Reunion in Germany

My week in Germany was too short. I arrived on Sunday night. Christoph picked me up at the airport and we went straight to dinner with his dad, brother, and girlfriend. It was nice to be back in Recklinghausen visiting my German brother after 5 years. Monday, we had a late morning followed by a train ride to Essen for the Christmas market. Over the next three hours I’m pretty sure that we tried almost every kind of festival food available there. My favorite thing was the reibekuchen, a potato fritter eaten by hand and dipped in applesauce. We also had various baked goods, German Christmas cookies, and glühwein- a traditional drink. On the following day Christoph and I walked around the city center of Recklinghausen. After a couple hours we drove over to Marl, where his mom lives. After a day full of exploring the towns Christoph grew up in, we went shopping for German beer for a tasting we had planned that night. Later, Wolfgang, Christoph, Stephan, and I tried all 18 different kinds of beer. We compared our notes and generally agreed on what we liked best. Wednesday started off with another late morning. Then Christoph, Stephan, and I went to a day spa. This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen in the States. There are saunas and pools of every temperature. Five years ago when I was visiting, Christoph and I spent a day there and it was such a good experience that I had to go back this time. To keep this PG, I’ll leave out the best details. Feel free to ask me about it in a PM. After spending the day cleansing our bodies we ate currywurst, basically a bratwurst smothered in some kind of curry sauce served with seasoned fries. It was heaven on a plate. That night we took a late train to Münster with two of Christoph’s basketball girls for a night of dancing. Unfortunately it took us two hours to make the 45 minute train ride because somebody got hit by a train at one of the stations. We finally got to the club though and were surprised to find it packed on a Wednesday night. We danced until the club closed until 3 AM, finished our beers, and then walked to a nearby station to get doner kebab. We caught the 4 AM train back to Recklinghausen and called it a night. Thursday was a lazy day for recovery and Friday I flew back to the US. 

Bittersweet Goodbyes

The last week was packed full of doing things that I had wanted to do the rest of my time there, but always put off. It was also full of goodbyes. I made some really good friends in Barcelona and not knowing when I was going to see them again made it tough to say goodbye. Since tourist season is over, waiting in line to see the inside of Sagrada Familia is no longer a daunting and time consuming task. On busy days, it can take hours of standing in line to see the inside of this iconic church. Leah and I waited less than 20 minutes. To learn more we both got audio guides. I was feeling rather confident in myself, so I got mine in Spanish. The inside is utterly amazing. There just aren’t words to describe it that would be thorough enough. I’ve never seen that much light and color inside of a church. In typical fashion of the Catholic churches, it stresses to the masses the importance of accepting poverty to help those that are more in need… psh yeah right. The only people the church inspires a life of poverty to are the patrons. It cost over $25 to go inside and look around. I also visited the Erotic Museum of Barcelona with some friends that I will tell on now; Leah, Fallon, Chris, and Jan. The small building was full of rooms with different themes and eras. Overall there was erotic art (porn) from the past two thousand years. There were a few Egyptian artifacts, pages from the Kama Sutra, and a 20^th century pleasure chair that looked more like an electric chair with a very uncomfortable seat. The most captivating thing was a video commissioned in 1920 by King Alfonso XII of Spain. We have the Catholic Church to thank for its existence today. You have not seen a silent movie until you’ve seen silent porn from 1920. Imagine ragtime music playing while an awkwardly skinny man and a behemoth of a woman go at it. We couldn’t look away and that was only a small portion of the entire series, casting a variety of people of different shapes and sized doing a plethora of comically pornographic things.

Thursday was my second Thanksgiving away from home. It was definitely easier this time, but still sad. Most of the day felt like business as usual. It was my last day of work, so I got up and went to work just like any other day. That night was amazing though. My company, Knok, was hosting an American style Thanksgiving, partnering with another cooperative company, EatWith. The whole Knok team was invited and I was allowed to bring Leah with me. Aside from the 9 Knok employees, we had 11 other guests with diverse backgrounds. All were very interesting people and easy to talk to. There was an American who was hiking from Gibraltar all the way to Bilbao, using no form of transportation other than his feet, two couples comprising of American men and Spanish women, and a French girl that just wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving to name a few. My supervisor, Rachel, managed to find the ingredients to make pumpkin pie and my bosses had a Turkey prepared professionally to complete the holiday.

Friday, we toured the FC Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou. To most of our group it was a cool landmark, I was a little more excited than that; so excited that I actually fell into the tourist trap and bought the professional pictures that look like I’m standing with real Barcelona players. We got to see the locker room, press box, a museum, and the best part was walking down the tunnel and onto the pitch. It was surreal to walk in the halls where the greatest players of this generation have stood and called home. That night Leah and I went out with Jan and Jazmin, first to the board game bar that I’ve mentioned several times before and then to THE mojito bar. The game of choice for the night was Munchkin… in Spanish. While playing, we had the opportunity to polish our knowledge of absurd Spanish diction.

Saturday was tough. I finally accepted that I was about to leave and packed my bags. Leah and I took the last opportunity to check out a park on our maps that came to be known as “the octopus park.” It was something we had wanted to check out since she arrived, but never went because it was pretty far out of the way; it turned out to be a 25 minute metro ride. The park itself wasn’t that impressive, but climbing the hill that surrounded it gave us an amazing panorama of Barcelona. The lunch we had was definitely worth the trip as well. That night we went back to the restaurant where we had our first date for dinner. I’ll never forget how cute she looked that first time with horribly stained teeth, courtesy of her black bean and rice starter dish. Stuffed, we went to Plaza Catalunya to enjoy the Christmas lights together and so I could say goodbye to my new Spanish friend, Marya, who was working. Even though there was no more room for food in our bellies, we bought churros and chocolate and had no problem cleaning them up. Finally, we returned home to relax for the rest of the night. 

My Last Full Weekend in Barcelona

Before I get into what I did last week I have a quick story. This actually happened right before I went to Norway and I was so excited about that trip that I completely forgot about this one. The day before Leah and I went to Norway, we went shopping at the mall to buy warmer clothes. As we were reaching the top of an escalator I looked down at the bottom where three Asian kids our age were getting on. The last thing I expected to see was one of the girls wearing a WVU sweatshirt. I freaked out a little and Leah was like “what are you freaking out about?” I told her and then we waited at the top of the escalator for the group to reach us. When they did, I forgot where I was and said something to the girl in English. They kept walking, probably thinking Leah and I were just talking to each other. So, still excited and not paying attention to social norms, I put my hand on her arm and when she spun around wondering why in the hell some random American was touching her I asked again in English “Do you go to school there?” Terrified, she looked to the guy who apparently knew more English than she did, which was none. I quickly figured out that I had to use Spanish and began to try to explain why I was so excited (but I was so excited and she was so freaked out that the conversation was difficult). Eventually, I learned that she had no idea what the shirt meant and that she just bought it in some store in Barcelona. I explained that it was for my university and that it was pretty cool she was wearing it. I apologized for scaring her and we went our separate ways.

