Second to Last Week (weekend included)

This week we didn't have regular classes. Instead we had a week of review classes.  For the first half of class we had grammar review with Rubén.  Then for the second half of class we had Natalia and we basically just spoke the entire class.  Obviously we had to use the grammar topics that we were reviewing but it was still fun to just sit and chat as a class.  We also had our last days of our elective classes! The classes actually went by really quickly even though I was in class from 9 am to 2 pm everyday.





On Wednesday night we had our trip to the theater! We saw La Venganza de Don Mendo (The Revenge of Don Mendo).  Even though Ana had told us the story line I still had a hard time following the play.  The parts that I did understand were funny however.  It was about this poor man, Don Mendo, that falls in love with a noble type woman (I don't remember everyones names, so cut me some slack).  Unfortunately the noble woman becomes engaged to a Duke.  Anywho, Don Mendo gets sent to prison but eventually escapes, and the noble woman realizes its him and tries to take advantage of him because he's cute and such.  In the end everyone dies.  No, I'm not kidding, it was weird, but everyone just randomly died in the end, and not in a Romeo and Juliet "for love" kind of way.  But yeah, I didn't really understand much of it, but it was still nice to get to go to the theater in Spain!


On Thursday we had our final night of Karaoke! Our absolute favorite activity.  I really think they scheduled it because we like it so much.  I sang "El circlo de vida" i.e. "The Circle of Life" with my friend Elke.  That one didn't go over to well since I couldn't remember the melody.  Then I made Elke attempt to sing the Cotton Eyed Joe while I danced.  I just got over the embarrassment factor and had fun with it.  That one went over quite well with the crowd despite the fact that no one was willing to learn the dance.  Katie and I put our names down to sing "Bad Romance" but it was taking forever to come around since the place was packed at that point.  We ended up leaving around 1:15! It was great though, we met some new people!

Friday I was kind of panicking because my internet stopped working (it had no more money on it), my phone ran out of minutes, and I spent my last euro (legitimately).  My new cards haven't arrived in the mail yet.  One of them was sent three weeks ago so its absolutely ridiculous that it hasn't arrived yet.  But hopefully if all goes as planned my debit card should arrive on Tuesday (Dec 7) since it was guaranteed by that day.  It would have arrived on Monday if it hadn't been for freaking Constitution Day and no one working (really? Constitution Day...) Then I'll be able to pay people back who I've borrowed money from and finish my Christmas shopping!

Saturday I studied pretty much all day, except for the 45 minutes that I went out with the 50€ that Loli let me borrow and put more money on my phone and internet.  After dinner I didn't really have much studying ability left in me so I showered and got ready to go out with my friends.  We went to a discoteca called Karousel (yes, the same one we all went to in October... or was it September?).  There was a big group of us, including some people we met from our school at Karaoke night, girls from our class, and some of Katie's spanish friends (her Spanish sister included). We basically danced the whole night away, which is not any sort of exaggeration since we didn't leave the club till 5:20 am.  It was another night of waiting until the metro opened. But it was quite fun.

On Sunday I finished writing my last essay (it was for Art and Architecture). I was a very happy camper because all I need to do now is study for my 3 tests! I can't believe my last week in Madrid is already here. It's gone by so fast!

Mallorca!

As I said previously, on Friday after chocolate and churros I hopped on the metro and headed to the airport for my last weekend trip of the semester: Malloca (the small island off the coast of Spain). I met Katie at the airport and we checked in, went through security, and sat by our gate waiting for our flight to board.  We got to the airport fairly early so we just waited and chatted for a while.  Finally we got on the plane and ended up sleeping the entire 50 minute puddle jump flight.







When we got into the airport we got a map from the tourist information desk then went to the bus stop to wait for the bus to take us to our hotel.  We had to wait 22 minutes since it only came once every half and hour but we used the time to eat the lunches our senoras had packed us.  Finally we got on the bus and went to the hotel.  We checked in, went up to our room, and less than ten minutes later Mikaela and Iman were knocking on our door.  We decided since it wasn't too bad out that we'd all go to the beach.  Lying down was too cold so we decided to go for a walk.  We didn't walk very far, but we got some awesome views of the sunset.

