Dalí Museum

Don't you just love my creative titles?

Anyway, yes, today I went to Figueres (Figueras in English), the hometown of Salvador Dalí, the um, interesting surrealist painter. It was a field trip for my art class. It was just under 2 hours away by bus. We left at 10am and got back around 5:30.

He designed and built this museum (the self-proclaimed "largest surrealist object in the world") and it is very unique indeed. I'm really not sure how to go about describing it. The museum is called Teatre-Museu Dalí. It's an old theater transformed to house some of his works. I guess I'll just show you some pictures and maybe you'll get a feel for it. Basically he, well, he painted a lot of things, but as a surrealist, he focused on dreams and weird stuff. A lot of his stuff has sexual connotations, too. The more you learn about him, the more you realize that he's weird in pretty much every single way.

A crowd favorite was Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at 20 Meters Becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln. It's a painting of his wife Gala, but when you look at it from, well, 20 meters away, it becomes a painting of our 16th president. Try squinting if you can't see it at first. If you enlarge the picture, it becomes Gala.
Here's a painting called Poetry of America. Apparently it's the first representation of a Coke bottle in art history. The Coke bottle is just to the left of the guy's red pants. Wow, the Internet is being really slow. Only a few more.

Here's his tomb. He was a very egotistic man.There's also a Mae West room. It's a real-life remake of one of his paintings. Here you can see a room with a couch, fireplace thing, and 2 pictures.
Through the lenses provided (sorry it is blurry. Very low light) you can see that it takes on the face of Mae West (and to be honest, I don't know who that is...)

And Dalí was obsessed with Millet's painting called The Angelus Hour. The Angelus Hour is at noon, I believe, and I think it's because that's when the angel came to Mary, or something. Anyway, I guess Catholics used to stop what they were doing at noon and say a prayer. Millet did a painting of this but Dalí believed there was some big conspiracy about the painting. That it was actually something else. He wrote a book about it and did many paintings of it, or paintings with it in it.

Well, that's a look into Dalí and his odd museum. I'm going to get some homework done and then probably a frozen pizza! Yea! My señor usually doesn't cook on weekends.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Lighter work load and field trips

Yea! I'm done with those three papers! That feels pretty good. After I post this I think I might try to take a nap. Then I'll shower and eat some dinner. Oh, and our RA is suppose to get here today, although I'm not sure what time. Then it's time to go back out to the Barcelona nightlife. I'm excited for that and to get started on some of my work that is due the next week or so.

Which reminds me, I have a Spanish presentation I have to do. It is 4-5 minutes on anything. My hometown (probably not going with that one), a tradition, famous person, etc. Anything. Any ideas? Something funny/entertaining is always a plus.

My religion/architecture/art class was canceled today because the professor was sick. It gave me a chance to sleep in which was very nice. After Spanish class, I went to the market near my school. I picked up some figs, raisins, and more peanuts. Yum. It should last me a few lunches. I gotta pack a lunch for tomorrow. My art class is taking a field trip to a Dalí museum about an hour and a half away. More on that tomorrow.

Today in my management class we went to another business and had a man speak to us (this is the fourth such visit). The idea of this class is to learn about different cultures, and it is kinda interesting, but can get dry and repetitive at times. Our teacher translated and apparently this man worked for a company called Beter. It used to be called Better, but dictator Franco outlawed English company names back in the day. My professor, Dr. Duch (Duke, although you can probably guess what most students call him), kept saying "blazer rades." Apparently the company makes razor blades for men and women.

Also, just before we left the business, he asked me to make an attendance sheet to pass around. That way he knows who actually showed up. I misspelled attendance at first, spelling it attendence. Sheesh, I'm such an awful speller.

Michelle arrives in Barcelona in about 10 days! It's going to be pretty cool showing her around. I'll also finally see some of the more touristy things in Barcelona that I've been holding off on. Pssh, I'm not paying 16,50€ twice to see a building by Gaudí! Shoot, that'd be over $45.

Yummy Dinner

Today is my 70th blog post. Whew!

I'm still basically exhausted, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In 24 hours, my workload will lighten up a lot. Plus I will have weekends here in Barcelona. That will be very nice.

Dinner last night was amazing. My other housemates were at a concert and working on a group presentation, so they missed out. My señor made these red sausage type things which were delicious. However, the best part was the eggs. Yes, eggs. I had three fried eggs on top of potatoes and onions. It was amazing. Apparently it is a very traditional winter or wartime meal. It has lots of calories. Oh I loved it.

That's really it for now. I gotta finish this last paper.

Ah, and I hope the Huskers hire the right coach. Oh these last few years have been painful...

Toro Pasado

Hello everybody!