So, last weekend. Friday after work I went to try out a new restaurant because I had read online that it has craft beers. I got there to find they had 6 different craft beers on tap. I tried a few, but I don’t even remember what I ended up getting. What was memorable was the company I had. I got off work at 2 and probably arrived, alone, by 2:20. Over the course of lunch I managed to befriend my waitress and eventually the other two waitresses that were working there as well. I spent the next couple hours practicing my Spanish while talking to them. They didn’t have any tables to wait, so they were more than happy to keep me company. I didn’t get home until 5 that evening because I talked so long.

This weekend was a craft beer weekend. Thursday I met up with Jan, my German friend, and Fallon, another one of the interns, to go to a craft beer bar called La Resistencia. I think you can translate that on your own, so I won’t patronize you. Friday night, Fallon and I went to a couple other bars that were supposed to house the liquid, golden treasure as well. Out of the three, only one had their own craft beer. The other two import theirs from all over the world. Friday was a good chance to start saying goodbye to my new home. We walked several miles throughout the city between our destinations. Saturday, I decided not to get more beer and instead take a break. I’ve had a pretty severe cough for the past few days. I did manage to get out and meet a friend for Vietnamese food for lunch. The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.

Enchanted and Waterlogged in Norway

Well it is safe to say that I’ve fallen in love with Norway. It took a very small fraction of the 84 hours I was there to know this, even with the monsoon that endured most of the time I was there. Leah and I arrived around 11 PM on Thursday night after a long day of flying and sitting in airports. We had a two hour layover in London where we were able to eat dinner (we both chose the closest thing that resembled an American breakfast that we could find) and then we walked around the mall inside the airport. I don’t count England as one of the countries I’ve been to, but I do have a London/Gatwick stamp in my passport now. When we walked out of the terminal in Norway there was a shuttle bus waiting for our flight. Well done Bergen. We were dropped off in the city center with neither map nor any idea on how to get to our apartment. On the nearest street corner was the Hotel Bergen, so I led Leah in that direction to ask for directions. The guy working the night shift at the desk was very kind and lively and even googled the address we were staying at to make sure he was pointing to the right place on a map (that he gave us) after he admitted he had no idea where we were headed. Without incident we got to the apartment, found the key right where it was supposed to be and got inside. The next morning we walked out our door to a very impressive sight of the city and surrounding mountains… and some rain. We went to the tourism office and started planning our day. Before I continue, you need to know about the weather. In the weather forecast rain was predicted and a high of 45 degrees. A friend from work who lives near Bergen, Cindi, had warned me about the bad weather that was predicted for the weekend, so Leah and I were already mentally prepared (we thought). After picking up some brochures, we went to the open air fish market under the tourism office for lunch. We sat by the heat lamps and covered our legs with the blankets provided by the café we were eating at. Then we continued on, taking pictures of the Bryggen, the hanseatic wharf district and UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area represents the oldest area of Bergen. Next, we decided to go to the KODE art museums, a network of buildings housing much of Norway’s art history. On the way there we were forced to walk through a torrential downpour that was blowing right at us, completely soaking through even our waterproof clothes (It can’t get worse, right? Stay tuned!). I had read about an interactive exhibition going on and planned to surprise Leah with it. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but we had an amazing time learning about art and then playing around. We were the only people in the exhibition, so we were able to take our time and play around as much as we wanted. After the interactive exhibition, we walked through the rest of the building we were in and then headed over to the next building to check out the new Edvard Munch collection. It is the second largest collection of Munch’s paintings in the world; the first being in Oslo. Munch, who painted “The Scream,” is the most well known artist in Norwegian history. With 2/4 of the buildings in the KODE complete and daylight waning we took a trip on the light rail out of the city to visit the Fantoft Stave Church (This is a generous statement considering I’m not sure if the sun actually ever came up. It was 3:30 and getting seriously dark.). The church was supposed to be 500 meters from the light rail stop and clearly marked with signs. It was still raining as hard as it was when we went into the Museums, so maybe I just missed the signs, but it wasn’t exactly obvious to find. We finally found a path out into the woods that looked like it might be the right direction. The path looked well tended, but after a day of heavy rain, it became a muddy mess. Determined to make the most of the situation, we pushed on (Maybe this is where the 500 meters comes in). As soon as we started walking on the path Leah and I began the conversation that at least there was no way possible that we could be any more wet and it couldn’t rain any harder… Not even a minute later mother nature decided to prove us wrong and the rain drops got bigger (by this point, I think each drop might have filled its own kiddy pool). Seriously, I shouldn’t be complaining. That was hands down the coolest church I’ve ever seen in my life and definitely worth the torture it took to get there. Instead of crosses, it looked more like there should be dragons perched on top of it. Completely soaked, we went home to dry out. (Side note: on Sunday we talked to a man that informed us that at the height of the rain on Friday, it rained 22 inches in just four hours and that many roads were closed due to flooding. It had taken him an hour and a half to make a 10 minute drive home from work.) A couple hours later, we reemerged from the apartment, ready to take on the world again. We got dinner at this diner that felt more like sitting in someone’s living room than in a restaurant. The food there was so good that we made sure we went back for our last dinner in Norway on Sunday as well. The apple pie was better than most that I’ve ever eaten in the States. After the amazing dinner, we walked a couple blocks down the street to the USF Verteft, an old sardine factory that has been converted to an art and cultural center, aka the classiest music venue I’ve ever been to. We saw Maria Mena, one of Norway’s most popular singers today. All of her songs are in English and very catchy. The venue was classy because everyone was dressed super nice and at least half of the people were carrying glasses of wine.

