No more ham!!!

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote! It's been busy this past week now that classes have actually started. Time for an update!

My roomate Alex came down with what we thought was the flu but it turned out to be some nasty infection. She went to a english doctor here on Thursday and got prescribed 3 different types of medicine to get better. She was (needless to say) cooped up in bed for most of the weekend. I went out on Friday night to the same fairie bar that I mentioned in one of my past blogs because it's got such a cool atmosphere. Since there were just 4 of us (my friends Nicole, Tony and Felip) and we are all in upper level spanish classes, we decided to speak in Spanish the entire time that we were there. It wasn't difficult at all and we kept it up for about 2 hours before finally going back to English. It's a lot easier to practice when you're with people of your own age and level. We're thinking of doing it again next time we all go out together and make it a routine. After that, we walked down Las Ramblas to the "Obama Bar" in Barcelona. Everyone here loves Obama since Bush refused to ever talk to their current president but to have built a bar in his honor outside of the US seems crazy to me. We went in since we had only heard good things about it and probably just spent a half an hour or so talking before the cigarette smoke started to bother us and we started our walks home. One thing I don't think that I will ever get used to is how everybody here smokes. It would be really nice to be able to go to some public place without getting everyone's second hand smoke. I get headaches from it a lot.



Saturday was really low-key. Both Alex and I slept in and didn't wake up until it was just about lunch time. We went to eat at a cafe in the area and ordered hamburgers hoping for a good old American meal. It was good but I've never heard of putting hamburgers on what looks like french bread. Maybe they've never heard of hamburger buns. I decided to stay in that night to spend the it hanging out with the 3 kids and Alex since the parents were going out for dinner and a movie. We played Wii with the kids and 2 of their friends, ate pizza in front of the tv, and watched "There's Something About Mary" in spanish with english subtitles. I don't know if movies here get the same ratings as in the US but I at least thought it was inappropriate for a 10, 12 and 13 year old. The parents rented it for them though so either they didn't know how the movie is or were okay with it. The kids kept looking to me and Alex to catch our reactions but we really were trying to play dumb like we didn't understand the jokes either. It was so hard to keep a straight face! As soon as the movie ended, all three of the kids went into full-on cleaning mode. We couldn't believe our eyes when the started bringing dishes to the kitchen, wiping down the table, and throwing out all the garbage. The 13 year old Lucia even pulled out a broom and dust pan to pick up the crumbs on the floor. They were cleaned up and ready for bed in 15 minutes flat without anybody even saying a word to them. I don't know if it's a cultural difference or if Lola and Carlos are just outstanding parents but the kids really do amaze me sometimes. I wish the kids I babysit around that age were so willing to clean up after themselves and go to bed on time. I've practically dragged kids up the stairs kicking and screaming for bedtime in the US. I'm not sure what they do differently here but I want to learn.



On Sunday, Alex was feeling better and felt up to going out so we tried to go the "el parque del laberinto" or the park of the laberinth. I only saw one picture but it looks like something straight out of a Harry Potter movie so I really wanted to go see it. It took us probably an hour or more walking and jumping from metro to metro so we were especially disappointed when we got there and found out that it was closed for repairs. I don't know if you saw on the news but... Barcelona and the surrounding area has had some crazy weather lately including outrageous winds on Saturday that knocked down trees and even caved in the ceiling of a sports arena. I guess there was also damage to the park that we had come so far to see so we didn't get to see hardly anything but I definitely want to go back. Now that we know where it is, it won't take half as long. We got back to the house and I did homework for the rest of the day so I could go to bed early. We do so much walking that I feel like I cannot sleep enough.



On Monday, I had classes from 9am to 1:30 and then again from 3:45 to 7:30. It's the worst day of the week by far for me but I'm still enjoying all my classes so it's not quite as bad as it sounds. It makes it so much better that my final class of the day is art so I hardly count that as a real class. I enjoy it so much that it flies by in what seems like a half an hour at most. By the time I was done with class, I was so tired that I headed straight home for dinner and then to bed shortly afterwards. Needless to say, I slept like a rock that night.



