The Simplicity of Food, Dishes, and Laundry...Paris

This past weekend I went to visit my good friend, Bjorn, in Paris.  At one point we were talking about living on your own and I mentioned that most of the people, especially the guys, that I have talked to in Barcelona with apartments, are having a hard time cooking for themselves and scramble to get dinner.  He responded by saying something like the daily routine of food, dishes, and laundry is no easy task.  He is entirely right.  I have been blessed my entire life with parents who know how to cook a wide range of food, and here in Barcelona I still am.  But cooking for yourself takes some creativity, patients, the correct supplies, and knowledge of ingredients.  Dishes, although it sounds easy are surely a pain in the ass and no one wants to clean after a good meal.  Then laundry usually builds up until you run out of socks, and then most people don’t even have a washer and dryer. 

Although we had this little chat, Bjorn, who lives in a studio, is doing quite well with it.  He is also lucky enough to have a washing machine in his apartment.  It also made me realize that I have never lived by myself for an extended period of time where I had to do all three, and not to mention clean the floors and bathroom too. 

Anyway…

My flight left for Paris Friday morning at 8:20.  I happened to get a slight fever the night before and felt like death.  In the long run it was probably for the best because I was planning on going out that night.  Our Brazilian homestay sister, Julianna, was leaving for home on Saturday so this was the last night I could party with her.  They also happened to come home when I was eating breakfast at 5:20 in the morning.  I had a rough night sleep but managed to sweat out the fever and I felt much better in the morning.  My trip was very easy and Bjorn met me at the bus station where we took the metro back to his apartment. 

At one point on the flight I woke up and this was my view out the window.  I am not exactly sure where I was and the picture can't really capture the beauty of what I saw but it was increadible

Bjorn had a class to go to and then a meeting with his bank so I went to the Louvre.  The Louvre should be amazing and it is one of the largest museums in the world but I really was not that impressed.  Maybe it was because I had seen a lot of similar things, I didn't have much time, and art really isn't my top choice of museum but it was definitely worth the experience.  I also had to see The Mona Lisa, but the closest you can get is about 15 feet away so you really can't see the great detail or look at it for too long because there are so many people there.  Seeing the glass pyramid was cool and the building of the Louvre was amazing.

After that I walked down the Champs Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe.  This walk was actually amazing.  First there is a beautiful green park with some fountains, then a famous fountain with toy boats, a giant Ferris Wheal, an Obelisk from Egypt, another park, the Eiffel tower and Musée de l'Armée in the distance, the 5th avenue equivalent of Paris, and finally after about a 30 minute walk, the Arc de Triomphe.  By the time I got out of the museum and to the Arc, Bjorn was already there.  The worst part about this walk was that you had to go underground to get to the Arc and I could not find the entrance for the life of me.   I think Paris likes to post signs for things saying that they are a certain way and then stop posting signs.  I followed a sign for the Arc and it brought me from one subway entrance to the other but then didn't point me in the right direction of the actual entrance to the Arc.  This also happened with the Mona Lisa which said Mona Lisa this way, and then I could have taken about 2 turns or stayed straight and then I had to take the third turn to enter the room with the painting but there was no sign.  O well...I eventually got there.  Here are some pictures of the Louvre and the Arch

This is actually the Grande Arche de la Defense that is the entrance to the grounds of the Louvre

And here is the famous Arc de Triomphe

There was still some daylight so Bjorn wanted to take me to the old Jewish neighborhood where he would retrace the steps from one of his tours.  Also right in that area are the oldest buildings still standing in Paris

You could really tell that they were old and they were slightly warped.  They are from the 13th century so they have been through a lot of war, plague, and renovations.  The very old Jewish section was a few blocks away and is getting integrated with a new trendy gay neighborhood.  So it is a very strange mix with a some Jewish deli's, a school, and some other clearly Jewish names, with some weird fashion stores and clubs.  Apparently this neighborhood is very active but it was Friday night and there were not too many people there.  We stopped in a deli and I got a potato latke.  It was pretty good but it would have been a lot better earlier in the day when it was fresh.  After that we went back to Bjorn's place, got some food, and cooked some dinner. 

Bjorn had a few people over that night so we got some wine and cheap beer.  We hung out there for a little bit and played some games and then we went out.  One of our friends, Jeff Clement, from Ithaca was also in Paris for the weekend.  He is studying in Sevilla Spain and I have been trying to plan a trip to see him.  We had no idea he was in Paris but he was staying with his friend from Cornell who lived with his Girlfriend.  Apparently they got in an argument and didn't want to go out and just told Jeff to go out, by himself, in a foreign country, where he didn't know the language.  Sounds like some shitty friends but it worked out for Bjorn and I because he would have never realized Bjorn lived in Paris.

