Ok, finally I have been able to post this entry.  When you read it, keep in mind, I wrote it last Tuesday the 30th, so some of the day references might be a little off....

I have just passed the 2 week mark of my total 6 weeks in Spain and I’m finally starting to get on a daily schedule.  Although I’m getting more and more used to life here, there are still things that surprise me about the culture every day.  Last Thursday, the 25th, some of the other interns and students came over to our apartment for the first time to hang out and have some wine and cava (Spain’s sparkling wine or champagne).  We were planning on watching the light show on the fountain at Plaza Espanya, but ended up just going to a small bar called Mirablau on the mountain.  This bar is known to have the best view of the entire city.  We took the metro then the funicular (the train that takes you up the mountain) as far as it would take us.  We were still a good 15 minute walk uphill to the bar, so we walked part of the way and then took a cab whenever one came along (it was a serious hike!).  As we were getting out of the cab when we arrived at Mirablau, that’s when we found out that Michael Jackson had just died.  I had really weird feelings about it actually.  Even though I don’t call myself a huge Michael Jackson fan, he was the King of Pop and had more of an impact on my generation than anyone in music that I can think of.  The weird part was that I felt so completely helpless.  I was so far away from where the news was the biggest and I have never felt so left out!  I felt like I was missing out on a huge day in history.  There were news reports on our TV of course, but they were mostly in Catalan or Spanish.  It was almost frustrating that I couldn’t get the full effect of the day when I was so far away. 

Ok, back to Mirablau.  SO BEAUTIFUL!!  It was just a really small place, with 2 floors and an outdoor patio on the bottom floor.  Anywhere you stood in the whole place had an incredible view of the entire city.  We had a couple of drinks and called it an early night, because the next day, we were headed for Terragona.

On Friday morning, we met with the other interns and students and Rich to catch the train to Terragona.  My two roommates and I were late of course (it just so happens that all 3 of us have a really hard time with punctuality, as you’ll hear about again later).  Terragona is a town about an hour south of Barcelona where the Romans first settled in Spain.  We took a tour of the ruins throughout the town, which are mostly covered now.  The town is built basically on top of the ruins because the people tried to protect or preserve them.  It was still a really interesting thing to see.  After our tour, I had my first meal of Spanish paella (rice cooked with different kinds of shellfish) and my new favorite “Fideua” (sounds like: Fee-Day-Wah).  It’s sort of like paella, but with less fish and instead of rice and it’s made with tiny little noodles, almost like angel hair, but chopped into pieces.  In my opinion, the best thing about Terragona was the BEACH!!  The water was so much clearer and the sand was much finer and softer than the Barcelona city beaches.  After the beach we headed back to Barcelona.

That night, we went to a different club, Catwalk, down by the beach.  Also a lot of fun, but once again, one of the students lost her debit card and one of the interns had his phone stolen.  The robbers are EVERYWHERE!  You have to be constantly aware of this and the one second that you’re not paying attention, that’s when they take advantage. 

Saturday we took advantage of the day to catch up on our Z’s.  That afternoon, my roomies and I decided to head to La Sagrada Familia to be tourists.  La Sagrada Familia is the cathedral by Antoni Gaudi that, after more than a century of work, is still unfinished.  I’m sure you’ve probably seen it in pictures at some point, but pictures don’t even come close to giving you an idea of the beauty of this place.  All I wanted to do was just stand on the street and stare at it!  There was so much to look at: the statues were all carved right into the architecture and each one told a different story from the Bible.  My favorite was the Nativity scene in the center of the front of the church.  We went inside the church too, but it really wasn’t worth it.  It was a lot more unfinished than I thought!  There was only a small walkway around the outside edge of ½ of the church and the rest was covered in scaffolding.  Oh well, the outside was the best part anyway.

Saturday night was one of the best nights I’ve had since I’ve been in Barcelona.  We went with Cote and Maria (my supervisors at my internship) to a Salsa club!  We were all so nervous!!!  So far, we have only taken one class and we haven’t even danced with partners yet.  I promised myself that I would dance at least once to get over that nervousness.  Well I ended up getting asked to dance 4 times and I never got over the awkward nervousness, but I was starting to get a little better.  Maybe after a few more classes I will get more confident, because we all definitely want to go back!  We were terrible at it (and Maria told us so! Ha, ha!), but had so much fun.

On Sunday, we woke up around 11 to head to the beach for the day.  We decided to find a less touristy beach, so we headed about 12 miles south of the city to Castelldefels.  Even though it was still packed with people, it was all locals and families, so the trip was still worth it.  No tourists or middle eastern men screaming that they’re selling “Fanta, Agua, Coca-Cola, Cerveza Beer” over and over and over……………Chelsea, one of my roommates, even heard the vendors in her dreams one night, ha ha! 

On Monday we all went to a cooking class down on Las Ramblas (the more touristy part of the city).  Of course, the 3 of us were late, thinking that the class started at 8 when it started at 7.  Oopsies!  This was really fun too!  We cooked a type of gazpacho (a cold tomato soup) that was delicious, a Spanish tortilla (like an omelet with potatoes and onions), Valencian-style Paella with chicken, and for dessert, we had Crema Catalunya (like Crème Brulee, except thinner, not as custard-like).  Everything was so delicious!  I can’t wait to make all of it when I get back home!

Today, Tuesday, has been pretty uneventful for the most part.  The really cool part about today was that instead of going to my normal office for my internship, I went to my supervisors’ apartment.  They are in the process of moving offices/studios and so they are just in between right now.  Maria met me at the metro stop to show me the way through her very classy neighborhood.  She told me that it’s one of the more wealthy neighborhoods in Barcelona.  They’re apartment was very cute: about the size of ours, maybe a little bigger and very home-y.  Something funny that I realized today is that my Spanish varies from day to day.  On some days, my accent is so real and I can speak so smoothly and I’m so articulate.  But other days like today, I just can’t get it together.  I sound like such a beginner and I couldn’t say the simplest words and phrases.  Like someone said, “Ciao” (Bye) to me and I almost said “Hola” (Hello).  It’s funny how it changes from day to day, but kind of frustrating at the same time.  Just when I think my Spanish is getting so good, I have a day like that!

This weekend, I’m really looking forward to going to Madrid.  Most of us are heading there with Rich to see some sights and the Prado Museum.  I will also get to see a couple of friends from school who live there!  This will be my second time in Madrid (I went a few years ago with Mom) and I’m excited to see what I missed the first time around.

Guess that’s about all I have for you guys right now.  Oh and also, in the first entry, I said that Maria and Cote’s website was dcebarcelona.com.  It’s actually dscbarcelona.com, sorry about that!  Ciao todos!  Besos, xx