After my two week stint in Barcelona, I was starting to realize that I was turning, well, grouchy. I wasn't my same smily self, I actually noticed myself frowning and aggressively pushing my way through the crowded metro. As I stepped back to really think about it, I was becoming a stereotypical big city girl and honestly I didn't like how that looked. But, what can you do when you smile at little old men and women (knowing that all of all the people who will smile back at you, they're sure things) and they give you dirty looks.
This cold facade has finally ended and I'm back to my same old self thanks to one lady on the Metro, Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning the Metro went on strike (little to my knowledge) so my train was 30 minutes late and I ended up being late to my first class (which killed my Type A tendencies). Once my train finally arrived and quickly after I rushed on, I was forced to move over a seat because a woman chose to sit directly next to me. I moved over, ticked off that the woman chose to sit directly next to me instead of at the more comfortable diagonal across from me.
Within seconds the woman pulled out a large paper fan and began fanning herself furiously (it's really hot in the metro). After a minute or so, she slowed to a nice calm pace and lucky for me, I was able to reap the benefits of her fan as she pushed air back and forth toward me. It really felt refreshing. Without thinking, I leaned in to her and said "gracias." She turned to me with a disgusted look on her face, so I repeated myself this time using my hand as a fan with an "I'm hot too, I feel your pain," look on my face. Instantly, it clicked and the woman bursted out in to straight up laughter. I was so happy to finally have someone respond pleasantly to me that I laughed too!
To my delight, she fanned us both for a good 3 minutes, I was able to ask her in my best broken Spanish what she knew about the Metro strike (which helped me get home that night in a timely manner) and she even offered me her fan if I was still hot.
When we reached our stop, the woman said "adios," with a big smile on her face. Even though I was terribly late to class, it was my favorite metro ride to date.
I've decided that I will not become a rushed, frustrated city dweller. I am going to retain my constant smile even when old women give me the stink eye in the grocery store.
On a side note, I found peanut butter today. There were approximately 8 jars of Peter Pan peanut butter for 4 euros each, I bought 2!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
An entire loaf of bread
Since we didn't have Spanish class this Saturday (we did last week..it was sooo lame!) I, with my roommates and a new friend, venture to Tossa de Mar, a small beach town north of Barcelona.
It was absolutely picturesque (besides all of the naked boobs, nearly everyone is constantly topless...not my favorite part of the beach). A 14th century castle sits literally on the beach and is open for you to walk around in. Although I did make it to the top of the castle, I quickly came back down for the laziest weekend of my life.
On Saturday morning, when we arrived at 9:00am, we stopped at a small tienda to buy fruit and water, however there was also 1.5 liters of Sangria for 1.97 euros which we of course couldn't pass up and an entire loaf of bread for 90 cents (my favorite buy since I came to Spain).
I spent 100% of the day (from about 10:00am until 6:00pm) laying on the beach, dozing in and out of sleep, people watching, starting and finishing my bread and listening to songs in English.
You're probably wondering, is she burnt to a crisp? The answer, surprisingly is "no." I did get burned on the right side of my calf, my right hand and my right ear (the sun was clearly on my right), but my numerous sunscreen applications, for the most part, were successful.
At night we took a bus to Lloret de Mar, a town that was supposedly 15 minutes away but turned out to be about 30 (luckily the bus ride was pretty) to stay in one of the few hostels that wasn't full in the area. I had pizza for dinner and we returned to our room to take LONG showers and watch TV (yes we had a TV and our hostel only cost 11 euros per night...a real deal!) however to our dismay all of the channels were in Spanish (we weren't shocked, we were just hoping for CNN or BBC, anything to veg out to). However, we did find High School Musical on the Disney channel (which in any other circumstance I would be opposed to) with English singing, they dubbed over everything but the signing, so we all sat around and waited for the characters to sing in English.
My favorite songs for a lazy beach day:
1. Simon and Garfunkel--The Only Living Boy in New York
2. Jack Johnson--Staple it Together (mostly all of Jack Johnson really, I mean he lives in Hawaii)
3. Kate Nash--Birds
4. The Temper Trap--Sweet Disposition
5. She and Him--EVERY SONG!!!!
It was a beautiful, restful weekend.
