Me Encanta Barcelona!

Its been just one week since my arrival in Barcelona and yet I feel like I've been here for much longer. I've already done so much and my knowledge of the city grows exponentially everyday that I am here. For now, school consists of just one class (spanish) at 12:25 and it is much more of an introduction to Barcelona and Spanish culture than a grammar class at this point, and thus I don't quite yet feel like I'm at school. This Monday regular classes start up, however, and I'll be reminded that I am not just on vacation.

The beauty of Barcelona impresses me every day and the warm sun and 60 degree temperatures help as well. Even in the first few days I was here during the cold snap I kept reminding myself how much warmer it is than Michigan. Today the temperature at midday got to about 60 and I was thrilled to be able to take off my coat, but I noticed I was the only person I saw with just a t-shirt on. Even at 60 the people in Barcelona were fully zipped up, many with scarves wrapped around their necks to boot.

One of the first things we did in Spanish class was a scavenger hunt together. Not only was it a great way to meet everyone in my class (who all happen to be very cool people) but it was also allowed us to explore and get to know the city a bit more. The heart of Barcelona is the square or plaza de Catalunya and most of my exploration as well as this scavenger hunt has been focused around this lively, colorful area. One of the things I love about this part of Barcelona is the old style city streets and alleys. Though they can be a bit unnerving at night (and thus we tend to avoid them), during the day these small alley ways are amazing to explore, filled with small cafes, cervecerias (bars), and dessert shops among other things. In this area and much of Barcelona, everything is focused around plazas and because of this the streets aren't organized like they are in New York. There are main streets that clearly travel certain ways but the small streets branch off from these almost like veins or roots going in all directions.

There is so much to explore in plaza catalunya and since the IES center is located there I have walked around quite a bit after class (the warm weather promotes this as well). Las Ramblas is the main strip of this area and is an incredible sight to see you during the day and night. During the day it is a bustling area full of markets, small stands, artists, street performers, and pedestrians. The street performers are not really performers but rather just photo ops as they consist of people dressed in elaborate costumes which draws people to take their photo (which you are obliged to tip them for). These two (below) sit on their bikes for hours, only moving when they hear the clink of a coin in their bucket. They really look like statues when they don't move.

Just off las ramblas is la boquería, an incredible fresh food market. Fresh fruits, vegetables, cuts of meat (you can find some pretty gross stuff haha), seafood, and more fill the market daily. I have gone several times and each time I have to buy the 1 euro fruit smoothie (if you go at the end of the day they will sell you 2, sometimes even 3, for the same one euro). It is made strictly from the market fruits and are 100% natural fresh squeezed juices and the taste proves it. I seem to have an unquenchable thirst for them. I snagged a pretty nice picture of the smoothies that also shows the early morning sun creeping in to this open market (other boquería pictures follow:

My favorite night thus far has to be my first game night. Barcelona football (soccer) is life here and I am extremely happy to become a subscriber to that lifestyle. In the states it is hard to be a big soccer fan but here there are so many outlets for the passion that it is almost forced upon you. These are a people who are so soccer crazy that they sell tickets to the games at local ATMs! Recently I bought my first ticket and I am excited to say that I will be seeing Barcelona play Sevilla this Saturday at the famous Camp Nou stadium (which, of course, I will write about for this blog). But as I was saying, my favorite night involved first dinner (tapas; small, almost samples, of several different dishes) with some friends followed by watching the Barcelona-Tenarife (a team from the Canary Islands I believe) game at a local Irish Pub. Although it was an Irish pub (the bartenders actually were from Ireland) it mostly consisted of locals and we were, to my knowledge, the only Americans there.

One local approached us and said he overheard us speaking English, asking us where we were from, what we were doing in Barcelona, etc. He spoke English quite well and when I said I was from New Jersey he noted he had just been in New Jersey-- Asbury Park to be exact. Of all the places to be in the U.S. in January he had just been in Asbury Park? Turns out (and I guessed correctly) that he was a Bruce Springsteen fanatic and had gone to see his idols hometown. Though he spoke English, he had several friends with him who did not and I began conversing with them in Spanish. Thankfully they put up with it and I had a great time finally getting to really practice my Spanish, leaving the Pub on a high.

