Sitges

Today I went on a day trip to a nearby beach town called Sitges. I went with three other Dartmouth kids. It's about a 40-minute train ride from downtown Barcelona. On the train, there were amazing views of cliffs overlooking the ocean. We spend the morning exploring the town and the afternoon relaxing on the beach. Here are some photos from our trip:

Along the boardwalk we saw some really impressive sand sculptures. Check out this castle and fire-breathing dragon!

Field Trip!

Instead of normal classes, my program has field trips every Friday. Today we met at La Catedral Barcelona (wikipedia link) and our program coordinator from the University of Barcelona, Elisenda, talked to us about the history of the city and of the Cathedral. I'm pretty sure that it's the oldest building I've ever been in! Construction started in the 1200s and is still going on today. Are they ever going to finish?! It's beautiful both inside and out. Off of the main room of the cathedral, there is this open-air room with a pool in the middle (see photo).

After the cathedral, we went to El Museo de Historia de la Ciudad. We had a tour guide in the museum who spoke pretty fast in Spanish, but she was very informative. My favorite part of the museum was the underground part that showed the old city. We walked around on bridges over all kinds of ancient stone creations (see photo). And we got to see the room where Christopher Columbus met the king and queen of Spain. It was a pretty cool museum, but by 2:30 I was starving so I ate the bocadillo (sandwich) that Amparo had packed for me as we walked back to the University. Why does everyone eat so late here?!

Tonight, I went to the grocery store with Alicia to buy the ingredients to make pizza. At an American grocery store, there are always carts that you push and plastic baskets that you carry. At the grocery store on my street, there are plastic baskets (same size and shape as the American ones) with long handles that people pull behind them like a wagon. And you have to pay 2 cents for a plastic bag!

When we got home, Amparo made pizza dough for us and we put on the toppings. It was fun to hang out with Alicia because we can communicate pretty well. I found out that Alicia has taken English in school since kindergarten! Which explains why she is able to help me when I get stuck on a word. She's staying in the apartment for the weekend, in the extra bedroom. I think her parents are traveling, but it's unclear. She has the whole week off from school for La Semana Santa (Holy week).

Tomorrow, a bunch of us are going on a day trip to Sitges, which is a beach town about 30 minutes away. Look for some more pictures tomorrow!

"El Huelga General"

I didn't have classes today because the University was closed for the nation-wide labor strike (el huelga general). All the restaurants, banks, and stores were closed. The public transportation system shut down. The strike was expansive. Amparo (my host mom) explained a lot of the history and politics of the strike to me, but I didn't understand a whole lot of what she said. This is more clear (it's in English ;): http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10925022-spanish-workers-strike-against-labor-reforms

Today I got to meet Amparo's two daughters who each have one daughter. Carla is 2 and the daughter of Rosa and her husband Ramon, and Alicia is 14 and the daughter of Amparo Jr. (not positive that's her name, because I don't understand spanish, but I'm pretty sure) and I haven't met her husband, from what I've gathered, he is a chef. Carla is adorable and full of energy. Today we watched an animated movie with a princess and a unicorn. I understood a fair bit of the movie, so maybe my Spanish is almost as good as a 2-year-old. Cool.

Alicia, the older granddaughter, is really cool. I was able to converse with her more easily than anyone else I've talked to so far. I'm reading "The Hunger Games" and turns out she just finished reading the series, in Spanish of course. The movie is already out in the U.S. but she told me it's coming out in Spain sometime in April and I think we're going to go together!

When I arrived in Barcelona, I brought a couple things for my host mom as gifts, including pancake mix and maple syrup from Vermont. She didn't know what the pancake mix was, and the best I could do to explain it was compare them to crepes. And she was even more confused about the maple syrup. I said it was sweet, and she thought it was honey. This type of miscommunication is constant. It's usually pretty funny. Sometimes she laughs at me. With the maple syrup, I was laughing at her. This afternoon, we couldn't leave the house, so we were all hanging out (Amparo, Rosa, the two granddaughters and me) and she asked me if I wanted to make the pancakes. I said sure!