We walked around for a while and eventually went to a house party with some of Bjorn's friends.  At first it was a little strange but after a few drinks it was actually pretty fun and the next time I looked at my watch it was almost 5:00 in the morning.  The subway opens up at 5:30 so we went with some people to get some crepes near by.  I got an egg and feta crepe and was extremely excited.  They made it in front of you but they put one egg and probably a half pound of Feta on it.  The first few bites were pretty good but after that it was basically a cheese overload and I couldn't finish it.

We made it home around 6:15 and went to bed.  No alarm set because I needed some sleep but we kept the blinds open and woke up around 12:30. 

In the morning we went to get some breakfast and went for a little walk around Bjorn's area where some parks are.  Right near his house is an amazing park with a gazebo type thing on top of a cliff where you could see some of the outskirts of the city

Then we walked to another park on top of a hill where you could see all of Paris

I only really wanted to do two things on Saturday.  One was to go to the Eiffel Tower, and the other was to walk past the Libyan Embassy.  When I travel I need to let my program know where I am going on some website.  On Thursday I received a "red alert" email from the website saying that the Embassy had been taken by protesters and to avoid that area.  Oddly enough, my first reaction was that we should definitely check it out.

We got off of the train near the Obelisk on the Champs Elysees and walked towards the Tower.  On our way we walked into the Musée de l'Armée

This was actually really cool and I think I would have liked to see this museum a lot more than the Louvre because it has some really cool military stuff instead of art.  We just walked around the museum and didn't actually go inside of it.  On the left and right of the picture were some green fields with some people playing soccer and a group of people playing Polo on Bikes.  I thought the Polo game was really cool and I had never seen anything like it so I went up and took some pictures

This guy was smoking a cigarette, biking, and playing Polo at the same time, that is some multitasking if you ask me. 

The next stop was the Eiffel Tower, and just as we entered the park leading to the tower, the sun came out

Now that I look at the picture again, I think that girl was a little creeped out because she thought I took the picture of her.  But it looks like she is posing for my picture but she isn't...just a coincidence.

We just walked under the tower because it is 10 euros to go up and the line takes about an hour to get through so I decided to pass on that.  After we walked under we took a left and walked towards the Libyan Embassy.

I expected there to be more of a scene at the Embassy but there were no news reporters, about 20 protesters and only 2 armed guards blocking off the street with a gate.  The protesters were very loud and I had no idea what they were saying but they were peaceful and it seemed like a controlled protest.

Bjorn's good friend William, also from Ithaca, is also studying in Paris so after the protest we took a bus to his apartment where we relaxed for a while, ate some food, and drank some wine and beer.  We had made reservations for dinner at this restaurant called Chez Janou where they sell absinthe shots for 2 euros.  The reservation was at 10:30 for 12 people so they had a pretty large group going.

I had never had absinthe but I will have to say it was one of the worst drinks that I have ever tried.  It tastes like liquorish which I don't like and it burned the crap out of your mouth.  I only had 3 but some other people had some more.  Since we already ate before coming and the food was pretty expensive, I split an appetizer and had some dessert.   For dessert I ordered some Chocolate Mouse and it was a very memorable experience.  It was 6,60 euros and they brought over a huge tub and said something in French that I didn't understand.  The kid sitting next to me helped translate and told me that you can take as much as you want.  I took about 5 large spoon fulls and shared with the whole table. 

The Mouse was incredibly good and I had a good amount of it and gave the rest to other people.  After the restaurant we went to another bar for a beer but then just went home after.  I got to sleep around 3:30 and had my alarm set for 7:00 to catch a bus and my 10:50 flight back to Barcelona. 

The trip to Paris was awesome and I am very glad I got a chance to go.  I got to see three friends from home, Bjorn, Jeff, and William, ate some good food, and saw the sites...possibly the biggest tourist destination in the world, the Eiffel Tower.  It was well worth it and I didn't spend that much money.  Bjorn was a great tour guide and I got to see some cool stuff.  The only thing I wish we had done was go to the Agricultural exhibit.  It was in Paris for 2 weeks and apparently it had some very authentic French cheese and meat products.  Bjorn told me about how you could see some pigs, cows, and goats, and then right next to the animals was the meat, cheese, and milk made by those animals.  It would have taken a while and I didn't really have the time but I still did everything I wanted to do.

When I got back to Barcelona it was Sunday and I had an awesome plate of Paella waiting for me for dinner.  Obviously after a nice long nap for a few hours. 

This next week I have some exams and I will stay in Barcelona and hopefully have a busy weekend at home.  I also got one exam back on Monday, my Catalan language class and I got an 84.  I was very surprised and apparently I did a great job studying. 

It is also half way through my program and I still have a lot to do but I have a lot of time and I am still almost as excited as when I first got here.

