The Adventures Continue!

     It’s a rainy day here in Barcelona. I’ve noticed that the city is quieter when it rains, seems more at peace.

     I attended a cooking class hosted by Yves Nicolier. There were four other girls from my study abroad program that also attended that day when there were supposed to be twelve in total. We had a lovely evening learning about Catalan dishes, especially with a smaller group. I was in charge of making the tostada con tomate, just a toasted bread with a tomato rub, oil, and a little salt. With a little bit of Fuet, a Spanish pork sausage, it is a very simple appetizer that we snacked on while we cooked the rest of the meal. The salad was made of garbanzo beans, spring onions, tomatoes, and a red sauce that goes on the top (I forget the name of this one, but it was delicious!). The main course was pork chops and boiled vegetables with oil. The meat was cooked in a mountain of salt wrapped in orange peels, essentially an oven inside an oven as Yves explained it. I have noticed that Catalan people put oil on everything they eat, and it has become a sort of bragging right for them with their healthy Mediterranean diet that keeps cholesterol low. Dessert was Mato, a type of Spanish cheese, covered in honey with walnuts.

     Yves Nicolier's was the first house that I have been able to see in Barcelona. We ate our dessert on the rooftop while we watched the fireworks in celebration of the end of La Mercé. It was a beautiful view of the lights of the entire city of Barcelona. His house was located on the outskirts of the city, a little ways up a hill. Oh, and if you enjoy driving manual cars, Europe is the continent for you! All of the vehicles here are manual, and make for a somewhat scary experience when stopped on a steep hill.

Fireworks from the rooftop.

     One cultural aspect of Spain that I am having a really difficult time adjusting to is their way of greeting people. In the United States, we either stand back and just acknowledge the new person or shake their hand. If it is someone that is a good friend or family member, we may even hug them. But in Spain, even if you have never met someone before, they will go ahead and introduce themselves and proceed to touch their right cheek and then left cheek to yours while kissing. Yves Nicolier, the chef from the cooking class, greeted each of us in this manner as we arrived even though none of us had met him previously. This gets me every single time. I am not big on touching other people, sometimes even hugs are too much for me, and Spain is definitely pushing my limits! But, I do not want to be seen as rude by not customarily doing so or reacting negatively. Please don’t expect me to bring this part of Spanish culture back with me to the United States though!

     One last announcement: My adventures do not end upon my return home in December. Just eight short days after I arrive home from the big city of Barcelona, Spain, I will be flying to a little town in Mexico. From one extreme to the other, it will definitely be a fun adjustment to make. I am excited to have this opportunity, and I am so excited for the day that I get to be reunited with the one that I love! It still does not feel like real life that I am in a foreign city or that I will be traveling out of the country once again. Prior to leaving for Spain in August, I had never been out of the United States before. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Ramble On

     Have you ever traveled somewhere alone? I’m not talking a foreign country, just somewhere that you typically go everyday with other people. A restaurant, movie theater, for a walk, to a café, out shopping (but not the grocery store), or any other place that we typically go with company. If you haven’t, you should try it. It’s a freeing experience. Gives you a chance to prove to yourself that you can do it on your own and strengthen your self-confidence. It gives you lots of time with your own thoughts, and it might be fun to observe the people around you and analyze their behavior, but that may just be the psychology major in me. Try it and enjoy it!

     I have this tendency to wander around the city, locating interesting buildings from afar and finding my way towards them. I stumbled upon a wonderful three-story flea market because I like to walk everywhere I go. Encants Barcelona was very cool to stroll through. There are so many different vendors offering their unique products, from undergarments with crazy designs to wooden walking canes. Especially with the high costs of everything in Barcelona, Encants offers very good prices for the non-tourist. The bottom floor of the flea market is filled with vendors that have laid out their ‘junk’ to be searched through. While most of it is not something most people would purchase, there are some very interesting finds if you get lucky! I found out in my Spanish class that one of our field trips will be to Encants this upcoming Wednesday, and I am pretty excited about it.

     La Mercé is a five-day festival here in Barcelona. There is a complete program list for each day of the festival. Today, September 24, is the main day of the festivities, and is the reason that classes were cancelled. Concerts, parades, fireworks, a carnival, castells, and performances occur nearly every day until the wee hours of the morning (Spanish people stay up very late here in Barcelona). Castells are human towers. They are a long-standing tradition in Spain and usually incorporate generations of families. At the top of these castells, sometimes three-story-in-building-height towers, are the children, and these towers can be built up to 10 levels of people. It takes about 600 or more individuals to create some of the tallest towers!

