Catalonian fire festival, and Barcelona time

So on Saturday, a couple of us went to a festival (what I was told was a "fire-and-meat" festival) in Barcelona...which I think was more of a type of traditional Catalonian festival. It was a very authentic experience, I don't know how many tourists were there but we really got a sense of Catalonian traditional culture.

Of course, there were a ton of people there (and by the time we got there--1 am--you were either stepping on someone's foot or a discarded beer can. How very Spanish). There were a bunch of really large bonfires, which I think had been used to grill meat earlier but by the time we got there I think they had stopped that. At the center was a stage with a band, but the music they played was very traditional sounding...more western European traditional than Spanish. There was no singing, it was very rhythmic and involved wind instruments. Including a bagpipe....?

Dotted around the crowd were these groups of people dancing. Some (like these in the picture) were doing a sort of rhythmic dance with these little finger clicker instruments that involved a lot of moving and turning. In the center of the crowd were some professional dancers who started the traditional Catalonian dance...I forget what it's called...but it's essentially a very complicated hora. It's a circle dance, and everyone throws their coats and bags in the middle and you dance around them. We tried to get in the circle and learn, but we kept bumping into people and I stepped on someone's foot. Woops? :)

We also saw some Spaniards doing a third type of dancing, but again we could not figure it out when we asked them to teach us. They were from Mallorca, which is one of the Balearic islands (off the coast of Spain). Even though we couldn't learn the dance at all, I always love how diverse the people are in Barcelona; you rarely ever meet just a Spaniard.

I also think it was some sort of Catalonian traditional festival because of the sign that hung above this entire central area: "Independence and Socialism" (you can also see one of the big fires here). There is a huge movement in Catalonia that wants to gain independence from Spain. As students, a lot of us aren't really sure where we stand on the debate just yet, and I can't decide if I want to leave here with a flag of Catalunya or Spain. It's a really big issue here and I find it fascinating. Of course, the sign is in Catalán, not Spanish (cannot wait to take my Catalán course, it's going to be so helpful).


Just wanted to share a really cool experience that felt so quintessential and typical of Barcelona. In typical Spaniard style, of course, there were still a ton of people there at around 2. We left to go find a place to hang out, but by 3 everywhere had closed except for the discotecas. We wandered around the city for about an hour looking for something to eat but had no luck. Lessons learned:

1. Spanish time standards are much different from American time standards.
2. The reason that dinner is so late is because people don't really go out until at least midnight
3. Everything closes at 3, when everyone goes to the discotecas
4. Everything reopens at 6, when people leave the discotecas
5. You can meet people from all over the world simply by taking the subway (we met a Swede this time!)
6. Morning is actually bedtime for most of Barcelona

But now, bedtime for me before class tomorrow. Buenas noches!

Touristy things

Hi everyone!

This blog post marks the official 2 week point of my trip so far. We have this next week in our orientation Spanish class (thank god, it's starting to get a bit boring) and then we start UB classes. So in these last few weeks, we've achieved a few touristy things.


1. Touring the inside of Gaudí's Sagrada Familia. It's pretty much the quintessential Barcelona tourist spot. But now I kind of understand why. The place is absolutely phenomenal. Pictures can't even begin to do it justice. But to try anyways:






^ Exterior, back side, meant to represent Jesus' death


> Interior, facing the "god light"

 

< Interior, just a small example of the amazing architecture (which is all, we learned, nature inspired. They had a small museum explaining the madness behind Gaudí's work, which was really fascinating. I never expected that architecture could be so inspiring or interesting. The man is really fascinating and intriguing)

> Exterior, what is considered as the front right now but what is actually one of the side wings. The intricate details are remarkable, and cover the entire facade. 

< Construction workers (they took pictures of us too...lolz) inside the building. They're saying that it's going to take another 10-15 years to finish the building. It's been under construction since the beginning of the 1900's, I think.

So, that was the Sagrada Familia. Kind of amazing. Afterwards we stopped at a super touristy café, where I had a super touristy dessert called gofre (essentially a tiny belgian waffle covered in hot chocolate sauce). It was actually probably one of the best things I've eaten here, haha.