On Saturday we all woke up for breakfast at 9:30.  After we finished eating everyone else wanted to sleep some more, but I can't go back to sleep after I wake up and eat so I decided to go for a walk on the beach.  It was a little chilly but nonetheless I wore my shorts and a sweatshirt.  The first thing that happened was the ocean got my sneaker before I had a chance to take them off, but don't worry they dried quickly.  I walked for a really long time which was difficult because there was a big slope down to the water and the sand was really squishy.

When I got back everyone was still sleeping so I decided to take a shower.  After I was dressed and such Katie finally woke up.  I decided to go out on our balcony and write an essay.  When I was done Katie had showered and I went to make sure the other girls were awake and finally getting ready.  We didn't end up leaving the hotel until 3 pm which annoyed me a little bit because I had really wanted to see some things in Palma and by the time we got there they were all closed because it was too late.




We did go to the Arab baths which were somewhat interesting.  We ended up just walking around Plama for a while.  We stumbled on the Christmas market and each of us ended up buying something sweet to eat!  After walking around for a while we split some small tapas at a restaurant in Plaza España.  Because we didn't want to miss the last bus back to Pan Castilla.  When we got back Iman and I went out to try to find some bread to eat with the meat we had for dinner.  All the stores were closed though and we ended up bringing back a pizza from this restaurant close by.  When we told the girls the restaurant had some pretty great cocktails we all went back and each had a cocktail.  It was a nice way to end the day.


On Sunday we went to breakfast at the same time.  Then Katie and I decided to brave the weather and go to the beach for a bit while Mikaela and Iman made their way to the airport to go back to Madrid.  It was nice and sunny but quite windy and after napping on the beach for a while I was too chilly and we went back to the hotel to sit by the pool in the sun.  We sat out for a long time relaxing and doing homework until we decided it was time to eat lunch.  We went to this restaurant that lured us in with the promise of 4.99 pizzas.  We didn't even eat pizza! Katie had lasagna, and I had a hamburger and a hot dog.  We split both dishes between the two of us.


After lunch we went back to the hotel and tried to make a game plan.  It was too late to go into Plama again so we decided just to walk around Pan Castilla a little bit.  After walking for a while the tourist train came by so we jumped on that and rode it in a big loop for a little over an hour.  When we got back to the hotel it was time to get ready to go to the airport so we grabbed our luggage from the storage room and walked to the bus stop.  We had to wait a little while, but eventually it came and we made it to the airport.  Our flight was delayed by half an hour for some inexplicable reason so we took advantage of the wifi at the airport and did some homework.  Finally we got to board the GIGANTIC plane not even half full that went back to Madrid.  We got in pretty late to Madrid, but it was a good trip overall.

Last week in November?! Ho...

The last full week of November arrived like a normal week.  However, it was our last week of grammar classes! Despite this fact, we still learned new material. Oye vey. Just more that I'm going to have to study for my final!

On Tuesday night Mikaela and I decided to go to the cultural activity, something we hadn't done in a while.  We went to a restaurant (whose name I can't remember at the moment) with Julio to eat zapatillas which are GIANT sandwiches.  They are literally more than a foot long and at least 5 inches wide filled with ham and melted cheese. Soo delicious.  We ate one of those, and the biggest croquets I've ever seen, and some empanadas that I wasn't a big fan of. It was nice to get to eat something other than soup!


Thursday was Thanksgiving... but not in Spain.  I was kind of sad I was going to miss it since I've never missed a Thanksgiving with the family before.  After class I went  home and had a nice lunch with my family.  Then after loading all my Christmas music on my ipod I decided I go for a nice long walk.  I walked for almost in hour in one direction, then decided to visit the Temple Debod since its one of the only things I haven't seen yet.  It wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be but it was something interesting to do.  I skyped with my family for a little bit that night, but it wasn't the same as being there with them.