Day two was dryer, but still without direct sunshine. We started by further exploring the Bryggen and all of its stores. Then we ate brunch at a café with a view over the harbor. Afterwards, we checked out the Bergenhus Fortress and took a tour of its great hall. Then we took the light rail out of the city again to find the Bergen Arts and Crafts festival that I had seen on the Bergen tourism website, after wandering around a little bit we asked for directions and discovered that the website must have been wrong because there were no signs for the festival. It started raining and it was getting dark again, so we grabbed some hot chocolate and pastries before returning to the apartment. Later that evening, we went out for dinner and had Pinnekjøtt, a traditional Norwegian Christmas dish. It comprises of salted lamb ribs over sweet potatoes and served with boiled potatoes and carrots. (I will be attempting to cook this when I return to the States.) After dinner we strolled around and took pictures of the city at night.

Sunday we woke up to actual sunlight! We had been planning a hike this day because it was supposed to have the best weather and we got lucky. We had more awesome apple pie for breakfast from the place previously mentioned. Then we took the funicular up to the top of Fløyen, one of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen. From there we took some amazing photos and then headed off to do some light hiking. After reaching a lake that we had originally planned to be our turnaround point, we decided to do more exploring that lead us deeper into the woods. We started getting hungry and started thinking about turning around a second time, but first we wanted to see what was around the bend just ahead of us on the path. That bend opened up into a pretty sizable clearing, revealing how much higher we had already climbed from the overlook and the funicular. THEN we noticed how close to the top of the mountain we actually were. We just couldn’t turn around at this point. We pushed on to the next leg of the path. At a couple points we had to climb with our hands over rocks to continue, but we finally made it to the top. After relaxing for a little bit we met a man that joined us with his dog. We talked for a bit and he advised us to take a different path down that would be less dangerous. About an hour later we reached the bottom of the mountain. We tried to get lost in one of the neighborhoods and ended up getting lunch in a really cool café and staying there for a while. It was Sunday and everything was closing so we decided to take it easy as well. Sunday night we returned to the awesome café by our apartment that we ate at Friday and ended up chatting with the waitress for a while.

Monday we flew back to Barcelona expecting to get back to dry weather, but instead we were greeted with more rain. Despite the rain, Norway was very good to us and is easily my favorite out of the 11 countries that I have now visited. 

Futbol Barcelona Style and Dali's Weirdness

Another week’s worth of catching up is in order.

You all might have noticed my excited post and pictures last week about the FC Barcelona soccer match. I went to Barcelona’s soccer stadium, Camp Nou, with a capacity for almost 99,000 people. It was a Champion’s League game; these are the best club teams from Europe and most likely the world. From my pictures you’ll be able to see that the stadium was relatively empty when we got in and then it filled up so that there were almost no empty seats. One thing that I thought was strange was the fact that not everyone wore team colors. Most of the people sitting around me were middle aged men still wearing their suits from work. It definitely wasn’t like standing in the student section at a Mountaineer football game. I got to see Messi score two goals and do a lot of sick tricks to embarrass the other team. Many people would argue that he is the best player in the world right now. The final score was Barca 3- Milan 1. This was definitely an event that I will never forget.

Friday was another study abroad group trip. This time we took a bus to Figures to see the Salvador Dali museum. I can’t even find the words to describe that place. It was weird, but very intriguing. Luckily, we had a tour guide to explain his more popular pieces. His art is full of metaphors; even the pieces that appear to just be portraits of people. Second, we went to the town of Besalu. It is a small, medieval village much like Toledo, but much much smaller. We only had an hour there so once again I hurriedly walked around the town trying to take as many pictures as possible before meeting back at the bus. I was so efficient that I accidentally gave myself too much time and ended up with some free time to sit back and take in the beautiful surroundings.

Sunday I rented a bike along with some other friends and we rode around Barcelona for four hours before our time limit was up. Not only was it nice to get back in touch with the city I’m living in, it was great to do some real physical activity. We explored new parts of town that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. Barcelona is huge, but very easy to navigate by bike. This inspired Leah and I to get out and see more parks in the city. There are gems hidden everywhere. Monday we spent 2 hours in a park that was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. On a map it looks much further away.

This weekend is my second attempt at going to Norway. Plans have changed this time. I’m very glad that Leah is going with me. We decided to travel to Bergen instead of Oslo. Bergen is on the Atlantic coast and much closer to the fjords that Norway is so famous for. From Oslo, we just wouldn’t have the time to see the fjords. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. This is the one trip I’ve been looking forward to more than anything else while in Europe!

A Trip to the Capital

Saturday was another exciting day. In the morning Leah and I went to the train station to catch a bullet train from Barcelona to Madrid, Spain’s capitol city. The train travels at an average speed of about 275 km/h with a top speed of 300 km/h which is equal to 180 mph. With a few stops included, it took 3 hours to arrive. In Madrid, we took our stuff to the apartment and then went back to the center of the city to stroll around. First we took in the splendor of the Royal Palace and the Cathedral Almudena. We wandered around and ended up visiting a few more churches that we located by walking towards the steeples towering above all other buildings. When trying to decide what to see next we stumbled upon a little bar that specialized in selling craft brews so of course we went inside. After drinking a good beer we found ourselves back in front of the Royal Palace which was very beautifully lit up. Leah picked a spot on a fountain and we soaked up the atmosphere and people watched while listening to a guy play the same Led Zeppelin song over and over on the harp. Then we got tapas for dinner and headed back to the apartment on the metro. Sunday was just as relaxed. Leah found a breakfast place that was highly recommended then we spent a few hours in the Prado, one of the best art museums in the world. By the time we finished lunch it was almost 4 PM so we strolled over to the park El Retiro to take in a little natural beauty. Upon arrival we discovered the most beautiful park either of us had ever seen inside a large city. In the center there is a large pond (about the size of Krodel) with rowboats that could be rented. I decided to put my rowing merit badge to work and insisted on going out in a boat. For the next 45 minutes we floated around with about 60 other rowboats, occasionally bumping into one another, while the sun was setting. When our time was up on the boat, we wandered through the park a little more before it was too dark. The night ended with us walking back into the city center and eating at a restaurant called La Catedral (cathedral). The inside had religious paintings and wooden beams like an old church. I had THE BEST salmon and broccoli ever and it was a pretty awesome ending to an already awesome day.