Tuesday was a really easy day since I only had art class at 9 to 10:30am and then am done for the day. My friends Tony and Nicole met up with me afterwards and since we all had nothing better to do, we decided to wander around the city for the next 3 hours or so. We saw two cathedrals, walked down a ton of small un-named streets (at least that's what I'm beginning to think since the street signs are so obscure that I hardly bother looking anymore. A tip if you ever are trying to navigate Barcelona... look on the walls of buildings... there tend to be little plaques declaring the street names there), and got some lunch at a little flaffle place. One of the cathedrals absolutely deserves mention. If you ever visit Barcelona, make sure to visit the Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral. It puts everything in perspective... we are small and insignificant. The ceiling seems to be 100 feet above your head and there are probably at least 30 stained windows to look at. Pictures could never do it justice but I'll attach one so you can at least understand how incredibly tall it is. I can't get over the fact that they built it in the 1300's! The stained glass windows are definately something you have to see for yourself to appreciate... so much detail! After our couple of hours of wandering, I took a walk over to the copy shop to pick up one more book for classes and then made the trek home from there. It's a long walk but it was so gorgeous out that I didn't mind at all.... blue skies, lots of sun, and a perfect temperature. I know you guys are jealous :P I got home and napped for a little while before dinner, finished all my homework, and went to bed. It was a good day :)

Today, I went to classes from 9am to 1:30 and then had class again that afternoon. My last class is one about communication, language, and culture of Spain and Latin America. Today, we had a field trip to the "Museum of Chocolate" here in Barcelona which was small and simple but really cool. Basically it consisted of elaborate, chocolate sculptures and information about chocolate's influence in history. I'm not sure how she's going to tie it into the class but it was interesting enough. Afterwards, I went with my friend Nicole to the "Museum of the History of the City". It's a required field trip I had to make for my history class about Barcelona but it was really amazing. Most people don't know that Barcelona actually began as a Roman City. Below the museum is the Ruins from the city dating back as far as 12BC. We have nothing even close to it in the states. We had an audio tour that told us about the good personal hygiene of the Romans (they had perfume, lotions, makeup, and even tools for shaving), how they made wine, accesories that they wore (everything from rings to charms for clothing), and about their clothing and laundry. It was amazing to be walking through ruins underneath a building. Nobody even knew that they were there originally but now they've uncovered more than anyone knew existed and still are discovering more. The history here is amazing! I came home for dinner after that and after this will be working on homework and then packing... I'm leaving for Rome tomorrow!!! I can't wait to see my boyfriend and friends there! and of course the city! I cannot even imagine what it's like. I'll bring my camera and take lots of pictures so you guys can see too. Also, I'm going to try to update between now and the end of the weekend but if I can't get my hands on a computer then I'll let you know how everything went on Sunday when I get back.

I miss you guys!!

ps. When I get back to the US, I am never going to want to eat a single piece of ham again. No matter how hard I try, I can't get away from it. I got a turkey sandwich the other day... with ham!?! You guys don't understand how disgusting it is and yet the Spaniards eat it like it's essential to life... gross

stupid spanish keyboard ñ瀪¿¡¨

sooo... i was going to finally update my blog between classes today but it´s still going to have to wait because it would take me hours on the spanish keyboard I´m using. That´s definitely not an apostrophe. I swear you guys will have it soon... sorry for the delay

One piece of news tho... I leave for Rome tomorrow morning! So excited!

Long Day in a Small World

Today was a really long day but for the most part it was good. I woke up early and ran to my history of Barcelona class and sat through a hour and a half long lecture about how history has shaped the layout of the city today. We also talked about why the people are the way they are and what events shaped them. We basically did an overview of the entire course today and we'll go into details from here. I'm really thankful that she is a good lecturer because othewise a 9am history class would probably bore me to death. It'll be really cool when we go on field studies outside the classroom... I think she has 3 planned throughout the semester.

After history, I went to my spanish class next door and was there for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes! I like the teacher but majority of my class came to Barcelona only to party and drink. The girl I'm always stuck sitting next to and doing partner activities with never does anything and just spends the entire class period texting on her blackberry. The worst part is that nobody else wants to sit next to her either because nobody wants to listen to clicking for nearly 3 hours. At least I'm learning everything especially well because I practically do all the activities by myself... I'll be an expert by the time the semester is over at this rate.

