. THEN they started putting ingredients out in front of us and we got to make our own! Holy crap they were so good. I have tasted heaven, and it comes in the form of a true Bacardi mojito. sooo the trip was a success, to say the least haha.
No, but really, after that we walked around, had a great lunch at this pizzaria, ate way too much, saw beautiful churches and buildings, and went to the beach for a while. In all, it was a really gorgeous day.
Helena and I came back to Barcelona and went to see the Correfoc which is a tradition of Merçe when people run through the streets dressed as demons with fire because...well we don´t really know why. But everyone was dressed up with sweatshirts and scarves covering their mouths and protective eye gear and I´m standing there in a dress...sooo we got a little scared and decided to leave before we got burnt to a crisp.
Instead, we went to see OK GO! (the only american band at Merçe haha) which was really fun. I left to go meet up with Laia again and we walked back to Plaça Espanya to go to MAXIMUM, the biggest party of Merçe. And when I say biggest, I am NOT kidding. Holy crap, there were SO many people there. We tried to get in and dance, but it was literally impossible. I got pushed and pulled in so many directions, it was unbelivable. So instead of subjecting ourselves to torture, we decided it wasn´t worth it and hung out where there weren´t so many people. Again, walking back at 3 am with 5 hours of sleep under my belt was pretty tough, but it was all worth it when I fell into bed and slept until noon today (which, as you all know, is EXTREMELY strange and rare for me). And now I´m just chilling with Laia until I have to go home and do homework and go to the gym because I can´t stop eating here because the food is TOO DAMN GOOD. urgh.
Anyways, that´s my life up to date! I don´t have a list for today because I´m too tired to try to be witty, but I´ll try and do one next timeeee
Love you all!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
It's been a long night in Barcelona...
Hey all!
Long time no blog! I know, I'm sorry!!! But I'm back, no worries.
This past weekend was so nice! Friday I had a lovely lazy night in after a stressful week, so it was nice to catch up on sleep and rest a bit!
Saturday was Monica's birthday, so Almudena and I traveled to Sitges, a beach town about a half hour away from the city, to have a nice lunch at her Dad's apartment. Javier cooks really really really well, and we had some delicious ribs with potatoes :-) plus there was a giant brownie. Really can't get any better than that.
After we got back to the city, I called Laia and met up with her around 8:30. We had a lovely dinner with her mom and sister and then we touched ourselves up so we could go out for drinks. We went to the Hotel La Florida which is up in the mountains and has the most AMAZING view of Barcelona. I couldn't take pictures because I forgot my camera and it was super dark anyways, but it was fantastic. I got to meet a bunch of Laia's friends (and reunite with some of the Pingree exchange students) and all in all just had a really nice time hanging out with a bunch of great people!
I stayed a Laia's (I have my own pull out bed there haha) and we spent Sunday watching YouTube videos of SYTYCD and Fama (Which is the spanish equivalent). So nice to just hang out :-)
After so many great meals, I had to force myself to go to the gym which I did. Unfortunately, the gym didn't want me for long, because they turned the TV's and the lights off on me a half hour before I thought it was closing...oh well haha
Since then it's been pretty routine: Class, study, class, gym, homework, bed. haha
BUT this weekend is FIESTAAAA!!! woot! And I think we're going to sitges again with Trinity, so that'll be fun too!
Anyways, that's a little bit of what's going on with me!
I'm going to start doing lists, because it seems to be the thing to do on blogs haha
Here are the 5 things (silly things haha) that I miss about the US
1. Refills. Seriously, a diet coke here is like 1,15 euros and it's TINY and they don't give free refills. So. Sad.
2. Eggs for breakfast. They apparently just don't do that here?
3. Foliage. I mean, there's some, but there's nothing like in MA or NH
4. ORBIT SWEET MINT GUM. You have no idea how terrible withdrawl from orbit is...
5. My coche. I love me some metro, but when it's raining and I have to run soaking wet through the streets, I really miss my cancerous mercedes haha
and here are 5 things I wish I could transfer to the US from Barcelona
1. The climate. Right now, it's still 70 degrees and sunny which is beautiful :-)
2. The fruit. well, send this to Trinity, at least, because good fruit doesn't exist in college.
3. Jamon serrano. Brilliant. Genius.
4. The pace of life. Everyone walks a little bit slower here. I'd like to take a look around once in a while back home...