Monday morning we got up early, checked out of the apartment, and went to the train station to catch a train to Toledo. Unfortunately we couldn't get a train until two hours after we had hoped to, leaving only 3 hours in Toledo, but we decided it was worth it anyway. To kill time we stumbled across a street full of little used book stores and browsed the selection before going back to El Retiro to relax. The train ride to Toledo was only 30 minutes by bullet train. Leah and I stepped off the train to discover a beautiful city positioned on a hill and surrounded by a medieval castle wall. It looked like it was straight out of a fairy-tale. Toledo immediately became my favorite Spanish city.  We really only had time for lunch and a few pictures. Leah was disappointed that we had to skip to El Greco museum and I was sad that we couldn't visit the castle on the neighboring hill. Lunch has a pretty long back-story, but the general idea is that I wanted to go to a restaurant that I had given a presentation on a few years ago in college. The dish they specialize in can only be found in Toledo and occasionally my kitchen. After killing an hour and a half eating lunch, we frantically ran around Toledo, trying to snap as many scenic pictures as possible. Once back from Toledo we only had an hour of free time before the train back to Barcelona. Somehow we got lucky and accidentally chose a train that went nonstop to Barcelona, cutting our return ride from 3 to 2 ½ hours. 

The Pilgrimage

The past week has been absolutely amazing. Thursday was Halloween, so of course we went out. Friday morning the interns met up for a pilgrimage to Montserrat, the highest mountain in Catalunya (The state that Barcelona is in). Only five of us showed up plus an advisor, which made for a laid back, personal trip. From the main station, it took 45 minutes by train to travel 30 miles inland to our destination. Then we took a separate train halfway up the mountain to the monastery and “tourist village” where there is an art museum, hotel, cafeteria, and a few overlooks. To me, this stuff was cool, but my favorite part was lunch. The best part happened once we took an incline lift (Mt. Washington style for all you Yinzers) up the second half of the mountain to see the best panoramic views and do some hiking. From the top we could also see the Mediterranean Sea even with the hazy visibility. At the summit there were three hermitages that we could hike to. The first two were each about 15 minutes away and could easily be accessed by a path that was only slightly uphill. The third hermitage was projected to be 25 minutes away and could be accessed by climbing an old, steep and broken up staircase that was basically carved into the side of the mountain. At this point only Leah, and another new intern, Fallon, and I continued on. The ruins were basically evidence of an old stone stove and a little bit of the remaining wall. The reason for climbing to the third hermitage was that you could continue up the mountain to the very top where you were at the highest point achievable without proper climbing gear. I made it most of the way up, but my nerves got the best of me about 20 yards from the top where the path got too narrow for my liking. On the way back down we took an alternate route through the second hermitage which was also in ruins. It was carved right into the side of the mountain face. When we reached the far side of the second hermitage the path flattened and widened significantly and we were able to walk back to the lift easily and then met up with Jazmin and our advisor to return home.

Granada, Spain: The Arab Capitol

I finally traveled to another city within Spain. Last weekend was the study abroad sponsored trip to Granada, in the southern tip of Spain. The city has a very strong influence from the Muslims due to their conquest of Spain between the 8^th and 15^th centuries. Through Granada, the Moors (Muslim conquerors of Spain) ruled Spain for almost 800 years. The main attraction in Granada is La Alhambra, a palace fortification built in the 13^th century that housed the Moorish nobles for 300 years before the Catholics retook the Iberian Peninsula. Other attractions include gypsy homes built in caves in the hillside where flamenco shows take place and an overlook that faces La Alhambra from a nearby mountain. The Catholic Monarchs (pretty much the mother and father of Spain) also have their tomb in the Cathedral of Granada as well.

On Friday morning we had to be at the airport at 6:15 which meant waking up at 4:30 which was not good because I was still packing at 12:30 the night before. The adventure started a little before 5 AM when one of my friends showed up drunk at my apartment to share a taxi with Leah and I. We arrived in Granada around 9 something in the morning, took a bus into the city, dropped off our bags at the hotel, got chocolate and churros, and started touring. First we saw the old hotel where merchants from the Silk Road would stay before going to the market next door where we visited next. Then we saw the Cathedral and Chapel of the Catholic Monarchs. In the chapel we saw the coffins of the monarchs and some of their offspring. Friday night we explored the nightlife of the city. In Granada most tapas bars will give you free tapas as long as you are buying beer. For every round of beers we bought, we were given another plate of amazing food. Saturday morning I had the best breakfast I’ve had since arriving in Spain. The hotel had the best full continental breakfast that I think I’ve ever seen. Then we went on a tour of the old scenic neighborhoods of Granada. This is where the homes carved into the walls of the mountain are. After exploring the winding streets of the mountain we arrived at the overlook of La Alhambra. When the tour was over we had a couple hours free until the next activity, the Arab Baths. Until this point I had never gotten a professional massage in my life. Basically, for an hour and a half we hung out in a room with 6 different hot tubs, a cold bath, free aromatic tea, then received a 10 minute oil massage. I don’t need to tell you how incredibly relaxing and amazing that was. After the baths we went back to the hotel, changed, and went out to a bar to watch “el classico” the most popular soccer game in Spain between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona won 2-1, allowing us to celebrate with other Barca fans in the bar. Then we hurried to meet up with the group and headed off for tapas dinner and the flamenco show in a gypsy cave dwelling. Sunday morning we got up and had another amazing breakfast before heading off toward La Alhambra. Finally we were about to visit the Red Palace that had been looming over us all weekend. The only thing that stood in between us and one of the most well known sites of Spain was a nice hike up a mountain, not really an intimidating barrier after going to school in Morgantown for 5 years. At the top we were reunited with our awesome tour guide from Friday and began the tour. First we saw the Generalife (summer home) and its famous gardens outside the castle walls. Then we moved in to La Alhambra where we walked through palaces that used to house the Sultans of Al-Andalus, the name for Muslim Spain. My pictures barely give you a glimpse of how incredibly overwhelming the beauty of that place is. After the tour, we strolled back down the mountain for a relaxing lunch back in the plaza by our hotel. In the afternoon we made our way back to the airport where we played charades and one of the male students ended up wearing a dress to square up on a lost bet.

My New Haircut

Over the past week I've been feeling like a needed my hair trimmed up, but I was worried about going to a hair stylist here and getting my hair messed up. In Chile I was growing my hair out, so I never had to worry about the language barrier in those five months. Today, I finally man'd up and took a leap. Before going I decided I wanted a more European style though. In order to choose what would look best, I looked through the roster for the FC Barcelona soccer team. I decided on Gerard Pique, who happens to be Shakira's husband as well. At the peluquerria I asked the stylist if he liked Barca (the soccer team) and he said no, he preferred Madrid (He was gay, I should have known he would prefer David Beckham's old team). So I asked if he knew Pique and he said he wasn't sure. Then he talked with some of the other people around the hair salon and looked at me and said "you can't say soccer player, why didn't you just say Shakira's husband?" We laughed and then I got my haircut while Leah got a pedicure.