After class, I met up with my friend Tony who has a break at the same time as me. We went to some big plaza to eat our lunches and talked for about an hour and a half about all sorts of things... life, family, our significant others, and why we're in Barcelona. We sat next to this HUGE arch that I wish I had a picture that I could show you or be able to describe it but I forgot my camera and am not that good with words. It still amazes me how different everything is here. One big cultural difference is that when we were sitting on this wall just off the path, people would walk directly next to where we were sitting rather than letting us have our bubbles and them theirs. They have no concept of personal space here. When you're going to talk to a Spaniard, you gotta pray that they don't have bad breath or a mint at least because otherwise you'll smell it. Oh... and also, when Tony and I were talking about family, I mentioned that I have family that live around San Fransisco (where he's also from). It turns out that he and my Aunt and Uncle both live in Alameda, CA which I thought was crazy... just a small island in all of California that both of them happen to live on. The longer I'm here for the more that I realize that it is a extremely small world. How outrageous would it be if they were neighbors or lived down the street from eachother or something like that?

We walked back with 20 minutes or so to spare before our next classes. I went to find my cinema class for the first time since switching my schedule around the day before. I was the first one to sit down followed by two other girls that hadn't been there the day before either. Class started and I was still optimistic but no more than 5 minutes into the hour and a half long class period, I was half asleep. I don't know if it's the professor, the class, or the subject but I struggled to keep my eyes opened. I got through it but it wasn't exactly my cup of tea (so say my English friends). I decided with 5 minutes left in the class that since this is my semester that I'm determined to enjoy, that I would switch to another class that I enjoyed more. I left at the end of the class and changed my classes once more... this time to a class entitled "Language, Culture, and Communications" or something along those lines. It focuses on Spain and Latin America and sounds really interesting. It'll be taught in Spanish but I feel good about it because first of all I found out that I have two good friends in the class to help me out and second, I live with a family that can help me figure things out outside of class too. Lola and Carlos are both really encouraging... they thought I was crazy to be "so good at spanish" and not to be taking courses in spanish. I guess I'll likely never have the opportunity again so I figure... why not?

I took the train home after classes rather than walk like my original plan because I was absolutely exhausted. I can't believe that I'm still up right now typing but at this point, I'm on a roll with these daily blogs so I had better keep it up. I did some homework for awhile before getting the chance to talk to my friend Kelly back at Loyola and then getting called for dinner. Dinner tonight was great again (2 days without ham... I must be lucky!)... baked cauliflower, potatoes, and cheese, a salad, bread, and calamari rings. For dessert we had fruit and some of the cheesecake leftover from a couple days ago. Again, it was amazing... no jamon in my stomach!

Then after dinner, I went back to my room with a pot that Lola gave me when I asked for suggestions on what to draw for art class. I forget what she called it but I guess it's typical in Spain in small towns to keep their water cold. It's really cool because of the shadowing but kinda tough to draw. I'm attaching a picture of what I have so far next to the pot because I'm not sure that I like it. Let me know what you think I may able to do better... constructive criticism. But for now, I'm going to sleep on it and take another look in the morning. I'm pooped! It's been a long day and I'm just ready to pass out now... Talk to you soon. Adios!

PS. The pics are of Lucia with a yogurt mustache :), kiwi (yum!), my dinner tonight, and my drawing. Lola thinks I'm crazy for taking pictures of all our food but she had to admit that the kiwi picture was cool (que chullo!)

Sensual Drawings and Artichokes

I woke up early today (again...) for classes but this time I at least wanted to. I'm so excited to be taking an art class. I get really nervous when the crazy professor walks around behind me to check how I'm doing but it seems that he likes me. He thinks I draw "sensually"... lol whatever that means. He wants me to look up an artist "Rousseau" before next class because he thinks that I'd really like him. I guess he was a customs officer with no training in art at all but his paintings are supposed to be amazing. He then went on to say that I am "more than a pretty face". At least he'd rather make comments to make my face turn red rather than yelling at me like he does some of the other kids. I'm attaching the drawing that I was working on today so you can tell me if you think that it's "sensual" too. lol. Our homework for next Monday is to pick two objects and to draw them. For one, I'm considering this old fashioned alarm clock I have in my room but the reflections in the silver are more difficult than I thought they'd be. We'll see how I feel about it when it's done... I have all week to draw something else if I decide to do so.