Friday instead of having class in the school we had it at chocolateria San Gines.  It was the last day for most of the people in my class so it was nice way to celebrate the end of class.  After our chocolate and churros session I said goodbye to my classmates and hopped on the metro to go to their airport to go to Mallorca.

Edinburgh, Scotland Nov 19-21

Friday after class I went home and ate a quick lunch so I could hop on the metro and head to the airport so I could get on my plane to Edinburgh!! I had been looking forward to this trip for a while because I was finally going to get to see my best friend Julia who is studying abroad in London.  After sitting next to the most fidgety 15 year old girl on the plane there I finally arrived. I went through customs (I was the only one with a non EU passport), then made my way over to domestic arrivals where Julia would be coming in. I waited there for about an hour and 20 minutes until I saw her plane had landed, at which point I could no longer concentrate, so I paced around the terminal waiting for her.

Finally I saw her come through the gate and I assaulted her with hugs.  It was teary, on my behalf, because I was so happy to see her.  She had bought some chocolate in the airport so we nommed on that while we took a bus into the center of town. We chatted the whole way, something I'm sure the other people on the bus didn't really appreciate as much as we did.  We had to pick up a city bus to get to our hostel, but finally we arrived.  We checked in, dropped our stuff off and went out to search for dinner.  We ended up doing Chinese takeout from the restaurant across the street from the hostel and eating it in the kitchen.  As we stuffed our faces we started to catch up on everything we had missed during the semester. With our tummies content we headed off to bed.


The next morning we got up, got ready and left the hostel by a reasonable hour.  Our first stop: The Elephant House, the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books.  We had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and tea.  They even had a toilet seat dedicated to Harry Potter.  It was pretty awesome. After we finished that, we made our way to the castle where we picked up a guided tour.  After the tour was finished we walked around the castle by ourselves.  We went into the dungeons, saw the royal jewels, tasted some whiskey, and bought some souvenirs in the gift shop.  After we had finished in the castle we walked along the Royal Mile and went in all the touristy type shops, listening to some bagpipe music, and dreaming about haggis.








Finally we decided we'd go to the hostel a bit and chill.  While we were on our way back I saw a place that said PIE, and thinking it was going to be things like apple, pumpkin, etc I made Julia go there.  Well, they weren't sweet pies, they were meat pies.  Nonetheless, we had to try one, so we split the cottage pie (beef and mashed potatoes).  It was quite yummy.  Then we finally walked back to the hostel.  On the way back we stopped at the grocery store to buy snacks for later.  When we finally arrived back at the hostel my poor boots were soaked, so I left them next to the fire in the living room to dry while Julia and I watched the Scotland vs. South Africa rugby game.  Scotland won! Meanwhile, it continues to rain rain rain outside.  Eventually we knew we were going to have to leave the warm confines of the hostel to go out into the rainy abyss.  We drank some cider together and eventually decided it was time to brace the weather.

Bundled up (and with plastic bags on my feet), we left the hostel and went to dinner at a restaurant Julia's guidebook had recommended called Monster Mash.  Julia had haggis (which was actually good!) and I had shepherd's pie and we split come french fries (or chips if you want to be a UK-ish).  We were so full of potatoes and meat we had no room in our tummies for dessert!

After dinner we walked to the meeting spot for our ghost tour... ooo scary, except not really!  The stories were more gruesome rather than scary.  It was really cold and still rainy during the tour however, so although it was interesting, I couldn't wait for it to finish! When it was finally done we went to a pub and got a pint! Neither of us finished our drinks because we were so tired.  Finally we made our way back to the hostel and packed up our bags since we were leaving fairly early the next morning.





The next morning we got dressed, finished packing our bags and took the bus back to the airport.  We ate breakfast there and chatted for a while.  We visited the souvenir shop where Julia bought a sheep named Nessie and I bought some awesome plaid tights. We chatted for a little while longer until Julia had to board her plane.  We said our sad goodbyes, our promises for an amazing spring semester together, and parted ways.  I went to my gate and read a book while waiting for my plane to arrive.  Finally I boarded, and who sat next to me but the same crazy family from the first flight.  Needless to say I wasn't a very happy camper, but finally I made it back to Madrid and took the metro back home.