This weekend I am going to Granada with my study/intern abroad program. Almost everybody is going, so I think things are going to be pretty crazy but only in the best way. Granada is the southern most region of Spain boasting a famous palace known as La Alhambra. I look forward to sharing those photos with you soon!

Another bit of amazing news for you all, Leah encouraged me to plan another trip to Norway and now those plans have been finalized. The two of us are going to be flying to Bergen, Norway (not Oslo as per my previous plans) during the weekend of the 14th of November. According to past records, the tempurature should be between freezing and 42 degrees F while we are there. I am so excited to have a second chance to enjoy the natural beauty in Norway!

Falling Off The Map

So it finally happened. I fell off the map as far as my blog is concerned. It has been at least two weeks since my last post. I'll try to sum up my past two weeks as good as possible. Last thing I told everyone was that I was going to Norway the weekend of October 10th. Well that never happened. You may have seen my unhappy facebook post about it. I arrived to the airport the morning of Thursday the 10th only to discover that my flight was canceled. There was a French air traffic controller strike and although nothing about my flight had nothing to do with France, I was to fly over France and that was enough to cancel my flight. I walked calmly over to a huge line and proceeded to stand in line for the next two hours while becoming more and more pissed off at every one of the French people in the world and the airline that didn't seem to find it necessary to warn me ahead of time that my flight would be canceled. After the two hours were up and I finally made it to the counter, I discovered that the next flight I could find would be on Sunday. Head hanging low, I began my trip back home from the airport. I could continue telling you my terrible story of dealing with the airlines, but the fact of the matter is that I managed to get most of my money back and then proceeded to have one of the best weekends of my life. To go back in time a little more I got a new roommate on Monday the 7th. We could immediately tell that she and I were going to be good friends. So back to Thursday. I finally got back to my apartment sometime in the afternoon and eventually Leah got back home. When she saw me she was disappointed for me, but we decided to make the weekend epic. That was all it took to turn my day completely around. Another long story short, it turned out that her parents were in town for the weekend. We guided them around town and tried to see as many of the cool sights as possible. To name a few, we saw the castle, went to a flamenco show, and went through the labyrinth (a hedge maze). We also visited Barcelona Oktoberfest which was an amazing event with real German beer and stereotypical food. One night Leah and I even went to a bar with her parents. We danced until the bar closed at 3:30 AM.

Monday was Leah's parent's last day here so we said our goodbyes after work. Tuesday was the second of four salsa classes. Wednesday, I chose not to go to the study abroad group activity and instead went to a Barcelona expat networking event with a few of the interns. I talked to a Cypriat, two Danes, and a Belgian guy. I think the night was pretty successful in getting me out of my shell.

Thursday, I went to Ireland with my friend Jazmin. We hadn't really planned much other than the flight to Dublin and our hostel. Upon arrival we quickly discovered how nice the people were when the customs official was having a laugh with us. We decided to take day trips out of the city on Friday and Saturday, so we saw as much of Dublin as possible on Thursday. We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Green (a beautiful park), Christ Church, Trinity College, and Dublin Castle. Dublin's population is about a half a million people, but it feels like a small town. The people of Ireland as a whole are also the most polite people I have ever met in my life. Friday, Jazmin and I took a bus tour to Kilkenny, the medieval capitol of Ireland. There we visited the castle and church. It rained cats and dogs and unfortunately we didn't have rain gear. After Kilkenny, the bus drove through the Wicklow Mountains where the movie P.S. I love you was filmed along with a scene from Braveheart. Then we saw the ruins of St. Kevin's Cathedral before returning home, soaked and cold. As soon as we got off the bus I found an outdoors store and bought a raincoat. That night, both of us were in bed by 10. The next day we took a day trip to the West coast of Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. The cliffs were unreal! It really felt like the world just ended. Galway wasn't as impressive as we expected. When we finally returned, Jazmin went back to the hostel to rest because it had been a long day. I was determined to find a good craft beer in Dublin. After that beer I moved on to another bar where I met a girl from London. She was kind of crazy and managed to convince me to drink my beer quickly before moving on to a third bar. The next place was awesome and had a live band that played all of the best classic rock songs. We met up with more of her friends and danced a while before I decided I needed to head back to the hostel. To put it gently, it was tough to get up on Sunday. I was still up and ready before Jazmin though! We didn't have much time, so we went straight to the Guinness factory in the morning. It was the coolest museum that I have ever been in! After the tour, we ate a real hamburger at a 50s themed diner then went to the airport. Other than our flight being delayed 30 minutes, our flight home was relatively uneventful. Tired, I stumbled back into my apartment at 11:30 PM.

It's officially been a month!

Friday night I went out to a bar with the students. It was one of the better decisions I've made here. You know the saying about traveling not being about the destination, but the journey to it? I’m pretty sure this night was why that quote was made. After pre-gaming a bit, we all shuffled to the metro. I’ll let you imagine the kind of noise a group of about 15-20 people of various levels of intoxication can make when in a tunnel. The upside to that: We weren't half as bad as a group of our Spanish counterparts that got on at the next stop. The best part of the night was when our two large groups came together to sing Backstreet Boys on the metro. After the hilarious metro trip we continued on foot to our destination… where they wouldn't let us in because there were too many people. Luckily we met a really nice promoter that offered us a great deal to go to his bar. After hanging out for a bit, I made my way back home to call it a night.

Saturday, I had planned on getting up early and touring various museums around Barcelona, but due to my late night Friday I ended up sleeping till almost noon. Once I finally did get moving, I joined a couple friends for lunch and then we headed off to the Pablo Picasso Museum. He had some cool stuff, but nothing really jumped out at me. My favorite part was a large room full of paintings Picasso did that were modeled after a Velazquez painting called “Las Meninas.” Each of the different versions was very weird and my friend Meredith and I tried to decide what animal the dog in the picture resembled most. When we left the Picasso museum the girls went home and I went off to find another museum. After walking in a huge circle for an hour and a half I ended up in the right place, the Born Cultural Center. El Born, also known as the Gothic quarter is one of the oldest parts of the city. The BCC used to be a giant open air market, but fell into disrepair during the 1900s. When trying to revive it with a face lift in the late 1900s, construction crews discovered the ruins of the 18^th century neighborhood underneath. They then decided to ditch the market idea and build a museum over the site, using the frame of the market for the building. The building feels like a giant warehouse inside. In the center you can look down at the 18^th century streets and building foundations. In one corner there is a café. Two more corners house exhibits with artifacts discovered in the site and a history of the War of Succession when Cataluña tried to become independent from Spain. A loss they are still sore about today, 299 years later.