I'm still feeling slightly under the weather, but I have to keep chugging away at these papers. After this post I'm going to shower and then try to finish my econ paper.

Last night at dinner I asked my señor about the saying my economics professor said in class on Monday. After a lot of exchanges, and help from my one housemate who knows Spanish, we figured out that "toro pasado," which literally translates into something like "last bull," means it is too late now. For example, at the dinner table, his son didn't know if he wanted to eat his orange, but once he peeled it: Toro pasado. There's no turning back. Once you peel an orange, you gotta eat it. I thought that was interesting.

Anyway, yes, I do kinda need a haircut, but I'm holding out for the States. And speaking of that, I return in 25 days. My flight leaves on December 21 at 9:35am and I land in San Francisco at 8:55pm.

I came up with a great analogy to describe how I feel about returning home. Let's say it is December 10. Christmas is coming up and you're super excited. You can't wait until Christmas. However, that said, December 10 and the weeks following are not bad. You like them. In fact, they are some of the best days of the year. I think that is kind of how I feel about coming home. I'm having a great time in Barcelona and I'm excited for everything I have left to do (including showing Michelle around town), but I'm also excited to return home.

Ah, and one last note. Just in case some of you out there are thinking about filling my rather empty mailbox with something, I would say this would be the last week to send something. I'm just saying. Don't want IES to get my mail once I'm gone.

Granada: An Andalucían Adventure

Before my adventure began, I went out on Thanksgiving night with two lady friends. We then decided to meet up with some other lady friends and ended up at a club near my place. It's called Otto Zutz. I don't know if I've shared the name of that place yet. Anyway, it turned out to be one of the funnest nights I've had in Barcelona for a while. It was great.

I then discovered Barcelona's best kept secret. Bus N17: the night bus to the airport. You see, my flight left at 6:35, but the regular airport buses do not leave until 5:30, getting me to the airport at 6. That's cutting it close. I knew there was a NitBus (its name in Catalan), I just could not find it and no one knows about it. Well, long story short, I found it. It was great and cheap.

Anyway, I have homework to do, so let's see if I can cut to the chase without leaving out interesting details.

So, I get to Granada. It is located in the area of Spain called Andalucía. Sevilla is also located there but on the other end, kind of. This is in southern Spain and has a lot of Moorish/Islamic influence (as you'll soon see) because this was the area that the Moors controlled the longest. This is also the "birthplace" of the tapas. They are yummy, tiny treats that you get with a drink, at least in Granada. More on that later.

Anyway, so I get there. I decide that I will first go to this small town called Gaudix (by the way, Carrie, again, I must say, that guidebook you made me get is amazing!). I walk to the bus station and on the way I saw this. I just thought it was funny.
It says McAuto, in case you can't make it out (also, a reminder, you can click on the photos to make them full screen).

Anyway, I get on the hour long bus ride and walk around this town. I suppose I should tell you why I went there. There are tons of casa cuevas, or cave houses. They are homes built into the side of the mountains and hills. It was kinda cool to see. Here are some photos.

It's me!
And look Dad, it's not just people in Washington who don't keep their roofs clean!
And apparently bad fashion is international...
Anyway, I get back to Granada, exhausted. I think I'm getting sick and the lack of sleep probably isn't helping the cause. I take a nap and then meet up with two friends to go tapas hopping. It is great. You order a drink, you get food. Granada is about the only place left in Spain that still does that.

I then went to sleep and woke up early for the Alhambra. I went there about 3 years ago with my family. It was cool to go back. Reminded me of them a lot. Plus, with my new knowledge of the place, it was very interesting. Ah, I suppose, before I carry on, I should give a quick lesson of what it is. It may or may not be one of the seven wonders of the world. Not sure. But there is a saying in Spain: "Si mueres sin ver la Alhambra, no has vivido." If you die without seeing the Alhambra, you have not lived. And it is impressive. It is an old Islamic Palace that sat above the city of Granada. While the outside is quite plain, the inside is spectacular, and you're about to embark on a journey where a 20 year old junior will try to sound impressive by sharing his knowledge.

To warm up here's a picture of me in one of the several palaces. It is widely believed that the Sultan would stand in front of the windows. The light from the sun behind him would blind the people he was speaking to.