I can't wait to start classes tomorrow!! Finally, a routine!
P.S. My new school is Hogwarts...more to come!
It was absolutely picturesque (besides all of the naked boobs, nearly everyone is constantly topless...not my favorite part of the beach). A 14th century castle sits literally on the beach and is open for you to walk around in. Although I did make it to the top of the castle, I quickly came back down for the laziest weekend of my life.
On Saturday morning, when we arrived at 9:00am, we stopped at a small tienda to buy fruit and water, however there was also 1.5 liters of Sangria for 1.97 euros which we of course couldn't pass up and an entire loaf of bread for 90 cents (my favorite buy since I came to Spain).
I spent 100% of the day (from about 10:00am until 6:00pm) laying on the beach, dozing in and out of sleep, people watching, starting and finishing my bread and listening to songs in English.
You're probably wondering, is she burnt to a crisp? The answer, surprisingly is "no." I did get burned on the right side of my calf, my right hand and my right ear (the sun was clearly on my right), but my numerous sunscreen applications, for the most part, were successful.
At night we took a bus to Lloret de Mar, a town that was supposedly 15 minutes away but turned out to be about 30 (luckily the bus ride was pretty) to stay in one of the few hostels that wasn't full in the area. I had pizza for dinner and we returned to our room to take LONG showers and watch TV (yes we had a TV and our hostel only cost 11 euros per night...a real deal!) however to our dismay all of the channels were in Spanish (we weren't shocked, we were just hoping for CNN or BBC, anything to veg out to). However, we did find High School Musical on the Disney channel (which in any other circumstance I would be opposed to) with English singing, they dubbed over everything but the signing, so we all sat around and waited for the characters to sing in English.
My favorite songs for a lazy beach day:
1. Simon and Garfunkel--The Only Living Boy in New York
2. Jack Johnson--Staple it Together (mostly all of Jack Johnson really, I mean he lives in Hawaii)
3. Kate Nash--Birds
4. The Temper Trap--Sweet Disposition
5. She and Him--EVERY SONG!!!!
It was a beautiful, restful weekend.
I can't wait to start classes tomorrow!! Finally, a routine!
P.S. My new school is Hogwarts...more to come!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Listen, Barcelona
In the past few days, I've been doing a ton of settling-in tasks that have made me realize a few things about Barcelona. Although I still love it, here are a few things that I am annoyed with:
1. The shower (no matter what temperature it's on, which for me is cold since it's so hot all the time) constantly fluctuates in and out of boiling hot and ice cold water.
2. I am not allowed to take a long shower, a nighttime rinse off, or anything other than one short shower a day (which wouldn't be a big deal except that I am constantly sweaty and there is no A/C to cool me off, EVER)
3. There is no A/C!!!
4. Smoking, I don't understand how smoking isn't outlawed everywhere, I am so tired of constantly breathing second-hand smoke everywhere I go (even in restaurants...everyone smokes)
5. Constantly having to guard my belongings with my life (just once I would like to sit without my purse between my legs...but don't worry I wont stop being cautious out of my own laziness)
6. Having to allow for more than 5 minutes to get to class (living on campus is pure heaven, having to leave for class at least 30 minutes before it begins really stinks)
All in all, I am settling in to regular life in Barcelona. I am starting to be okay with 9:00pm dinners, speaking/reading/understanding Spanish, and I am definitely settling in to the beautiful scenery.
I changed in to a different Spanish class, which I really enjoy and I am very ready for all the rest of my classes to start on Monday (let's get real, I've always loved school)!
I've grow an extreme adoration and constant craving for Nutella and pan con tomates (literally bread with olive oil and tomatoes rubbed all over it).
Tonight we had vegetables that my Senora cooked with olive oil, vinegar, garlic and another spice that I've tasted in her cooking and other cooking before, but I do not know what it is. She tried to explain in Spanish, but as you can see, I didn't understand. Hopefully I'll find out soon!
Still loving Barcelona, just a little more realistic about it.
1. The shower (no matter what temperature it's on, which for me is cold since it's so hot all the time) constantly fluctuates in and out of boiling hot and ice cold water.
