Block Plan...I miss you!

So, today marks day number three of classes. My schedule looks like this:

M/W/F: Intensive Spanish from 10:45-1:45

T/TR: 9:00-10:30 Mediterranean Environment

3:15-5:15 Mediterranean Oceanography

5:30-7:00 Sustainability: Challenges and Responses

I am not used to taking more than one class at a time! For those who don't know how CC's schedule works, we are on the Block Plan, which means we take one class at a time. Everyday for three and a half weeks, I take one class M-F, from 9-12. Then I take my final/write a paper/presentation/etc, and have five days off (block break), and a whole new class begins. So right now is my first time in college taking THREE classes in one day. It's wild. It solidifies the fact that the Block Plan suits my learning style the best. The work load for each class is kind of comical to me. Two days to read 30 pages? I'm totally fine with that! It beats reading an entire book in one night. We have an entire MONTH to write a paper! This is all new to me. I am going to enjoy the freedom this is going to give me; however I have a feeling if I'm not careful, all the work could creep up on me and be a little overwhelming. I am going to be struggling very much when I have four midterms in the same week.

To continue my "I love CC" blog post, I was really unimpressed by the majority of the other students in my class. The main word I could use to describe them is rude. There were students openly talking while the professor was talking, phones were going off, people packed up their things before class was officially over, kids were talking so loud during attendance that we couldn't hear our names being called, some kids were sassing professors on the first day, and more. I really couldn't believe it. Many of the CC kids in the program are on the same page as I am. At our school, the first day of the class it's like "Hi. I'm Lauren, you're -first name of the professor- , I'm here to learn and work hard, you're here to challenge me and help me grow as a person and make me hate life at times, and yes, I would love to have breakfast at your house tomorrow." There is a mutual respect between student and teacher, and I do not feel like that is present here. I might be acting a little judgmental right now...maybe it was just because it was the first day and people were not in "school mode" yet, but I hope it changes. I'm sure it will.

Last night, some friends and I went to what we thought was going to be a Bob Dylan/Neil Young tribute band. Well, we missed Bob Dylan and arrived just in time for Neil...however no Neil was played! They played some random songs, then broke out in a Spanish rap/beat box session. After that, a friend in my Spanish class went on stage and played some guitar with some of the guys on stage. It was great! However, I do wish I could have heard some Neil...

We are in the "planning trips" phase right now. I bought tickets to Oktoberfest...ridiculous. I will be in Munich from October 2-4. We are looking to solidify trips to Interlaken, Prague, and Amsterdam. I also want to make it to London...as well as Istanbul, Dublin, Greece, and a few other places. I also want to travel around Spain and visit some other cities in this wonderful country. Four months is not enough time!

Tomorrow, I have three classes again. We are going to the aquarium for Mediterranean Oceanography, so that should be awesome. On Friday, we leave for an IES study trip to Girona/Costa Brava for the weekend. I am looking forward to it very much.

That's all I have for now...no crazy Maria stories to report this time. I am loving it here! I hope you are happy wherever you are, blog reader!

First week down.

So, it is Sunday and this marks the end of my first full week in Barcelona. I can't believe I have only been here about 11 days. It seems like so much longer.

During the week, we had more orientation, this time it was only in Spanish, with our Spanish class. It was great! We learned how to say important things that would be useful in our everyday Barcelona life.

Two geology majors from CC were here this week, before leaving to study in the Pyrenees Mountains...gosh CC is cool. Anyways, we hung out and explored the city and one night went to Placa del Sol..which is an outdoor placa in a neighborhood called Gracia. It has a bunch of tables and bars where you can get beers "para llevar" (to go), and you can hang out on the square. It's a very "local" spot, and there are ton of young people hanging out with guitars and dogs and it's wonderful! Another night we went to the Harlem Jazz Club in the Gothic district of the city. It was this teeny little bar with a stage and an awesome live funk/jazz/jam band...who also did a Michael Jackson cover. It was so fun.

This weekend was a three day weekend. Friday was a Catalonian holiday..and I'm not really sure why. I heard a few different reasons, but I think that day marks the day that Catalonia lost their independence...? It's a pretty sore subject here in Barcelona. So, why would they be celebrating? I think it has turned into more of a Catalonia pride day. They had a big festival type thing near one of the parks near the water. There was live music, stands selling pro-Catalonia shirts (example: Catalonia is NOT Spain), and there were a bunch of little games for children. Apparently at night, things get a little wild and people start rioting and such. I didn't stick around to see the riots, so I can't report anything about them.

