Barcelona: Last Days

For New Year's Eve, we slept in a little bit, explored the lounge and had a lotof coffee and tea (I mean, who doesn't love free caffeine?), explored the hotel grounds, and discovered this would be a super fantastic place for a warm-weather vacation. I mean, the beach, the hammocks, the palm trees…? Beautiful stuff.

 

When we finally got our day in gear, we went down to Las Ramblas, which is basically a giant shopping-district street in Barcelona. We didn't do a whole lot of shopping, but it was definitely fun to see all the people, the art, the food, and the giant market halfway down the road. The market had everything from gorgeous chocolates to dead fishes. There were also skinned rabbits, turkeys, and chickens involved. Nothing like an open-air market with raw meat just hanging out on the counter, right?

We bought some grapes for the New Year, because the tradition in Spain is that you eat a grape at each stroke of midnight. At midnight we realized they were seeded grapes… which makes them considerably more difficult to eat in 12 seconds! We watched the midnight festivities on the TV (Puerta del Sol in Madrid instead of Times Square in New York), tried to eat grapes, and watched the party scene from our hotel window. If you can identify every song being played in the bars from the 8th floor, you might be near bars in Spain on New Year's Eve. There were also fireworks shows put on by a couple restaurants and hotels, which the 8th floor gave us a pretty sweet view of. Happy 2013!

On New Year's Day, we decided to go explore the Olympic Village from the '92 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, even though most of it is just a pedestrian tour ground, the gates to the cool buildings were all closed because of the holiday. It was fun to see, but would've been cooler if we could get closer. But it was a nice way to explore the city and pass the time for New Year's Day.

 

Plus there was a cool playground…

 

And we got tapas for lunch at a place called TapaTapa, which I picked out just because I really like saying the name. Saying it super super fast. It's fun. Try it. You know you want to. 

After lunch, we went to the hotel and I finally went down to the gym–it's a pretty sweet deal for a hotel gym. And finally getting the chance to work out this week has been fantastic–even if I've been super sore when we have to climb the stairs of the Metro… Still worth it! 

I think we're about ready to head home–we got Chinese food for dinner at one of the first restaurants we ran across when we went to go forage for food. It's been a packed couple weeks! And I am very excited to be back stateside. I'm writing this from the train back to Madrid to catch my flight to Denver, and while I'm so sad that this experience is over… I'm really looking forward to things like seeing the Flatirons and having access to mac & cheese! 

Family Visit: Part 1

12.22-23: Madrid

Oh, my jet-lagged family. Nothing like trying to find a coffee shop in the middle of the overpacked center of Madrid because people are so tired they can barely stand. After visiting the Cathedral and deciding the Palacio Real was too expensive for tours, my brother literally fell asleep at the table when we stopped for coffee near the Plaza Mayor. Jet lag? Jet lag. At least he didn't snore that time.

On Saturday, Jake was still in Madrid as well, so he and Cordis could at least keep each other entertained with football talk (of which I understand nothing, since I've been away from the sports news for so long!) and the new game they made up just for Spain–scarf spotting. Jake absolutely refuses to get a scarf… Cordis wanted to buy one while we were waiting in the train station when we left Madrid.

Trying Mom's scarf on...

Sunday was museum day. Lucky for us, museums are free on Sundays! We visited the Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia for free. Win. Win win win. So I showed my parents La Guernica by Picasso, Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya's dark period, the family portrait of Carlos IV's family where they painted in a faceless woman for Carlos V's wife (he hadn't married yet), religious paintings by El Greco, and we looked at a lot more art than I'd seen on our big group tours. Quite the day of paintings, but I guess four months in Europe makes you a lot better at surviving the art museums!

Prado Museum... may have gotten in trouble for this photo. Oops.

12.24-27 Salamanca

On the morning of Christmas Eve, we embarked on the train to Salamanca! Our hotel was right next to the Catedral Vieja, and the room Cordis and I were in had the best view of it. It made me so happy.