I absolutely loved Scotland, not just because I got to go with my best friend, but I felt like I had some connection with the country.  Edinburgh was like a medieval story book.  I can't wait till I have the opportunity to go back and see more.

Third Week of Novembahhh

Third week of November already!?

This week I started feeling anxious about the end coming.  With 4 weeks left to go, you know that the end is near, but you also know that you have so much to do between now and then.  I couldn't decide if I wanted time to speed up or slow down.  While I've been having the most amazing time here, I really started to miss my family and friends and began to want everything to return back to normal.

It was in all regards, a pretty normal week however.  Tuesday I had double Literature so that the other girls could make up their education class on Thursday when we normally have literature.

Marie and Elke at 100 Montaditos

Wednesday was the best day because we reinstated the tradition of going to 100 Montaditos, the restaurant where everything only costs 1 euro on Wednesdays!  We met up with a bunch of friends around 8:30 and squished our way in amongst the bajillion people and snagged a table in the back of the basement floor.  I had already eaten with Loli and Jacinto so I wasn't really hungry. So I only ate one of their mini hamburger specials and a tinto de verano.  I chatted for a while with Marie and Elke since Katie had come with her Spanish sister and one of her sister's friends.  Eventually we finished eating and the waiter came over and asked if he could take our table.  Well, he didn't really ask.  He basically told us he needed the table then started to take it away, along with my leg.  That annoyed me, along with the fact that the people next to us had started smoking, so at that point I was ready to leave.

Thursday and Friday I just had classes as usual!

Granada Nov 12-14

So as I mentioned in my previous post, on Friday after class I went straight home to eat since I had to be at the bus station at 4:00 so we could catch our 4:30 bus to Granada.  By we, I mean Katie, my professor Ana, and me.  Katie and I had paid for this trip through tuition so basically it felt like it was free since we didn't have to buy any of our meals or pay for a hostel and whatnot.  But anyway, the bus left at 4:30 and got in around 9:30 to Granada.  Once we got there we took a taxi to our hotel because it was quite a distance away from the train station.  Once at the hotel we checked in and put our bags in our rooms and got ready to go out to eat.

Palace of Carlos V

Our hotel was amazing.  Nothing like the hostels Katie and I have been staying in on our other trips (though those were not bad, they just don't compare to a nice hotel room). It was an old house and still retained all the charm that it once had.  It was basically formed like most old spanish homes in a rectangular shape with a big open patio in the middle.  Katie and I shared a room on the first floor that looked right out over the patio.  It had exposed wooden beam ceilings which I love.  The room was small, but comfortable with a lot of charm.



On Friday we went out to a local tapas bar.  Let me tell you, the tapas in Granada were some of the best I've ever had. Yumyum.  The bar was pretty packed but we managed to sneak a spot at the bar.  We ordered chorizo in cider, some type of ham, salmoreja (which is a thicker version of gazpacho usually with ham pieces in it), manchego cheese, and pork.  We got a free tapa of chicken wings in some sort of delicious sauce with potatoes.  The food was great and the atmosphere was even better.  We spent our time finding all the good looking men in the bar and giving them a rating of 1-10 (this was Ana's idea!). Once we finished it was almost 1 am and Katie and I were wiped. So we went back to the hotel and slept.

On Saturday we had to make sure we were ready to meet our tour guide at 9:30 so we had to haul our tired bums out of bed and make sure we ate a little breakfast before we left.  Our tour guide then brought us all to the Alhambra which is the old Islamic village.

If you put your left hand in the
water you're supposed to
return to Granada with your lover.

