Scots, Lesson, and getting ready

Last night I asked our señor if we could have dinner a little early because the soccer game (partido de fútbol) was at 8:45 and we usually eat around 9. We got to eat at 8, giving us the chance to go out to some bar or place and catch the game on TV (it was pay per view, plus the three of us wanted to see the crazy Scots). After dinner, the three of us were getting ready and the Ecuadorian (the 50 year old doctor) came up to us with his jacket on and asked if we were ready to go. Hmm. Didn't realize we'd be going out with him.

We first went to a bar close to us but it wasn't that exciting. The locals there were not that pumped for the game and there were no Scots. At half-time, with Barça leading 1-0 (I secretly wanted the Rangers, the Scottish team, to win because I wanted to see all 20,000 of them or so go crazy. Apparently only 6,000 of them actually got tickets and were at the game), we left to go to Las Ramblas. It's a touristy, main area of Barcelona.

We found a bar full of Scots. Man, they are loud. And have dirty mouths. My goodness, they are vulgar.

The Rangers lost 2-0 and so we went out to the streets. The Ecuadorian went home, but we were going to catch up with some of my housemate's friends. As we were waiting, we were watching one of those street vendors who was doing one of those follow-the-ball-under-the-cups game. I have to admit, I'm killer at this game. You know when at sporting events they'll do one on the jumbotron, pssh, I get it every time. It must be from all those hours of video games. Well, we were watching it and my housemate said that it's easy and he figured it out. I did, too. The guy turned to us and said that we either stay and be quiet, or leave. Now, you are never, ever supposed to play these games. Never. However, I was watching and knew it about 5 or 6 times in a row. I was watching these drunk Scots lose so easily. He noticed that I had been watching and finally pointed to me. In that instant I learned a lot about myself, people, and life in general. I played that round, for some dumb reason, and, of course, lost. I was so angry with myself. I'm still kicking myself for it. It was so stupid. In about 6 seconds, I learned a hard lesson or two, or six. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Just shake it off, and keep going.

After we walked away from that, we met up with his friends. Now, there were Scots everywhere, and I don't think they realized they lost a game.
Anyway, we were with 4 ladies, so, naturally, we attracted a lot of attention. Let me tell you, I don't think the Scots speak English. I, no, we, could not believe how incredibly hard it was to understand these guys. Of course, they were all pretty drunk, but still. And it wasn't just the accent. Some of the words made no sense either.

Well, we bummed around a bit and one girl was going home. I wanted to meet up with some other friends at a club, so I walked her to a taxi and I walked home. I got to the club, but for some reason the list I was suppose to be on wasn't there. Oh well, it was getting late so I just returned home and went to bed.

In my religion class today we went to the CCCM, a contemporary-type museum. There was an exhibition on the Apartheid and parallels in other societies. It was interesting, however, we couldn't spend too much time there because we all had class right after that one.

I got to Spanish and took another hard quiz. Gosh, I need to step it up. I'm struggling a bit in this class. Sheesh. I guess I'm doing okay. I'm sitting at a B/B+, but would like to pull that up to an A. I'm certainly not at the top of this class. [insert rant about other students not really belonging in this class]

I then ate my sack lunch. I need to buy more peanuts. Goodness, they are delicious and apparently they are only grown in the U.S. At least, that's what I've picked up. That is so sad. I've come to the conclusion that instead of trying to spread democracy, we should be spreading peanuts to the rest of the world. And peanut butter.

The computer lab at IES has had no Internet for the past 2 days or so. There was also no running water for some reason, but that's another story. Anyway, the Internet there is usually terrible. So bad...

I then met with my intercambio. Man, that guy is something else. Very interesting. He taught me some Basque words for my trip to San Sebastian. I honestly think he could talk for 10 straight hours. We talked at Pans & Company and I bought him a sandwich because he bought my burger last time when we went to BK.

I then went to my management class where I had another field trip. It was to some business where we heard a guy speak to us about different business cultures. Apparently he has worked in many countries. That was kinda interesting, although our professor had to translate it, making it, um, a little less, well, not as good as it could have been I suppose.

And then I got back and am writing this. I now have to get ready for my trip to San Sebastian. It looks like I'll have wireless Internet at my hostel, so I am thinking about taking my laptop. If I end up doing that, I might do a post while I'm up there. If not, I'll make a quick one tomorrow morning.

Hmm... this was a nice step-by-step post... Take care, everyone!