Planning Trips and a Spanish Feast

The title of this post describes my day in a nutshell. I woke up early, got on Facebook, and talked to Jason for awhile because he had just gotten back from going out. Then, I took a shower, and tried to arrange some things for my Sevilla trip next weekend. While I was in my room working on scheduling the trip, my host mother knocked on the door and asked if I wanted to eat lunch with the family and some friends. I was really excited because she was setting up the dinning room table which usually means that we are going to eat a delicious feast (as in unbelievable amounts of food).

So, what exactly did we eat for lunch? Homemade macaroni and cheese and snail. Yes, snail! They were shocked that it was my first time eating it, but when I think of snail I think of millionaires being served escargot by snobby French waiters with bow ties and curly mustaches. The snail we ate was nothing like the image I had in my head. In fact, it was equally as messy and delicious as barbecue. We had to use tooth picks to take the meat out of the shell, and then we dipped it in a spread called alioli. I think the best entertainment my family and their friends had all day was trying to watch me take the meat out of the shell. It's actually quite difficult for a first timer. The macaroni was also delicious, as was the wine and bread.

I enjoyed talking with my host family and their friends this afternoon about politics and the differences between Spain and the United States. I brought up the fact that in Europe, students learn that there are five continents, and in the United States students learn that there are seven. (In Spain, North and South America are one continent, and Antarctica is not a continent.) My host father explained to me that there are five Olympic rings because each one represents a different continent. I'm pretty sure that he was joking, but he continued to explain that America is red because Native Americans have red skin, Africa is black because Africans have black skin, and Asia is yellow because Asians have yellow skin. His explanation for Australia and Europe? Europeans have blue eyes and Australians have green eyes. Everyone began to laugh after his final explanation because all of the Europeans at the table had brown eyes, not blue.

We also talked a lot about how homosexuality is a lot more accepted in Spain (and I presume most of Europe) than it is in the United States. We were talking about Cyberbullying because my host parents and their friends are all involved in education, and I explained to them what happened at Rutgers last year. I think it was difficult for my host mother to understand because homosexuality is accepted so much more in Spain than in the United States.

Danni called after lunch and asked if I wanted to meet to rent hostels for Semana Santa and buy our plane tickets home. I walked over to Farggi which is very close to my house to wait for her and Lauren Swanson. When I got there, I saw my friend from Indiana University, Phil, and sat with him and his friends for awhile. It was only my second time seeing him since we got here. Their trip ends at the end of April. I'm glad our trip doesn't end that soon because I don't think that it's enough time to really explore Europe, but it would be nice to get home a little sooner to find a job and start classes.

Tomorrow, I hope to talk to Alberto about my final in Realismo y Naturalismo en Espana: La Novela. I'm really glad that the CIEE staff is here to help us and talk to our professors. I hope to get my final moved a few days earlier because I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out when I get home, before I go down to Bloomington for the summer.

Although I am stressed out about a few things, my trip is getting better and better. I am really starting to feel comfortable with my host family. I feel like I'm able to joke around with them which makes me feel more relaxed and at home. I am very lucky to be a part of this family for a semester and can't wait to spend more time with them.

Tarragona

I have been somewhat stressed out lately about a few things. First of all, I don't know when I am actually going home. This seems like a small problem, but it is making me more home sick than I think I would be. Also, I am looking for a job and apartment in Bloomington this summer. As if that isn't stressful enough, not knowing exactly when I'll be in Bloomington makes it even more difficult. Luckily, IU Swim Club friends are reaching out yet again and making this process a lot easier. Emily has been a really great friend to me all year and offered to let me sublet her apartment for a month and a half to two months this summer. Also, Mike is being very helpful with the job search. I am really glad I decided to join IUSC this year. The team is full of really great people.

Today, we went to Tarragona, a close by town filled with Roman ruins. We spent some time on a tour, got a quick snack, and then made our way down to the beach. Even though I've been stressed, going to the beach and being by the water was very relaxing. I had fun exploring the town with my friends. After the beach, we went to a restaurant and had pizza. I split ham and pineapple with Danni. It was really, really good. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working last night, so I wasn't able to take any pictures of my own. My friends were nice enough to take pictures for me. Here's a few from the excursion:

It's Almost March!

This week has been fairly relaxed. I have been mainly focused on my classes and scheduling trips. I am very excited for my parents to get here in less than a month and to show them around Barcelona. It will be nice to be with people from home for awhile. I really can't believe how quickly time is going by. This week, Lauren told me that we only have seven free weekends to travel left. Each week seems to go by in a flash, and it often feels like I barely have time to catch my breath.

This week was no different. I woke up early on Monday to get to my 8:30 class. Although that class' final is fairly early, waking up on Monday mornings is generally a struggle. I got to class late, and listened to the professor talk for an hour and a half about Spanish literature, a topic that I does not interest me very much. That class is going to be fairly difficult. We have to write a 10-14 page paper by the end of the semester which is worth 40% of our entire grade. The good news is that there are three tests and only two count towards our final grade.

My next class on Monday and Wednesdays is Realism and Naturalism in Spain: The Novel. That class is a little more interesting, but I find myself lost quite frequently. The professor often references Spanish writers that I have never heard of, but everyone else in the class always seems to completely understand. Needless to say, I am not expecting to do very well in my UB classes.

On a brighter note, to say that I really enjoy my Don Quijote class would be an understatement. This week, we talked a lot about the Renaissance and Baroque periods, two of my favorite topics in Spanish literature. We learned a lot about the philosophies of both times. The Renaissance was a time of celebration and extreme optimism, while the Baroque period was a time of pessimism. In the Renaissance, people believed that human beings were naturally good, but when religious wars and famine struck at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the philosophy changed and people began to believe that man was naturally bad.