Thanks for reading

Milan for the Weekend

I went to Milan with Jourdan, his friend from school, Yennise, and her friend, Maddy, for the weekend.  This was our first non day trip without our program so we kind of had to figure out the process of getting to the airport and figuring out a city...especially in Italian.

Before I get into the trip to Milan I want to talk about Wednesday night.  Jourdan plays soccer at his school and he has been trying to find a team.  He found one and they had a practice on Wednesday and I decided to go.  I bought a pair of cleats and shin pads for 20 euros.  I was a little rusty but I managed to hold my own.  The team is not that good and not too serious so I think I will play with them when I can.  The games are on Sunday so I won't be able to play when I go away but I will practice with the team just for some exercise.  It is also a good way to practice Spanish and maybe we will go out for drinks after the practices.  However, since I got the new shoes I got a huge blood blister on the bottom of my right big toe.  It is about the size of a quarter and purple but it feels fine now and is not infected...I'll spare you the picture.

Classes were canceled due to the IES trip to Tarragona from Thursday to Sunday and our plane left at 7:00 Thursday morning.  We woke up at 4 and met the girls at the bus to the airport.  Everything went very smoothly and we got to the Hotel around 11:30.  Since we had all day and no plans, we got a map, got on the Metro, and went to a part of town to get some food.  We went to a little place and I got some pasta, wine, and chicken.  The food was excellent but I wished I had ordered the pizza because it was unlike anything I had ever seen.  A slice was 1/4 of a 12" pizza and about an inch thick, loaded with toppings.  I wish I got a picture but its too late now.  Next we went to the Castle Sforzesco.  Here is a picture.

Right when we walked in we got swarmed by people from Senegal who tied bracelets on our arms and said "take these bracelets to support Senegal, they are good luck.  Then they followed us and asked for money.  It was pretty annoying and we just walked away.  We took a nice picture of them.

On the other side of the castle was a park and a little carnival with some games and rides but we just walked straight through to the park.  On the other side of the park was the Arch de Triumph.

It was very detail and large and we hung out there for a bit to rest our legs.  By that time it was about 5:00 and we were all very tired from not getting too much sleep.  We decided to go to a supermarket to get some food, wine, and beer, and go to the hotel for the rest of the night.

I immediately went to lay down on my bed and the next thing I knew it was 8:00.  We went to the girls room to hang out, eat some food, and have some drinks.  We also watched the end of a soccer game and watched survivor for a while while trying to translate it.  It was a nice mellow night and we caught up on sleep for a lot of walking the next day.

We woke up early and had the inclusive buffet breakfast.  We ate eggs, bacon, pastries, fruit, and yogurt.  Great breakfast.  Then our plan for the day was to go to the old city, walk around, and visit the Duomo.  This is the Duomo, which means cathedral in Italian.

This was our group.  Left to right, Jourdan, Maddie, Yennise, and I.

First we walked around a bit and our plan was to return to the Duomo later.  It was also a gorgeous day outside so we just wandered around.  To the left of this picture is the Gallery, which is just a big plaza with some nice artwork and a roof.

In the middle of this is somewhat like a crossroad with 4 stores on the corner.  It was interesting to see that the stores were Prada, Louis Vitton, some fancy silver store, and then a McDonalds.  Next we just walked around because when I of my professors what to do in Milan, he said just get lost in the old city.  We then stumbled upon a famous shopping street that my other professor suggested.  It is called Via Della Spiga.  Milan is called the shopping capital of the world and this was the main street to shop in and it was quite an experience to do some window shopping and people watching.  The average person was dressed like this

Fur coat, fancy purse, nice shoes...very wealthy.  It was pretty cool being there and of course I didn't buy anything because it was all way out of my price range.  After that we walked around some more and headed back to the Duomo to get some lunch and walk up to the top.  We had some amazing pizza for lunch and then walked up to the top of the Duomo.  This Cathedral was amazing.  Apparently it has 3,500 statues and was built around 1300 AD.  Here is a view of the top

Of course just like every other building that every tourist should see, it has scaffolding on the top so you can't get a good picture.  There is also a staircase that goes up there but it was blocked off.  We hung out up top for a while, took some pictures, and soaked up some rays before heading back down.  We then tried to find some Gelato but some how we couldn't find any so we headed back to the hotel where we knew of a place.

In Milan there is a happy hour deal called Aperativo.  During this time, the price of drinks goes up a little bit but they offer a full buffet when you order a drink.  We went to a place called Kama Sutra.  The drink were 8 euros but they had some amazing Indian food.  They had some pastas, rice, cuscús, and some amazing curry chicken.  It was a great deal.  Dinner and a drink for 8 euros...doesn't get much better than that.  Then we went to another bar and got another drink before heading back to the hotel.  This was a very interesting bar.  It had model airplanes hanging from the ceiling, pictures of American movies, pictures of musicians like Elvis and Stephan Tyler, a toy train going around the ceiling, and board games.

