As many of you know, I am sort of a picky person- especially in the food department. However, I have found that Spanish food and the Spanish way of life suit me very well. So well in fact, that our Señora thinks that Melissa is the picky one!! 

The food here is delicious. We have fresh bread everyday that we eat with each meal. For breakfast we have tostadas con aceite y cafe o té (toast with olive oil and coffee or tea). We eat lots of fruits and vegetables which are incredibly fresh, and besides that we eat various combinations of potatoes, eggs, chicken, fish and red wine. I have only eaten meat twice since I got here- I couldn’t be happier.

The Spanish also have a wonderful rhythm of life. We wake up around 8:30am, spend the morning in class or sight seeing, have a good sized meal around 2:30pm, relax or nap during the afternoon, have a late dinner and then go out at night. I think I was born to be Spanish. 

However, all of my picky tendencies haven’t disappeared. Tonight we had squash, pumpkin and cauliflower soup (deliciously blended together) with fish. I love eating fish… as long as all of the bones are gone. We had to pull the spines out of the fish in order to eat them. It wasn’t completely horrible because the fish were very tender and it basically fell off the bones, but I really don’t like seeing the skeleton of the thing I’m about to digest. 

Also, I am still rather particular about the environment in which I live. Today, we began looking for apartments. Jordan found a promising ad for what we thought would be a four bedroom flat near the University and the Plaza de Cataluña. In actuality, it was a nine bedroom apartment with four open spaces and one of the roommates was a strange, middle-aged man that I originally thought was fixing the stove- turns out he was cooking. Aside from its inhabitants, the actual apartment was dark and eerie and the bedrooms were the size of closets. Jordan kept the emergency number, 112, up on her phone because the place felt so sketchy and she thought we were going to be taken. Alas, we left unscathed but are still without a place to live. 

Adeu (ah-day-you) for now!

Let me begin by promising I won’t blog everyday, unless I have something really important to say, but these first couple weeks I will probably write more often just to express my excitement.

Melissa and I officially have phones! If anyone would like to call me, its something like 85 cents per minute and 75 cents per text if you are in the United States. My number is available upon request but I personally think WhatsApp works better. We have also begun to use the Metro and we have taken to it quite nicely. Barcelona has a great public transportation system that is comprehensive and easy to use. We bought a 10 trip pass yesterday and have used 5 of those trips so far. One of which took us to a bar called Snack 55 on pg. Sant Joan where we met up with Max (our mentor for the next few weeks), Jasmine and Chloe (Renee and Jordan showed up eventually). The drinks there are massive and they are only 4 euro- great huh? The place was fairly casual and we got to talk with other American students that are in Barcelona for the yearlong program that runs in conjunction with ours. 

Melissa, Chloe, Jasmine and I planned an early trip to the Parc Guell (“Parc” is Catalan for “parque” which is Spanish for “Park) because we were told that it is prettiest in the morning. After staying out until 3, it was a struggle to wake up at 10, but it was definitely worth it. Chloe didn’t make it, so we met Jasmine on the Metro and proceeded to walk up hundreds of flights of steps to the Parc. The view was breathtaking. There are two main parts to the parc: a stone figure and an outdoor theatre. The stone figure (for lack of a better word) has steps that go up each side and is broad enough for 20 or 30 people to stand on top. There is a stone cross on top of it and from there, you can see most of Barcelona. Half of the outdoor theatre is surrounded by pillars (this part goes into a hill) and the other part is bordered by a mosaic bench. The whole thing is held up by massive pillars and a ceiling that is adorned with mosaics. The colors of the Parc Guell are incredibly vibrant and I hope to go back soon.

We returned to our piso (apartment) around 2 pm and had a lunch of spaghetti with tomato sauce, salad, garbanzo beans with spinach and bread at 3 with Loli and her daughter Rocio. In true Spanish fashion, we indulged in a siesta after lunch.

Besos from Barca!

P.S. Soon I’ll figure out how to insert pictures into the blog entries

After 14 hours, 3 flights, 2 airlines and an Aerobus that doesn’t announce its stops, I have finally arrived in Barcelona! 

We arrived at the Universitat de Barcelona around 11:30am. The Universitat is so  There, Melissa and I ran into two girls, Lexi and Carolyn, from the University of Berkley who are also on our program. Since we didn’t have anything scheduled until 4:00pm, the four of us spent a few hours exploring. First we went to El Corte Ingles (a Spanish Department Store) and then found a Starbucks so that we could use the internet. Melissa and I picked up a few things at H&M, and then the four of us went to La Bocarilla which is an outdoor market on La Rambla. Carolyn and I enjoyed our first legal drinks (white wine and red wine respectively) and Lexi ordered Paella. At 4:00 we had a meeting with the program directors and the 40 or so other people that are on our trip. Melissa and I were assigned to the same Señora who is named Loli and is wonderful! We have our own bedroom, bathroom and sitting room which is complete with a couch, piano, desk and computer. We got to her apartment around 6:00pm, unpacked and took a nap before dinner. Loli, being the amazing person that she is, brought us fruit in bed because she figured we wanted to go back to sleep (which was our plan). Instead we figured out the internet and how to work our converters and were able to contact the United States. 

Today we had a nice breakfast of toast, coffee and tea with Loli. Loli made rice and chicken for lunch (which we will be eating shortly) and then we are going to explore a little more!

Ciao for now,

Beth (or as the Castillians would say, Isabel)

P.S. I’ll add pictures as soon as I figure out how