Now for some more pictures of the interior. Basically all the blank spaces on the walls were covered. Some may call this horror vacui, which is apparently a Latin phrase about the fear of empty space.However, there's a reason for all the geometric designs and calligraphy. First off, The Qur'an kinda says the iconography is bad. Therefore, you don't see many paintings of things in Islamic art, especially of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad (hence the huge Danish cartoon scandal). Instead of living things, calligraphy and geometry is used. Calligraphy often describes the building or says something about Allah. In a few of these pictures, if you can make out the Arabic writing, they say, "There is no victor but God." Also, Muslims have this belief in the cosmos, order and structure of everything. While the artwork may be random, they are actually all repeated patterns. And circles especially have a deep meaning. The power of Allah, infinity, order, etc. The star, as seen in this dome, stands for the expansion and spreading of Islam.
And it was widely believed that only Allah could build something that could last forever, so Muslims built the Alhambra out of not so sturdy materials (thus making restoration and upkeep of this thing important).
In this pool of water, the building appears fragile, a reminder that nothing last forever.

Okay, moving on, there is also a palace built by Charles V here. It kinda stands out due to its different style of structure.

And there is also an area called El Generalife, which is a summer palace.

And here's an ablution type fontain, only much grander than usual. The ablution fountain is where Muslims wash before they pray.

And that's about it for the Alhambra. I met up with some friends again that night and just had dinner and went to bed early. We tried to go tapas hopping again, but everything was eerily closed on a Saturday night. It was odd...

So, I wake up early at 6am (after throwing up at 3am... Yeah, my body isn't happy) to go to Córdoba. It's a little over 2 hours away by bus. It has a Cathedral that used to be a mosque. This trip was going to be tricky because I had to get there, see the sight, get back, get on the airport bus, and onto my flight.

Córdoba is a nice city with gardens everywhere. I go the the Catedral de Córdoba (Antigua Mezquita) (Cathedral of Córdoba that used to be a mosque) but on Sundays in November it doesn't open until 2pm. Crap, that throws off my timing plans. Well, to kill time, I go see the Alcázar de los Reys Christianos, which I think translates into the palace of the Christian kings. It was cool to see. Here's a photo of me in the gardens.


I get to the Mosque of Córdoba and it is cool inside. Disorienting too. The way it is built you just get a strange feeling.

Here's the Mirab that indicates the direction of Mecca. It also has the 99 names of Allah all around it.The history of this place. One Moorish king built it and then 3 others added on. You can see where and how it was expanded. Then when the Christians took over the city, they eventually built a church right in the middle of it (and other things around inside). Kinda ruins the feel of the place, but makes it very unique.

Well, I rushed to the bus stop, got back to Granada, got on the wrong bus and had to pay twice, got to my hostel and grabbed my bag, and rushed to the airport bus stop. Got home just before 1am and got some Zs.

Today I finished my Spanish and management paper. Just two left: econ and religion. Ah, and I got my econ midterm back today. Oh yeah, aced it. 10. I'm pumped about that.

Okay, now I have to go get some work done. Whew, these posts are a lot of work!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I just got done eating with my señor and his son. I think something got lost in translation, and I partially hold my housemates responsible. I had lentil soup with sausage and for dessert, yogurt. Not quite the Thanksgiving extravaganza I thought we were going to have. He said there's no turkey in Spain, but he said there are these chicken-type birds that are similar. I took this to mean that I'd be having chicken for Thanksgiving. Clearly not. Somewhat disappointed. I wonder if my housemates were here and not at Hard Rock Cafe if things would be different. After all, it'd be easier to make a special dinner for 3 Americans rather than just one. Oh well though.

Many students were complaining about having class today. Come on people, really. This got me thinking, I can't forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving, even 5,000 miles away with a stomach full of soup. So, here's a list of things I'm truly thankful for.

1. I gotta hand it to God. He's been helping my family, helping me, made this whole study abroad thing possible, etc. When I take a step back, I'm truly amazed at what He's done in my life. Really. So thank you God, because without you, um, I'm really not sure where I'd be at the moment.
   
2. Family and friends. I've been blessed with a great set of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I miss you guys and really, really look forward to the next time I can be with you. Thanks for all your thoughts and comments. I also miss my family. We're pretty great and we've helped each other get through some of the bumps in the road we've experienced. I have some good friends and a great girlfriend who adds a lot to my life.
   
3. Kinda mentioned before, but this whole study abroad thing working out financially and mentally. No mental collapses! Ha! Take that IES graph. I searched for it, but I don't have it with me. In one of the booklets IES gave us, there was a graph of the "mental roller coaster" that we will go on. It starts out being excited to go, then depressed and homesick, then really liking it, then the "big plunge," then getting used to the environment, then getting excited about home, and then home is not the same, and then finally returning to normal (hopefully). Sheesh. We're not working in salt mines out here.
4. Okay, back to my list. I'm thankful for attending Santa Clara University. I love my school and I'm happy with how my major and minors are going. I'm also excited for my apartment that I'll be moving into when I get back.
5. Health. Another props I gotta give to God. Only He could somehow allow me and my terrible history of being seriously ill, to still be alive through all the smoke, pollution, apparently toxic water (as I sip on my glass full of it), lack of sleep, and the constant mental challenge of trying to communicate in a language I'm not too darn good with.
   