2) The Chocolate Museum (Museu de la xocolata is the actual name of it, or at least I think that's how it's spelled. It's Catalán, so I'm not positive). It was cute; apparently chocolate has been a big import and business for Barcelona. Of course, I was like a 5 year old child in a candy store and had to take a picture of the sculptures made out of chocolate...which included Chicken Little, a globe, an Aztec temple, and Spongebob (who, I have found out, is on Spanish TV. His name is Bob Esponga. Love it.)

3) Hike and Calcotada: This morning, we hiked for about 2 hrs up one of the mountains in Barcelona (one side of Barca is a bunch of mountains, which are so beautiful). I've been sick, so forgive the unflatteringness of this picture. But the mountain overlooks Barcelona, which is absolutely gorgeous.

Once we finally got the top of the mountain, we went to this very typical Catalonian restaurant. They have this huge open fire grill, and they make calcotada (the second "c" is pronounced more as an "sh" sound) which are grilled leaks. They give you a bib, and you have to peal the grilled leaks and then eat them from over your head (i.e. have to lower them into your mouth in order to eat them). And they are super messy.

You can see on the table we also have a bizarre jug of wine. It's called a porrón, and it is extremely difficult to drink out of. You have to kind of hold it away from your mouth and tip it (TIP IT, KATHLEEN! -for all of the Kathy fans out there). The bibs helped a lot with drinking the wine, it was so difficult. Of course, all of the spaniards around us could do it just fine. Go figure.

In other news, my host mother has informed me that she is racist. And that is completely factual. I get a speech on her personal views of the world every night at dinner. It's like a political debate every night, except there's no other side. She's super sweet, but god it does get old. My teacher thought it was hysterical. She's very stereotypical Jewish mother.

And there's touristy things, part deux. Here's hoping that I get over the cold soon, and that Barca stops raining. Mucho amor, and miss you all so much! <3

So I met Brad Pitt, and other adventures

I've now been a week here in Barcelona, and I think I'm just starting to get over the jet lag. I've realized that I'm pretty much not sleeping for the rest of this trip. Nbd.

We started our intensive Spanish course this past Thursday, which really is just a very basic review of all things Spanish that you need to know to pass real Spanish classes. My teacher is awesome; he knows 5 or 6 languages ("25th Annual", anyone?) and gives us very little work. The class is 4 hrs a day, but we have a 2 hr break in between to go to the bar in the university (which is more life a cafe) to have a thing of espresso before going back. It's without doubt the best part of my day.

We also took a bus tour of the city, very touristy, but it was good to see the quintessential things that you need to see in this city. Like, the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's very very famous church. They've been working on this freaking church foreeeeeever. The guide said that now they're saying it'll be done in about 10-15 years. I don't buy it. I think the Sagrada Familia is just going to be under construction forever. Poor Gaudí. You can see the cranes and construction any time you look out over the city. Being right next to the church is absolutely stunning. I had seen pictures before, but it really is quite outstanding.

I've seen a thousand pictures before of Sagrada Familia, but I've never actually seen anything of the back of the church (to the left). It was built by another architect but under Gaudí's original design. It looks so remarkably different than the front. I think Jesus kind of looks like an anime character, rly. But the church, again, is really fantastic. Hoping that I might be able to go inside sometime soon.











We also went up on a mountain that overlooks the whole city (Monjüic, which literally means Mountain of the Jew....go figure.) This city is freaking gorgeous. (the picture below is of the marina, only part of this huuuuge panorama view that we got of the city)




Annnnnd then today a few of us went to Parc Güell, which is also a Gaudí work. It's huge, and is on a mountain that overlooks the entire city. The architecture is amazing (has lots of pictures....) Oh, and I found out that the background picture on my blog (which I shamelessly stole from google image search) is actually of Parc Güell.




This park is my absolute favorite place so far. I want to go here all the time...altho, it's a bit of a trek from where I live. Because I live kind of far away from everything, thanks for that CIEE.

I don't have pictures of the nights this weekend, but Barcelona's night life is a blast. Everything is open at 2 am, it's fantastic. I thought that Spaniards would be creepers, and altho some of them are a lot of them are really nice. Last night we went to a bar and talked to a lot of the locals, which is a fantastic way to improve your Spanish. I actually was talking to someone who taught me the difference between ser and estar...lolz.  I also made friends with a man who introduced himself as Brad Pitt, and 3 Latin Americans (who live in Barcelona, I love how this city is so diverse) taught me how to samba. The more you know? And for the record, even the fast food here is delicious. Their version of a burger is a piece of bread covered in ham and cheese with tomatoes and such. Delicious.

