Just the Beginning

Orientation was on day two. Nobody seemed to like it that much but I thought it was helpful. The staff answered a lot of questions I had (like what class I'm in and how to get there) and gave good tips on cultural norms (like you get bad service at restaurants because they don't expect a tip). I got to meet the other students who lived in my building which was good and some of us are in the same level Spanish class.

We walked around la Plaça de Catalunya, where the CEA center is, and to the Universitat de Barcelona (Catalan spelling). There are two locations of the university and our classes will be in a much smaller building a few blocks away from the main campus. Still have to figure out how to get there by public transit for class in a couple days!

There's a nice park all around the university and the building itself is beautiful. There was red carpet on the stairs which made it feel royal. The library is neat too. The downfall is only one part has air conditioning!

We had pintxos ("pinchos") for lunch back at the CEA study center. They are traditional Spanish food on a toothpick. In a restaurant you take which ones you want and the waiter charges you based on how many empty toothpicks you have left. There are also some other bites like pizza and the Spanish tortilla, similar to an American omelet which I enjoyed. After eating we headed out for a scavenger hunt around the city.

There were CEA staff at different major points around the city and they each had a task for us to complete there before walking to the next one. It was a lot of walking I will say, but there were some cool places. One of them was a big mercat (market), which every neighborhood has I think. They say it's the best place to buy fresh produce, cheese, and meats. The fish smell gets to me though and I don't like seeing all the meats out. In one case today we saw a whole skinned rabbit! We took a picture of it for one of the scavenger hunt tasks: What is surprising or new to you? When we were done the staff member said, "That surprises me too!"

After the game we met for a two hour bus tour of Barcelona. The tour guide told us lots about all the buildings and statues as we drove by. I liked seeing the Casa Batlló by Antonio Gaudí (a famous Spanish architect), a park where we could see the Mediterranean Sea, and just sitting down in the AC on the bus! There's a lot of traffic but it's ok for a tour so you can look at everything.

I went to a coffee shop nearby with two girls from my building when we got back for a snack and a café con leche. I want to try as many of the local shops as I can!

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Yesterday we trekked over two hours to a town up north called Blanes. It started with a bus ride at 7:30 am then a long trip on the metro and concluded with a taxi ride up through the town.

We arrived at a botanical garden. There were species from all over the world and it felt like a secluded area even though it was in the middle of town.

There were also great views of the ocean and secluded coves with massive rocky shores. It was surreal. (Click the arrow for the photo slideshow)

We walked to the beach from there and came to a rocky point where we put our bags down and jumped in to swim. In two groups of course, so nobody could take our things.

The water was a good temperature to swim in but still refreshing after the heat. The rocks were slippery and I cut one of my toes on something down there. We saw a small crab, too.

After a while we headed over to the beach and what a surprise it was to see many of the women topless! It's hard to believe it's so normal in other countries. There were families there with generations of women, all topless! It was about half and half so we just kept ours on.

Definitely an interesting cultural difference. It might sound weird, but I admired how everyone just did it, no matter what they looked like. There wasn't any shame or embarrassment, which I think American society puts would put on us.

The beach was small so it felt crowded but we still found a spot. Don't zoom in too close! Just kidding, it's mostly fine.

A mai tai and a mojito later, the hunger set in. For lunch we ate really sketchy food from the garden's cafetería, which they whipped up out of nowhere. I was sure the meat everyone ate would have made them sick because it looked weird and tasted bad, according to them.

The restaurant was about half an hour walk away, up all the roads along the tall rocky coastline. It got hot. I'm glad there were cool views at the top.

Plus, the food was good. I ate vegetables for the first time this trip! Oops.

I enjoyed walking through a smaller town because it's different pace than Barcelona. I think a lot of the people were Spanish, not tourists, and it felt more carefree than the city.

Finally I arrived home around 10:15. It would've been sooner but the metro was delayed and we walked home instead of taking a taxi. I had no idea we were going to be out that long. It was a super long day and I ended up sleeping for almost 12 hours. But the views were worth it!