On Saturday the girls wanted to shop and we wanted to go to Lake Como for the day so we split up and made plans to meet up later.  We woke up pretty early and took a train to Como with not much of a plan.  The first thing I bough there was a map with some interesting sites.  The first place we went was here

It was very fancy and there were a ton of people walking their dogs.  Next we took the Fernacular (tram) to the top of the hill on the east side of the city.  Right by the top of the tram was a little pizzeria where we ate lunch.  Here is the pizza (pesto and fresh Tomato) It tasted SOOO good.

And here was the view

Yes, these are the Alps.  It was a very nice lunch.  Here is also a view of the city of Como

After lunch we walked around the top for a bit and looked at the houses.  Most of the houses were gated in, and looking out over the lake and to the Alps.  I wish we could have gone inside of them because there were some really nice houses.  There were a lot of trees too and you can't really see the houses in my pictures.  I wish I could see the alps from my bedroom window...maybe when I get rich and retire I will buy a house there haha.

When we went down we wanted to rent some bikes.  The information building said that you could rent a bike for 5 euros for the day.  We got there and you needed your passport.  Mine was at the hotel so we couldn't do that.  So we just walked around, got some more Gelato, and walked to the water.  Since we couldn't rent bikes, we decided to rent a paddle boat for an hour.  It took us about 15 minutes to get past the point but then we just chilled in the middle of the lake and listened to some music on my iPhone.  It was a great way to end our day in Como.  Here is a POV of the paddle boat

And here is another picture

After the paddle boating we just hopped on the next train back to Milan and went to the hotel to meet up with the girls.

That night we did the same Aperativo thing for dinner.  Then we went to another bar in a better area where all of the clubs are.  The cover charge to the clubs was about 15 euros so we just went to a bar instead.  The drinks were 10 for guys, 8 for girls or a beer for 7.  I got a whiskey sour, which was actually really good.  I had never gotten one before.

After about 20-30 minutes at the bar I realized that is was a gay bar.  None of us really cared though because we had a drink and the music was really good.  The girls were also very attractive and were wearing some very revealing clothing.  There were 2 Korean girls sitting next to us and our friend went to go to the bathroom.  Immediately when they got up the Korean girls started asking about our friends and could speak some English.  Then our friends sat down and the girls were totally hitting on our friends.  Jourdan and I were very amused by what was happening.  Then a girl behind me started to talk to me because she over herd us talking in English and she also knew English.  Next here friend who was a guy started asking me questions about the US and New York and then they switched seats.  So basically I got hit on by a gay guy.  I thought it was hilarious and tried to talk to the whole table but they didn't speak much English.  I thought it was really funny though.  Soon after that I started to get a little creeped out because the guy kept getting closer to me so we decided to leave and go back to the hotel before the metro closed.

Sadly, check out was at noon and it was raining on Sunday.  Our flight was not until 9 at night too so we just watched some soccer and ate lunch.  Some how we got separated from the girls and had to meet them at the airport.  But we got home around midnight, had some dinner and wen to bed.

It was a really fun trip, and it was good to know how the system works because next weekend I am going to Paris to visit Bjorn.  It is also a great feeling to be back in a country where I can speak the language...and it is Spain so this is a sign that my Spanish has improved a lot in just a month.

3 day trips in one weekend

This weekend I had 2 field trips for my Oceanography class.  One was Friday at 3:30 to Palamos, a fishing town about an hour north of Barcelona, and on Saturday from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM to the Ebro Delta, 2 hours south of Barcelona.  Then Sunday we wanted to go to Tarragona.

I got out of class on Friday at 2:00 and since we had some time to kill, Jourdan and I went to a sandwich place called Bo De B.  Apparently they have gigantic subs for only 4 euros.  It was about a 10 minute walk and there was a huge line out the door.  We decided to wait and it took about an hour to get our food.  It definitely lived up to its expectations.  The bad thing was that it took a long time so we had to rush back to catch the bus for the field trip.  We only went to the port in Palamos and there was not that much.  Here is a picture of the port.

We also had a bunch of questions that we had to answer so the whole time we needed to listen very carefully to what our professor was saying.  While he was talking a small shark hit one of the girls in the class.  I have no idea what really happened because we were on a 4 foot dock but I think a bird had it and it fell out of its mouth or something...who knows.  Here is the shark

There were also some very nice boats on the harbor

After we saw the types of fishing boats that were unloading the daily catch, we went to the fishing museum that was a few feet away.  Surprisingly the museum was not that boring.  First we saw a video about how the fishing industry has changed and how it is regulated.  Then we walked around the museum looking at the different tools used for fishing and saw diagrams of certain fishing methods.  This field trip was pretty short but I learned a lot about fishing methods and the impact of over fishing.