2. I am not allowed to take a long shower, a nighttime rinse off, or anything other than one short shower a day (which wouldn't be a big deal except that I am constantly sweaty and there is no A/C to cool me off, EVER)
3. There is no A/C!!!
4. Smoking, I don't understand how smoking isn't outlawed everywhere, I am so tired of constantly breathing second-hand smoke everywhere I go (even in restaurants...everyone smokes)
5. Constantly having to guard my belongings with my life (just once I would like to sit without my purse between my legs...but don't worry I wont stop being cautious out of my own laziness)
6. Having to allow for more than 5 minutes to get to class (living on campus is pure heaven, having to leave for class at least 30 minutes before it begins really stinks)
All in all, I am settling in to regular life in Barcelona. I am starting to be okay with 9:00pm dinners, speaking/reading/understanding Spanish, and I am definitely settling in to the beautiful scenery.
I changed in to a different Spanish class, which I really enjoy and I am very ready for all the rest of my classes to start on Monday (let's get real, I've always loved school)!
I've grow an extreme adoration and constant craving for Nutella and pan con tomates (literally bread with olive oil and tomatoes rubbed all over it).
Tonight we had vegetables that my Senora cooked with olive oil, vinegar, garlic and another spice that I've tasted in her cooking and other cooking before, but I do not know what it is. She tried to explain in Spanish, but as you can see, I didn't understand. Hopefully I'll find out soon!
Still loving Barcelona, just a little more realistic about it.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Nutella and Spaghetti
To start, Parc Guell is incredible! I want to go back everyday...I wish I could have a private showing so that no one else was around and I wish it'd be about 65 degrees outside also. Everywhere you look in Parc Guell you're surrounded by something strange and so beautiful.
Upon entering the main columned structure at the top of the entrance, we found musicians playing classical strings, but as we walked through the park, they weren't the only performers. There was a duo playing classical Spanish guitar, a woman dressed in Flamenco attire (turns out she was only posing for pictures which was a real let down, I wanted some Flamenco dancing..good or bad would have sufficed), my personal favorites were the two sets or random, skinny shirtless hippies simply blowing really big bubbles. Everything seemed to fit so well in to the mix-matched park.
For lunch, I am trying to cut back a little bit since the portions my Senora serves me for dinner are MAMMOTH, and it's so good that I usually come close to finishing them. I stopped and got some pineapple and a banana to eat in Parc Guell; found a shady spot and listened to a Spaniard sing Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69."
But after Parc Guell was when I had the real treat, I stopped in a fruit stand to grab some nectarines and these random street side nectarines (after washing them in one of the many fountains throughout the city) were literally the very best I have ever had. They fell off the pit, mmm, I would have eaten 10, but restrained myself to one and one for later (it seems like later is rapidly approaching, I can't get this nectarine out of my head!)
A slightly Spanish version of spaghetti for dinner and Nutella for dessert rounded out a nearly perfect day. (It would have been perfect if it weren't for the extreme heat)
Upon entering the main columned structure at the top of the entrance, we found musicians playing classical strings, but as we walked through the park, they weren't the only performers. There was a duo playing classical Spanish guitar, a woman dressed in Flamenco attire (turns out she was only posing for pictures which was a real let down, I wanted some Flamenco dancing..good or bad would have sufficed), my personal favorites were the two sets or random, skinny shirtless hippies simply blowing really big bubbles. Everything seemed to fit so well in to the mix-matched park.
For lunch, I am trying to cut back a little bit since the portions my Senora serves me for dinner are MAMMOTH, and it's so good that I usually come close to finishing them. I stopped and got some pineapple and a banana to eat in Parc Guell; found a shady spot and listened to a Spaniard sing Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69."
But after Parc Guell was when I had the real treat, I stopped in a fruit stand to grab some nectarines and these random street side nectarines (after washing them in one of the many fountains throughout the city) were literally the very best I have ever had. They fell off the pit, mmm, I would have eaten 10, but restrained myself to one and one for later (it seems like later is rapidly approaching, I can't get this nectarine out of my head!)