After class, I went to talk to an academic advisor about changing some class about politics to one that I am actually interested in. She helped me out and I ended up getting my first choice. Now I'm in a class entitled "Cinema and the City: Barcelona through the Camera Lens". It sounds really interesting! It'll be all in spanish so I can get credit for my spanish major and I may be able to get credit towards my art minor too. We'll learn about filming and the general process, watch lots of movies/documentaries about Barcelona, and for the final project, we have to go out and make our own movie. How cool does that sound!?! I'm so excited to be taking classes that I want to take and not ones that someone else tells me I need to take. It makes getting up for class a lot easier at the very least. It also made my schedule so that when we have fridays off because of trips that IES plans (that's at least 5 times throughout the semester), I'll have 4 day weekends! That means lots of traveling and cheaper flights for leaving during the week :)

After getting my schedule finalized, I walked to the bookstore to pick up all my books for classes and walked home from there. It's like a 45 minute walk but it seems to go by fast because there is so much to see. Everything is beautiful! I love people watching here too... there are a lot of similarities but differences too. I came back to an empty house :), made myself a sandwich and popcorn, and started drawing and doing some homework for awhile. It was a relaxing afternoon.

The presidential inauguration was on here at around 6pm here so I sat down with Alex and Lola to watch that... my biggest complaint is that they kept dubbing in spanish and catalan over what they were saying in english. It was interesting to watch from outside the states but I can't really tell you if it were any different from watching it there. I doubt that I watched Bush's inauguration and if I did I don't remember it. You'll have to tell me what it was like there... I'm sure it was on every channel with coverage all day. Chicago must have been crazy...

Afterwards, Lola, Enrique, and I talked in the kitchen for a little bit while she was fixing dinner... some funky looking biscuit things with beef and cheese in the middle, rice, and a big batch of baked artichokes! I love the artichokes she makes but the whole meal was delicious! For dessert we had fruit again but everyone was especially excited about having kiwis. They were perfectly ripe which I guess is rare to find in Spain.

After dinner, I finished all my homework, hung out with the kids, and am now getting ready for classes tomorrow. It won't be too bad (2 classes in the morning 9-1:30 and a class in the afternoon 3:45-5:30) but I think I want to make myself a lunch so I don't have to spend more money on food. It gets expensive really fast (lunch is the one meal we have to fend for ourselves). We have some food in our room though so I can make a sandwich or something and grab a coffee or something rather than having to buy a full lunch.

Something that I keep forgetting to mention is that since being here, I dream every single night and remember all the details. Before I left, I hardly ever dreamed and if I did, I was lucky to remember anything that I dreamed of. I think that it's because I'm experiencing so many new things that it's got my mind going all the time. I think it's also because this is what I've dreamed of doing since I was little. I'm starting to try to do things for me now and not for anyone else and I think that's a big part of it. I've met a lot of people who say you could never do that or you shouldn't bother trying... I'm doing what I want to do no matter what anybody tells me. It's the most amazing feeling in the world to be doing something that I set out to do all by myself. I came to Barcelona because I wanted to come here not because my friends were doing it or because somebody told me I should. I was scared to death to come here by myself but I didn't and I couldn't have done it better. From now on, I'll do things for myself and not for anybody else.

I hope you appreciate the photos of food... my family here makes fun of me for taking pictures of everything. Anyways... I miss you guys :) besitos

Art Class with a Mad Man

Today was the first official day of classes. I woke up extra early so I could stop by the book store before my 9am class and still had to practically run. I made it with just seconds to spare and sat down in my first class "Barcelona: the Cosmopolitan City". The professor seems nice and although the subject isn't something that I'd usually really enjoy taking, it should at least be entertaining. I'm most excited about the field trips and glad that she says it's hard to get anything lower than an A. That always makes it easier if you're learning it more for yourself than for the grade.

My next class was a 7 credit spanish class which I've been doing since last week. Most of the kids in my class are cool and I really like the professor. She mainly teaches us stuff that we can use on the streets like the slang, common expressions, gestures they use all the time, and stuff about the culture as a heads up. We've talked about our host families and stuff that we thought were weird that they do, about the food we've been eating, and our homes in general. Today, we learned a lot of vocabulary about the human body and then went on to talk about expressions they use in regular conversation. That'll come in handy because sometimes my family here says things that do not translate at all like "he/she is taking your hair". In spanish, it means the same as our expression "he/she is pulling your leg"... good to know.