A bit of Spanish history.  In the end of the 5th century after the fall of the Western Roman Empire the visigoths invaded from the north and assumed power. However they were not very strong which gave the Arabs the perfect opportunity to conquer the entirety of Spain.  The Arabs ruled in Spain from the end of the 7th century AD to 1492 (remember our good friend Columbus?) when Ferdinand and Isabella married and reunited Catholic Spain. Ok so, how does this all relate to Granada? Well, Granada is only about 40 km from the coast.  So it was one of the FIRST towns conquered by the invading Arabs, and since the re-conquering of Spain by the Christians began in the north and took oh just 800 years to finish, Granada was one of the LAST cities to be re-conquered.  Therefore, the Arab influence is clearly evident in Granada.

The tree is supposed to have
relaxing qualities.

So back to 2010, Saturday November 13 to be exact. In the Alhambra our tour guide took us to all the important places such as the Palace of Carlos V, Palace of the Lions, Hall of the Two Sisters etc.  The place is architecturally fantastic (but don't tell my Art and Architecture teacher I said that) and it's location on a giant hill allows for amazing views of the city and the Sierra Nevada mountains.  If you want to know more about the Alhambra here's the website link!  http://www.alhambradegranada.org/


After the Alhambra we went out to lunch at this place our tour guide recommended.  The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the tapas from the night before.  Once we had finished eating we went back to the hotel to rest for a little bit. We contemplated contracting the tour guide to take us to other places around Granada, but she was wayyy to expensive.  So instead we came up with our own plan.  After a lovely nap (minus the whacky dream) we took the bus up to el miradora de San. Nicolas (ie view point of saint nicholas).  It had an amazing view of the Alhambra on the left with the snowcapped mountains in the background then the entire city plus the sunset stretched out on the left. Absolutely gorgeous.

After that we took the bus back down (it was a long walk with windy roads and we didn't have time to waste walking) and we went and visited the Cathedral.  It was already 6:45 by that point and they closed at 7:30 so we only really had about 35 minutes once we bought the tickets to look around.  It was a lot simpler church then others that I have been to here in Spain, but it was still nice.

After the cathedral we went shopping. Well mostly Katie and Ana went shopping. I didn't really want to get anything so I just tagged along and did some window shopping.  After a while we decided it was time for dinner since we knew we weren't going to be awake much longer if we kept walking around and shopping.  We went to another local tapas bar (but this time we got to at least sit down!). No one was very hungry so we split half a ration of cheese, a plate of iberian meats, and more salmoreja.  It was good, but not as good as the night before.  After that we went to this delicious frozen yogurt place since we were craving something sweet.  We nearly froze eating icecream while walking back to the hotel, but it was worth it.


On Sunday we didn't really have a lot of time because we had to leave our hotel around 3 to catch a 4:00 bus.  Since we were really tired however we slept in and packed up our things in a leisurely fashion. First we went on a walk along the old canal right by our hotel.  It was so pretty. Like being transported back in time a few centuries.  Then we walked to the Cathedral again so we could see the Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella are interred. After that we went to another recommended restaurant and had more yummy tapas. Tapas all around! We had the biggest croquets in the world.  Carolyn would be sooo jealous.  After we ate though it was time to get ready to pick up our bags and head to the train station.  The bus got back to Madrid around 9 pm.  It was a lovely weekend!!

Second Week of November!

Monday was a normal day. Grammar, then art, then home for lunch etc.

Tuesday we had off because it was a holiday.  So of course, I slept in till about 11.  Then I had my usual breakfast of toast with nutella and cola-cao (or hot chocolate for all you non-spaniards).  After that I decided that I was going to be super productive. And I was. I updated this thing I've been attempting to write called a blog, uploaded all the pictures I had on to facebook, did all my homework for the next day and even some for the rest of the week, did some yoga and some serious stretching, went for a run, took a relaxing shower, and got a great nights sleep.  That is what I call a successful day.  You don't have too many of those in your life so you gotta enjoy them when they come around.

Atletico soccer stadium!