Maria, my host mom, gets crazier each and every day. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy living with her, but at times I can't handle her antics. For example, she monitors how much toilet paper we use and got mad at us using toilet paper for blowing our noses, even though we had nothing else to use.. This morning, the second she heard us waking up, she runs in our room and makes us follow her to the bathroom, so she can tell us not to wear shoes when we use her scale...Maria, we don't use the scale. I was scolded the other night because I didn't like the food. It was actually really intense. She served us cold, wet potatoes, mushy carrots, cold peas, and tuna fish..with mayonnaise. I was trying to stomach it and got half way through, and then I hit a wall. Maria then, in entirely Spanish, starts asking me "why aren't you eating?" and I told her "estoy llena" which means "I'm full," but she didn't believe that I was full and kept asking, so I finally told her I didn't like it and she freaked out!!! She started going off on me in Spanish, saying "what don't you like?! It's potatoes and vegetables...what don't you like!?" I got really flustered and awkward and could not explain myself. So then, she sat there and watched me until I ate ALL OF IT. Haha ick. But she forgot about the incident an hour later and was talking to me like nothing happened.

Haha Maria did set me and Katie up on a double date...pretty hilarious. A friend from my orientation class, James, and I were talking and he said his host mom had a friend who was also hosting IES students, and one of them was a vegetarian and she was not happy about it. So, I ask the name of James's host mom and then ask Maria if she is friends with Fernanda..turns out Maria and Fernanda are great friends! So, we decided we should have Fernanda, James, and Matt (the other IES student) over for ice cream on the terrace. Maria got all excited and invited them over on Friday night. Well, Fernanda was "tired" and couldn't come..and then Maria was "tired"..so it was just the four of us. When we were done with ice cream, Maria told Katie and I to go get ready to leave with the boys...she was pumped about it too. Good times on the terrace.

Yesterday, some friends and I went to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Coolest architecture I have ever seen!!!! Words can't describe it..it's so incredible.

I am really loving it here more each day. City life is still extremely different than anything I have experienced before, but I am getting more of a grasp on it. I love the Spanish lifestyle. I thought I was going to hate eating late, but I really enjoy it. I am taking full advantage of the siesta...aka I nap every day. It's wonderful! The afternoon cerveza, then afternoon siesta combo is unbeatable.

Today it is supposed to rain, so I might hit up some museums or do a little more exploring.

"Chooook Narrriiizzzz!"

It is interesting to me how much American culture has made its way to Spain. So much! Movies, fast food chains, music, clothing (I saw a Spaniard wearing a Cincinnati Reds hat today...I guarantee you he has no idea where Cincinnati is or what the Reds are), etc. It is even more interesting to me what reaches Maria, my seventy year old host mom. The answer to that is: not much. She loves old American movies (and George Clooney), but that's about as far "American" as she goes.

Tonight at dinner, we were watching TV (like we always do) and there was some little news segment about Karate. My roommate, Katie, tried to tell Maria that she knows some Karate. Well, Katie didn't really know how to say that in Spanish and begins to preform some Karate kicks. All of a sudden, Maria starts yelling "CHOOOOOOOOK-NARRRIIIZZZZZ! CHOOOOOOOK-NARRIZZZZZ!" and waving her arms in the air. I have no idea what is going on. In Spanish, nariz means "nose," so I thought she was trying to tell us something about her nose. After a bit of thinking, I realized that "Chook-Nariz" sounds a whole lot like "Chuck Norris." I said, "Chuck Norris?" to Maria and she got all excited and said "SI! SI! SI! Me gusta mucho!" So...my host mom likes Chuck Norris..alright...

Whenever Maria talks about an Asian person or anything related to Asia, or there is an Asian person on TV, she feels the need to pull the sides of her eyes back to make the "squinty eye" look. Not very politically correct, but slightly hysterical. So, of course after mentioned Chook-Nariz, I asked her if she liked Jackie Chan. She said he was very "fun" and then proceeded to pull back her eyes. Anyways, when the subject of George Clooney came up and she exclaimed "QUE GUAPO" (meaning: how handsome!), we started asking her what other actors she liked. Well, an actor she did not like was Richard Gere. We asked her why and she pulled back her eyes in her "Asian fashion." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Richard Gere is not Asian......

Maria is quite the character.

Today was awesome. After class and a siesta, I went sailing with 80 other students from IES on the Mediterranean...not too shabby at all...

El Fin de Semana

First weekend in Barcelona! Highlights include...