5. Tortilla espanola. Gods gift to man kind. I'm serious people, try it.
Yes, I realize that the majority of those things are food related, but hey, I like to eat, what can I say :-)
ok, bed time for Mioooo
love you all!
Long time no blog! I know, I'm sorry!!! But I'm back, no worries.
This past weekend was so nice! Friday I had a lovely lazy night in after a stressful week, so it was nice to catch up on sleep and rest a bit!
Saturday was Monica's birthday, so Almudena and I traveled to Sitges, a beach town about a half hour away from the city, to have a nice lunch at her Dad's apartment. Javier cooks really really really well, and we had some delicious ribs with potatoes :-) plus there was a giant brownie. Really can't get any better than that.
After we got back to the city, I called Laia and met up with her around 8:30. We had a lovely dinner with her mom and sister and then we touched ourselves up so we could go out for drinks. We went to the Hotel La Florida which is up in the mountains and has the most AMAZING view of Barcelona. I couldn't take pictures because I forgot my camera and it was super dark anyways, but it was fantastic. I got to meet a bunch of Laia's friends (and reunite with some of the Pingree exchange students) and all in all just had a really nice time hanging out with a bunch of great people!
I stayed a Laia's (I have my own pull out bed there haha) and we spent Sunday watching YouTube videos of SYTYCD and Fama (Which is the spanish equivalent). So nice to just hang out :-)
After so many great meals, I had to force myself to go to the gym which I did. Unfortunately, the gym didn't want me for long, because they turned the TV's and the lights off on me a half hour before I thought it was closing...oh well haha
Since then it's been pretty routine: Class, study, class, gym, homework, bed. haha
BUT this weekend is FIESTAAAA!!! woot! And I think we're going to sitges again with Trinity, so that'll be fun too!
Anyways, that's a little bit of what's going on with me!
I'm going to start doing lists, because it seems to be the thing to do on blogs haha
Here are the 5 things (silly things haha) that I miss about the US
1. Refills. Seriously, a diet coke here is like 1,15 euros and it's TINY and they don't give free refills. So. Sad.
2. Eggs for breakfast. They apparently just don't do that here?
3. Foliage. I mean, there's some, but there's nothing like in MA or NH
4. ORBIT SWEET MINT GUM. You have no idea how terrible withdrawl from orbit is...
5. My coche. I love me some metro, but when it's raining and I have to run soaking wet through the streets, I really miss my cancerous mercedes haha
and here are 5 things I wish I could transfer to the US from Barcelona
1. The climate. Right now, it's still 70 degrees and sunny which is beautiful :-)
2. The fruit. well, send this to Trinity, at least, because good fruit doesn't exist in college.
3. Jamon serrano. Brilliant. Genius.
4. The pace of life. Everyone walks a little bit slower here. I'd like to take a look around once in a while back home...
5. Tortilla espanola. Gods gift to man kind. I'm serious people, try it.
Yes, I realize that the majority of those things are food related, but hey, I like to eat, what can I say :-)
ok, bed time for Mioooo
love you all!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Estudiar es mejorarse
Blah, so much spanish class. I can't take doing one more group activity haha! Just teach me some grammar and get on with it!
Anywayssss, Tuesday nothing extremely interesting happened, except that I went to a yoga class at the gym and wanted to cry. This guy was doing hand stands and acrobatics and I was sitting there thinking AHHHH! what the HELL have I gotten myself into. Anyways.
Wednesday I had class and later in the day some of the trinity group went with Carlota to a jazz/salsa/rock/flamenco club called Jazzsi. It was this tiny whole in the wall that you wouldn't be able to find in broad daylight with signs pointing you straight to it. But the music was AMAZING. They played the classics like "Sing Sing Sing" and "Cry Me A River" (NOT the Justin Timberlake one haha) and then they played some other ones I had never heard (although that's not saying much considering I don't know a whole lot about jazz, except that I like it :-) haha). The singer was amazing and sounded like a mix between Judy Garland and Sara Bareilles (who you all know I'm completely obsessed with). She was Catalan but sang like an american, so it was quite funny and entertaining and all around just a good time. Will definitely make a trip back.