Sunday morning I got up very early to take a train to the town of Girona with the students. After an hour and forty-five minute train ride north we arrived at our destination and set off exploring. In my facebook album you will see several pictures of Girona’s wall that was built in the 9^th century. Also, we visited the 12^th century Arab bath house. Unfortunately, inside the main church photography was not allowed. There were humongous stained glass windows and the baroque architecture was amazing. We walked through the medieval and Jewish quarters as well. After we felt that we had seen everything, we hopped back on the train and arrived back in Barcelona around 5.

Spanish Castle and Clubbing

You might be wondering why I haven't written anything since last weekend. Well not a lot has really happened except for what the pictures show. I'll tell you a few stories anyway.

Last weekend I visited my first Spanish castle and it happened to be RIGHT HERE in Barcelona. Why did it take me so long to go check it out? I have no idea. The castle sits on top of Montjuic, overlooking the ocean. I kid you not, Montjuic translates to Jew Mountain in Catalan (the Spanish language I don't speak). The castle is aptly named Castle Montjuic, very creative. Montjuic is also home to the Olympic Park in Barcelona and several other attractions such as the MNAC. My friends and I "hiked" to the top of the "mountain" stopping along the way for various other pictures. Was it a long walk? Yes. Was it strenuous? No. The original fortification was built in 1640, but has had a few renovations since then. The last defensive additions were completed in the late 1700s. Fun Fact: When Napoleon invaded Spain, he took the castle without losing a single man because the commander decided to side with the army he knew was going to win. To sum up my visit to the castle: I got pretty nerdy and it was awesome.
That same day I went out to my first club in Barcelona. I had been avoiding it up until now, but the girls offered to cook dinner as a bribe. Apparently that was the right thing to do because it worked. There isn't much to say about the club though. All the guys there were impressed by the way the american girls danced. There were two male cross-dressers on stilts that were part of the go go dancers and Jazmin was all about dancing with them. It was hilarious. After making sure the girls made it home, I finally arrived back home at 6 AM Sunday morning.

This week has been pretty tough. I started it out depriving myself of sleep. Then Tuesday I woke up with serious sinus drainage and a fever. I missed half of my class in the morning because I decided to stay in bed for an extra hour and then go to the pharmacy and get some medicine. Today I'm still pretty tired, but that didn't stop me from going to a salsa class that my program was putting on tonight. That was hands down the most fun dancing class I've ever been to. There was no awkward pairing up and stepping on feet or anything. We stood in lines and just danced on our own, mirroring what our teacher was doing. He was incredibly charismatic and did a great job of making everybody feel like they were doing a great job. It also helped that all of the girls were so distracted by watching him shake his butt that I didn't feel the pressure of anybody seeing how terrible I was. Afterwards, the instructor offered to teach us 4 more classes at an incredibly discounted rate and I will be going back.

So that's my week. I promise that this weekend I will do something that is blog worthy and share it with you all.

I thought I graduated...

Ok so my weekend wasn't as long as I have been bragging about. At 8:30 Monday morning I had to take a language proficiency test. This week, I started a two week long spanish class that runs from 9:30-1:30. After that, I power-walk 20 minutes to work and grab some food on the way. I'll talk more about that in a minute though. After the test, the 12 or so of us were placed into different classes that have already been in session for a couple weeks. From what I've gathered, students come and go during the length of the class. This week I have been the only American in my class. There is a boy and girl from Italy, a girl from Russia, a girl from Taiwan, a guy from China, and two girls from Brazil. The Brazilians come to class so rarely that the teacher made fun of them for actually being there yesterday. Luckily, I only had class and no work Monday.

Wednesday was a loooooooong day. I had class from 9:30 to 1:30. Then arrived at work at 2, where I ate lunch at my desk and then worked till 7. After I left work, I hurried to meet up with my program for a tour of one of the neighborhoods in Barcelona. The tour lasted from 7:30 till 9 and I finally returned home at 9:30. I ate dinner and then fought to stay awake while doing my homework and then finally passed out. I thought I already graduated so I wouldn't have class and homework anymore. 

La Mercé Part 2

The second half of my long weekend was just as exciting as the first part. Sunday, was the first time I've left the city since arriving to Barcelona. I went with a couple friends to a seaside town 30 minutes outside the city by train. The town is called Sitges (See-chase). It is exactly how you would imagine a seaside Mediterranean town, lined with with houses and crooked streets. It is absolutely beautiful. The beach itself wasn't that impressive for me. The sand is really fine and soft and the water wasn't too cold, but that is where the magic stops. There weren't any waves really so there was no body surfing. Before going, Spanish people told me that there are a lot of gays in Sitges. I didn't really think about what that might mean, other than the possibility of seeing some dudes hold hands which really didn't bother me. What I didn't expect was very flamboyant speedos. The designs were oddly entertaining. After a few hours of getting our tan on, we returned home.

I'll talk about Monday in my next post...

Tuesday: The actual day of La Mercé was pretty awesome. I got up early and went to go see the human towers, Castellers. The name pretty much means castle makers or castle people. I was "lucky" enough to get there in time to see the "Giants Parade" which are the giant people figures that most of you have already seen the pictures of. They were cool to look at for long enough to snap a few pictures, but that whole event was really boring and way too long. Not to mention it was in Catalan, a Spanish variant that I don't speak or understand. (The "Spanish" we know is actually one of five languages spoken in Spain known as Castilian.) After an hour and a half of watching the giants, an hour into when the castellers were supposed to start, I finally saw a human tower. Each of the teams paraded in with a 1x4 tower at first. Then they started getting progressively more exciting. My friend Jazmin has tagged me on a video she posted on Facebook that displays a 5x7 tower. Notice how small the children are that go to the very top. They can't be older than 5 probably. After the castellers, I returned home, content with my Mercé experience.