Friday we went to Parque Guell, which is a park designed by Gaudi. It was super awesome..extremely gorgeous. It had nice views of the city and awesome architecture (no surprise there). Meanwhile, at Parque Guell, it started to downpour!! Lots of rain, which made some of our park go-ers a little unhappy (cough Alex), but the rest of us enjoyed it a lot. After the park, we navigated our ways on the busses back to Placa Catalunya, and then returned home.

Saturday everybody slept a little later than expected (totally unrelated to the previous night's activities..) but it felt good to finally get some sleep! Rachel (CC friend) and I putzed around her "barrio" (neighborhood) which is called Gracia. That night, we met up with Ryan Payne, another CC kid, and his roommates and went to the Placa. The Placa at night has a very different vibe than it does during the day. First of all, it doesn't have frickin' pigeons flying around everywhere. I swear during the day there are SO MANY BIRDS! I feel like I am in the Alfred Hitchcock movie. They fly really fast super close to you. The worst part is, people feed them from there hands!! They think it's cool to have these gross birds on their arms. Not for me. Forget Swine Flu, I am now scared of Bird Flu! Anyways, at night I do not have to fear birds but there are a lot of men walking around trying to sell you water, coca cola, beer, and drugs. These men are not Spanish. Most were from Pakistan and Northern Africa. They hide their stashes in the bushes and run to get them when somebody wants something. Could they be a little more obvious? It's like, all of a sudden here comes a Pakistani man emerging from the bushes holding a little bag..I wonder what is in it? It's amusing.

Today, following a recommendation from Maria, we went to a beach about an hour and some change away from Barcelona, called Sitges (pronounced See-Ches). It's a gorgeous little costal town with beautiful beaches and was much less touristy than the beaches in Barcelona. It was neat to explore. We had a small world moment, as we were laying out on the beach, all of a sudden we saw Austin, a fellow CC student, with some other girls from the program! What are the chances.

Tonight for dinner we had Paella, a traditional Spanish dish, and it was great! I really am enjoying the food that Maria is cooking us..I am just not enjoying the serving size! She gives us HUGE servings and expects us to eat it all. In Spain, it is very rude to reject food or not eat everything, so Katie (the roommate) and I always walk away from dinner very full.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes! It's actually super nice, this coming week the only class we have is Spanish, and it's only three times a week..so it's looking like this week will be pretty chill as well. We have a little sailing trip planned, along with a tour of Picasso's work. I'm very excited.

Hasta Luego!

Long post..with pictures!

So today is my third day in the city. Life is good! Here comes a series of random updates..

I have gotten to know how to use the subway system around here..and by gotten to know I mean I know how to get to the Placa Catalunya (the center/main part of the city). I feel pretty confident that I can get on/get off at the right places. It's a very short ride to the Placa, maybe 10 minutes. IES, the place where I will be taking classes, is located right on the Placa, so it's a short commute to school. I have yet to explore other modes of transportation, meaning the bus, but I will sometime soon.

Today was our first day of orientation at IES. They went over safety information, important dates of the program, etc. It wasn't too exciting.

Yesterday, I met up with Alex (better known as AKahn, for those who go to CC) and Rachel, both friends from Colorado College for some Sangria on a busy/pretty touristy street called "Las Ramblas." When we were sitting outside, Alex had his wallet sitting on a table, and some man came over and tried to steal it! He acted like he was handing out flyers, put the flyers over the wallet, and then went for the snatch. Luckily AKahn has cat like reflexes and saw what was going on and grabbed his wallet back from the man!! How lucky.. It was a big awakening for all of us. I have been warned many times about pick-pocketing in Barce, but to see it first hand made it all that more real. I keep my bag close to me at all times and am trying to be as aware of my surroundings as possible!

It is so hot here. I am a big baby when it comes to heat, so me and these temperatures don't mix that well. We don't have any fans or AC in the casa (which is to be expected). I am not used to sweating 24 hours a day! I hope it starts to cool down (starting tomorrow..). I think in a few weeks, summer will end and the cooler weather will arrive.

I haven't been sleeping well at all these past two nights. My body needs to adjust to the time change. I slept maybe 2 hours last night?

For those who camp...you know how sometimes you just can't get your Thermarest right? There's either a bump, or you're angled one way, or you realize that your feet are uphill from you..etc? Well, that is how my bed is. It slopes down on one side, and the other side is semi-lumpy. It's definitely going to take some getting used to! I have a feeling once I get over my jetlag and get on a normal sleep schedule, I will be totally comfortable in the bed, but right now it is a bit awkward.