A Castell.

     The crowds are huge at all of these events as they are located in the central parts of the city. I was able to watch fireworks on the beach over the Mediterranean Sea one night with a few friends in celebration of the beginning of the festivities. I also got a very yummy churro stuffed with Nutella. It was delicious and I will be eating all of my future churros with Nutella!

     Classes are in full swing. With a 19 credit course load, the homework keeps me busy. In countries outside of the United States, classes are less lecture and more so guided class discussions. We are expected to read lots of pages of selections by the professor and to come to class prepared to discuss what we have read. This is definitely a change from what I am used to. Especially as I am on the shyer side of life, it has been kicking my butt and forcing me to voice my own opinion, but that’s good for me.

     Tonight, I will be attending a cooking class to learn how to make a few Mediterranean/Catalan inspired dishes and postres (desserts). Hopefully I don’t burn the building down and can come back with a few tricks in the kitchen up my sleeve! I have a new page dedicated to pictures: it is located at the top of the page on the black bar next to the "home" button.

     Until next time, hasta luego!

Adapting to the Barca way of Life

     While I am beginning to feel more content living in this foreign city, the heartache and yearning for home remains. I believe that feeling will more than likely stay with me for the remainder of my time here, but I can manage. It is just a not-so-subtle reminder of the loving relationships that I have back in the Estados Unidos.

     But, I must always remember why I decided to come to Barcelona and study abroad. Apparently law schools love applicants that have studied abroad, so I want to increase my own assets for my resume. I would love to be bilingual, and while I may be beyond the ideal age for learning a second language, there is no shame in trying! I want to grow as an individual, and I have been told that this experience will definitely change me, more than likely in a positive light. I want to strengthen my relationship because “distance makes the heart grow fonder”… distance sucks, actually, but if this will be the most difficult time we go through in our entire lives together, I would say that we have it pretty good! I also want to learn how to cook various Catalon dishes, but I need to learn more Spanish before I can ask my host mother to teach me how she makes our dinners every night, so this will be completed at a later date!

     Classes start tomorrow, finally! Make fun of me all you would like, but I adore learning and completing homework assignments. I am definitely excited for my 9am classes Monday through Thursday. Both of my psychology classes are on Monday, so it’s kind of a treat just for me! I have had a total of five Spanish classes so far, and my homestay parents have already noticed an improvement. They are surprised by my ability to comprehend what they are saying, but my speaking abilities are still in need of a lot of work. I have plenty of time over the next 95 days to sharpen all of my Spanish skills.

     Barcelona is an expensive city. It doesn’t help that it takes about $1.30 to equal €1. But, many museums are free Sundays after 3pm, so I will be taking full advantage of this offer! Barcelona has much to offer: cafes, restaurants, museums, beaches, parks, beautiful architecture, shopping, mountains, and much I have yet to discover.

     Since my last post, I have been able to spend a relaxing day at the beach, explore Parc de la Ciutadella, experience my first holiday here, and take lots of pictures. It’s definitely a new experience living the city life. I grew up in an area surrounded by Amish farms and the constant sounds of the city and amount of people are something to get used to. The holiday was on September 11, a day of celebration for the people of Catalonia (a ‘state’ comprised of four provinces in Spain where Barcelona is the capital).  Catalonia wants to be separate from Spain, essentially its own functioning country. There will be a vote by the people held soon to determine public opinion. September 11 was a day of demonstrations where 1.8 million people lined the many kilometers of the streets of Barcelona in the shape of a ‘V’ for ‘voten’. The Catalon flags still hang from balconies all across the city in remembrance of this holiday.

     I have discovered more peculiar things about this city over the past few days as well. The ground level floor is labeled as ‘0’, and depending on if you go above or below the ground level, subsequent floors are labeled 1, 2, 3 or -1, -2, -3. They sell ice cream at movie theaters. You have to press a button or turn a handle for the doors of the metro to open. Nestle makes all of the American chocolate products that are sold here, and Nestle does not make Kit-Kat the way Hershey does. Portions at cafes are very small no matter what you order. Barcelona’s largest crime rate is that of pickpockets stealing so you must ALWAYS be conscious of where your belongings are and who is trying to distract you. Dumpsters are labeled for various waste products such as glass bottles, cardboard, food waste, metal cans, and general garbage. Street cleaners and people cleaning the sidewalks work every day to keep the city clean and they do a splendid job of it. You won’t find anybody eating on-the-go, it is strange to eat and walk at the same time because food is meant to be enjoyed and enjoyed slowly. Shops close for a few hours during the middle of the day and schools allow children to return home for lunch.