Wednesday classes went on per usual.  We had planned to go to 100 Montaditos that night since we hadn't been in a while and it was a tradition we missed, but a better offer came along that we couldn't resist.  Katie and I were talking to our friend Elke and when we invited her to come to 100 Montaditos with us she said she couldn't because she was going to a soccer game that night, however she had two extra tickets and she asked us to go with her! Of course we accepted since soccer is a big deal here and whatnot. It was a good thing I had finished all my homework the day before so I didn't have to worry about doing anything before the soccer game.  Katie and I met in Sol at 8:00 and took the metro together to meet Elke and Marie.  Then we all walked over to the stadium together.  The game was Madrid Atletico versus Las Palmas.  Unfortunately it wasn't a league game so the stadium was barely half filled. But it was still fun to go to even though I nearly froze to death.  I did decide however, and this is no offense to the soccer players reading this, but soccer players in general are wimps.  Honestly I saw more people rolling around on the ground than in a wrestling match. It was kind of pathetic.  But anyway, when I got home I took a scalding hot shower so my body would return to normal temperature.

Thursday we had double Literature because we had to make up the class we missed on Tuesday. Then Friday we had triple grammar (9-2) also because of the holiday on Tuesday.  Once I got out of class on Friday though, I went straight home and ate lunch so that I wouldn't miss our bus to.... Granada!!

Barcelona!

On Saturday morning I took a 7:30 am train to Barcelona.  I really wanted to go and it was the last possible weekend I could use my Eurail Pass so essentially I had to go.  No one wanted to come with me so once again I was all on my own.  My train got into Barcelona at 10:30 am.  After getting a coffee and some money out of the ATM, I took the metro to my hostel.  When I got there I put my bags in the storage room and asked the girl at the front desk for suggestions on what to do.  She told me I should just go to the Gothic part of the city and explore. So that is exactly what I did.

The first thing I did was go to the Mercat de San Josep.  It was amazing. They literally had everything that you could ever imagine in terms of food there.  The seafood selection was incredible and they scaled and cut up the fish for you right in the market. My mom would have loved it.  I ate an amazing lunch of calamari and shrimp.  They were so delicious, I was pretty much the happiest person on earth.  I also had fresh squeezed Mango and Coconut juice.  It was more like a smoothie, but it was equally as good as my seafood.  

View of the cruise ships from my tour around the harbor.

After being in a fishy mood I decided to head down to the water.  While I was there I decided to enjoy it fully and took a 35 minute harbor cruise.  It was so nice. The weather was ridiculously nice and the water was so blue and beautiful, I felt right at home.  After my cruise I visited the floating mall.  I just strolled through since I didn't really want to do any shopping.  Then I went to try and see Sta. Maria del Mar but it was closed. So then I went to the Picasso museum.  I'm not a huge fan of good old Pablo, but it was still a cool museum (especially since it had a lot of his earlier work which is actually normal).  I then tried to go see the Cathedral, but that was also closed because the Pope was coming to visit the next day.  The Pope didn't even go to the Cathedral, he went to the Sagrada Familia Basilica, but the Cathedral was still closed (I think the Cathedral people were bitter the Pope wasn't coming to their church).  I saw some people protesting the Pope which doesn't really make sense to me.  If you don't like the Pope, don't be Catholic.  Or you can be Catholic and retain all the beliefs of the faith without agreeing with the Pope.  Protesting a religious figure seems a little unnecessary to me.

Gaudi's house.

 After that I walked to the area where Gaudi's house is.  I was going to go in and see it, but I didn't really want to spend 17€ on one tour.  So instead I went to the CaixaForum which is located in one of Gaudi's buildings.  It had a free art exhibit of works by Mariscal.  Google him. You'll probably recognize some of his cartoon characters.  I continued to walk around for a little bit longer after that.  I had some of the best chocolate gelato ever before I decided it was time to head back to my hostel for the night.  On the way there the metro train I was on broke down. So I got off and decided to explore the area which was the Plaza Espanya.  There's supposed to be a magical fountain in front of the Park Montjuïc, but of course it was under construction so there was no light show.  So I ended up walking in this huge circle for no reason.