Tonight, María invited Rosa (her friend from across the street), and Rosa's two IES students staying with her (Gretchen and Kate..very great people!) over for ice cream on her terrace after dinner. I am looking forward to it. I am getting along with María very well. She speaks no English, so communicating sometimes is hard, but she is very patient and I am trying my best. She is still upset that I do not eat meat, and I do not think that will change. I am following her rules very well and I had to teach them all to Katie, my roommate who arrived late last night!

And now the fun part! Here are some pictures of my living arrangement.. I don't know how to lay them out so they look good...so forgive me, there are awkward spaces!!!!

This is the view from my window! You can't really tell, but I can look out my window and see a mountainy-hill type thing.

This picture to the left is of María's terrace.

This picture to the left is of my bedroom. My bed is the closest to the window!

This is María!! She is standing in front of the door to the kitchen, and behind her in the living room and her pet bird.

The picture to the left is of the room where I am now!

And the picture below is of María and her son!

That is all for now! I am going to go investigate what is going on right now in the living room. If I understood correctly, people are installing new cable so we can watch partidos de futbol!!!! (Soccer games..)

Hope everything is well with you, blog reader!

Bienvenidos a Barcelona!

Well I made it!

I left JFK in the evening and flew to Heathrow. The flight was only about five and a half hours. I love British Airways. The staff was so kind and everyone had awesome accents. I had about a two hour layover in Heathrow which was a bit overwhelming. Lots of shuttles had to be taken and I had to check in at a few different places, but it wasn't too bad. I arrived in Barcelona and then had to check in with IES (the program I am participating in) and then got in a taxi to my host-mom's house!

I am staying in the top floor of an apartment. It's a cute place. It's on a semi-busy street, but we're 6 km away from the center of Barcelona so it's not too crazy. I have a nice view of the mountains from my window. It is only my host mom who lives there. Her husband passed away years ago and her son is 27 and lives in his own apartment. She has four bedrooms, but I have to share one with my roommate (who has not arrived yet). When I arrived, Maria (la mamasita) showed me around. Maria speaks no English, so when she was explaining all of her rules (and there are a lot of them), there was a lot of confusion and laughing and acting things out. There are many things I am going to have to get used to. She is very peculiar, for lack of a better word. She likes her towels a certain way, and her bed sheets a certain way, etc. She keeps a very neat house, which is good because I like clean things. The shower and the toilet need to be cleaned after each use. The shower is going to take some getting used to. I don't know if any of you have used a European shower before, but it's quite different! She was not happy to learn that I was a vegetarian...she threw her hands up in the air and said "NOOO!" and I just smiled awkwardly.

Anyways, after I unpacked and took a shower, we went to her neighbor Rosa's house who is her good friend and there is another girl from IES staying with Rosa. Her name is Kate and she is from Alaska! Rosa and Maria showed Kate and I around the streets surrounding their apartments. They showed us how to buy subway passes, where to buy stamps, where the super market is, etc.

I should probably stop typing on here and go hang out with Maria.

I plan on buying a cellphone tomorrow and exploring the city even more!

I'll post some pictures soon.

Hasta luego!

Last Night in the US

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! I've never "blogged" before so be patient with me... I figured a blog would be the best way to communicate effectively with the largest number of people. Once my euro travels begin, I will post pictures and stories and updates and everything in between!

So, I am in Connecticut right now, staying with my grandparents for a few days. I hung out with Peter Kernan (a friend from Colorado College) today! We got ice cream. My flight leaves tomorrow evening out of JFK. I fly from JFK to Heathrow, and then from Heathrow to Barcelona.

I have contacted my future roommate, along with my host family. My roommate's name is Katie, and she goes to Penn State. I had a really awkward/hilarious conversation with my host Mom. She seems really nice and eager to help me learn Spanish and experience Barcelona.

I have tried to think of words for my feelings right now but they are all synonyms of excited and nervous. I took Spanish all through middle school and high school, so I know a bit, but I am no where near fluent. Hopefully I will come out of this semester with a better grasp of the language.

From what I've heard about Barcelona, it sounds like quite the wild place...dinner isn't until 10 pm, bars/discos stay open until 7 am...it could not be any more different than my lifestyle this past year. Different is not a bad thing! I am excited to live a cosmopolitan lifestyle and experience all sorts of new things.

That's all I got. Next time I "blog," I will be in Bar-thhheey-lona!

Adios!