     I feel like that was a rather long list… but, there will be more to come later! Thank you to all of those who are reading my blog, I appreciate it. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to share with you all. :) Also, to those that have or have created a google+ account, feel free to "follow" me (I am not quite sure what it is called on google...). At the bottom of my blog, I have added the opportunity to do so and it should show you all of my new posts as I add to the blog.

Mi novio.

Didn't See This Coming!

     I did not realize how difficult this would be. I guess I can chalk it up to the fact that over the summer I avoided thinking about being away from everyone for three and a half months so that I could enjoy the 16 weeks that I did have of sweet summertime. To be honest, this absolutely sucks and too many tears have made their way down my cheeks. I did not come here with friends, I did not come here knowing the language, I did not come here with the desire to go out to all of the bars and clubs at night. I had no idea that 99% of students only “study” abroad to have access to the night scene, bars and clubs, and that their version of “having a good time” is equivalent to that of a night you literally cannot remember the next morning.

     But, I did not come to Barcelona for the above reasons. I came here to immerse myself in the language, to absorb the culture, to observe the different ways of life, and to actually study. It has been a frustrating transition into the Barcelona city life. I am struggling to find people that I can relate to as I seem to be very different from others, but I won’t give up until I leave on finding just a single soul that holds similar views as I. I miss everyone back home, terribly, especially a certain someone (Thank you for being my rock always. I could not do this without you.). But being away has led me to realize how much support I have back home. The love that everyone keeps sending through their messages and phone calls will be what gets me through this experience with a smile on my face! I appreciate the positivity because sometimes that is really hard to locate when you feel so alone in a foreign place.

     The only advice that some students offer is: You need to stop talking to people back home so you are not so attached to them and then you won’t feel sad anymore. I find that statement highly untrue. Those people back home are the reason that I am where I am at this very moment in time. I wanted to come home the night that I arrived here and a few days after the feeling had not gone away. If it weren’t for the love and support from those individuals back home, I would be back in Pennsylvania right now. They believed in me when I did not believe in myself. Thank you. A cousin of mine had the best advice, as she had been through a very similar situation and knew exactly what I am feeling. Her novels of advice have definitely hit me and turned my attitude around about being in Barcelona. Luckily, I am here for only three months rather than three years as she was in her locale. Also, I must give a mini-shoutout to Paula! You’re the best and it feels like I have two real moms sometimes! I cannot wait for Walking Dead to come back on!

     The students that I am studying abroad with, from my observations, are all quite similar. I worked hard to be here: searching for scholarship opportunities, keeping my grades up, and slaving away in the factory over the summer to earn the money for my plane tickets and other expenses. So I plan to take away from this city everything that I put into getting here. I want to see all that it has to offer, taste its food, take pictures of the amazing architecture, build relationships with my host family as I continue to pick up more Spanish, and simply enjoy being here.

     I have traveled to Tarragona, a beautiful city built amongst the Roman ruins. I have enjoyed a sunset sea cruise on the Mediterranean. I have explored the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, the most famous fresh market in Barcelona and ranked as one of the best in the world. I let the sand between my toes and allowed the water to wash over my feet on the coastline of the Mediterranean. I have explored the “hipster” section of the city where vendors create their own goods from local materials. This is just the first nine days of my adventure and I have plenty of time to discover what else this city has to offer.

     On a more educational side of this adventure, Spanish classes have begun and I have homework to do later! I am fully enjoying this part of Barcelona. I love to learn and my number one goal is to learn as much Spanish as possible. It is a language I will be using and building upon for the rest of my life for career and personal use. As a psychology major, I am well aware that language immersion is the best possible way to learn a language and was the strongest determiner on my decision to leave the United States. While they do speak a language known as Catalan (a mix of Spanish and French that only one state in Spain uses), all of the citizens also know Spanish. I am very proud of myself when I am able to communicate with my host-mother or a waitress in Spanish!

     So, here’s to the next 100 days of Barcelona and to making these 100 happy days. Wow, 100 days does not really seem that long anymore!

