The rest of the Festival and my weekend!

On Thursday we got up and all met at Jaume I metro stop to see the Castellers. This is a very famous sport in Barcelona and it is where people climb on top of each other and make towers. It was really interesting but extremely crowded. That night we decided to go out with all of the others and see the town. The festival is crazy because many people stay out and party on the streets and just through there trash in the street. It was weird seeing this.

On Friday I woke up later afternoon and met Marcela and we went exploring which turned into shopping. With our budget though we were very careful and only window shopped and didnt even try anything on. We should have known our weakness would get to us on Saturday though. We went to the mall off the ocean, down las Rambas and around Catalonya Plaza. We ended up trying things on a spluring just a bit. Then we rushed home and changed and met my host brother, Alfonso and his friend for the Barco Futbol game! After we all went and got pizza for dinner and ended up hanging out at my house for a bit. It was a great night.

Today is sunday and sundays always look the same. I do homework, watch my church from home and talk to my family at night. Im thinking i am going to add running into the mix though. THis needs to become an everyday thing again! O and of course in all of this I talk to my amazing boyfriend back home who is coming out here in a month and half! But this next week starts the craziness of trips...next weekend Costa Brava, the next Valencia and the week after Milan...o and my birthday is between all of that! Im thinking October is going to be a great month!

Adios from Barcelona!

the start of merce Festival and tour of the Gothic Area

Today was my last day of school for the week because the Merce festival starts tomorrow and it is the biggest festival in Barcelona. After I got out of class, I came back to the house, ate lunch and went to the Gothic tour. The gothic tour is the historic area of Barcelona where there are many old cathedrals and remains from when the Romans occupied the city. The tour was amazing. We went in a Cathedral where they were having mass and singing and we saw remains of the Roman walls and the pillars of the city. We then went to the center and saw the beginning of the festival. It was these huge puppets and live music and the puppets dance. It was crazy! It was funny to see and exciting because so many people have traveled here this weekend for the festival. This also means that a close eye needs to be kept on my belongings. With tourists come pick pockets. Well im off to have dinner with the family! Adios from Espana!

Rainy Day in Barcelona

Today was definitely a lazy one. I woke up and ate some breakfast. Watched a movie, talked to the boyfriend and watched church online. We also had lunch family style and my host mom called me in her room to see the rainbow after some of the rain had stopped! Days like these are nice every once in awhile. The awesome thing about my room is that is the middle of the building where all the windows are and when the rain falls you can hear it hit the roof...which may be partially tin! I love this noise, especially when i am trying to fall asleep. But nothing too exciting happened today! I think the highlight was seeing my handsome boyfriends face on skype! i sure miss him but today is only 2 months until he comes. That is so exciting. O and on the trip to Milan i think we are going to try and swing by Venice too! The pictures are from the balcony of my house and are of the rainy city!

My day in Sitges

today we went to Codorniu and Sitges. We had a great time. I had to be in front of Barcelona university at 10:50 am and then we boarded a bus and went with our programs ISA. We had a great time. It was good to see many of the people from the first week in Madrid and meet new people as well. All in English that is! haha! At Codorniu we saw how Spanish Cava (champagne) is made and toured the facility and concluded the tour with a tasting of the sparkling wine. We then made our way to Sitges. It was beautiful there, the weather was just right and the beach was amazing. We walked down to the beach put our feet in the sand and got in the Mediterranean. We then decided to eat Mexican food because we had saw it on our way down there and it look amazing but ended up being very very bad!!! The enchilada was like lasagna with pic ante sauce! GROSS! My new friend Nora and i were appalled and wondered when we would taste our favorite kind of fried spicy Mexican food we know and love in the US. All in all it was a great day! I am really tired and after dinner with the fam, I think i am going to watch a movie and crash out!

My First Post

SO i have been in Spain for two weeks now! its crazy when i say it that way because it seems like i have been here longer but at the same time it has flown by. My host family is amazing. It is made up of the mom, who works hard and makes amazing dinners, the grandmother who is 90 and is extremely funny (we had to literally rip a bottle of wine out of her hands one night at dinner and she started crying) and a son who is 25 and i hang out with him, his friend David and my friend Marcela a lot. It has been interesting though because i have been forced to learn Spanish because my family speaks very little English. Me and my host brother do share a common interest though and that is a love for the city of New York. He plans on coming to visit if i get a job there!

School is great. I am learning a lot and its nice only going every morning until 1pm and then not having class on Fridays.

Today we went to the beach and walked around. The beach was really nice. I saw a guy and his girlfriend there and went and talked to them because the guy was wearing an Oklahoma State shirt. We then walked through the Gothic area of Barcelona and got the best dessert i have ever had. It was like a waffle with chocolate and almonds. Sooooo yummy! I have also become addicted to cafe con leche! its amazing and wakes you up for sure. Being here is amazing. There are so many old buildings and great things to see.

Well this is short and sweet but im going to eat dinner, yes we eat at 10pm at night! its crazy!