So it is Sunday morning right now and last week was the last full week of classes and the last full week I will spend living in Barcelona with my host family. I am not letting that fact ruin my last few days here but it has been on my mind for a while.
Last Saturday I got back from Amsterdam and after a long night and trip home, I finally went to sleep around 10 and woke up at 4. It was still Jourdan's birthday so we had to go celebrate some more. My good friend Bjorn was also in town with his girlfriend, Sara, who is studying in Morocco. After dinner we went to go meet Bjorn and Sara at their hotel and bring them to our friends place. They were having some people over before going out. We usually don't do this because everyone either lives in a home stay, dorm, or an apartment with an RA and they are not allowed to be too noisy (this is one reason I am very glad that I didn't get an apartment). Our friends home stay family went out of town and the parents told them to have some people over, at least that is what they said. We stayed there for a while and then ended up going to a club called Catwalk for a while before going home. Nothing too eventful but I had a lot of fun and we got Jourdan pretty sauced on his birthday. He ended up waking up around 4 the next day.
That Sunday I didn't really do anything. I needed a nice break, so I just relaxed and caught up on the blog. That night Bjorn was still here but his girlfriend left so I took him to my favorite place L'Ovella Negra. We were there for a while and we got a tower of beer and played some card games. His plane was leaving around 6 in the morning so I figured I would just stick around with him and then use my bus pass to get him to the airport. After Jourdan left before 12, some girls sat next to us and eventually started talking to us. One was Australian, Chanelle, and the other was Italian, Linda. They were both working in London and a bit older than us. We ended up talking to them for a while until the bar closed and then took Bjorn to the bus to send him on his way. The bus was there when we arrived so everything was very fast but Chanelle decided to get on the bus for some strange reason and the bus left. At first I was confused and didn't think she actually got on the bus but in fact she did and Linda and I were both left in confusion. I didn't mind because it wasn't really my problem to deal with. As long as Bjorn got on his flight I was happy. I ended up walking with Linda for a while back towards her hotel and got to know her a little. On the way back we planned to meet up the next day because she would still be here and I have a 5 hour break between class.
The next day we met up for lunch and walked around for a while. I showed her some of my favorite places in Barcelona like Maremagnum, which is like a long dock, and the Palau de la Musica. We tried to do a tour because I wanted her to see the inside but they were all full. Then I had class at 3:45 and we parted ways. Later in the day I realized that was the first time that I actually made plans with someone who is not American or lives in my home stay. Sometimes out at night I might meet someone and possibly talk about meeting up again but I guess it never happens. This realization was slightly disappointing because I only have one week left and I made my first foreign friend but at the same time it felt great because even though I haven't actually made plans with anyone, I have still met a ton of people from all over the world. All in All, I have met (and by met I mean actually talked to for a while and gotten to know them a little) tons of Americans, some people studying in the US on my program from London and Malaysia, my home stay sister from Brazil and brother from Holland, a few people from Barcelona, 2 girls from Canada in Greece, and now add a girl from Australia and Italy. The only sad thing is that they all have one thing in common, which is that they speak fluent English. Its great though...I am lucky to have met so many diverse people here.
The rest of the week was pretty boring. Spanish final was Friday. I think I did pretty well but we will see when I actually get the grade back. I also finished my paper in my Architecture class, so I have completely finished two classes and have three more. For the past two days I have just been doing homework and relaxing.
Other than that, Kris and Susan (my brothers wife and younger sister) are coming to visit on Monday Afternoon. I will be 100%done with class on Tuesday at 5:15 and I need to be out of the home stay on the 6th. I am going to travel after the semester and hopefully go to Brussels with Kris and Susan and then meet a friend in Berlin, another friend in Prague, then go to Edinburgh and Northern UK, and hopefully explore some more of Spain before going back to Barcelona to get my stuff and go back home. It has been a long road, even though it went fast, and I would not trade this experience for anything in the world. I know for one thing that I will come back a better, more mature, and a more open minded person.
And will probably keep posting on the blog
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