Day 4/Photo hunt

So, today I woke up a little early to try and go to a bank before class and exchange my traveler's checks, only the line was moving super slow and they didn't speak English, so I left after waiting in line for about 20 minutes. I ventured out by myself this morning so I would have enough time to get sheets/bedding as well, so i'm glad that I didn't get lost, but I was still unsuccessful in both. I was exhausted from last night; these people go hard until the WEEE hours of the morning, but luckily the classrooms were cold enough to where I couldn't fall asleep in them and the material we covered today was actually pretty interesting. In "Sport & Culture in Contemporary Spain", we learned about FC Barcelona, which is pretty much the talk of the town around here. This class and trip are actually helping me gain more understanding and respect for soccer players (or according to them, football players). I was finally able to eat lunch today, so that made me feel a little better and lighten the mood. My shyness is really showing, and that mixed with not knowing many people plus not speaking the native language very well plus not being accustomed to the same lifestyles as the Barcelonians and other students plus not eating normally (because I am struggling with cooking and going out to eat) can really drain your tank and leave you feeling sad. But, I mustered up some courage and finally met some new people during one of our breaks in class today, so that also helped brighten the day a little. I still don't know many people though and from what I hear in class, we don't exactly have the same motives and are looking for different experiences. I am trying to be as upbeat as I can about it and I know that the trip is still early, but it is just discouraging to hear that. I am trying to get immersed in the culture and do the whole tourist thing and see beautiful sights and take lots of pictures and check out the town, whereas many of the other students  want to go out every night "have a good time". And I have no problem with that, it's just I need to find somebody that wants to do the same things as me so I can take advantage of these opportunities. And to make the matters worse, I did the complete wrong thing by getting traveler's checks. I should have just exchanged money at home at a bank! At the Madrid airport, I got 20 Euros for 31 American dollars, and today I went to the only place that I could find that accepts traveler's checks, and got 454 Euros for 800 American dollars. WHAT A RIP-OFF! I am very mad that I didn't exchange it back in the states and it really sucks that the exchange rate is so bad, but there's nothing I can do about it so I am trying to stay positive, although it is tough right now. Things are very expensive in this town as well!

Now let's get to the positives for today. In "International Business", we got to learn more about how various countries handle business differently, and also look at the differences in Religion around the world. The professor provides awesome, real world examples, and he is pretty funny, so that class is not too bad. Although it does suck being in class from 12:45-6pm on Monday-Thursday. Those are prime sight-seeing hours! After class ended, we split up into groups of 4 (so my roommates minus one and I) and ventured out into the city to try and win the photo hunt competition. The winning group gets a free meal at a beach restaurant! We got to see some of the same buildings/structures that we saw on the bus tour, but also got to check out new parts of town. An awesome, but very busy part was "Las Ramblas". It was a large street with a huge sidewalk in the middle with stores and shops on both sides and a few vendors in the middle, as well as entertainers and human statues in costumes, etc. We also discovered one of the places that was on my "To-Do" list while being here, and that was "La Boquería" which is an UNBELIEVABLE fresh market with virtually every type of food, that all looks absolutely delicious. I will definitely be going back here when I am not rushed for time, because we were only there for about 10-15 minutes due to our time constraint. Apparently, Barcelona has a huge skateboard scene, and one of the photos we had to take was of one of the local spots near "Las Ramblas". The journey to get there was beautiful and took us through a lot of back alleys they allowed us to see local shops and other sights that were hidden from the street. There were probably a hundred skaters just rolling around and doing tricks on a plaza right next to the University of Barcelona. The last stop on the list was a very old, yet beautiful opera house which frequently holds shows. And luckily for us, the metro stop was right across the street so we took that back, only it took us somewhere else than where we thought it would take us. BUT, it let us off at a station that was near where we were taking pictures for the hunt and not too far away from class, so we thought it we were really far away from our apartment. But it turns out that our apartment is a lot closer to some things than we originally though, which is great news! It's still possible to get lost though, so we have to be careful haha.

