Barcelona study abroad Summer 2011: 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!