Renaissance- Man does not have greater limits than the intensity of his desire.
Baroque- Man is a being born to die

Fun fact: the clock was invented in the seventeenth century and is an invention of the Baroque period. Instead of coo-coo clocks, there were skeleton head clocks. If it were four o'clock, for example, four little skulls would come out from the clock and dance around. I thought this was interesting.

Catalan is going well. It is a little difficult to have the same class Monday-Thursday for two hours a night, but I will be relieved once it is over. I am not sure how much I am actually learning, but I'm sure I will do well on the exam if I spend some time studying.

Tomorrow, we are going on a CIEE excursion to Tarragona. It is a small town, about an hour away from Barcelona. We are taking the train and spending most of the day exploring. The town is apparently a very interesting mix of different cultures, but other than that, I don't know much about it. I am excited to visit another part of Catalunya and spend the day with friends.

Lauren Swanson and I booked our trips to Sevilla and London. We are going to Sevilla on March 1st, which is less than a week away! Our London trip is on May 4, and I have made plans to meet up with my good friend Rachel, "Whales".

Tonight, I am going out with friends. It is Lauren Benne's 21st Birthday weekend, so we will spend the night celebrating. It should be a really great weekend.

That's all for now, have a great day!

Carnaval in Spain

As you may have hinted from the title, this weekend was carnaval in Europe. The best way I can describe the holiday is a combination of Mardi Gras and Halloween. Some of us were invited to a close by town called Vilanova to celebrate with one of the Guardian Angels, Sara. We all went to get a quick lunch Friday afternoon, and then we got on the train to Vilanova. The train ride took about forty-five minutes, but we didn't end up meeting with Sara until an hour after we got there. When we were all together, she took us to buy cheap costumes, and then we went to her apartment to change. Then, her boyfriend picked us up and we joined up with a parade that Sara had plans to march in. All of her friends were dressed like doctors, but the Americans were dressed in masks and fancy dresses. Apparently we didn't get the memo. We walked in the parade for about an hour, and then Sara took us to go get pizza. I may have just been starving, but it tasted like the best pizza that I have had in my life. After dinner, we went back to Sara's apartment, got all of our stuff, met her mom and dad, and then went to the bus stop so that we could head back to Barcelona. We were expecting a two hour bus ride, but it only ended up taking forty five minutes. We were really excited to get home so soon because we were all exhausted. 

Yesterday, Saturday, I woke up at about 11:00. Then, Lauren Swanson and I made plans to meet up and have lunch because we were going to Les Mis at 5:00. We met up with the rest of the group before the show and found our seats. We were in the middle of the balcony, but we could see perfectly. The show was over the top and even better than I expected. My favorite songs were Bring Him Home and On My Own. The first song was sung by the protagonist, Jean Valjean, and he pulled off some of the highest notes that I have ever heard a man sing. Great falsetto. I felt like I could sit there and literally just take in the music forever. I didn't understand all of the lyrics, but it was sung so beautifully that it didn't matter. The second song was about a girl who is in love with a boy who doesn't love her back, and the singer belted it out. I really felt like her voice portrayed the story and allowed the audience to connect with her and understand her emotions. I definitely want to go see the play when I get back to the states, but I'm afraid that the English won't be as beautiful as the Spanish. Either way, it was an outstanding play, and I can't wait to see it again. I decided that one of my goals for next year is to go to more shows at the IU auditorium. I love theatre so much that it's worth spending money on. I definitely cried at the end of this play, not just because of the sad ending, but also because I was just so happy to be experiencing theatre again. I had forgotten how much I love it, and am so glad that I got the chance to see such a famous play in such a beautiful language. 

After the play, we went to Sam's apartment, and he made us tortellini with Alfredo sauce. We also drank wine and listened to music. At one point, we were listening to a list of Jason Aldean songs. It seemed strange, not only because we had just seen Les Mis, but also because you never hear country music in Spain. To be honest though, I kind of missed country music and was excited to hear it. 

This was a really great weekend and I am excited to see what adventures this week has in store. 

Lauren and me before the Carnaval parade

Palm trees in Vilanova

Parade pictures

Some of the girls in their masks

My parade costume

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, I woke up at 11:30 and got ready for my date with Danni. We went to eat patatas bravas and then got cupcakes. Then, I went to CIEE with the intention to read and wait for my 7:00 class. I got distracted with Facebook, and ended up not doing any reading at all. Then, I heard people talking about Cook and Taste and decided that I would go to that instead of my class. I walked back to my apartment, wrote a few postcards, and got ready to go learn how to make delicious Spanish food. I left a half an hour early and walked to a metro station which is fifteen minutes away to get to the restaurant where we were going to have cooking lessons. When I got off the metro, I realized that I was five minutes walking distance from my house and that I didn't need to take the metro at all. Needless to say, I felt a little ridiculous. At the restaurant, we learned how to make tortilla espanola, pumpkin soup, bread with tomato, paella, and crema catalana. We also got recipes for all of the dishes. It was a very fun evening to spend with friends, and the meal was delicious. After dinner, we went to Temple Bar to hang out and have a drink. I had one beer and then came back home. I have class at 8:30 and won't be able to come home until 9:00 tomorrow, but I am very glad that I spent Valentine's Day learning something new with people that I have come to love over this short month. Happy Valentine's Day everyone, I hope it was terrific.