don't know

El Corte Ingles, the only department store to ever be successful in Barcelona

baguette at La Baguetina

Gaudi house, minus a finger in the picture

more architecture

don't know

"Bicing", a resident-only transportation method

human statue on Las Ramblas

another human statue on Las Ramblas

La Boqueria, BEAUTIFUL

one of the stands in La Boqueria...nuts

another stand in La Boqueria...candy

Another candy stand in La Boqueria

an awesome cake in a shop on Las Ramblas

fish market/restaurant near our apartment

cont'd

Day 3/Walking around Barcelona

Another good day and I am almost caught up on sleep and un-jetlagged (I think). Classes were pretty interesting today, and I went to my normal 2 classes today instead of like yesterday, when I had to go to 3. I should have brought sheets, but the darn brochure said you could find them and toiletries everywhere. Well, everybody else seems to have brought their own, and I luckily found a few toiletries, but I CANNOT find sheets, etc. to save my life, so I have been bumming off of a roommate to let me use their blanket haha. Also, I cannot find somewhere to eat worth a darn. I have been eating a banana for breakfast, but luckily I found some yogurt and orange juice to complement that. What also makes it extremely tough is that I cannot cook for sheesh, so I am counting on hopefully finding some other people who cannot cook either to go out and explore the food options with me. And then I could always try and bum a meal off of somebody who is already cooking...just kidding! At this point though, I need to make moves because I love food and this is probably going to catch up with me sooner or later. But my 2 classes are during prime lunch hours (from 12:45pm-6pm) Monday-Thursday with a 10 minute break in between classes and a few 10 minute breaks during each class. But definitely not enough time to run downstairs and across a few streets to grab something to eat, although there are many restaurants nearby, all of which look delicious. And the Spaniards eat lunch at around 1:30 or 2pm every day and dinner really late, like 9 or 10pm. So, it makes it especially tough to try and grab lunch, or get food at a restaurant because my spanish is not anywhere near where it needs to be fluently order a meal. While on my outing to try and find sheets today (which went unsuccessfully), I found a McDonald's and I was so thrilled because I was finally going to eat a real meal. But when I got inside the line was really long and I had no idea how to order what I wanted because they don't have the "Number 1-10's" like we have in America. So, my journey for food continues.

Enough complaining! My first class ended early today, so some friends and I went into the only department store in Barcelona to find some school supplies. (I really was unprepared --> no paper, no pens/pencils, no sheets, no toiletries...) The store was very nice and had probably 6 floors, which were all accessible via escalator. They had everything, ranging from furniture to makeup, electronics to clothes. It was called El Corte Inglés. You truly don't realize how tough it is to live in a city or visit a destination where you cannot fluently speak their language. And I have gained even more respect for people who are bilingual (or tri, or more) after only 2 days in Barcelona. So, needless to say, asking for directions is very difficult. After my second class, one of my roommates and another student who we met (the guy from Canada) chose to walk back from class to our apartment. We honestly had no idea where we were going, but after some exploring and picture-taking, we eventually found our street name and just stayed on that road for about 20 minutes and it got us home safely. It took us about an hour to get from school to our aparment, but this was our first time very doing it. I would say that if you knew the route and didn't take pictures every 5 minutes, then it's probably about a 30 minute trek. I really enjoyed taking this walk because we got to see some of the places we saw yesterday on our bus tour in up close and in person. AND we finally found postcards and I had Euros on me this time, so I bought more than enough to keep some extra pictures that were taken by people with camera skills far far greater than mine. Also, there is a diner-esque cheeseburger restaurant with the old-school booths and a car in the wall (as well as some of the menu is in English) in between our apartment and campus, so if I ever crave a cheeseburger or some American food, then I found my go-to place. And we saw a Godiva chocolate shop, as well as many  on one of the routes to the metro station (the subway that we take to get to school). It's too bad that I left my free membership card at home! You know, the one that entails you to one free truffle a month. I wonder if they'd even accept it over here? We ended the trip with a sweet photo of an apartment complex, which had maroon AND orange awnings on most of the decks. Go Hokies!