Since we got home around 9:00 PM and had to wake up at 7:00 in the morning we didn't go out. We tried to go to bed early, but I fell asleep around 12:30.  The bus ride was about 2 hours and I slept most of the way, catching up on my lack of sleep from the night.  The first place we stopped was in the center of the delta where the town is.  There was a small museum about the history of the delta and it had some fish tanks of the animals that live there.  This area has been greatly impacted by humans from deforestation to alien species being introduced to increase fishing.  The deforestation up stream led to lots of erosion that got deposited on the delta so around 1700 the total area of the delta almost doubled.  Now there are lots of dams for irrigation of the major crop, rice, which trap the sediment and the delta is now shrinking.  The next place we went was a lagoon where we saw some Flamingos. 

There he talked about the impact of hunting.  Then we stopped for lunch.  I did not want to spend money so Jourdan and I made some turkey sandwiches for lunch.  We ate at a picnic table and there was a cat that looked very hungry.  I gave it a small piece of cheese and then it looked at me for a while, wanting more, so I took a picture. 

For the rest of trip we answered questions about algae and sea grass that was not very interesting so I won't bore you.  Our last stop at the delta was on the sea where there were a lot of shells and some soft sand.  There he talked about the erosion of the beaches and how it has impacted the area...blah blah blah.  There were some really cool sand dunes though.

These were some huge sand dunes that looked like rolling hills...not really.  They were actually very small but I was in an artistic mood so I tried to get some cool pictures, and I think they turned out pretty well.  The top picture is from small shells.  When there is a storm, the waves wash the whole beach away and the sand around the shells eroded away, leaving little bumps of sand with small shells at the top of each one.  It looked really cool.  After this beach we headed back towards Barcelona but stopped along the way at another lagoon.  There was a nice path to the ocean but apparently when it rains, it floods and forms a small river.  Here is a picture of the beach

After that we just went back to Barcelona.  The next day we were also waking up early for a trip to Tarragona.  Tarragona was the first Roman city in Spain and was much larger and more directly linked with Rome than Barcelona. 

That night we wanted to go out so we decided to go with the Brazilian girl in our home stay, Julianna.  She had some friends visiting and they were staying in a hostel so we went there to have a few drinks.  Her friend also bought us each a bottle of wine which was very nice.  Also when we walked into the hostel I overheard someone smoking a cigarette outside say "there goes the Brazilians with a lot of money." I thought it was very rude but it was true because later that night they went to a club and got a bottle service and a table, which is 50 euros per person plus a 20 euro entrance fee.  We only stayed with them at the hostel and had a few drinks before going back though.  At the hostel they had a room with about 10 beds.  In the room there were two guys from Chile, 3 from LA, and the 2 Brazillians.  Everyone spoke English but people were talking in Spanish, Portuguese, South American Spanish (which is a bit different), and English.  I don't think I had ever been in a room where people were speaking so many different languages yet everyone could communicate perfectly.  It made me very excited to stay in a hostel.  Who knows what kind of people you can meet...as long as they don't kill or rob you.  I also thought it was cool how everyone knew more than one language, except for two of the people for LA.  I have gotten the feeling that most people around the world can speak more than one language except for Americans.  So I am very glad that I can speak Spanish...even if it is not that good.  I can at least have a conversation with people.  After that we just went home and got to bed around 2:30.

We woke up at 7:30 and our plan was to be at the train station at 9 to go to Tarragona.  4 people came.  Two girls from Santa Cruz joined Jourdan and I for the day trip. 

We took the 9:30 train towards Valencia and it is 1 hour and 5 minutes to Tarragona.  In the train there is a digital board that tells you the next stop but about half way it stopped changing so we missed our stop.  At first we were all kind of angry but it worked out in the end.  We got off at the next station and the next train going the other direction was not for another 50 minutes.  We walked about half a block to the closest bar and got some sandwiches.  I got a bocadillo, which is just a sub, with egg in the middle.  It was really good but could have used a little less salt and some cheese.  We killed some time and got back on the train.  We also didn't have to pay because you could just get on the train and no one ever came to check our tickets.  Our plan if that happened was to just get kicked off at the next stop which was Tarragona.  When we arrived in Tarragona we didn't really have any plans other than to see the Roman ruins and the old city.  We found a map and just walked around.  The old city is small enough to walk around in about 2 hours.  The first thing we found was the Amphitheater. 

This was really cool because it was so old and they had gladiator fights and executions here. So a lot of blood has been spilled in this arena.  We did a lot of exploring here and found some cool passages.  At one point we also hopped over one of the gates and went down some stairs to some secret rooms.  Who knows what they kept down there...maybe some lions or slaves. 