A slightly Spanish version of spaghetti for dinner and Nutella for dessert rounded out a nearly perfect day. (It would have been perfect if it weren't for the extreme heat)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Only 3 Hours to the Beach
These are the things that I loved about today:
1. Nutella for breakfast
2. Seeing the elevator through the window in my shower
3. Wearing my swimsuit under my clothes all day in preparation for the beach (actually this just made me sweaty because it was a one-piece, but I thought it was worth mentioning)
4. Believing that it would only take us a few minutes to get to the beach
5. Getting side-tracked in the barrio gotic (Gothic Quarter) on the way to the beach, by a beautiful cathedral, spanish classical guitar players and tons of tiny side-streets
6. Following some people in swimsuits in hopes of finding the beach (turns out they were headed for a smoke shop...sick)
7. Finally finding the beach after 3 and a half hours and enjoying sangria and a flatbread with cheese for lunch
8. Getting in trouble for laying on chairs that you ad to pay for (there was no sign and the man came up and yelled at us after wed been laying in them for a good 15-20 minutes)
9. Watching a naked baby play on the beach
10. Realizing that if we had taken the metro, it would have only taken us about 10-15 minutes to get to the beach
11. Choosing generic looking lotion in Corte Ingles, only to find out that it cost 35 euros (needless to say I still don't have any lotion)
12. Coming home exhausted to learn that we had a walking tour with our RA right then (turns out that my Senora had told us last night, but we had thought she was having a party...looks like we need a little more Spanish practice)
Almost everything that happened today turned out to be a hysterically hilarious misunderstanding. Barcelona is great!
Barcelona, te amo!
1. Nutella for breakfast
2. Seeing the elevator through the window in my shower
3. Wearing my swimsuit under my clothes all day in preparation for the beach (actually this just made me sweaty because it was a one-piece, but I thought it was worth mentioning)
4. Believing that it would only take us a few minutes to get to the beach
5. Getting side-tracked in the barrio gotic (Gothic Quarter) on the way to the beach, by a beautiful cathedral, spanish classical guitar players and tons of tiny side-streets
6. Following some people in swimsuits in hopes of finding the beach (turns out they were headed for a smoke shop...sick)
7. Finally finding the beach after 3 and a half hours and enjoying sangria and a flatbread with cheese for lunch
8. Getting in trouble for laying on chairs that you ad to pay for (there was no sign and the man came up and yelled at us after wed been laying in them for a good 15-20 minutes)
9. Watching a naked baby play on the beach
10. Realizing that if we had taken the metro, it would have only taken us about 10-15 minutes to get to the beach
11. Choosing generic looking lotion in Corte Ingles, only to find out that it cost 35 euros (needless to say I still don't have any lotion)
12. Coming home exhausted to learn that we had a walking tour with our RA right then (turns out that my Senora had told us last night, but we had thought she was having a party...looks like we need a little more Spanish practice)
Almost everything that happened today turned out to be a hysterically hilarious misunderstanding. Barcelona is great!
Barcelona, te amo!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tortilla de Patatas y Sangria
I can't believe I live here, I've already fallen in love with Barcelona and I haven't even been here 24 hours. My senora, Antonia is wonderful, she only speaks Spanish to us and I can tell that from this morning to this afternoon I am already beginning to get a better ear for understanding what she says.
After a long, very bumpy flight from JFK, I finally got to Barcelona around 8:30am and after about an hour and a half I was ready to get a taxi to my new home. The bags that I brought were harder to pull than I expected, luckily at the airport I was able to grab a push cart (after a police man sadly watched me struggle and even offered to watch my bags so I could go get a cart, P.S. I thought it was a trick, turns out he was a genuinely nice man).
I was the first of my roommates to get to our apartment which means I got the single room to myself! The housing is so much better than I expected, I have plenty of space and Antonia will do ANYTHING to make us comfortable (she insisted on ironing my shirt when I asked to borrow the iron). Once Erin and Natalie arrived and after unpacking and an unintentional hour and a half nap, we decided to explore!
We didn't even make it downtown, but I can't get enough of Barcelona, the streets are modern but quaint with extremely old building interspersed. The streets are filled with cars and mopeds, but they aren't overcrowded or noisy (in fact we sat at a street side cafe and had no problem talking in our regular voices).
After tons of uphill walking, we decided that we couldn't finish our first day in Barcelona without a glass of Sangria, so we shared a liter at a cafe near our apartment (possibly our new favorite spot) and headed home for dinner.