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, basically everything was closed, as could be expected in a largely-catholic country that takes a daily nap time break. It was like a ghost town. We managed to find a place that sold empanadas for lunch, and ate them in the Plaza Mayor.

I took Cordis scarf-shopping (since we didn't find one in the train station…) and we found a reasonably-priced one at H&M on Calle Toro. I'd like to just put this into the universe–I got my brother to go shopping at a store he'd normally avoid like the plague, a place that sells skinny colorful jeans for dudes. I feel that should be stated for the record. We did find a pretty spiffy scarf though, he looks very European (and enjoys saying so at every opportunity).

European Munchkin

Dinner was at a cafeteria I've walked past every day, so I finally got to see what the food was like! The Cafeteria Casino is delicious, just so you all know. We all got food we were quite pleased with, and since we eat really early by Spanish standards (we tend to be the first people in the restaurant after it opens…), we were able to get out of their hair before it was obnoxiously late for the employees to go home to their own Christmas festivities.

Christmas involved a lot of sitting around, walking around aimlessly, and sitting around some more. We bought snacks at the supermarket before, so we had a feast of pistachios, chocolate, and "gourmet" potato chips. And Fanta Limón, the drink I will miss so much when I go home! But more places were open for dinner at night (for the Spanish, Christmas Eve is very family-oriented, while on Christmas Day it seemed to be more acceptable to go out), so we found a place from Mom's guidebooks on Rúa Mayor, where we had fantastic food! I got some kind of mystery cut of pork, I still don't know what the menu item translates to, but it was delicious.

The next day we finally got to have our tourist day, soooo we did everything! We went to my favorite coffeeshop, the famous Mandala, for breakfast, where I discovered that my favorite coffee comes in a large size instead of the little baby one I usually order. Too bad I won't get to take advantage of that… but who needs that much caffeine anyway?

We explored the Cathedral and I showed my parents the human arm that's in one of the chapels along the sides. Main attraction. Still don't know why it's there.

After that, we went to the automotive museum, and I'm so sad Jake was too sick (and I was too busy) to make it to this, because he would've loved it. 100 cars, 60 motorcycles, and a whole lot of old stuff. The greatest delight for anyone who loves both history and cars. Like my dad!

Next, the Cathedral towers. Unfortunately, it was super foggy, meaning my family didn't get to see the amazing view from the top that I was hoping for. Plus they're restoring the bell tower, so there's scaffolding up all over the place. At least it's pretty enough that all this didn't totally ruin the experience! I love the top of these towers.

And then, they got to meet María! This was a little more difficult than when Jake met her, because my family speaks about 20 words of Spanish all together. But body language and gestures will get you halfway there! And I got to eat María's tortilla one last time (she makes the best tortilla!).

Both my mamas!!

And last but not least, we went to the building of the old Universidad. Sofia from ISA was a much better tour guide than I, but I remembered a fair amount of her stories from the tour I took before! Plus, my dad loves reading museum descriptions, even I learned some things.