After the concert we went to get tapas where we demolished about 15 different plates...I'm pretty sure the waiter was getting tired of us asking for more hummus...
Today was fairly ordinary, had class, went food shopping. and...went to a belly dancing class? Yep. I'm cool. Hahaha It was quite fun, although not so much exercise as me trying not to look like a fool haha.
Other than that, things are pretty quiet here in Barcelona, but not to worry, tomorrow's friday and all that will change :-)
besos y abrazos :-)
Anywayssss, Tuesday nothing extremely interesting happened, except that I went to a yoga class at the gym and wanted to cry. This guy was doing hand stands and acrobatics and I was sitting there thinking AHHHH! what the HELL have I gotten myself into. Anyways.
Wednesday I had class and later in the day some of the trinity group went with Carlota to a jazz/salsa/rock/flamenco club called Jazzsi. It was this tiny whole in the wall that you wouldn't be able to find in broad daylight with signs pointing you straight to it. But the music was AMAZING. They played the classics like "Sing Sing Sing" and "Cry Me A River" (NOT the Justin Timberlake one haha) and then they played some other ones I had never heard (although that's not saying much considering I don't know a whole lot about jazz, except that I like it :-) haha). The singer was amazing and sounded like a mix between Judy Garland and Sara Bareilles (who you all know I'm completely obsessed with). She was Catalan but sang like an american, so it was quite funny and entertaining and all around just a good time. Will definitely make a trip back.
After the concert we went to get tapas where we demolished about 15 different plates...I'm pretty sure the waiter was getting tired of us asking for more hummus...
Today was fairly ordinary, had class, went food shopping. and...went to a belly dancing class? Yep. I'm cool. Hahaha It was quite fun, although not so much exercise as me trying not to look like a fool haha.
Other than that, things are pretty quiet here in Barcelona, but not to worry, tomorrow's friday and all that will change :-)
besos y abrazos :-)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Summertime and the livin' is easy...
So it's still around 80 degree's here every day which is so wonderful! I talked to my parents yesterday and my mom was in a sweater. Part of me is definitely going to miss New England fall, but at the same time, it was WONDERFUL to be able to go to the beach this weekend.
Saturday (I forget if I already wrote this, so bear with me haha) was el Dia de Catalunya which is actually kind of a strange day haha. Apart from the fact that I felt really weird celebrating something on September 11th, the day actually commemorates a Catalunian defeat rather than a victory...Apparently, it's to commemorate the defeat of the siege of Barcelona when all things Catalan were banned, so there are a bunch of festivals celebrating Catalan writing, music, etc. The political groups put flowers on statutes of famous war heros and there's basically a whole lot of hooplah. It was very cool to see, everyone was wearing the Catalan flag and we got to see 3 human towers (castelles) which are so fun to see! so that was cool, and then Helena and I went to lunch and had really bad food....so now we know not to go there again haha.
Sunday I went to the beach with Almudena and just had a very relaxing day sleeping and reading. It was DELIghtful.
Today, I had a double session of classes. Not terrible, but one of the classes was right SMACK dab in the middle of my nap time. How rude, right? I know, I was pretty upset too.
But good news! I joined a DIR gym today near the apartment! It's SO nice, I think I'm in love. Took a spin class today and am very pumped. haha
Anyways, that's a little update! hope everyone's doing well!
miss you all!!
~Amanda
Saturday (I forget if I already wrote this, so bear with me haha) was el Dia de Catalunya which is actually kind of a strange day haha. Apart from the fact that I felt really weird celebrating something on September 11th, the day actually commemorates a Catalunian defeat rather than a victory...Apparently, it's to commemorate the defeat of the siege of Barcelona when all things Catalan were banned, so there are a bunch of festivals celebrating Catalan writing, music, etc. The political groups put flowers on statutes of famous war heros and there's basically a whole lot of hooplah. It was very cool to see, everyone was wearing the Catalan flag and we got to see 3 human towers (castelles) which are so fun to see! so that was cool, and then Helena and I went to lunch and had really bad food....so now we know not to go there again haha.