Bicycles you can rent around the city.

A goat head at la Boqueria. 

Gummy candy in all shapes!

Barceloneta, the beach.

Arc de Triompf.

Santes Creus.

Oasis in Santes Creus, an old monastery in Aiguamurcia.

Tarragona Amphitheatre. Gladiators fought here a long time ago!

Vending machine for cigarettes in a supermarket.

Barcelona from the Mediterranean sea.

Casa Batllo by Antoni Gaudi.

Safely in Barcelona

     Well, I have made it to Barcelona safely. I am here, arrived on Monday, September 1 at approximately 4am US time, 10am here. Flying alone is stressful and awful. Will be making future plans to always travel with another person, that’s for sure! But, I was lucky enough to have the middle seat empty on my seven and a half hour flight, so I opted to lay down and sleep for a few hours despite the screaming child and obnoxious couples sitting next to each other.

     My roommate, Kassie (who is very cool, by the way), was at the airport waiting with other students that had already arrived, so we were able to take a taxi together to the apartment. Our taxi driver was very friendly and talked to us in his thick Spanish accent the entire ride there. When we pulled our luggage up to the front doors of the apartment building, we were unable to figure out how to open the large glass doors, so our homestay father, Carlos, had to come down and open the door for us. We do have keys now and are fully able to open all doors necessary to enter the apartment! The elevator in the apartment building is the oldest working elevator in Barcelona, Carlos informed us. The apartment is very nice, and the shower is huge. Apparently, so I have heard, we are lucky to have such a large shower because most showers in apartments are very small. There is no air conditioning, so I will be losing a significant amount of water weight until it begins to cool down here in late October!

     Carlos speaks very little English, about as well as my Spanish; Josefina speaks no English. I am definitely in trouble, but will be picking up Spanish very quickly! I am not allowed to speak in English while at dinner, and Josefina takes the time to point to various objects around the kitchen and name them for me to say. They have five young grandchildren, all boys with very curly hair, who come every day to stay at the apartment. My bad luck continues as I was in the shower this morning… one of the grandchildren pushed on the door so hard because he really had to go to the bathroom that he unlocked the door and swung it right open!! He turned around and ran out of the bathroom and I had to quickly close the door, so I am hoping that they either start knocking on the door or Carlos installs a new lock on the door, because that one did not work at all! There is construction that begins around 8am every morning right outside of our balcony window, so I am lucky that my classes all begin at 9am anyways so I will definitely be forced to wake up.

     There are peculiar things that I am beginning to discover about Barcelona. For example, the floors always start at 0 and then proceed to floor 1, so I must be careful when entering buildings and trying to find a floor above the first. They don’t use ice, so I will be drinking warm water for three and a half months. You are still supposed to cross the street even when the little walking man on the sign turns red instead of green. I have been told to keep a keen eye aware of my surroundings as pickpocketing is a large issue in Barcelona, and I don’t want to lose any of my stuff. And I will be adding to this list as time goes on and I discover more and more about the city and its people.

     Homesickness has definitely set in already. I avoided thinking too much about it over the summer, but now that I am here, I am all on my own. There are a few people that I am tempted to fly out here to take away this feeling in my heart, but I will figure it out. I did not come with friends, like most of the students here, and I do not have family here, like some of the students here as well. It makes it tough, especially when my connection with my host family is inhibited by a clear language barrier. It also saddens me that the majority of students only desire to go out every single night that they are here, bragging about their ‘connections’ they have already made to obtain VIP passes to the hottest clubs in Barcelona. Fortunately, that is not the experience that I am here for and my goal is to mature through this experience rather than the opposite.

     Tonight, we have dinner at 8pm with other students living in the same area as us. Our RAV (Resident Assistant Volunteer), Unai, is meeting all of us there to introduce us to each other. Saturday is always chorizo for dinner (I love chorizo!) and Sundays are always pizza nights! This Friday and Saturday, we have a mandatory field trip to Tarragona to bond with the other students in our Spanish classes. Orientation starts soon, so I will be updating again soon! Hasta Luego!

     If you would like to see more pictures, follow my instagram at http://instagram.com/elnomada912.

     Also, to be able to comment on my blog, I believe you will need to create a google account, which is free to do. You can do that here: https://accounts.google.com/signup?service=mail.

Flying to Toronto.

The lovely construction from our balcony.

The Apartment Building.

Oldest elevator in Barcelona.