Today I woke up around 9, had a semi-warm shower, ate breakfast and was on my way. I decided to time my trip from home to the university and it was about 25 minutes. After I got off I had some time to kill so I grabbed a caffe and sat outside. Another beautiful day, sunny and around 55 the majority of the day. I thought this was great weather, but many people were complaining, like always.
Class began and we did a lot of talking about the Spanish culture and how they are much different than the American culture. I already knew most of what we talked about but it was interesting hearing my teachers opinions on our cultures. She lived in the US previously and definitely knew what she was talking about. During the break I had a caffe with some people from my class and then returned.
After class was over I went and had something to eat at a local Basque restaurant that had some very interesting tapas. The menu was a bit overwhelming so I decided that I would order 5 tapas variadas (which were just 5 tapas that the chef chose).
These tapas included sardines, ham, crab salad, and others that I did not know. I never tried sardines before and didn't realize how salty they were. They weren't as bad as I thought they would be. After almuerzo we went to Dir to check out the gym. I got some prices and decided that I am going to join a gym out here. Apparently Dir is the best gym out here in Barcelona and it is very convenient because there is one 5 minutes from my house, and one 5 minutes from the university.
Then we returned to IES to meet with our groups for our scavenger hunt. Our professor ended up not showing and our group leader dismissed us, which was nice. Then a couple of us (who I had just met) went to a small restaurant to have some tapas and vino, which turned out to be hours long. We just visited and then a couple other girls joined us, one from Chicago and the other from Minnesota. After we left the restaurant a couple of us went back to the Barcelona Cathedral and also visited an enormous church. Unfortunately, I do not remember the name of the church, but it sure was beautiful. One of the things I love about Spain is the architecture that I will never find in the US.
\After walking into another caffe and just walking around a small district called Born we headed back to the metro. I parted ways with the people I had just met and it was back home for la cena. We actually had sardines for dinner with una sopa, papas, y frutta. It was quite funny that I had sardines for lunch and dinner as well. I was explaining to Anna about that and she also thought it was hilarious because I had never tried sardines before. I relaxed for a couple of hours after dinner and then decided that I would go out tonight. Most of the people I know all went to a club but I decided just to go to Las Ramblas with my roommate and a couple other people which was fun.
I really enjoy meeting new people each day which is one of the aspects that makes this study abroad experience so great. I just got home a couple minutes ago, and it is about 4 AM here in Barcelona. I bought a Barca ticket and will be attending my first futbol game tomorrow which I am very excited about! Class is at 10:45 so hopefully I will get some good rest and have no problem getting up in the morning. Tonight when I was at the caffe a man from India thought that I was from England. I pretended that I was from Italy and I somehow convinced the man which I thought was hilarious.
This picture is amazing, and I took it in the last church I visited today:
A domani
