Surprisingly I got a great sleep last night, for those who know me..it is quite unusual when I get "great" sleep. I was feeling excellent this morning and even had a hot shower..definitely a good start to the day. I believe that I figured out the trick to get hot water..less water pressure. I got down to the university a little early and got a good seat in my class. This room is very small, and will definitely be brutal once the warmer months come. Class was pretty boring as the professor basically lectured for the full hour and a half. Next weekend I am going to Montserrat, which is a trip that IES organized and will be traveling with us. However my professor for my history class schedule a mandatory field study next Friday. Most of our class was upset since half of us made previous plans to travel, or are going on the IES trip. After talking with IES, our professor pretty much told our class that if we can't make the field trip on Friday, we must go on our own time? This is ridiculous because IES planned a trip next weekend, and you must pay in advance...the money is not refundable. Not sure how that is fair, but a group of my classmates are planning to do the study this Sunday instead.
After class I went to il caffe roma. I feel like I'm basically a regular there as I have been there each day this week. A couple girls that I met at orientation were having a caffe there so I sat with them for some time. Then I headed to DIR to finally get a gym membership, which I did! 200 Euros though, but it is a four month pass, which is nice. They have free weights, machines, classes, tanning beds, saunas, hot tubs..it's no Lifetime, but it will do just fine!
I didn't have any studying to do so I decided that I would go check out the Arc de Triomf which is an enormous arc that was designed in 1888 by Josep Vilaseca i Casanoves. The Arc de Triomf is one of the entrances to the Parc de la Ciutadella.
This next photo I am actually underneath the Arc de Triomf looking straight ahead towards the park...
I decided I wanted to browse around El Born, which is a tiny district with extremely narrow streets. While El Born still seems to be relatively medieval, it is slowly becoming more modern. I love that area because most of it is very local and the streets and alleys are filled with small tiendas and caffes.
The Picasso Museum that I previously visited is also located in the Born, which is a huge tourist attraction. This is also one of the reasons some of the tapas and caffes are becoming more expensive.
These next photo is the back of el Mercat del Born, which is a famous market here in Barcelona..
I found a nice little caffe to have lunch. I ate una bocidilla con jamon y queso (ham and cheese sandwich) and had una caffe con leche. I relaxed and read a chapter for my history class and then left to go to class.
I ended up running into a friend on the way to IES, and thankfully I did because I was a little bit turned around. I thought I knew my way around and tried taking some side streets, but it didn't work too well. I went with her to get a book since I had some time to kill, and then we headed to IES where I met my Oceanography class outside.
We met outside and followed our professor to the bus stop and took a short bus ride to the aquarium. As we got there I was surprised how big the aquarium was. According to my Barcelona Travel Guide, L'Aquarium is one of the largest in Europe. My professor guided us through the aquarium and I realized how intelligent this man is. He knew everything about the entire aquarium and although his English isn't amazing, he still was very impressive.
There were thousands of different species in the aquarium but my favorite part were definitely the sharks. I tried getting the best pictures I could, but we weren't supposed to use our flash so some pictures turned out better than others.
This next picture was in the octopus tank, and I believe it may have been eating a fish...
I am very content with my decision to take this Mediterranean Oceanography class. I really have no background in oceanography and am excited to learn about it. Our class has the privilege to go on these field studies which will make it much easier to learn. This trip to the aquarium was very convenient since I planned on going in my own time, but instead, I got to go for free with my class (it is usually 15 Euros).
I'm about to eat la cena, I don't know what we are having yet..but I'm sure it will be something great. Tomorrow I might go travel a hour outside of Barcelona to hangout with some locals that my friend met. Hopefully will be able to post tomorrow, but if not I will sometime this weekend!