There is so much more I could talk about: the metro, the food, how much I hate the euro, etc., but I have to stop typing so I can keep on living! There is so much to do, so much to enjoy and I have only just skimmed the surface. So here are a few more photos to do the talking. ¡Hasta luego!

First Impressions

Well, I am finally here: Barcelona. It wasn't a fun journey but after talking with some of my study abroad companions in these first few days, I realize I was lucky to have only a small delay. A few students I met not only had their flights cancelled in London but never even made it to London, instead being diverted to Scotland. London, and much of Western Europe, has been the victim of a cold snap leading to ice and snow. Flying into Barcelona, a local sitting next to me on the flight described his horror at the sight of snow on the peaks of the mountains we flew over (not sure which mountains they were).

My arrival into Barcelona was seamless since I met some fellow IES students and we made our way through the airport with ease. IES did a great job of making this immediate arrival easy as we were given instructions and lots of info in a comfortable secluded room in the airport. Once I left the airport, however, I was on my own. I got to use my Spanish for the first time when I had to tell the taxi driver the address of my homestay. I must have massacred the pronunciation because he had no idea what I had said on my first stab, but on second attempt he made sense of it.

The taxi dropped me off at an apartment building on avinguda sarria, a main avenue in a somewhat ritzy part of town, and I made my way up to the 4th floor, door 3. I realized as I stood outside the door that what lay behind this door would be my home for the next four months and as I pressed the odd doorbell (which made more of a buzzing sound than a bell) I felt a great wave of apprehension.

Within seconds the door opened and a short, dark-haired woman greeted me with a wide smile and my name. "Daniel?" "Sí," I replied happy to know I was at the right door. "Adelante!" She replied welcoming me into her house with dos besos (two kisses) and laughter. Her charm won me over instantly.

Tired but happy to be at my final destination, I greeted me new roomates and got situated in my new room: a tiny room for two people that fits two beds and squeezes in one small desk. The apartment is small but quaint and well furnished. My bed is hard but comfortable...my pillow is hard and not so comfortable. I was so tired, though, that after a few minutes of conversation with my roomates, I slept for four and a half hours.

My first dinner in Spain (served at 9:00 pm) was a heaping portion of linguini with home made pesto sauce and a grilled chicken sandwich. Admittedly this isn't what most people would consider an authentic Spanish meal but it definitely had a certain Spanish aspect to its taste. Our señora, Elisa, did not eat with us so the conversation was mostly English, but she popped in several times allowing my roomates and I to test out our Spanish. Elisa speaks unbelievably fast but often catches herself (or our blank stares) and slows down her speech. When she slows down I find I am able to decipher most of what she says, sometimes all, but my issue is adding to the conversation. I often know what I want to say and could say it in very basic terms, but want to speak with the absolute correct grammar and conjugation or with a specific phrase, which take longer to think of. This back and forth discussion I hope to really improve on.

After dinner and some unpacking, my roomate Pete and I made our way out on the town with no real direction in mind other than to explore the local area. Sarria, the locality, is a more residential place than most in Barcelona so much of our walk was quite dull but we eventually found a sandwich shop/bar to go into. Every eatery in Barcelona seems to have a bar in it! We also ran into a lone IESer who was doing the same wandering as we were and he joined our exploration. There were a few sketchy encounters on a small street that we eventually figured out was home to a few "gentlemen's clubs" but we heel-toed our way away from the area without a problem.

Lastly, this morning was orientation so in getting to the IES center I got my first taste of the metro. The metro itself is extremely easy to navigate and we had no problems making it into the plaza catalunya (the center of the city). Our only issue was finding the "boca" (literally mouth) or entrance stairs down to the subway which are not as clearly marked here as they are in, say, NYC. Orientation was everything I expected it to be and not much more, but being in the IES center allowed me to meet several more people and hear the sweet sound of the English language. Even after just one day of Barcelona, I have found it uncomfortable to be in a place where you can't decipher everything thats going on around you and when you speak your native tongue people stare. But my goal is to be comfortable with spanish speakers around me and to eventually be one of them, which I know just takes time and the willingness to learn). With four months ahead and the eagerness to learn, I know I have both these things.

Test Run

First entry, day before I leave. Well, its 12:36 so technically I leave today. Woah. Nothing to share just want to test out posting. Going to sleep. Adios.