Sunday I went to the beach with Almudena and just had a very relaxing day sleeping and reading. It was DELIghtful.
Today, I had a double session of classes. Not terrible, but one of the classes was right SMACK dab in the middle of my nap time. How rude, right? I know, I was pretty upset too.
But good news! I joined a DIR gym today near the apartment! It's SO nice, I think I'm in love. Took a spin class today and am very pumped. haha
Anyways, that's a little update! hope everyone's doing well!
miss you all!!
~Amanda
Friday, September 10, 2010
Well that's sad!
So I tried to post about 3 days ago but blogger wasn't having it so I saved what I wrote but apparently it got lost somewhere. Sad :-(
Anyways, where was I? hmm ok well Tuesday we discovered the neighborhood that the Trinity space is in, going to restaurants and grocery stores in the area to get ourselves familiar with the place. After that, we had a nice lunch at this buffet style place which was surprisingly good.
After that, I decided that I didn't want to just hang around the apartment on a beautiful day in a beautiful city, so I hopped on the metro and made my way to Parc Guell, my absolute favorite place in the entire world. I don't know why, but the architecture and the atmosphere are just so amazing and I keep going back. I spent some time reading the paper and listening to the sounds of Barcelona in one of Gaudi's ergonomically designed benches. It was magical :-)
Wednesday we had our spanish test (EEP) and visited La Pedrera, another one of Gaudi's famous works. The building was SO amazing, I had never seen it from the inside, but it was even more impressive than from the outside! The roof really is a magical place, with fantastic views of the city and amazing chimneys and undulating staircases everywhere. Seriously worth a visit if you're ever in the city. If anyone wants to come visit me I promise I'll take you there!
Thursday we had Orientation at UPF and found out our spanish class for today (Friday). That means I actually have to do work....weird...
Anyways then I officially mailed my first package today! The whole transaction en espanol (although in very broken and bad spanish haha), but nevertheless I was proud haha. After this major stepping stone, I met up with the trinity group for a bike tour of the city. We peddled in a make way for duckling's type formation around the city and I'm pretty sure I almost ran down about 5 people. It was really fun though, and the ride through Barceloneta beach was beautiful!
Today I had my first spanish class which was actually quite fun. The teacher is super young and nice and we're going to be learning a bunch of new things which I'm excited about :-) (sigh, ok now you can make fun of me for being a nerd.)
Also went to my new bookstore today (I've decided it's my new bookstore solely because it's the ONLY bookstore I've come across so far....haha) and bought the Lost Symbol in Spanish (El Simbolo Perdido) so that I can look like I'm spanish on the Metro...yes, I think about these things and do ridiculous things like this haha.
Now I'm getting ready for a night out on the town (it's friday afterall), so I hope you enjoyed this brief recap!
Miss everyone!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Costa Brava
Sorry it's been a few days! I've been on the coast cut off from civilization for the weekend, but not to worry, I'm BACK.
Sooooo lets see, where to begin. Friday was orientation which was pretty standard. We went for a visit at UPF (the university we're studying at) and had a nice lunch. After that we all went to the beach for a little bit and hung out as a group. That night, I went with a few girls to some clubs by the beach and had a great night enjoying the night life of Barcelona! The only problem: getting 2 hours of sleep before having to jump on a train to Costa Brava and go on a million tours was a little rough. Needless to say I passed the train ride sleeping in a coma like state. I don't do well without sleep.... haha
So we got to Costa Brava around 1 o'clock and went to lunch at this really fancy place. I decided to be adventurous and get a whole fish (scales and all) for my meal. When in Rome right? I ended up eating more scales and bones than fish I think....but it was pretty good, although too much effort for my taste. After lunch we went to the Dali museum which was so cool but SO weird. He's a very strange artist and is obsessed with fallic symbols, so the museum was definitely a little out there haha. I have a bunch of pictures which I'll post soon! There was one room (the living room) where he created a couch in the shape of a woman's lips, a fire place in the shape of a nose, and had two large pictures of eyes. When you stood up on a platform and looked through a glass, the whole effect was a portrayal of May West's face. It was pretty epic.