After class, I hopped on the metro and was thrilled to come home and find the house empty. Silence! I spent an hour just sitting in my room by myself drawing for a little bit and then going online. I was gladd to have a little me time today. Tomorrow should be even better if all goes as planned... I want to drop one of my classes that I'm in for a different one. If I can add a mon/wed class somewhere between 1:30 and 5:30 then I'll have thursdays off completely and just one class on tues 9am-10:30. We have a lot of fridays off because of optional trips with the study abroad program so that would give me 4 day weekends every couple of weeks... perfect for traveling!

At 5:30 I had an art class that I just picked up today. It was the one class that I really wanted to take but wasn't placed in up until this morning when I talked to someone from my program. Luckily, there was one spot left. Lola said if there wouldn't have been that I'd just have to "complain, complain, complain" and if that didn't work that she would. She thought it was absolutely outrageous that I couldn't get into the class that I wanted to. I'm so glad my host family is cool. I love them! Anyways, when I got to art class, I walked into the classroom to find a chubby man with a full beard and plaid shirt already waving his arms infront of the class. I sat down at the long white table with the other 16 kids and tuned into his lecture. He lectured for probably the first half of the class and after he was sure that we knew what he wanted from us, he handed out 8x11 sheets of paper. We all took two and started drawing the displays he set up in the middle of the table. Ours was a plastic water bottle filled with water and a bouquet of plastic flowers. On the table next to the makeshift vase was 3 plastic fruits... I guess it didn't really matter what it was that we were actually drawing since the whole lecture was on making things proportional. Soon after we started drawing, he walked to up behind a kid sitting 2 chairs away from me and asked something along the lines of who the chinese kid's name is. The kid sitting there turns around pissed and says that he's actually half philipino and half white. The teacher appologized and goes "I know, I should have said asian". I wonder if he realizes how bad he insulted that kid. Maybe that's considered okay to do in Spain but everyone else in the room had their jaws dropped to the floor. It was after that when he started yelling at this girl for not listening to a single word he said. He repeated many times that we should start with the basics and then add details worrrying only about proportion but she immediately went into the details. Then she gave him lip and he stood up and made a speech that if we didn't want to learn that we should get up and leave. It's funny that I like him. I guess I tend to like the professors that everyone else hates. I'm excited to be finally taking an art class even if he is crazy.

I got home from class at about 8 and was absolutely starving. Something smelled good so I had high hopes for something other than ham and was not disappointed. We first had some bread with olive oil and salt, a salad, and a "puree of pumpkin". It was basically pumpkin soup but it was delicious! The main course was some sort of fish that was really good! I ate like 4 big pieces on top of everything else. For dessert, we had fruit (like always) and some homeade cheesecake made by Lola herself. It was a really good night to come home hungry. Over dinner, the whole family sat down to teach us to random spanish expressions that I wasn't taught in class today. They're really good at helping us with our spanish... we practice what we learn every night at dinner. I'm learning a lot

Anyways, I'm going to pass out. I'm tired yo... and I have class tomorrow at 9am so I'd better get some sleep. I'll talk to you guys soon

Day at the Beach

Last night, I went out with a group of 5 of my closest friends here to this bar that is a very local spot. Everybody there was speaking in spanish except for us which I thought was awesome. It's good practice to be able to go out and talk with the locals and order drinks in spanish since some of my friends speak very little spanish so I can't speak it on a daily basis. The bar was called Forest of the Fairies or something like that and the inside is decorated like a fairie tail. Looking at the ceiling is like looking up into a tree canopy and there and mock-trees and flowers throughout the place. It was like walking into a story book. The only weird thing that we noticed was that there was no music but actually it was really nice because we found a table and talked for a few hours.