6. SCU's gym. While I'm still alive, I'm probably not being too terribly healthy. I'm looking forward to being able to better control what I eat and work out. Yeah, pump those weights!

I could go on saying little things, and maybe some humorous things that I'm thankful for, but I think those are some of the biggies. I've got Jesus, my health, my family and friends, and the basic necessities for life. It's all good.

Now that warm fuzzy time is over, I'll share a little more about my day and then start working on this paper some more!

Last night our señor told us he is trying to quit smoking. From what I gathered, apparently his "new" doctor told him it'd be good for him. Um, so what did his "old" doctor say? "Smoke up! It's the Spanish way!" But seriously, it must be hard going from 2 packs to 0. We're guessing that's why we still smell and see him smoking. Perhaps he's weaning himself off of it. I just hope he doesn't get irritable. Oh goodness. That could be bad.

I found the Nitbus 17. The night bus to the airport. Because my flight is so early, I can't take regular public transportation, and I don't want to take an expensive cab. Money saved is money earned!

Okay, I guess that's about it. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. You shall hear from me next... most likely on Monday. I'll have some stories to tell of Granada, plus be slightly stressed about the papers that I'll have to finish in the following days.

So long!

A game. Thanksgiving. Protesters?

Okay, I'm going to try something here. A game if you will. Let's see if this works. Scroll down and say the first thing that comes to mind.

Ready?

Go.
















If your first thought was "penis," then you have the same thought process as a 10 year old Spanish boy. My señor asked us at dinner if we walked to school or took the metro. I said I walked because, well, it's free, barely takes longer, and I get to see Barcelona. The city. The people. Etc.

His son started laughing and said something. My housemate who knows Spanish asked him to repeat. He said "pene," which is penis in Spanish. That's what people call this building, the Torre Agbar. It's the building for the water company (yeah, go figure). During that conversation, penis was said about 30 times. Sheesh.

I'm excited about dinner tomorrow. Unlike Donna, who apparently has this grand plan for Thanksgiving (have fun!), I'm going to celebrate it Spanish style. Unlike my housemates who bailed and are going to have a 22€ Thanksgiving dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, I'm eating with my señor and his son. Should be interesting. He's going to try to cook a turkey for us (well, me). However, apparently they don't sell whole turkeys in Spain, so it's a "chicken-like bird." I'll have a full report tomorrow.

Ah, and this morning I got to sleep in. It felt great. I'm energized. I went for a run too to clear my head. Physically I'm feeling pretty good. I thought I was about to get sick there, but I hope not. We shall see.

And I had my intercambio today. Again we went to McDonald's. However, that should be our last time. I already told you why we'd go there, but next week I'm not traveling on Friday, so we're going to meet at some local place near our homes at night. Should be much better. Better quality, too.

I'm also getting the ball rolling on my papers. After this post, I'm going to first write my extra credit Spanish paper about Thanksgiving in my family.

Protesters outside my place! be right back!
***

And I'm back. Okay, I guess I'm not done with this blog. There are some protesters outside Caprabo, the supermarket that is right across the street. I decided to go check it out and take pictures. It is dark out, and kinda awkward, but here's the pictures I got.
They are the guys in yellow jackets. Right in front of the blue lit store.

I also figured I might as well go in a take some photos of the inside. I got a flyer as I walked in. They seem to be angry at Caprabo. Something about labor rights. Perhaps closing down plants? Not sure. However, apparently we're not suppose to go to Caprabo from December 1-15. They need my help!

And here are some photos from inside. The fruit area.

My housemate's favorite aisle.

And the famous cereal aisle. Here's to pictures. See? It really is Special K and chocolate!
Okay, that's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving!

Franco and Cancer

Hey everyone.

Man, I am tired. I need to rest up before my trip to Granada this weekend. Thankfully I don't have my morning art class tomorrow. It was canceled because we're going on a field trip to Dalí's museum on next Friday. I'll get to sleep in!

Today was the anniversary of Spain's dictator's death. Franco died in 1975 I believe. I guess I have the power of the Internet, so I'll double check that to make sure.

***

Yes, that is when he died. I was hoping something crazy would happen today, but nothing. Apparently, and I'll quote an email I got from IES the other day:

Last weekend there was an unannounced and unauthorized left radical movement
demonstration in Barcelona which caused a lot of problems in the city
center. Benches and other public items were destroyed.

One of our students who happened to be in the area was chased by the police
and as a result his wrist was broken. He was standing in the side walk and
the police came running and hit him in the arm.