Next we walked towards the Cathedral.  Along the way we found another map and planned out our tour.  It was a very nice day out and in this part of the city there were hardly any cars.  I noticed that this area was a very pedestrian friendly area and I like it a lot more than Barcelona. 

Along the way there was this wall.  I have no idea what it was and there was no sign but it was just in the middle of the plaza.  When we got to the Cathedral there was a flea market.  We got pretty detracted and walked around for a while

We finally entered the Cathedral but it was closing and there was construction all over the place.  So our next stop was to walk around the inside of the old roman wall and then go to a Roman market area called the Torre de L'audencia.  We actually didn't plan on going there but we just kind of wandered into it.  It was really cool though because they had a model of what the city looked like before the fall of Rome.  Here it is.  We were on the left side in the big building with the pillars, although the pillars are not there anymore.

After that we basically walked around the entire Roman city.  Our next plan was to go out to the point (lower right of the picture) and have a drink.  We bought some beers at a bar and walked out there and just relaxed while soaking up some sunshine. 

Jourdan did some more exploring and found a cave

We were all pretty tired by now so we just hopped on the next train back to Barcelona.  On our walk back to the train station we walked along the beach and took our shoes off.  The sand felt great on our feet...very satisfying.  When we got to the train station it was packed.  Everyone bum rushed the train and we got on around the middle but only found two seats next to each other.  I let the girls take that one and I figured that we would find another seat.  However, we had no luck, not even to find two seats next to each other.  So we sat on the steps to get on the train on the side that didn't open for the hour ride home...it wasn't so bad though.

It was a very long weekend and I was exhausted by the end.  When we got home we had some Paella waiting for us because it was Sunday.  We wanted to eat as a family though so we waited until everyone got home.  We ate some cheese and crackers to hold us over.  I watched a tv show on my computer but passed out in the middle and didn't wake up until 9:30 when everyone got home for dinner.  By now I was not really in the mood for Paella but ate it anyway and just went back to bed after dinner at about 10:30 and planned to wake up around 10 for class the next day.  Great weekend, very busy, and I didn't do any HW. 

Catalan Culture Studies Field Trip

Last Wednesday our Catalan class went on a field trip to La Museo de l'Historia de Barcino.  This is the museum that takes you back in time (underground) to the Roman Ruins of the city of Barcino.

For this class, we need to make an online blog with entries about food, culture, events...etc.  Luckily, I am already a step ahead and already have a blog so I am not worried.  So here is my reaction to our field trip. 

Like almost everything I have done so far, I thought it was very interesting.  This was the first time I got a tour about the culture and history of Barcelona from a Catalan person.  So that was probably the best part of the field trip.  Our professor Xavi Alcon is also very knowledgeable about the history and we got a very accurate picture of how people lived everyday in the ancient Roman city (at least I assume everything he says is accurate).  I did have one other tour in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona from a Catalan professor but it was an architecture class and he only talked about that subject. 

The first place we went was the Cathedral.  I have been to the Cathedral many times but this time I noticed a booth in front of it with some Catalan flags.  I am not really sure about what they were doing but here is a picture of both the Cathedral and the stand.  I still have not been inside the Cathedral though, but I will go at some point.

Just to the right of the Cathedral is part of the Roman wall and the Aqueduct that flowed from the rives to the city.  If you click the picture and make it bigger you can see the Aqueduct on the bottom of the third tower

After that we walked along the outside of the Cathedral.  There are a ton of gargoyles on the buildings with holes in their mouths.  On a different tour my guide told me that they would torture people of different religions by chaining them up under the holes and pouring hot oil on them.  Here is a picture of the gargoyles and the back of the Cathedral.

This next picture is of the last standing pillars of the Temple of Augustus.  They are older than 2000 years old because the city of Barcino was founded around 10 BC.  You can't really tell from the picture but these pillars have definitely been through a lot.  They are very worn out but still manage to stay up.  Seeing this was very interesting and it is pretty cool that they kept these standing.  There are also two more pillars to the left of the picture.

This is a stone that was at the base of the pillars.  I am not sure what it says but I am assuming it says the full name of the temple.  The Romans like to have very long names for things.  A perfect example is the first name of the city.  It was Colonia Iulia Augusta Paterna Barcino.  

After all of this we finally made it to the Museum.  However, we were not allowed to take pictures so I don't have any from inside of the museum.  At first we saw how the city grew after the Roman empire fell.  There were a few expansions of the walls but eventually most of the walls got torn down and in the 1850's a man named Cerdá expanded the city with a grid.  We watched a short video on the history and expansion of the city.  At one point Barcelona was one of the most densely populated cities in the world.  Cool fact.

