During the break I ran into a couple of the people I met at the airport and found out how everyone's apartments and home stays were. After the 30 minutes flew by we were back in the orientation, this time talking about the more important information such as their alcohol/drug policies, safety issues, dangerous areas, travel trips, etc. The adviser made some funny, but sad jokes about American college students and our drinking habits. 85% of the problems in the city with Americans are alcohol related, which didn't surprise me at all. He warned us about how we should never get belligerent and walk around alone, and told us some stories about bad incidents that have previously occurred. He made a funny comment about how Americans believe that can drink excessive amounts and how any Spaniard could drink 10 times as much as an American. He made an interesting point about how our cultures view alcohol and how they are different. He had his first drink of wine when he was 10 years old or so, and the Spanish and even much of Europe drink socially. They enjoy relaxing, drinking some wine or having a beer while watching some futbol. It's very different than in the US where college students drink as fast as they can to get drunk. It's a little crazy, but true...isn't it?
We have opportunities to visit 4 parts of Spain during the semester: Monsterrat, Poblet, Andalusia, and la Costa Brava. I will get into these trips as they approach, but I hope to go on at least 2-3 of them. There are also Spanish cooking classes and wine tasting classes that I definitely would enjoy taking (they are exceptionally inexpensive) and plan to do them both.
After orientation was over I got my class schedule and I'm pretty happy with it. 16 credit hours, one 7 credit hour Spanish class, a 3 credit hour history of Barcelona class (taught in Spanish), a 3 credit hour course about the Mediterranean, and a 3 credit hour class of the History of Spain. Tuesday and Thursdays I start at 9, but MWF at 10:45 which I am happy about. Travis and I walked to Piccell Wireless so he could get a phone and ended up meeting some more people from Virgina, Georgia, California, and Pennsylvania. We all discussed our living situations and our first impressions which was cool, and then we all left. We ended up stopping and meeting 4 more people who were on their way to Piccell Wireless (it was very difficult to find). I saw Gaudi's famous "Casa Mila" which is an excellent piece of art and I plan to visit again when I have more time.
We walked around a little longer and then finally made our way back to la casa for la cena. We had another delicious Catalan meal which consisted of a salad and soup with chorizo, a type of cured ham, and beans as well. The broth was delicious and think just as it had been the night before. We also had merluzzo (cod) with some verduras (greens, vegetables) which were excellent and I surprisingly liked the cod. Olive oil is basically used in almost every meal which makes everything much healthier than back home. I had a banana and flan for dessert but no caffe con leche so I can hopefully get some sleep tonight.
Today I realized how much of a diverse culture there is in Barcelona. Where I live in my barrio it is only Catalans. In the city it is a completely different story. I have people of many different origins which was very surprising to me. The style in Europe is so much different than it is back home. The Spanish women have a style of their own, as do the men. Of course there were all of the expensive stores right next to each other ( Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Coach, just to name a few). The city of Barcelona is extremely lively and definitely seems to be the city that doesn't sleep. Unfortunately I haven't been out that much yet, but once I catch up on my sleep I will check out most of the discoteccas, clubes, y barres.
Well I need to get some rest, and mi familia is eating dinner right now, and midnight. Tomorrow I have an orientation trip to Besalu y Vic which I'm sure will be muy divertido!