Oh Barcelona. If I go out tonight, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I got a 9.5 on my latest Spanish paper, the one I had to wake up early for on Monday. That got me excited. I'm doing better in that class.

Ah, and also, while I was walking to class, I grabbed one of the free newspapers they hand out (I'll have to take a photo of one, one of these days). The article I "read" was entitled, "El agua de BCN supera los límites de toxicidad." I wasn't really sure if this article was saying the water wasn't toxic or it was and it would cause cancer. I had a friend scan it and yes, the water is toxic. However, "si se consumiera 'durante unos 20 años´podría ser concerígena." So if you consume it for 20 years, you'll get cancer. Hmm... Well, at least I'm only here for 4 months (31 days left; 19 until Michelle gets here).

The second student council meeting was today. As you may remember, each Spanish class "elects" a representative, and I did it for the food. This time it was a lot shorter, and less whiny, which was good. There was also pizza afterwards. Not bad. In a way, I got 2 dinners. Muy bien! (very good). Gotta pack in those calories when I can.

Okay, I'm going to go shower and then do some work. Enjoy yourselves!

P.S. Also, remember that nerdy Excel budget I told you about? The one that calculates how much I can spend each day, updating the number after I enter the amount I spent in a particular day? Let's say, for easy math's sake, I can spend 10€ a day. If I was here for 100 days and I spent 0€ on the first day, the program would add ,10€ (because I'm cool and write numbers the way they do out here). Well, on the 99 day, if I spend 0€, it would add 10€! So, as I get closer to the day I leave, if I spend under the "budgeted" amount, the new budgeted amount increases a lot more than it did in the beginning.

Okay, that was a very long afterthought. Probably confusing too...

Sevilla Craziness

Ah, I just got out of the shower. Time to post on my blog. Sorry for the long absence.

I knew it would be a crazy trip after the way it started out. The bus to the Barcelona airport costs 3,90€. I was going to give the guy 5,40€ so I could get rid of two 20 cent pieces and in return get a 50 cent piece. What happens? The guy gives me back my two 20 cent pieces and a 10 cent piece. Darnit! Instead of having 1 coin I had 3! I'm telling ya, change in this country is something else. But I'm here to talk about Sevilla.

I suppose my trip started out even crazier than a Spaniard not giving me the change I wanted. Derek and I went to a club and stayed out until it was time to catch the bus to the airport. The club was right by my place, so I just threw his bag in my room and then got it when it was time to leave. We got to the airport a little earlier which was nice because it gave us a chance to catch some quick Zs.

We get out of the Sevilla airport and searched for the bus to town. We finally found it and were on our way to Sevilla (Seville in English). It's a nice, small town. Smells like olives. No joke. It is also known for its windy streets, and that is so true. They are tiny, and sometimes not very pedestrian friendly. Kinda confusing to get around, but it is small enough so you pick up on it quickly.

Our hostel was nice. We decided to get situated and rest up a bit. After all, we were a little tired. Instead of getting a regular room for 18€, we got a double room for 20€ a person. We figured that would just be a bit better. Little more privacy and security. Haha, well, we got it, kinda. Here's our bed.
We weren't really expecting to be sharing one. And there wasn't a lock on our door and we were by the bathroom, so a couple times people poked their heads in. Someone definitely came in while we were napping. That was slightly awkward and weird.

The hostel also had wireless Internet, but it was terrible and only worked by the stairs in the main area, not in our room. That's a major reason why I didn't post at all. Here's Derek on his laptop. The window in the bathroom opens up to the main area. Oh, and there was a light in our room that we think ran on a timer. It would randomly turn on. We'd come back, and it would be on. We would wake up, and it would be on. Just odd...

Man, the Internet is being really slow again. Uploading pictures is taking forever. Sorry.

Anyway, we were starving when we were ready to head out, so we looked up a place from my book and headed to a pizzeria nearby. It was the best pizza I've had outside the U.S.

We then saw the Catedral, the Cathedral in Sevilla. It used to be a mosque and was converted into a church. It holds some Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest cathedral. It has something to do with surface area or something. Regardless, it is huge and it was cool to see the Islamic influences on it. Sorry, but I'll only upload one photo of it.
Here's the menerat that was changed into a bell tower. And yes, I decided on two pictures. Here's just a side of the church.
And the Internet got faster, so I went back and poster this. Inside this church is the place where Christopher Columbus is supposed to be buried. Let's see. Ah, we walked around a bit, had some tapas (we did some authentic Spanish tapas hopping. It was cool). We then went to this bar called La Carbonería. It was a big place. Hard to find, too. While we were trying to find the right street to turn on, we ran into this American who is studying in Sevilla. He took us right there. It just so happened that we got there right when a flamenco show was starting. It was cool to see. I mean, it wasn't amazing (I've seen some before) but it was still cool. We then chatted it up with the Americans and ended up talking to this one girl and her visiting friend. We then ran into these other two girls who are studying in Barcelona with us and some other Americans. Pssh, we ended up closing down the bar at 3am. It was a good time.