Godiva shop near our apartment

sorry for my finger in the shot, i'm a rookie! The Gaudi house

another chocolate boutique

A chocolate porcupine, I think?

bakery

One of the farmacy signs, but I can't tell the difference between the red and the green signs

no idea, but there's a Volkswagon shop on the bottom floor!

bull statue

inside Big J's burger shop

Big J's burger shop

maroon and orange, Go Hokies!

Day 2/First day of school/Tour of the city/Sagrada Família

Today was probably one of the longest days of my life. Last night, we went out to dinner and a member of the group had to run back to the room and get something, only she couldn't find us when she came back downstairs. So, I went up to the room (or so I thought) and unlocked the door hoping to find her. Only, it wasn't my room, but my key unlocked the door. Without noticing at first, I called out her name and walked halfway into the apartment because I heard music, and then I realized that I was in somebody else's room! And it was a citizen of Barcelona, not a member of the program. So, I ran back out the door and shut it, only to run back to the restaurant and be told by my peers that I went to the floor below ours. After dinner, my roommates and some of  our new friends came back to our room, and began to kill time by watching the Disney Channel español and also poking fun at how none of us know what to do with a bidet. But back to how long of a day today was. I went to bed at about 12:30am Spain time, so 6:30pm for you East coasters. I thought I would sleep like a baby, but I guess my 2 hour nap earlier in the day really messed me up. I woke up at about 3:30am and didn't go back to bed until 5:30am, only to wake up again at 7am. Then my roommates and I took the metro for the first time with orientation starting in 45 minutes. And you can bet your butt we got off at the right stop, but then walked far away from where we needed to go and confused the heck out of ourselves. Luckily though, we arrived sharply on time at 8:30 when the whole sha-bang was scheduled to begin. And luckily for us, many people showed up late throughout the whole thing so that made us feel a little bit better. And we saw a KFC, McDonald's, Subway, multiple Starbucks (even though I don't drink coffee), so that made us feel somewhat at home. But, I will try my best not to eat at these places unless I get uber homesick. My class schedule got messed up too, so I had to go to 3 2 and a half hour classes today instead of the normal 2. And now I will have to take Spanish my senior year instead of being done with my language requirements by the end of junior year, but oh well. I'm not letting it ruin my trip, it's just another bump in the road. And it will allow me to stay in my sport class where we get to go on field trips to FC Barcelona stadium, a bullfight stadium, and I think the 1992 Olympic fields. And I found out today that starting next year, Barcelona (or maybe the region of Cataluña) is banning bullfighting, but this season is still live and well and started in the end of April and goes to October. There are 2 bullfighting arenas in Barcelona, and our hotel reception after out city tour today was right next to one. Back to the long day though, so we woke up officially at 7am and the program day officially ended at 9pm or so. The last 2 hours were awesome though, as we went on a guided bus tour around the city and got to check out the Sagrada Família (which is one of the coolest structures/buildings that I have ever seen and I recommend ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY that if you ever get the chance to check it out, then DO IT without hesitation. The guide told us that they began to build in 1882 (I think) and it should be completed by 2026. A neat thing about it though, is that it is completely funded by church donations. Hopefully I will be able to check out the inside of it soon and see the city from that vantage point. We also got to go to one of the ports where there looked like hundreds and hundreds of sailboats, and was right next to one of Barcelona's famous beaches, situated near their self-proclaimed "Twin Towers". After that, we got back on the bus and went to our next destination which I forgot the name of, but consisted of Roman architecture and bases to the buildings, which were later added on to by more modern materials. However, underneath the mini Roman-inspired town, consisted of Roman ruins and other historical landmarks. Our second-to-last stop was at the Hotel Miramar, which means "Look Sea" and was absolutely beautiful. We were able to see almost the ENTIRE city and it is by far the largest city that I have ever seen personally and possibly visited. I tried to get a few panoramic photos and by this time in the day, my camera battery