Eventually we got in an elevator and went down about 20 feet.  There was a digital clock in the elevator that went from 2011 to -19 representing going back in time to the Roman times.  I think the idea of having the Roman ruins is a little more interesting than actually seeing them.  It was definitely cool to see and to be there but there just wasn't that much.  If our professor was not there it would have been a lot less interesting and I would not have learned anything.  Luckily he was there and explained everything that we saw.  Some of the sections down there were houses, the sewage and clean water system, the baths, and how they made wine and dried the fish.  There was also an ancient tic tac toe board (stone) that was called 5 in a row.  It was slightly different but it was really cool to see because everyone still plays that game.  The most interesting thing down there was probably the model of the house.  It was a model of a wealthy families house but it was very large and had an area that collected rain water so they were self sustaining and using all of their resources.  Our professor also explained how they dried the fish.  There was a large cube box where they would layer fish and salt and let it sit for a few days.  There was a small hole at the bottom where all of the water would drain out and the fish would be preserved.  Then to eat it, you would let it sit in water for a few days and it would be good to eat.  This is how the Roman army could expand.  They would give the legions enough food to march for a long time and they were able to eat on the way and expand their rule.  After that the field trip was over and I went home but it was very interesting and I am glad we got to go to the museum for free. 

Worst day of my trip so far

First I didn't sleep very well and was tossing and turning all night.  I also went to bed around 12:30 and had to wake up at 7:30 for a 9:00 AM class.  I took a shower and went to class only to find out that the professor had canceled class.  Thanks for not sending anyone an email.  This was already my least favorite professor and the whole class is basically on the same page about not liking him...and I guess today makes it official.

I decided to go home because I had 3.5 hours to kill before a run that I wanted to go on at 12:30.  I got home and went to bed.  As I was sleeping I felt worse and worse.  My throat was dry, I had a stomach ache, and I was still tired.  My next class was at 3:45 and around 1:30 I decided I probably was not going to attend.  I went to the kitchen to find my Señora making some food and I explained how I felt like crap.  She made me some soup with noodles that tasted amazing.  I had about 8 noodles and some broth and realized I wanted to vomit.  The best part about throwing up was that I felt pretty good after but I just went to bed.  I slept for another few hours and was getting extremely hungry and thirsty.  I went to the kitchen and my Señora microwaved an apple for me.  At first I was hesitant to try it but it tasted like hot cider.  She said that the microwave made it easier to digest.  Apparently it was because after that I felt great.  Now I am still in bed and have drank some water.  I told my Spanish professor that I was sick and might not come tomorrow but I will make the decision tomorrow when I wake up. 

I also just checked Facebook a few minutes ago and 4 of my friends had the same thing.  One threw up in his backpack and two thew up in the IES bathrooms.  I am so glad I was at home all day.  I guess I knew what the cause is now.  All of us were at the same bar for the Super Bowl eating their cheap wings and nachos made with Doritos.

I did learn something today though.  First, if you feel like you want to throw up, just chug some water and get it over with.  I kind of already knew that and wished I had done it earlier.  Second, microwaved apples are surprisingly good and if I get food poisoning again that is what I will eat.  Third, I am so glad I am in the home stay so that mommy could take care of me.  Thanks for everything Adela

Exhausted from the last few days

It has been a while since I gave an update and I had a weekend packed with getting out and seeing the world.  Here is the breakdown.  Saturday I went to Montserrat with IES and then that night we went to a huge club called Razzmataz.  Then Sunday I went to Montjuic with some friends and then watched the Superbowl at a bar.  I guess it does not sound like that much but I went to bed around 5 both nights and was busy the entire time...which is awesome.  I think it is pathetic when people go on a trip and just party and sleep the whole time and don't suck up anything that you will never be able to do again.

So I will start with Montserrat.  This is a mountain about an hour north of Barcelona.  The name means "mountain saw" because of the jagged cliffs that come out from the earth.  It is about 1400 meters above sea level and the town right below it is somewhere around 200 meters up.  I kind of blew it though with my camera because the exposure was not on auto and it was extremely sunny so all of my pictures are really bright. 

This was not my picture but that is where we got off the bus at the bottom there (btw this is not the town, this is already about half way up the mountain) and it was sunny and not cloudy.

We started by taking a tram up higher from there and started to walk around on top.  I think they said it is like 5 km from one side to the other.  We also didn't go all the way to the top where there is a 360 degree view of the ocean, the Pyrenees, and Barcelona.  It is like a 6 hour hike up an old stair case winding through the cliffs to get up and down.  It would be cool to do that one day but I am not sure if I will go there again.  We just walked around, checking out the area and learning about the history.  I think around 800 AD, the mountain was given to a group of monks who built a monastery, which is where all the buildings are.  We also went in there and the church is amazing.  But the monks lived there.  Other people went on pilgrimages to the mountain mainly for religious reasons and they would talk to the monks about their problems.  This continued all the way until 10 years ago when the last monk died.  The monks would never leave and had no connection to the outside world so they could give people a different perspective on life.  This history seemed very interesting and it would have been awesome to be able to talk to one of them but I guess it is too late.