La Mercé

I'm a little over halfway through my glorious five day weekend now so I thought I'd tell you all a little about it. As I mentioned before there is a festival going on called La Mercé to honor the patron saint of Barcelona. Each of the neighborhoods have stuff going on, but the major events take place in the city's main squares. Since I live near La Sagrada Familia, there were some events going on nearby my apartment, but nothing huge. There was a stage setup in the street where live music was played a block over from my house last night.
Friday night was when the opening ceremonies took place. I went with a couple friends to the top of the old bull fighting arena turned shopping mall in the main city square for dinner where we could hear live music from a nearby stage. Then we walked down into the festivities that were still just starting. After we figured out that we just missed the live music we left the stage area and ventured up to the magic fountain to take some pictures and get a scenic view. The fountain is at the base of the Museu Nacional d'art de Catalunya (MNAC) which was beautifully lit up as well. We had been pretty busy all day so we decided to return home before the next band started playing. Saturday we spent most of the day resting, so we were better prepared for the late night activities. One of the main attractions last night was a parade of fire-breathing dragons. Not prepared for the crowd that would be present, we planned on meeting in the plaza where it was taking place. When I arrived, it became evident that there would be no meeting up until afterwards so I waded into the crowd. I miraculously ended up towards the front of the crowd and I could see pretty well. For about 30-45 minutes I watched as various dragons emerged from the city's municipal building. There was even some sort of faun and a devil pig. In between monsters, percussion bands formed part of the procession. The parade ended and as the crowd cleared I was able to find my friends. Then we made our way to the beach to watch a pretty amazing fireworks display. When the fireworks came to a close, we waited for the crowd to calm down and then met up with more friends and proceeded to the carnival for churros. Finally, we returned to the beach where we relaxed and finished our beers. Oh... and a couple of the girls might have taken some of their clothes off and partially skinny dipped in the Mediterranean Sea.

Getting More Comfortable

As of today I have planned a 4 day trip to Dublin, Ireland and another 4 day trip to Oslo,Norway!!!!!!!!! I wish that I could accurately convey in this blog the nervousness and excitement coursing through my veins when I hit the confirm button for my flight to Oslo. Those two trips are in mid-October. I can't wait to share the stories with you all!

This story is about growing up and having new experiences at work. Over the past week, I've been working on an excel spreadsheet at work that has become my baby. This is my first time at a job having a project of my own that I'm completely responsible for. I finally finished it yesterday, but then we decided it needed a few more fields. No problem. Today my Spanish boss finally came back from vacation and didn't know that I had been working on this project so much, so when we were talking about it she kept saying "ah I didn't realize they had finished this part" and stuff like that. The bad part is, she just copied and pasted some things into the spreadsheet. The point of me working on it was to make everything uniform and pretty, then she did that. It took me at least an hour to reorganize everything. So my new experience here was spending several full days of work on a project only to have my boss ruin it in a couple of minutes. 

Up to this point I only knew the other 5 interns in my program, but tonight I met the students.... The are almost all crazy party animals and super loud, stereotypical loud Americans. You may think I'm being a little harsh and to that I reply that I'm going easy on them. Tonight we had a group activity, but half of the students were late getting to the meeting point so they just met us at the end. When we all got together, they were all so loud and making a scene. The exact reason that some people from foreign countries think that we are annoying. While they were being loud, five of us interns just looked at each other and cringed. We also tried to momentarily stray away from the group too. But the good news is that there are a few cool guys in the group. One guy named Caspar is Polish enough to have an accent, but grew up in the states and is absolutely hilarious. He was the first student to make a point to introduce himself to the interns and walks straight up to me and does the double cheek kiss greeting which guys do not do to other guys here. Everybody laughed about it and then things were less awkward.

Yet again, this weekend is a holiday weekend in Barcelona. I'll have more information in my next post, but for now all I know is that I have a 5 day weekend because I'm off Friday-Tuesday. I'm going to try to hit up several different beaches during my long weekend.

The Highest Point, Tibidabo

Last night I was out until almost 4 and then slept till noon today. Therefore I felt that I needed to do something very active to balance out sleeping half of the day. Once I finally dragged myself out of bed around 1, I immediately started getting ready for a big day without knowing where I was going. After showering and eating a little lunch, I started looking over a map to decide whether I wanted to check out the Olympic Park or Tibidabo. I chose the latter and set about discussing how to get there with my host mother. The ride to the base of the mountain was relatively uneventful. I had to walk about a mile uphill where I saw some houses that were absolutely beautiful. On that walk, I ran into a guy from Azerbaijan named Vikrat. He and I walked together for the rest of the way because neither one of us knew exactly where we were going. We finally made it to a part where we had to take an incline lift the rest of the way up the hill. That was pretty fun and gave us the first samples of how high we were going to be. At the top, the view was even better than I could have expected. Since we were both traveling alone, Vikrat and I were able to take pictures for each other. After seeing about all there was to see, he went on his way to continue sight seeing and I stayed behind to play with my camera and just enjoy the view. About an hour later the wind started blowing stronger and it looked like it might rain, so I began my journey back to the apartment. Where it took an hour and a half to get up to the top, it only took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get back home. 

Determined to make up for the previous night, my friend Jazmin and I went to the bar next door to my building. Earlier this week I stopped in for a beer and discovered that it had at least 300 different board games, so I was really excited to return with a friend and play something. We arrived sometime between 10:30 and 11:00. After ordering a couple beers we decided to play Canasta, a pretty popular Uruguayan card game similar to Rummy. I played this a few times in high school, but I didn't remember any of the rules. The owner asked if we needed any help and ended up joining us at the table to oversee our first game. When we were ready to start the second game, he made sure everything was setup right and then just stayed to talk with us. That man is absolutely hilarious. When we would be in a tough spot, he would make sounds like the twilight zone music among other things. At 2:30, when the bar closed I won the game with a completely lucky best case scenario drawing of two cards. The owner attended to everyone paying while we put up the game and then we stuck around and talked to him for a bit more before leaving. I didn't get home until about 3 AM. Jazmin and I vowed that we will go back at least once a week for the next 11 weeks.

My First Party Night in Barcelona

I can now safely say that I'm almost an expert in what not to do when going out to enjoy the nightlife in Barcelona. Before going out, I did quite a bit of research on tripadvisor to figure out where the best place would be to go that wasn't just filled with Americans and wasn't really dirty. So that was nice and everything except for the part where it wasn't as helpful as it appeared. I was only reading reviews from tourists. So long story short, four of us ended up in a part of town that we maybe shouldn't have been in at 1:30 AM. After finally finding the bar, it looked incredibly shady from the outside. We discussed whether or not to go in for a couple minutes and finally decided that we had come too far not to go inside. Once we entered, we discovered that it was no different than any other bar that we could have gone to in any neighborhood. The reviews on tripadvisor were more than just misleading. They were dead wrong. We all got drinks and ended up having a pretty good night overall though.
Here is the moral of the story: If you want to go to a discoteca in Barcelona you are probably fine to go out at 1 AM. If you just want to go to a bar and relax and have a good time, there is no point in going to a bar outside of your own neighborhood. Chances are that there is one within 2-3 blocks. Next time, we will meet up in someone's neighborhood and do just that. Staying out of tourist areas also makes it much less likely of getting robbed too.