CaixaForum #1

Finally I went back to the hostel and asked the guy at the desk for a restaurant suggestion in the area.  He gave me one and after resting a little while I went to check it out.  There was basically no one there; obviously not the restaurant I was looking for.  So I decided to walk around a little  bit and see what else I could find.  I found nothing.  So despite my tiredness I got back on the metro and decided to head back toward the center.  I walked down a street where earlier I had seen a bunch of restaurants.  After looking at a few menus I found one I thought I might like.  So I put my name on the waiting list and had a coke at the bar.  After about 15 minutes they called me in to be seated.  It was really weird having dinner alone, but I wanted some good food! I was so happy I had decided to go back to the center because I had an amazing meal.  For my first course I had a warm goat cheese salad with honey vinaigrette.  Then I had a piece of grilled cod over some ratatouille style veggies.  It was by far one of the best meals I've eaten in Spain.  Finally it was time to go back to the hostel for good.  Once there I took a quick shower and crashed.

Unfortunately I didn't sleep to well that night.  I stayed in a 10 person room, and the last person didn't get in until 1 am and the first person started leaving at 5 am.  Every single person was up and moving around going in and out of the door BEFORE 8 AM. I was not a very happy camper.  So by that point I knew I wasn't going to sleep anymore so I got up, packed my stuff, got ready to go out, checked out, and put my stuff in the luggage room.  I went to a little bakery across the street from the hostel and had an amazing pastry type thing.  Then I jumped on the metro and went back to Plaza Espanya.  I went to the other CaixaForum first.  I watched two short films, then saw two different free art exhibits.  The first was of modern Spanish painters.  It included some of Dahli and Picasso.  The other exhibit was of Miquel Barceló.  His paintings were somewhat abstract but very textured.

Then I started my hike through park Montjuïc.  My destination was the Olympic stadium, but it took me a while to get there.  When I finally did I explored a bit and even went inside the stadium and saw the track.  Then I walked to the cable car so I could ride it up the mountain to the castle on the edge of the hill overlooking the water.  It was an amazing view so I just spent a while wandering around admiring the view.  I had a sandwich at a little outdoor cafe next to the castle.  After a while I took the cable car back down and started heading out of the park.

Street in Poble Espanyol.

My final destination was Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village) which was built for the 1929 International Exhibition.  The artists visited over 1600 spanish villages in order to recreate the different parts of Spain within this one little village.  It was pretty neat to see.  It's home to a bunch of artisan shops and delicatessens.  So of course I had to buy a few presents.  After walking around there I made my way back to the hostel picked up my bags and headed to the train station.  I was at the train station by 5 pm when my train didn't leave until 7:30 pm, but my legs could not have hauled my body around any more.  So I ended up doing home work at the train station and was able to watch a movie about the life of El Greco on the ride back.  It was a great two days in Barcelona. I really want to go back someday and explore some more!!

My 12th week in Spain

On Monday after vacation we had no classes because it was a Spanish national holiday.  It gave me an opportunity to recuperate from vacation, do homework and get back in school mode.

The googly eyed glasses I got from Sha, Liam, and CJ

On Tuesday everything changed at school. I had completely different teachers for grammar and discovered that we had been put in a higher level class! It was exciting.  Unfortunately I started to get a little stressed out this week because I had a lot of work to do and was trying to figure out what classes I want to take next semester.

All our classes proceeded as normal; grammar, art, literature. On Wednesday however we found out that on Thursday and Friday we were going to be having pronunciation classes. I was not happy about the suddenness of these classes and was angry we weren't given more notice about them.

Mikaela at Karaoke!