This city. #salamanca #lastnight #christmaslights

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/TehgKuoVa9/

12.12.12

• I developed what I'm now calling the Salamancan plague, since being sick with the plague sounds far more legit than being sick with a cold. It's much, much better than the Moroccan plague, on the bright side. Just a cough and a runny nose, but it made me feel very sorry for my poor classmates who had to sit next to me when I started coughing up half a lung in the middle of the front row. Nothing like being the sick kid. Especially when you're already the foreign kid…
• I got better! Moving on.
• My classmate decided we were going to speak English more often–which led to me teaching her curse words. In my defense, she said them first when we were talking about our presentation. But the really fun part about this was that I have a much better personality in English than I do in Spanish–mainly because I actually have a personality when I speak in English, and my Spanish personality is a very simplified version.
• We had a magical palindrome day! Which meant that my American brain could relax and not worry about messing up the date when I wrote it on my Spanish notes. It's the little things. Happy 12/12, everyone.
• I started writing an essay about cancioneros del renacimiento–which basically translates to "song books of the Renaissance." That basically translates to me metaphorically banging my head against the internet for a million years (I exaggerate during finals week, get used to it) and hoping something that sounded vaguely like an intelligent Spanish thesis. Minimal success, owing largely to the help of a few classmates. Note to future study abroad students–if you decide to take the hard classes, MAKE FRIENDS. They will keep you sane and afloat come finals time.
• I also drank a lot of coffee–Mandala, Pancake, university café… This also means I consumed a lot of sugar, since I put so much in my coffee.
• Fake New Years! Basically, since Salamanca is chock-full of international students who go home for the holidays, the Salamantinos decided to start doing their own New Year's celebration in December, before everyone left. This way, the international students get to see how the Spanish ring in the new year (it involves grapes), plus they never turn down a chance to celebrate.
  
  In all reality, it involves packing 30,000 people into the Plaza Mayor, aaaaand it's incredibly crowded. The countdown was a lot of fun, and then we all dispersed and every girl in the world had to use the bathroom–meaning every bathroom in town had a super long line. It was sheer nonsense, and meant we went home pretty soon afterwards. The plaza part of it all was fun because they gave out grapes to eat during the countdown, which is supposed to be good luck! They had a giant stage set up and everyone counted down together to midnight, when our "new year" started!

• I packed up my suitcase a little bit and grabbed my backpack to go meet Jake at the airport in Madrid! And I ate my last dinner with Megan at our little kitchen in María's apartment–spinach tortilla. Yumm!

Thanksgiving!

So here's the scoop on how I passed my foreign Thansgiving. My program (ISA) knows that all of their 80 American students are probably a little homesick, so they prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for us. We dressed up, they made turkey, we had a lovely time. The food wasn't exactly like home, but they tried really hard. For example, mashed potatoes were not really mashed… it was more like a puree. Zero lumps sir. But hey, they were potatoes! And watching both our fellow students and our ISA directors figuring out how to carve a turkey was pretty funny at times. No one lost a finger, that's why I can say it was funny. But if I couldn't be with my family, being with my Fall 3 family was a pretty decent alternative! Here's a photo of most of the people I've spent my last couple months hanging out with!!

(PS–7 of these people are from Colorado, and 5 of them go to DU. That's why when I tell people I'm from Denver, they usually respond, "Oh, another one!")

This Year I'm Thankful...

(Warning: Cheesiness abound in this post)

This Year I'm Thankful...

My mommy and daddy love me enough to let me run away to Europe for a semester.

I have the type of friends who send me silly cat photos and
travel budget postcards because they miss me too.

My boyfriend is the kind of guy to help me with my fantasy football lineup
even though I haven’t been there to watch a single game with him this season.

My brother is a super smart engineering nerd and seems to be kicking butt at it.

My host mom is an awesome cook & my host brother corrects my Spanish.

I got to visit two different continents in the last month
(but also thankful I don’t live in the Sahara...).

I have new friends I made an ocean away from home
but will hopefully keep when I go back.

But mostly, I am thankful I am taking a picture of this outside one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen in one of the most amazing cities I will probably ever live in. And I am so thankful to everyone who helped me even the littlest bit to get here! So, that is to say pretty much everyone who reads this. Thank you to everyone! Even though I don’t get a “real” Thanksgiving here, that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking of you all and how happy and lucky I am to have every single one of you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spain, You Are Silly

November 14: Giant country-wide strike.

November 15: Giant party on my street, courtesy of the students of the biology department, which included costumes, whistles, some kind of cheers, blocking traffic, and keeping María from taking her siesta. It does not make María happy when she can't take her siesta.

People!

I just realized I have very few photos of the people I actually hang out with when we go out at night, so here's some awesome photos. Also, you should read my friend Quinn's blog post about being a tall man in Spain, he's a DU student studying journalism and I found this hilarious because it's so true. Even I feel too tall sometimes, and the poor guy is a foot taller than I am!

