Long couple of days

I've only been here for just over week now but it seems like a month or more. I've got my suitcases (although one came back broken) finally so that's helped get me settled a lot but it's not quite home yet. It still feels a lot like vacation with all the site seeing and the walking we've been doing. My feet and ankles need a break! We've also had spanish class everyday this week which has had me up by 8:30 every morning. Now that it's finally the weekend, I'm going to sleep in at least one day so I can be ready to go again. I feel tired all the time but I think that's because it's the first week and they've had us running every single day since we've been here.

Besides all that, the other day Alex and I walked home from class together. It was a 40 minute walk or so (although I could have done it alone in a half an hour or less... she always complains that I walk to fast) but it was a gorgeous day (55 degrees and sunny :)) so I wasn't too frustrated with her. We stopped by a grocery store on the way home and picked up some food for our room. Lunch is the only meal we aren't provided with and eating out everyday gets too expensive so we're planning to start coming home to eat more often. The neighborhood is beautiful! I don't know how to explain it... everything from the McDonald's to the nicest hotel in the city deserves to have a picture taken of it. Everything is so put together. Everyone has balcony with iron railings and plants and flowers hanging out over them. Every building is made with bricks and stone rather than cheap material you see in the US. I'm taking lots of pictures which should be up soon but still not enough. You really have to come to see it. That night we took it easy with a meal of some sort of fish (something you have to get ready for if you ever come to Spain... they love seafood!) then bed. It was basically a catch-up day without any spectacular events.

Yesterday, we went to class in the morning and afterwards walked to Park Guell with some of my closest friends that I've met here so far (Nicole, Felipe, Tony). We stopped at a small cafe place to pick up sandwiches and wine (don't freak out lol... you're allowed to drink in the streets here. In fact, when we were walking around the park passing around a bottle, a cop we walked past just nodded at us and smiled). The park is like nothing you've ever seen in all of your life. It's designed by the architect Gaudi who's also designed a bunch of other buildings and stuff here in Barcelona but I can't help but think he was crazy for coming up with a place like Park Guell. It looks like it came straight from a dream. The entrance for example looks like a gingerbread house. Within are fountains, trails, lots of areas to eat and explore, and the longest bench in the world. I love seeing all the palm trees and cactus here. Who would have known that they would be able to survive in low temps around 30 or so (as cold as winter here gets). You should see the Spaniards tho... they are bundled up in 50 degree weather like someone in Chicago bundles up for going out in weather below zero. It's actually really funny to hear them complain about how crappy the weather is when it is 50 degrees and sunny. Anyways, we sat down, ate, and drank for awhile before taking a walk around. We first met a crazy hippie man selling jewelery on a blanket who talked to us for awhile in a mixture of Italian, Spanish, and English. I don't know that we would have understood a word he was saying if it weren't for my one friend who's also fluent in Italian. At the very least, he was a very nice man who gave us free necklaces for watching his stuff while he ran to talk to his wife. We also walked by a few performers including a violin player who's from the US but is bussing around Europe and the hippie man's wife who was singing and playing guitar in the center of the park.

Next, we headed up a huge hill to see "the greatest view of Barcelona that we'll ever see" and when we got to the top, we weren't disappointed. We could look over all of the city and even to the ocean. We took turns pointing out where we live, taking pictures, and sitting and talking for awhile before deciding that it was getting a little dark and walking back down. On the way out, we ran into a group of kids speaking english (you have no idea how excited you get here when you hear someone else speaking your language) and talked for long enough to find out that they were from Manchester, England. They were all about our age and really nice but only in Barcelona for one day so they asked us what was a good bar to go to here in the city. We offered to meet up with them latter and show them around which they agreed to and then we all parted.

Tony, Alex and I walked together back to our apartments (lots of walking!) and talked and took even more pictures along the way. One thing that I'm realizing more and more that is different about Europe is that constuction and remodeling is not something that is hidden behind curtains or anything like that. You can practically walk right through a construction site with no problem what-so-ever. I was even taking pictures of that because like I said absolutely everything here is beautiful. Tony says he wants to take a full day with me just to walk around and take pictures because I'm inspiring or something like that. He says he never knows what to take pictures of but that I have an eye for it. We also talked about my ambitious plan to run a half marathon and he says that he'd help me train. We're going to start running in Park Guell together so he can coach me and keep me motivated. He took a psychology class on excercise or something of that sort and wants to be a coach someday so it's also good practice for him. Another thing that's much more popular in Europe is riding a motorcycle. They are everywhere! Just about everybody and their uncle drives one and they are parked everywhere including in the sidewalks. I can't imagine being a truck driver or something like that here trying to avoid hitting the motorcyclists.

That night, we met the english kids out infront of the Hard Rock Cafe in the center of the town. We went to the bar "L'ovella Negra" or the Black Sheep and sat there for hours getting to know the kids. They were hilarious and extremely nice so we stayed out until 3 in the morning talking and laughing before deciding that we all needed to go to bed. They had to be at the airport by 6 so I think that was a good choice on their part too. We got home and crashed almost immediately but we're more than glad we went since now if we ever want to go to England, we have a place to stay.

Today started with class (again!), lunch afterwards with Alex and my friend Paul, and then a walk around the big outdoor marketplace here. Lunch was outside on the street just off the main stretch in Barcelona. We ate a very traditional spanish meal of tapas, paella (rice with bits of veggies, seafood, and meat throughout) and a cup of Sangria (wine with fruit in it). Today marks the first day I've ever tried clams, mussels, shrimp (legs, antennae, head and tail still attached), squid, or octopus. I won't go as far as to say that I'll order them next time I go out but I guess they were worth a shot.

Afterwards, we went to "La Boqueria" that sells everything from chocolate to bunny which they eat here. We walked past stand after stand after stand with fruit, meat, fish, candy, wine, and nuts. It's really pretty so I took lots of pictures but I bet you could drop a lot of money there (especially at the candy stand). The closest thing I've ever seen to it in the states is the fish market in Seattle but even that doesn't quite do it. I managed not to spend any money today on it but I guarantee I'll be back there soon to buy some candy and gifts for my people back home.

We came home and slept after that before going out again with our R.A. Pablo who basically makes sure that we're doing okay in our homestays. We met a bunch of kids from the study abroad program who also live in the area and drank and ate at a local bar. We were going to go to see Flamenco dancing before Pablo realized that there were so many of us coming but I think I'll definitely have to check it out another night. It's supposed to be awesome with a professional dancer and live music. I'll let you know how that goes when I finally get over there.

Anyways, I'll try to be better with updating this daily. I've been running all the time so I keep on putting it off but now I'm regretting that since this now took me twice as long as I hoped it would. I'm going to bed now but I'll have pictures up tomorrow. It's on my to do list! Love you guys and miss you lots! Talk to you soon!

ps. Leave some comments so I can get your reactions too. I'd also love to hear about what's going on in the states and how you guys like freezing your butts off while I run around warm in a sweatshirt here :P