Barcelona study abroad Summer 2011: 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.