Well it is official, I only have one full week left in Barcelona. As I have been finishing up my last research paper, I still have finals all of next week. Thankfully my Spanish final is tomorrow so I will be be able to get one out of the way.
This week has been very busy and I feel like I have been running myself down. It really sucks that IES makes us leave with so little time in between finals and the departure date. Monday I had class and after went for another nice run in the mountains. Tuesday night Anna and Casi took us out to dinner down the street at this restaurant Ven Ven, which is where we have eaten before. It is just a local place and Anna and Casi both know the owners. We eat some patatas bravas, pan con tomate, shrimp, mussels, calamaris, and more.
A picture of Anna and Casi inside the restaurant.
These next pictures are of a few of the dishes we had for dinner. The first picture is shrimp, and I forget what type of seafood the second one was, but it was very good. Many people have told me that I must suck the head of the shrimp, which is apparently the best part. As you can see by the pictures they had eyes, legs, skin, literally everything. Of course I had to suck the head of the shrimp, and it was actually very good...when I wasn't thinking about what I was eating.
Wednesday I had class and then went out to lunch at one of the usual menu del dias, which was amazing....as always. Here is a picture of some of my friends from our Spanish class, with our professora, Marga as well. From the left it is Stina, Marga, Nick and then Brit!
Wednesday evening was the IES cocktail party that didn't have cocktails. Haha it was a pretty interesting theme, but some students joked that they had a difficult time translating the name into how they wanted it. I went to my friends Cristina and Lizzy's apartment before and there were about 15 of us or so who all went to the IES dinner together. It was located at a restaurant that was inside El Museu de la Historia de Catalunya. The dinner really only consisted of appetizers but most of the students and faculty were there which was fun because I saw many students I had not seen in a while. Our Spanish teacher, Marga actually won an award for the Best Language Professor, which was pretty cool.
Here is a picture of me, Nick and Marga inside the restaurant.
Me, Brit, Marga, Stina and Nick again..
After the dinner we went to an apartment and hung out there for a few hours, and then I took the night bus home.
Thursday was El Dia de Sant Jordi, which is a holiday here in Catalunya. St. George was a patron saint of Catalonia, and this day is the second largest holiday. The tradition on this day is for men to give women, whether it is a friend, mother, girlfriend, etc a rose, and in return the women give the men a book. This day is also when both Shakespeare and Cervantes died, which is why the books are given. The legend is that Saint George fought a dragon that was holding the princess captive. In the end, St. George kills the dragon and on the sport where the dragons blood spilled a rose grew as a symbol of love and friendship. I have been hearing all about this day when I arrived here, and it was insane. There were rose vendors on every street corner, as well as book stands. All books are 10% off, and this day is also a very large day for business. There were people everywhere, especially on las ramblas, and the more popular streets, but it was pretty cool. People walking everywhere had roses and books, I was really amazed on how crazy this day was. Of course, I bought a few roses for Anna, a few friends, and a few professors!
A photo in Plaza Catalunya, which there was live televison broadcasted..
A picture of when I was walking down las ramblas, you can see how many people are there...
This is really only a Catalan holiday, as far as I know...and there were obviously Catalan flags everywhere. It really was an interesting day, and I'm glad I was able to be here for it!
I walked down Las Ramblas with my friends Nick, Cristina, and Roxanne and we walked down to MareMagnum, a commercial center that I never had been to. We had some ice cream and sat outside by the port and enjoyed the beautiful day. Thursday was the nicest day yet in Barcelona, as it was completely sunny in the mid to upper 70's.
My oceanography class went to the beach today which was fun. Unfortunately, we actually had class but we couldn't have asked for a better day.
After class I met up with my friend Alex for a few hours, which was awesome as always. We walked around the the city, and tried finding a place that wasn't as packed...which was basically impossible. I had an amazing drink called a "horchata" it tasted like some type of milk, but much lighter and I think it might have had some kind of fruit in it. I'm not exactly sure but it was literally one of the best drinks I have had since I've been out here. It was definitely something to drink when the weather is hot. We sat on the stairs of the cathedral for a few hours and just talked, as I can realize she has learned many English words and phrases. Of course I may not be the best teacher because those who know me, know that I tend to say some bad words from time to time, haha. Intercambios are literally one of the best ways to learn a language, and how to speak it...in my opinion at least.
Today, Friday...I had my final exam in my Spanish class. It was slightly more difficult than I though it would be, but oh well. We took a class photo, and said goodbye to Marga, our professora and some of the students from our class. I came home and then Nick and I ran Tibidabo, which was probably the best run I have had here. We ran over 10 miles for well over an hour! It is much easier to run looking over the city of Barcelona! We went down to the beach and met up with some friends for a while! I am about to eat dinner and then go out for the night! I will post again this weekend!