This is the group I was with.  We had to split up in 3 groups because we were about 80 people.  After the hike we had about an hour for lunch and then went on another tour of the museum and the church.  The museum had a lot of random stuff since it was all donations but there were some cool paintings, a mummy from Egypt, and some other artifacts.  This was probably my favorite painting.  It is called Enchanted Cove, painted in 1903

And here is a picture of the Church.

And this is like the main attraction of the whole place.  It is called the Black Virgin and it is the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus

The trip to Montserrat was very fun and well worth the 30 euros.  I passed out on the ride home listening to some Sim Redmond Band.

Later that night we went to the bar called L'ovella Negra to watch the soccer game.  We ordered a pitcher of sangria and sat down to watch.  When we sat down we noticed a bottle of Cava on the table.  It was unopened and after about a half an hour I started asking people around us if it was theirs and no one claimed it so we decided to open it up.  It didn't taste great but it was free.  After that we went to a friends apartment to have some drinks before we went out.  I have noticed that no one really likes the apartment situation.  The walls are paper thin and everyone lives with an RA.  It was also an extra 1300 euros, and you don't get authentic food for free every night or the language practice or someone to do your laundry.  So...since we were too loud at the apartment we left and went to a bar.  At this point we all got a little separated and my roommate and I ended up at a sports bar with our 2 friends.  It was right next to this giant club called Razzmatazz.  We just had a drink their and went to the club.  This place was insane.  It was 15 euros to get in but it came with a free drink and it had about 5 different rooms.  Here is a picture of the largest room when you walk in.

We ended up staying there until about 5 in the morning dancing and having a great time.  I was extremely tired when we walked in the door around 5:30 and we were planning on going to Montjuic the next day.

I woke up around noon and ate some breakfast.  We went to go meet a friend at Placa de Catalonia around 1:30 and we sat outside for a while waiting for another friend who was coming with us.  We were sitting in the sun and it was probably the nicest day of the year so far.  It was sunny and probably high 60's, so I did not mind waiting at all.

Montjuic is a large hill in Barcelona that overlooks the city and the ocean.  On the top is a castle and around the middle is the Olympic Village from 1992.  We got off the bus at the Olympic Village and walked up to the castle.  Here are some pictures.

This is the view from the top

There was a telescope for 1 euro and I took this picture of Sagrada Familia

and this is the Castle

We just walked around and enjoyed the view.  There were also some cannons because it used to be a military base.  Then we walked back down to the Olympic Village

We took this really cool picture in the water where there were 4 cinder blocks to stand on.  I am not sure what the building is in the background but it is one of the Olympic stadiums

The sun was also setting so I tried to be artistic and take this picture.  This is just a big fountain

After the sun set below the mountains we went home and planned to meet up for the super bowl.  We all bought tickets to a bar.  For 10 euros each we got a table, 2 drinks, a plate of nachos, and unlimited wings.  There was also a trivia game while waiting for the game to start and we got 2nd place so we also got a free round of shots.  very good deal, although they didn't show the commercials, but they will be online.

Here is our table

This wasn't the best picture because there are more people on the other side of the table but it shows the scene a little.  I like how we had a lot of room and could sit down.  The other place, George Paynes, was probably extremely hectic and you would have to stand for the whole game.  Also the 3rd and 4th people from the left side were some people we didn't know.  They were Americans teaching in Saudi Arabia and in Barcelona for the weekend.

Also bars are not allowed to stay open past 2:30 in some areas...not sure why so they had to lock the door and close the gate.  We also had to buy tickets for beers.  It was kind of strange and technically they held us hostage for 2 hours until the game ended but you either had to leave or stay until the end.  So obviously we all stayed.  Here is a picture of the front door

It turned out to be a good game and I thought the half time show was pretty cool.  The game also started around 12:30 and ended around 4:15.  The metro opens at 5 so we decided to take a cab home and I got to sleep around 5 and had my alarm set for 11 for class.  I debated skipping but I felt pretty good when I woke up so went and was exhausted the entire day.  It was all well worth being tired though.  I had a great busy weekend.

Now it is about 11:00 PM and I have some reading to do for my architecture class at 9.  So I need to wake up at 7:30.

O one more thing.  The Korean girl left last week and yesterday we got two new homestay siblings.  One is a 26 year old girl from Brazil who speaks Spanish and English pretty well.  The other is a 17 year old boy from Holland who speaks no Spanish but is almost fluent in English.  So I guess our translating skills will be tested with him.

Goodnight everyone