Thursday was the longest day ever. I had grammar from 9:00-10:30, then again from 10:45-12:15.  After that I had the pronunciation class from 12:30-2:00.  Fortunately Natalia let us out a bit early so we all ran over to VIPS to have some good old American food to get rid of some of our stress.  But the day was only half over.  We then had literature from 2:30-4:00.  Then Katie and I had to make up our art class so we met our teacher at the Reina Sofia from 5:00-6:15.  After that I went over to the train station to buy my ticket to Barcelona for Saturday.  I had to wait forever though because everyone and their mother wanted to buy tickets to go somewhere that day.  Finally I got to go after waiting for about 45 minutes.  When I finally got home it was 7:15.  I quickly did my homework, ate dinner, and showered so that I could be ready to go to our second round of Karaoke at 9. Despite my speediness, I didn't get to the Karaoke Bar until 9:45.  There weren't as many people there as last time, but it was still fun.  We sand Genie in a Bottle in Spanish as our first selection.  Then, Katie and I sang a duet of Summer Nights from Grease.  After that  we sang Poker Face as a group.  Then to finish off the night we sand Sober by Pink with one of our friends.  We plan on going to Karaoke at least one more time before we leave since it is our favorite activity.  Needless to say, I didn't get too much sleep that night, but it was worth it.

The package I got from Sha!!

On Friday we had grammar and then our pronunciation class.  After that I went home and legitimately lay in bed for hours, doing homework, watching Private Practice etc.  Finally I willed myself to get out of bed and start making myself look presentable to go out with some people from our class.  Katie and I met two people from our class in Plaza Santa Ana, then we went to a restaurant where you can pick your own little pinchos from the selection at the bar.  It was really good.  Then Katie, Sebastian (boy we went out with), and I attempted to go to Joy (a discoteca around the corner from my house).  I was on the list to get in for free. So the bouncers told us we had to wait until the man with the list came.  So we waited 20 minutes and the man didn't come. So we said screw it and thought about going to another discoteca, but Sebastian would have had to pay 12€ to get in which was ridiculous since we weren't going to be there for very long. So we decided just to call it a night which was a good idea since I still needed to pack my bag for Barcelona!

Italia Part Two!

Sta. Maria Maggiore.

Dad in the Colosseum

On Saturday our first order of business was to go get a cannoli for breakfast. And that is exactly what we did. We got cannoli and cappuccino and were very content.  Then we wanted to go check out what time mass was on Sunday at the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore.  When we got there we went in and looked around. It was, in my opinion, just as beautiful as St. Peter's in the Vatican.  After that we were going to head to the Colosseum but we took a wrong turn somewhere so we decided we might as well visit another basilica.  So we went to Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.  We ended up seeing 4 out of the 9 basilicas in Rome. I think that's quite the accomplishment for a 5 day vacation. Finally we made it over to the Colosseum.  We decided to do an impromptu tour of the Colosseum and the Forum.  It was really cool to go inside these buildings that have been around for thousands of years.  In the Colosseum a season lasted about 10 days and over 5,000 animals were killed each season.  I think the Romans are the cause of extinction.  The Forum was also amazing.  After finishing our tour there we were pretty much exhausted so we went back to the hotel for a little bit.  After that we went to a special wine store so Dad could buy a bottle for Mom.  Then we went out to dinner at the same restaurant we went to the night before because we liked it so much.  I had the biggest plate of gnocchi ever. It was delicious.  The tiramisu was disappointing however. 
     

In the Roman Forum with the Colosseum in the background.

The next morning we finally ate breakfast at the hotel.  Then we checked out and left our bags in the storage room so we could go out for a little bit longer.  We went to the Latin Mass at Sta. Maria Maggiore.  It was long and had a lot of incense but it was interesting.  Then after that we went to the train station and bought our bus/train tickets to the airport.  After that we went to the Bernini Art Gallery and saw some ancient art.  After browsing the gallery for a while we got lunch at the same place that we had eaten cannoli at the morning before.  It was more expensive than we expected, but it was good nonetheless.  Then unfortunately we had to go back to the hotel, get our bags and start heading toward the train station.  We said a tearful goodbye and I got on the bus to go to the airport.  I was really sad to leave my dad but I had already made it more than halfway through the semester so I knew that the second half would be easier.  It was an all too short but amazing five days in Rome.