Anyway, photos of my friends:

Brenda, Katie, Sal, Camilla, Me!, Lucia (from Germany) and Megan (my roommate) at Irish Rover for karaoke night

Cora, a Spanish girl we've made friends with, myself, and Kristi

Me, Kristi (Pennsylvania) and Gerardo (Mexico)

Morgan (Belgium), me, Kristi, and Sophie (Belgium) on the "Spanish side" of town (instead of the "international side")

Blurry photo of Britt (Denver), Mila (Boulder), Camila (Chicago) and me during the festivals

Mila, Gerardo, Camila, Me, Samantha (Michigan), Britt, Kristi, and Quinn (Denver, who's blog I  mentioned above) during the festivals again. About half of our ISA group, about an eighth of all of the ISA groups in Salamanca this fall.

Circus & Such

So can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that we watched all of the videos below in my culture class today and they were all relevant?? Fantastic stuff, I tell you.

Above we have the traditional dance of the Basque country, called Aurresku, which basically consists of several very serious men doing cheerleader kicks. Also, my teacher demonstrated this last Friday when the internet didn't work, and it's a thousand times better in person.

And this is a flamenco song that she showed us because it's kind of adorable, the bride surprises her fiancé by singing this during the ceremony (the chorus is one that she belongs to when she's not getting married) and if you watch it, you get to pretty much everyone in the church start crying over the cuteness of the whole ordeal, including the sniffling of whoever is filming. It's fantastic. Also for the original, click here.

Also, when we got to the Plaza after class today, there was some kind of fair/circus thing going on, so obviously we had to stop. And get the only tall guy in the group to take photos for us because we were too short to get a good shot of the baby tiger. Pobrecito, I'm pretty sure he had to take a photo for everyone in the group because we are all super short. We're not really sure why there was this fantastic circus, but it was a nice little surprise after class.

Above, that's the stage they've set up in the plaza, bajo el reloj. That's where they've been having all the concerts all weekend, in honor of the festivals.

After lunch, Megan and I went to meet up with our friend Katie to get some helado (ice cream, which there are incredible amounts of here) at the Plaza before Megan had to go to work. This time I got lime flavor. Also one of the greatest things I've ever tasted, just saying.

Movie Time

Today, because Megan works at a movie theater in Tennessee, we decided to go to the movie theater. Also, everywhere we could shop and whatnot was closed because of the festivals. (Although we did go to the Plaza in the morning to see them ring the bells, and I got mojito ice cream, which was super yummy). 

Anyway, Megan and I ended up going to see a Sherlock Holmes movie that was out here. Probably not our smartest idea, because the real Sherlock Holmes does not run around shooting people and whatnot like Robert Downing Jr. does. So we were pretty confused, I'm still not 100% sure what happened in that movie. Actually, I'm roughly only 60% sure I'd say. But I will say that Sherlock got the girl, I think he caught the murderer, and Watson was actually a doctor in this one so that was cool too.

Moral of the story is, no more spending money on movies until we know we'll understand them. Still a fun adventure though.

Los Festivales

So I'm still not 100% sure if there's a real purpose to these festivals, but it mostly seems like an excuse for the ENTIRE CITY to flood the Plaza and surrounding area. I mean, there's the thing about it being the day of their patron saint, Virgen de la Vega, but we're not sure if there's more to it than that or not. I will say though, that the Spanish can give a fantastic fireworks show. Even though we were behind a lot of people and a row of very tall trees, we still got a great show! Here's a video, enjoy.

Also, here's a photo of the Old Cathedral at night because it's beautiful.

Also we went to a free concert in the Plaza afterwards, this guy Carlos Jean was playing. Cordis, if you ever actually read my blog, you should check him out. It was pretty good music, just super crowded so we didn't end up staying for more than an hour.

But we walked by the Plaza later at night and got to see the result of an entire town packing into the Plaza.