At one point, there was a group picture being taken in the corner. Then others starting piling in. And then they called everyone in the bar over. We joined in. Here's a picture I snapped afterwards.
Wow, the Internet is being so slow.

We thought about going to a club afterwards and were shown the way by some Spaniards from the bar. It cost 12€, so we decided to just go back and get some sleep. Man, my shirt smelled like smoke. Ah Spain. And I only brought one shirt to Sevilla...

The next morning we went to the Alcázar. It was an old Muslim palace. Very pretty, and interesting to see because I'm learning about this stuff. Here just some random pictures. There was also a big, nice garden. And the Internet just picked up, so I'm going to be uploading more photos.

Us being "cool."

We then saw some other sites, like the Archivo General de Indias, an archive of Spain's explorations in the New World.

We then ate and met up with those girls from Sevilla. We went to this plaza and then into a club (we got free passes). It was fun, but we decided to go to this other club. The one girl said we could get in for free. They kept saying that we had to take a cab, even though Derek and I were pretty sure we could walk there easily in this small town. The unnecessary cab ride was short and we couldn't get into the club. That's when Derek and I decided to go back to our hostel. We walked.

Ah, here's a picture of a tapas place we went to. It was cool.We checked out of our hostel on Sunday morning and got on a bus to Itálic. It's 9km outside of the city. It used to be an old Roman city. It was cool to see. Here's some pictures.We then got back to Sevilla. Here's some random photos, ah, and me climbing an ancient Roman aquaduct.
Sevilla's soccer stadium.

Our plane was delayed and I finally got to Barcelona after midnight. Got on a random bus that wouldn't accept the 20 euro bill I offered him (I didn't really understand the guy. So I just went with the crowd and didn't pay) and got off at Plaça de Catalunya. Walked and finally got home around 2am. I went to sleep, woke up early, wrote my Spanish paper, and went to class. Whew.

Okay, and that was my trip. I hope you found it interesting and not too long. It was a great time.

Today I got my Spanish midterm back. I got a B+ on it. Darnit. I wanted a higher grade. However, I learned today that yes, your progression is factored in. We had to take a placement test to see what Spanish class we'd get into and I'm pretty sure I bombed it. Hopefully I do a ton better on the exit exam. Enjoy the week!

Dinner, Classes, Misunderstandings, and Pink

Last night we had paella, a very Spanish dish, complete with clams, whole unshelled shrimp, and a few snails. My one housemate, who really dislikes seafood, was very grossed out. My señor's son told us that we're suppose to suck out the stuff from the heads. I did this, plus took a big bite out of the head. The housemate was completely grossed out. He didn't eat much. I suppose the shrimp antennas floating around the entire thing didn't help much. To be honest, it wasn't the best dish ever...

During dinner, we also talked about Thanksgiving. Apparently my señor is going to try to prepare a turkey for us (although we later found out that there are no turkey's in Spain, but bigger birds that are like chickens. Eh, whatever. Close enough). That should be pretty interesting. Thanksgiving at 9pm in Barcelona, Spain.

I ate breakfast with one of my housemates and we took turns sneaking gulps of milk from our cereal bowls as our señor turned his back and left the room momentarily. Man, it's like Russian roulette (which is a tough word to spell).

I decided to take the metro to school today for the first time. I did this because in my first class we were going to the MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya). We would be taking the metro, and one gets an hour or so to use a ticket. I figured I'd try to get the most out of mine. Taking the metro is kind of nice, but it takes almost just as long as walking. It costs money, plus takes over 15 min. I can walk to school in 20-25. I'll be walking from now on.

The MNCA was an interesting museum. I hope to get back there because we couldn't stay long. Most of us in the class had our Spanish classes right after that one. Ah, this was for my religion class. We looked at paintings of the orient (Mid-East and Northern Africa).

I then took my Spanish test and I think I did well on it. The hard part was the composition. We had to write a 100 words about last Halloween. The key is to use complicated Spanish and make it interesting. Writing compositions in Spanish to show of your skills and be funny is kinda difficult.

Then I had my intercambio. That's going quite well. I think it is really helping my Spanish out. We went to McDonald's because we only had about an hour to talk and it was the closest/easiest. I had my first Big Mac ever, and it was in Spain. It was okay. I do long for "real" American food though. However, I'm not going to the Hard Rock Cafe. There are several reasons for this, and a big one is because all the entrées are around 15€ or more, equating into a $20 cheeseburger.