Little did we know that Antonia made us a full, incredible, huge meal complete with ensalada, pan con aciete, a Mallorca pan dish, tortilla de patatas (which she swears is the best in the city and I completely believe her) and ciruelas (plums) for dessert. I couldn't be happier or more comfortable.
Barcelona, I love you.
Ready for tomorrow!
After a long, very bumpy flight from JFK, I finally got to Barcelona around 8:30am and after about an hour and a half I was ready to get a taxi to my new home. The bags that I brought were harder to pull than I expected, luckily at the airport I was able to grab a push cart (after a police man sadly watched me struggle and even offered to watch my bags so I could go get a cart, P.S. I thought it was a trick, turns out he was a genuinely nice man).
I was the first of my roommates to get to our apartment which means I got the single room to myself! The housing is so much better than I expected, I have plenty of space and Antonia will do ANYTHING to make us comfortable (she insisted on ironing my shirt when I asked to borrow the iron). Once Erin and Natalie arrived and after unpacking and an unintentional hour and a half nap, we decided to explore!
We didn't even make it downtown, but I can't get enough of Barcelona, the streets are modern but quaint with extremely old building interspersed. The streets are filled with cars and mopeds, but they aren't overcrowded or noisy (in fact we sat at a street side cafe and had no problem talking in our regular voices).
After tons of uphill walking, we decided that we couldn't finish our first day in Barcelona without a glass of Sangria, so we shared a liter at a cafe near our apartment (possibly our new favorite spot) and headed home for dinner.
Little did we know that Antonia made us a full, incredible, huge meal complete with ensalada, pan con aciete, a Mallorca pan dish, tortilla de patatas (which she swears is the best in the city and I completely believe her) and ciruelas (plums) for dessert. I couldn't be happier or more comfortable.
Barcelona, I love you.
Ready for tomorrow!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Adios Tejas, Hola Barcelona
T-minus 32 hours until I begin my journey across the Atlantic to Espana.
These are a few of the things I've been doing for the past few days in preparation for my trip, eek!
1. Translating the things I say in English in to Spanish in my head (often unsuccessfully)
2. Looking up words for the things I know I am going to need upon arriving in Barcelona: hairdryer=secador de pelo
3. Reading forums to figure out which bank to open an account at once I'm in Barcelona. It seems like ING Direct is a good choice, if anyone has another suggestion let me know!
4. Figuring out how to buy a SIM card (I unlocked my Iphone, I simply can't live without it...I don't know what I'll do once I actually graduate college and have to flip the bill all by myself)
5. PACKING, thank you Space Bags.
6. Venturing to the store almost daily...I always remember something else I need about an hour after my trip to Walgreens, Target...
7. Google Mapping the area around my apartment, over and over and over.
**8. Eating at all of my favorite restaurants and all of the food that my mom makes that I am going to miss so bad for four months. (Especially my beloved tex-mex)
If anyone has any Barcelona suggestions, let me know, I'm up for anything at all (as for now I'm mostly clueless)!
Excited, nervous, almost Spanish!
These are a few of the things I've been doing for the past few days in preparation for my trip, eek!
1. Translating the things I say in English in to Spanish in my head (often unsuccessfully)
2. Looking up words for the things I know I am going to need upon arriving in Barcelona: hairdryer=secador de pelo
3. Reading forums to figure out which bank to open an account at once I'm in Barcelona. It seems like ING Direct is a good choice, if anyone has another suggestion let me know!
4. Figuring out how to buy a SIM card (I unlocked my Iphone, I simply can't live without it...I don't know what I'll do once I actually graduate college and have to flip the bill all by myself)
5. PACKING, thank you Space Bags.
6. Venturing to the store almost daily...I always remember something else I need about an hour after my trip to Walgreens, Target...
7. Google Mapping the area around my apartment, over and over and over.
**8. Eating at all of my favorite restaurants and all of the food that my mom makes that I am going to miss so bad for four months. (Especially my beloved tex-mex)
If anyone has any Barcelona suggestions, let me know, I'm up for anything at all (as for now I'm mostly clueless)!
Excited, nervous, almost Spanish!
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