was getting low. In all, I took almost 175 photos I believe. The view from the hotel was so beautiful, not only allowing you to see the city and the nearby mountains, but also the port and the Mediterranean sea. A fun fact for yous guys that our tour guide told us is that Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe. After leaving this destination, we journeyed further up the hill to where many of the Olympic stadiums were built and still remain open to the public, with concerts even being held in the main stadium. Speaking of concerts, Enrique Iglesias is actually performing a concert tomorrow night (Wednesday) in Barcelona, and I think Janet Jackson is making her way through before long as well. The hosting of the Olympics really boosted a turnaround for Barcelona and allowed the city to build new attractions for the visitors and athletes, which still remain today and are considered one of the main reasons that Barcelona has become such a big tourist destination and shifted away from its previous bad reputation. The tour ended in what seemed like a more upscale part of town, with one of the bullfighting arenas and a huge museum with beautiful architecture and pillars and statues nearby. Finally, we finished with a rooftop snack/finger-food extravaganza that most people treated as dinner because it was gratis. It was really cool to have everybody in the program all together at once outside of school. Some of us decided to bypass the elevator line, so a group of about 10-15 of us roughed it and hiked up 8 or so flights of stairs. I met a lot of new people, and I even met another Hokie! This Hokie nation is something special, and if you are not a part of it then you are missing out, my friends!  So that makes 3 Hokies, including me, on this trip so far, but that pales in comparison to the probably 20+ students from Cal Poly. They are rollin' deep on this trip! The amount of people from West coast schools vastly outweighs the number of East coast ones. I also managed to meet someone on the trip from Canada, which was very interesting. Really nice guy, and we threw a few Canadian expressions at each other (thanks gramps). We also took some really cool pictures from the top of the hotel as the sun was setting so that was awesome. And then the roomies and I decided to head back to the apartment, but not without a few stops. I finally was able to find an ATM and withdraw some Euros, so that was good because I had no money for the past 2 days. All I ate today before the hotel thing was 4 doughnuts, 1 for breakfast and 3 before the tour. They served us Dunkin' Donuts, but they were cold! How weird is that?! Now all I have to do is learn how to navigate in this monstrous city and stay true to the buddy system and I think I should be all right (I hope). Multiple people have already gotten their backpacks, money, etc. stolen, so I am being very cautious whenever I go out, especially because I am not blending in just yet! I also need to find where to cash in traveler's checks, so once I take care of that then I should be moving along nicely (or getting there, at least). It just doesn't seem like anywhere cashes them anymore, including some banks! I still don't have sheets, etc. yet because everytime I have passed a linen store, they are either closed or I didn't have any Euros. Well, this is probably the longest blog that I will ever write, and sorry to those who read it, but today was just a very eventful day. And thank God for my awesome roommates! We seem to be getting along great and growing a little bit closer every day. I am still nervous for this trip, but things are getting better every day and I am trying my best to be open-minded and not pass up any opportunities. More opportunities seem to open up every day and it is just crazy to think of all the things that we can do. One more thing, all of the students live in different apartments all across town, so that is a bummer. But it allows us to check everything out see different parts of this beast called Barcelona.

view outside of the apartment

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

pond outside of Sagrada Familia

the other side of Sagrada Familia

close-up on other side of Sagrada Familia

one of the marinas in Barcelona

some of the Barcelona beach

Twin Towers of Barcelona

overlooking the Barcelona beach

Cathedral of Santa Eulalia

outside of the Cathedral

cont'd

cont'd

"The Face of Barcelona"

One of the views from Hotel Miramar

Another view from Hotel Miramar

Some of the Barcelona port; another view from Hotel Miramar

Some of the garden at Hotel Miramar

Olympic stadium

Montjuic

view from the top of the hotel after the bus tour

Montjuic from the top of the hotel

cont'd

former bullfighting arena which is now a shopping mall