Anyway, a couple funny things that happened during my intercambio. First, when he greeted me, he said something about moh-neh. I thought he said good morning and said, no, in the U.S. this would be the afternoon (it was 2pm). Times of day are slightly different here. One time my señor told me I couldn't go get lunch yet at 1pm because it was too early. To quote him, "It's breakfast time." Also, they still refer to 7pm as the afternoon.

Okay, back to the "moh-neh" story, I guess he was trying to say "money." Also, he pronounced "agree" like "ag-ree." With his accent, this sounded like "angry." I can definitely see why English would be hard to learn and to pronounce correctly. He told me pronunciation and listening are his areas of struggle (pssh, add onto that speaking and reading for me). He has a hard time understanding American movies and TV shows, especially, and a quote, albeit edited, "N-word." I then had to explain to him that the N-word is a very, very bad word in the United States. Yeah, that was interesting.

And my señor turned one of my undershirts and my SCU triathlon shirt a slight pink. Yeah, my clothes are getting hit pretty hard out here.

Time to do some homework and then pack for Sevilla. I might have Internet there (in fact, I'm sure of it), however, I might not post anything. We shall see. I'm very excited. Should be a crazy good time. Have a great Friday and weekend, everyone!

Good Grades and Spanish Censorship

I think my midterm for Economics went well. The questions were almost too easy. I think I wrote enough though.

I got my art midterm back today! Woo woo! I got a 9.75/10. A very, very solid A in this program. I'm excited. Plus, I got my other composition back in Spanish and got a 9.5 on it. Sweet. I am on a tear (by the way, I used that comment today, "I am on a tear" and no one had ever heard it before. Internetland people, tell me, I didn't make that up, did I?).

So school is going well. I just need to study for this Spanish midterm. I could use a good grade on that.

As for my homestay, we have a new guy from Chile. I think he's studying for his masters. He's a pretty cool guy. I like him. It is interesting, and probably good for me, to be meeting so many different people. The Ecuadorian leaves Friday, I believe. I personally am picking up the vibe that my señor doesn't like him too much. He is a little, um, odd. Borderline selfish too. Almost like he expects us to respect him because he's a doctor. I could be wrong though.

At dinner I brought up something I read in the news. Apparently 2 Spanish cartoonists got fined for drawing a political cartoon of the prince and princess having sex. The prince says, "Do you realize if you get pregnant, this will be the closest to real work I've ever done?" I guess the joke is that the Spanish government is now paying couples to have kids (Europe has a terrible birthrate). If you're interested in more, here's a short article on it. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpv0KgR6xcl0MiQ6peNFZ8KeFADgD8ST6B1O0

I got my PicCell Wireless bill today. Okay, a little higher than my other one. I'm not too happy. Incoming calls are free, except when roaming in Germany, I guess. Crap. All those stupid people who kept calling me racked up my phone bill like crazy. Oh well.

Some other news, the Internet at IES 2 is working again! Yea! Sheesh, it just took them about a week to fix it.

That's all for now. Time to do some homework and studying. It will be nice to get that midterm done tomorrow. Then I can start planning for my trip to Sevilla.

Buying stuff and Econ

Today I watched an Orson Wells movie about Othello for my religion class. I also had another field trip for my management class. We went to another business to talk about cultural differences. It is interesting, but that class is kind of repetitive.

Ah, and I also went to a big market here in Barcelona. I got some mandarin oranges and peanuts for cheap. I'm excited.

I also purchased airplane tickets for Michelle and I's return trip from Madrid to Barcelona. That feels good to get out of the way.

I could have sworn I had something funny to share with all of you, but I forgot it, if there was something. Anyway, I have some homework to finish and an Economics midterm to study for. Wish me luck.

Change:

Ah, I do remember what I was going to say! I got a 10 on my last composition for Spanish! Woo! I worked hard on that, plus the content was very good. I think I now better understand what she wants us to do. Anyway, I was very excited about that. Plus I beat my housemate. Ever since that one time when he beat me despite having more errors, I've been trying to out do him. Oh yeah!

BCN Legends

This morning I woke up a little earlier to talk to Michelle a bit over webcam. The 9 hour time difference is kinda rough sometimes. I get some chances to talk to her during the week, though. The weekend is about the only time that works for my family, so traveling on them prevents me from talking to them a lot. It will be great to see them in December.

This morning I was eating cereal but really wanted to drink the milk left in the bowl. When my señor turned his back to get some coffee, I quickly downed it. Oh, it was tasty.