My Homestay and Friends

So I just realized that I haven't said anything about the people I'm living with. I elected to do a homestay for this trip which means that I get a host family. I was assigned to a woman in her mid-60s that takes in three international students.
-Conxita (Conchita) is my host mother. She has a son that I haven't met, but is older and has his own family. So far I haven't been able to spend much time with her because she leaves the apartment for work at 7:30 AM and doesn't get home until around 9 PM or later. I have taken full advantage of the time I've been around her though. We usually have deep conversations that would last forever if we let her keep talking while eating dinner.
-Choi Chen? and Yen? ...ok so I live with two Chinese boys and to be honest I have no clue what their names are. They both arrived a week before me and are part of a different program. They are both really quiet and if they are home you can bet that they will be in their rooms with the doors closed, so I don't even know if they are ever home.

My friends from the program:
When arriving Monday and being ushered straight into a brief orientation with hardly any sleep, I met the five other interns that are starting at the same time as me. They are all girls. Up until today I only knew how to contact one of them, Jazmin. Tomorrow we will all meet up again for orientation and hopefully we will be able to share phone numbers and whatnot.

Walking Tour of Barcelona

Yesterday was a statewide holiday. It was a holiday to celebrate the Independence of Catalunya (my state) from Spain. The strange thing is that Catalunya never gained independence from Spain. It is a holiday that gets people riled up because they are still fighting for independence, but it will probably never happen. The politicians are divided on the issue and so they make a big show of the holiday. Anyway, what yesterday was to me was a day that I didn't have to work and an opportunity to explore the city. I did just that. I met up with my friend Jazmin and we set off to see as much as possible of the city. My pictures are posted on facebook so I won't bore you with the play by play. The important thing is that we walked... a lot! I left my apartment at 2:30 in the afternoon and didn't return home for dinner until a little after 9. During that whole time we were intently navigating the city, trying to discover as much as possible on our day off. We ended the day by climbing to the top of Parc Guell, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous Gaudi creation. From there we were able to see how huge this city actually is. Then we had an agonizing mile and a half walk downhill to the nearest metro station. Once at the metro station, my journey wasn't over. I got off the green train at a hub that I thought was supposed to have a stop for a purple train that would take me the rest of the way home, but when I looked for directions to the purple line, none existed. There were only directions for 4 other lines that would only take me farther away from where I needed to go... or so I thought. After a small panic, I figured out that there was a blue line stop in this hub. Conveniently, there is a blue station about the same distance from my apartment as the purple station.

Today I learned something very interesting at work. Under necessity, I discovered that I can read French. I'd like to note that I've never had a French lesson in my life. With the work I was doing I had to dig through many French blogs; which I was very amazed to discover that I could navigate quite easily.

With a little more exploring today, I'm sad to say that I know where there is a McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, KFC, and Dominoes Pizza within less than a 15 minute walk from where I live. My goal is to not eat at them for as long as possible...

My First Day of Work

Day 2: Today was my first day of work. The morning went more smooth than I could have imagined. I woke up to an empty apartment with breakfast waiting for me on the table. I got ready, checked my map, and left the house. Somehow I managed to walk straight to the correct metro station, exit at the correct stop, and walk straight to the correct building without an problems and only briefly checking my map once. I was introduced to my supervisor for the day because my real supervisor is on vacation in San Francisco, CA for the week. The supervisor today turned out to be from Pittsburgh which immediately made me less nervous. The other three employees I met today are Spanish. Before coming here I asked what the dress code was and they informed me that it would be business casual. I think that "business casual" must be some strange Spanish term that I've never heard that holds a completely different meaning than what it means in English because all of the guys in our office were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Meanwhile, I was pretty warm in my dress shirt and slacks. About an hour after I started working and was getting settled I heard some employees discussing something and excitedly pointing out the window. I started listening closer and decided they were arguing over whether a car on the street was a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. Naturally, I joined them at the window to see what was up. It turned out there was no dispute; both a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Ferrari F40 were sitting at the gas station across the street. The rest of the day was not that eventful. Around 2 I went to lunch with a few of my coworkers. After that I was free to go home, but I decided to stay and finish up a little more work before heading home. On the way home I was waiting at a crosswalk and an older woman came up to me and asked for directions to the nearest metro station. When I replied, her eyes got really big and she started apologizing right and left because she didn't realize that I was a foreigner. I told her not to worry and pointed her in the right direction. The only reason I knew was because I was going to the same place. After returning home the rest of the day went by without being too eventful. I explored a little more of the city and got dinner with a friend.

My Arrival in Barcelona

Day 1: Kudos to Delta and SkyTeam. They really had their crap together which made for a very enjoyable and painless trip over here. The weather was nice the entire way, meaning no turbulence or delays. When I arrived in Amsterdam, Netherlands at then end of the second of three legs of my journey I had to go through customs. THOSE WERE THE NICEST CUSTOMS OFFICIALS EVER! I finally arrived in Barcelona and claimed my bags around 12:30 local time, making my travel time about 15 hours. Next up was dropping my bags off at my homestay apartment and meeting my new host mom. She is a very nice woman named Conchita. At this point I really wanted nothing more than to sleep, but I was not able to because of a mandatory orientation. Conchita helped me navigate the Metro to my destination and then I was on my own with nothing, but a few maps to help me find my way home. Orientation was... well it was orientation. The five other interns that arrived yesterday and myself sat in a classroom and for a little over 2 hours learned about how to be safe in the city. Miraculously, none of us fell asleep. Afterwards, we took a short walk around the original city center and got ice cream. Then after asking if we knew how to make it home, our guide left us. It had been a long day, but no one was in a hurry to get home so we went out for a beer before returning to our respective homes in different parts of the city. I finally walked back into my apartment around 9:30 and spoke with my host mom a bit while she prepared dinner. Finally after 30 hours of being up and at it (minus two on the plane), I dragged myself to bed.