That bar closed at about 1:30 so we took a long walk through the city to a popular bar called Chupitos or "Shots". I swear that there is a wall of like 100 shots that they'll make for you so rather than picking one at random, we asked the bartender about her favorite. The first Alex and I tried together was an "orgasmo". The bartender made us turn around and face away from the bar and take the shot without looking back. As soon as we each took it, they put a head massager on our heads... it was weird but the shot tasted like chocolate. The second one that we had was a complete surprise... I don't even know what it was called. She handed us a skewer with a marshmallow on the end and suddenly starts a fire on the bar. Nicole, Alex, and I started roasting them over the fire until they were done, dipped them in our shots as instructed, drank them down, and then ate the marshmallow. That one was really good too. Other people from our group got the fire shot which they actually light on fire before you do it. My only complaint about the bar in general is that it is tiny! We hardly could move so after we each had 2, we left for a long walk home. Alex and I walked with Tony and Felipe back to our place and they only had a few blocks walk after dropping us off. Overall, it was a good but pretty chill night.

Today, Alex and I woke up at 11 for breakfast and then went back to bed about 2 hours afterwards because we were still exhausted. I don't know what it is but I am always exhausted here. It's probably just that we are constantly running around sight-seeing and I walk EVERYWHERE. I think that'll get better as I get used to it. If I keep it up, I'll be in awesome shape by the time that I get back to the states. I am really considering getting a membership for these bicycle rental stops rather than taking the subway everywhere. First of all, I'd be able to see a lot more of Barcelona, it's a lot better for me, and I think it would be cool to cut out the need to pay money to get some place. I think some of my friends think that I'm crazy but I think it would be awesome to ride a bike to class (all downhill :)) and walk home. I'd only have to pay for the initial membership fee and it's unlimited from there. Let me know if that sounds like a good idea or if I sound just crazy.

After waking up from a nap, I found that I had received a text from a friend saying that we should meet up. He said he was going to be at the Columbus Statue at 4 and that we should meet him there so then we could walk to the beach together. Alex and I met him there at 4 and walked to the boardwalk to meet up with Nicole and Tori. Port Vell is gorgeous! There are hundreds of sailboats with taller masts than I have ever seen. All over the boardwalk, there are palm trees, performers, and tons and tons of people. I'll have to go back with my camera when it's charged again to take pictures so you guys can see too. We got down to the ocean and the sun was starting to set. Needless to say, it was beautiful. You get a nice view of the city, the mountains, and the ocean all from the same spot. We stayed there for a long time looking at rocks, relaxing, and taking pictures. I think what I'm going to do from now on is to collect a single rock from each country/beach I go to and as much sea glass as I can find. I am considering making a mosaic when I get home with them.

The sun was just about done setting when we decided that we were all getting hungry so we found a restaurant close to the beach to get dinner from. Being that it was Sunday and that Sunday in the Hernandez house is traditional spanish food, I chose to get something familiar... Lasagna! It wasn't exactly what I'm used to but it was really good. The cheese was like nothing I've ever had before... sorta runny and almost white in color but it was delicious. Afterwards, we all left to make our ways back home so we could be there by 8 pm (dinner time in Spain). I was satisfied with how full I felt which I figured was a good thing. Dinner's always a big surprise and it's better to go in feeling full if you're not sure that you're going to like what's being served. We also have extra food in our room in case we have issues with the meal.

Dinner consisted of tortillas espan~oles (basically a patty of eggs and potatos), salad with bits of tuna, some sorta funky cheese, and my worst nightmare bits of what she calls ham. I think knowing what to expect as far as taste-wise helps because we were able to eat a little more than last time. Eating it sandwiched between pieces of bread or the egg helps a lot. Chasing it with a cucumber or something like that with a completely different taste tricks your taste buds long enough to let it go down. Three glasses of water were also a welcome part of my meal.

Now, I'm about to get ready for bed since the official first day of all classes is tomorrow. Afterwards, we're thinking that we'll take a walk down to the "Barrio Gotic" or the gothic neighborhood to see another market that's supposed to also be beautiful and Santa Maria del Mar Chapel. If I can, I'd also love to see the Sagrada Familia (another Gaudi masterpiece that's still under constuction) which I've been dying to see since I knew I was coming to Barcelona. It's another one of those things that you'll need pictures to understand so... those will soon come. For now, I'm going to get my stuff ready for classes and then go to bed. I'll talk to you all soon.

PICTURES!!!

I finally got the link up... click the picture below and it'll bring you to the picture website. There's A LOT! It took me all day to do so I hope you like them. Let me know what you think.

Miss you guys and love you! Talk to you soon

Also, if you get skype you can talk to me... my screen name is kellsbells30