Before I left for school, he asked me if I wanted my sheets changed. I'm not sure why he asked because every Monday is the day our rooms are cleaned. Anyway, I said yes. Well, our pillowcases have 2 sides that look a little different. The modern-esque patterns differ slightly from side to side. Several days ago I kinda drooled on the one side so I just flipped it over. Well, today, when I got back home, I looked at my pillow and saw it was just flipped over, exposing the drool spot. Pssh! He didn't change my pillowcase! Just flipped it over!! Sneaky Spaniard.

Ah, and today I secured Michelle a room at my homestay. That feels good to finally have that taken care of. However, I now need to figure out our Madrid trip. Very long story short, I bought a plane ticket to Madrid and planned on taking an overnight train back to Barcelona. Well, it turns out those are canceled until sometime next year because they are building a new fast track. I now need to figure out how we'll get back to Barcelona. I'll probably just buy another plane ticket. That kinda sucks though because round trips are usually cheaper than 2 one ways.

I learned some Barcelona legends today in Spanish class. Similar to the story I heard about La Mercé, Barcelona used to have a lot of illnesses and diseases. However, apparently an angel named Custodio (think that's how it is spelled) saved the city from the diseases so there is now a street named Portal de L'Angel and a statue of the angel.

Another story is about Gervasio and Protasio, two alter boys. From what I pieced together, they eat breakfast everyday outside. One day, they wanted to eat inside (cold?) but of course, in church, that is rude. They knew this, so they asked a baby Jesus statue if they could eat with him (at least it wasn't a statue of Mary). He said yes, so everyday they ate with Jesus. Apparently they got upset, though, because Jesus never at any of the food. I think they asked a priest what they should do, and he told them to ask Jesus. They asked the baby Jesus if they could eat with him, so Jesus talked to the Father and then took the two boys up to Heaven to eat. A very interesting ending. Jesus didn't kill them, but took them to Heaven.

A guy was wearing a hooded sweatshirt that read:

I Might Say Yes

To what? Wearing clothes with ridiculous English statements on them?

País Vasco

Time to wrap up my trip to the Basque country (País Vasco in Spanish and Euskadi in Basque). This is an area in northern Spain whose people are unique, along with their ancient language. This area has been largely untouched by the various conquering people (Moors, Romans, Visigoths, etc) for a variety of reasons (not seen as important, hard to get to, etc) thus leaving their language mostly uninfluenced for thousands of years. No other language in Europe is like it in terms of words or sentence structure. Truly unique. However, everyone there speaks Spanish and few really speak Basque (Euskera). I'm assuming this is due to the intense oppression this area experienced when dictator Franco was in power and outlawed their language and culture (how do you outlaw a culture?). This is also the place where the city Guernica is.

Okay, now that you have some history, it's picture time. I plan on showing you some pictures, saying a little bit about them, and maybe throwing in some other thoughts and points.

Okay, the Internet is being really slow tonight, so I'll be sure to only include the major points.
Yes, the Internet is being slow, but I thought it was important to include 2 pictures of the plane and the bus that bused us out to the plane. Um... Yeah...

Here's a picture of me in front of the main beach in San Sebastián.

I forgot to mention, the night I was going to catch the train/bus to Bilbao, these guys came up to me and asked me where my house was. I kept telling them I was trying to catch a train and I was staying in a hostel. They wanted me to give them my keys to the hostel. Um... no?


Here's another shot of the city.

The people are so nice in this area. They also work out a lot. I see runners everywhere, something you never, ever see in Barcelona. I also so a ton of gyms with fancy tennis courts, pools, and more. Plus, the day I left, I guess that would be today, there was some kind of running/bicycle event. Some type of race going on all day and a man over the loudspeakers strung throughout the city talked almost the whole time.
Here's some graffiti. Gora ETA basically means to support ETA. ETA is a group in the Basque country which stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, or Basque Homeland and Freedom. It was formed in 1959 and is classified as a terrorist group by the UN and Spanish government. They are known for their terrorists acts and seem to be a little more radical than the movement in Barcelona and Catalonia. I guess they usually warn ahead of time where they are going to attack. I suppose that's a good thing. Buses are a popular target. In fact, according to one Spaniard I talked to, if a bus is running late, a funny/popular thing to say is something like, "The bus must be running late because it was burned by ETA." All this said, apparently there is some kind of ceasefire going on, but the Spanish government and ETA don't seem to get along too well.

And here's the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. It was a pretty sweet museum.

Again, sorry if this post is choppy or something. If you want to see more photos or hear about other things, let me know. If not, I'll just charge ahead with whatever happens tomorrow in the World of Chad in Barcelona.

A lady's shirt in a store window with a very unlady like word.

Pretty ******* Vacant