After spending time in Figueres (where Dali was born) we went to our Casa Rural (rural house) to put our stuff away and take a nap. Then we had a delicious dinner prepared by the owners of the house and played a few games before calling it a night.
Sunday we went north near the border between Spain and France and visited the Museum of Exiles which gave a history of all those who were forced from Spain during WWII and Franco's regime. It was very interesting but also a bit sad. After a quick visit, we went to San Marti de Empuries which is a small coastal town with beautiful beaches. After soaking in the sun for a few hours (I now have an even BETTER tan than when I left :-) hahaha) we went to visit the ruins of the first Greek city in Spain called Empuries. There was also Roman ruins that we visited. The site was amazing and quite well preserved considering. It was like a smaller version of Pompeii in some ways. The Roman ruins, while not was well excavated, showed some amazing history. They had complete tile floors that were preserved under years of debris that I just found spectacular. Roman and Greek culture has always fascinated me, so this trip was really great, and we went around 6 pm so the weather was cooling off and the lighting was FANTASTIC for taking pictures. Again, I have a billion and will put them up asap!
Monday we got up early and traveled to Girona, the capital of the Girona province of Spain (of which there are four, Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, anddddd....one more, I forget...dammit...anyways). The city is famous for its bridges and it's amazing Cathedral which was built on top of pagan temples. It was a beautiful work of architecture and I spent most of the day snapping pictures of the gothic building. Apparently I wasn't supposed to take photos inside, but I got a few before I was told to knock it off so you can see a little bit of the inside too. After a nice lunch, we caught a train back to Barcelona where I spent the rest of the day with my host family.
I finally got to meet Monica! She's so sweet and really really really funny! The two of them together are hilarious. She calls her mother "chica" and it makes me laugh so hard! haha. They're really great and make me feel at home!
Anyways, I need to go make myself presentable as I have to meet people to take a tour of the neighborhood where the Trinity Space is! Hope you enjoyed this entry!! I'll be writing more regularly now that I'm back in Barcelona!!!
Miss you all :-)
~Amanda
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Beginning
Hello all :-)
So yesterday was the first official day of the program with Trinity! My life has been kind of a mess these past couple of days because apparently when I landed, someone was supposed to give me a bag full of information telling me where to go, at what time, etc. you know, the important stuff that if you were in a foreign country, you'd probably like to know? Apparently, the guy who was supposed to drop mine off decided I was better off without it. Cool right? naht.
My host mother told me the night before that I was supposed to meet up with the group at Cafe Zurich at 4:30 the next day. She left me a note in the morning and a metro card and there I was...
Thank god she drew me a map of how to get there because I would have been walking around Barcelona for hours. As it was I still wandered lost for a good fifteen minutes, although apparently I looked like I knew where I was going because a couple tried to ask me for directions. Yeah, ok people, ask the girl that's lost to tell you where to go. Good judge of character.
Haha anyways, we finally managed to meet up and went on a bus tour of Barcelona with our student mentor Eulalia. We ended the day with a lovely pizza dinner at Veronica and I successfully managed to take the metro home without getting lost! Go me! haha
I have to leave in a few for Orientation but I'll post more about today tomorrow!
I also have some pictures, but I broke my fotobucket gadget somehow and have to get Nick to fix it :-)
Anyways, love you all :-)
~Amanda
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
UPC, meeting the new majra, and more
hey all :-)
Earlier today I went with Laia to see her University which is about 20 minutes from her house. It's called UPC (Universitat Polytecnica de Catalunya) and it's very modern and cool looking! She's studying a type of engineering and has to take tons of science and math classes that you couldn't pay me to take. I envy her intelligence haha! Math was never my strong suit.
Anyways, we had a lovely walk through the city and through her university and now we're back in her apartment chilling with Irene and waiting for 6:30 when I'll meet my new host mother! I'm really nervous, but also excited. Laia and her family know me and are very patient with my spanish skills, and I hope my host mother doesn't think I'm slow in the head hahahah We'll see I suppose. But Laia is convinced that she's very nice. She said that after reading her email to me, she's sure that she's a lovely woman haha! We'll see!
Sigh, well I'll update later when I've met the new fam and have something new to say! For now, Adios y hasta luego!
~Amanda
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