Bien, that's about as much as my pictures will take me through. We have class again tomorrow morning, so I probably should try and get some sleep (despite the fact that, let's be honest, I'm not sleeping this whole semester). I'll end with my one mark on Barcelona; my initials barely etched into a tree in Parc Güell (written, por su puesto, in sharpie pen). One day, this spot is going to be famous.




And congrats to my vob loves for an amazing, amazing show!! :)

Hasta luego, besos y abrazos!

Lo and behold, the interwebs is a superhero

I CAN TEXT NOW.

If you text me at this number: 713-257-9330 I can receive free texts!!! I may not get them right away b/c I need wifi to see them, but I have the wifis at both the university and at home so it'll actually be fairly often. It shouldn't charge you either; my phone is on airplane mode so it has no idea that I'm actually in Barcelona (silly little thing thinks I'm in Houston...gotta love it.)

You can call this number too!!! Except I won't answer unless I'm at home with the wifis. But I think it has voicemail, and again it won't charge you 'cause it works through the wifis. So if you ever want to call, just text me and if I respond you can call!!! AHHH!

Vobbers, break legs tonight and I love you all so much. Buenas noches amores!!

Pics...working wifi is the best thing ever

¡Hola mis amores!

So I now have functional wifi! We left the hotel today (thank God...I didn't really want to hear about my roommate's skin issues any more) and took a tour of la Universitat de Barcelona, which is where I'll be taking courses. The historic building of this university (which is way old) is by far one of the most amazing buildings I have ever been in. My camera takes really awful pics, but this was the best one I could get of just part of this building:

This is their super important room (it's not a church, though it looks like one. They have graduation and stuffs in here). I can't even begin to express how beautiful this university is.

And, of course, I thought it looked like Hogwarts. Gryffindor logo on the right, anyone? 

Then we had lunch (which was humongous and I'm still getting over the fact that they serve wine as an alternative to water. Um.) and left for our homestays. My host mother is super sweet, and she forces more food on me than a Jewish grandmother on steroids (glory, glory nomzelulah, Lauren!). She is a divorced señora with a daughter who is older and lives nearby. I'm pretty sure that she lives in the Barcelona version of the upper East Side in Manhattan, because all of the designer stores are over here (which she loves; she made me walk through Zara and pointed at all of the sales). Everyone has dogs here; Angela has a tiny little dog named Maxi who is a princess and wears a purple bow on her head. 

She also watches "Lost"....PERDIDOS! We're going to get along very well, and now I get to watch Lost in Spanish, which has been a dream of mine. In the words of the most adored Joe Klarr, "JACK, NECESITAMOS REGRESSAR!!!!!"

She also can't say my name. She keeps trying to say "Haley" but she has to say "ahhhlee". It's really adorable. She also got really excited when she found out that I'm Jewish because the only synagogue in the entire city of Barcelona is two blocks away from her apartment. She really wants to take me to the synagogue; she's agnostic but her ex-husband is Jewish. She gave me a menorah....lolz.

I miss you all sooo much. The homesickness isn't as bad as I thought it would be, altho it definitely crops up when I don't have much to do. I think I'm going to have much more to do once I have a phone and I know where people are living and shtuff. Loving the updates from Vandy/Texas, so thanks :) And for all of you in tech week hell, I love you and good luck with everything! Thanks for the updates on "Nine", it's going to be amazing. I have the wifis working now and such, so everyone just needs to be online around 3ish your time so that we can has chats. 

Amor, besos, y un abrazo!

Oh hey there, Spain!

After about 14 hrs of traveling and airports, I am finally in Barcelona! They put us in this super swanky hotel room for the night, which is really nice. They keep telling us not to sleep and I'm too nonfunctional to be able to socialize normally, so instead I'm going to use the blog as a way to keep myself awake until the program starts. The jetlag is crazy but the city is so gorgeous and everything is so...European. Apparently, European hotel showers don't have shower curtains? The more you know.

So this blog is basically just a way for me to journal everything that I'm doing in Spain, and so that you all can see what I'm up to. I'll try an update it periodically. I miss everyone from Nashville and Houston sooo much, but I'm also still getting over the fact that I AM IN SPAIN. 

Will have to post pictures later. The wifis here is awful. But rest assured, I did take a picture of my first ever purchase with Euros: coffee. What else?