So I made made a bunch of pancakes while Amparo took notes on what I did. This was a lot of pressure, especially because I can't cook at all. So I made a bunch of pancakes, with Alicia's help (again, she's so cool!). Somehow they turned out okay (phew!) but Amparo was still very confused. Thankfully Rosa knew what was going on because I couldn't explain. Apparently she lived in California for a few months, I think on an exchange program in college, kind of like me! It was very entertaining to watch them eat pancakes and discover the wonders maple syrup. I think they enjoyed it and Amparo said she's going to make pancakes sometime.

Last night, I met up with 10 other kids on my trip for dinner at a restaurant west of the University, in a newer part of the City. We had a table outside and sat around talking and eating for two hours. Before going on the trip, I was nervous because I didn't know anyone else on the program. I'm relieved to find out that nobody knew a whole lot of other kids on the trip, so we're all in the same boat. It's an eclectic group, with kids from all over the U.S., a number of varsity athletes, all different majors, all different clubs at Dartmouth. It's amazing how quickly you bond with people when you're out of your comfort zone. Here's a picture from dinner last night.

Every Friday we have a class field trip instead of classes. Tomorrow we're going to "El Museo de Historia de la Ciudad." I'm excited!

Unrelated
 I have been keeping a list of things that are remarkably different in Spain. This may be a little eccentric, but these are things that I've found interesting and notable:

 • All of my classes observe something called "cuarto de hora academico." Our grammar prof explained this to us on the first day. In Spain, if you have a class at 9am, the first 15 minutes are free to go to the bathroom, make a phone call, get something to eat or drink in the cafeteria, finish your homework, etc. So the professors would begin teaching at 9:15. I think it makes a lot of sense, because then kids are leaving to go to the bathroom in the middle of class.
• There is a big bicycle rental company here. There are literally thousands of bikes and you see people on them everywhere. And the rental bikes all have headlights that go on automatically at a certain time of night so bicyclists are more visible. Makes a lot of sense to me.
• I got a cup of tea in the school cafeteria on Monday, and it was literally the smallest cup I have ever seen. Probably 4 ounces. And it's the same in cafes, the coffee and tea cups are microscopic. I'll have to take a picture.
• In my classes, every single student is looking at the professor the entire time. This is very different from Dartmouth (or anywhere English-speaking, really) when people are looking at their notes, the ceiling, the floor, the walls, other kids, or gazing off into space. I believe this is because we are all working so hard to understand the professors, who speak exclusively in Spanish, that we are entirely focused on their faces. Some kids on my trip have taken Spanish for less than 6 months. You only need 2 terms (or the high-school equivalent) to be able to go on this program. It's nice that we are all on the same level (relatively) in terms of Spanish.
• There is beer in every vending machine and, according to one of my friends, there's even beer available at McDonalds. Huh?
• The subway and tram doors don't open automatically, you have to push a button. And the buses don't stop unless you pull the cord. Otherwise you'll miss your stop. Learned both the hard way :)
• After lunch and dinner, Amparo and I usually watch some TV, which is a fun challenge for me to understand. At night we watch movies, and most of the movies that we've watched have been American movies that have Spanish voiceovers so the mouth movements don't match the words. It's pretty weird, but you get used to it.

Photos!

After class today a friend and I walked around la Place de Catalunya which is a big open city block with fountains and statues and trees. Very touristy. You can see a lot of cool old buildings from here.

Below is the courtyard inside the University building. My classes are in rooms off to the right and the library is off to the left. If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can see that they are orange trees!

I've seen a bunch of Vanagons in Barcelona, but seeing this car (below) parked on the street made me laugh (it's just like ours!).

More to come later, I'm off to have dinner with my friends!

Vamos a la Playa!

Today was very relaxing. In the morning, I had lots of time (because my first class began at 11:30am!!), I went for a run in El Parc de Joan Miro, which is a few blocks away. I also ran by la Plaçe de Espana, where there is a huge statue in the middle of a round-about. I plan to go back there and explore more because there are several interesting buildings around the round-about. Running is a good way to see parts of the city and to determine places I should see.

After my run, I went back to the apartment and had breakfast. Then I walked to the University. My schedule on Tuesdays is great -- I only have two classes, gramática and historia. I finished classes at 2:30 and met up with my friend Eve. We walked around near the University for a bit with other Dartmouth kids. Then Eve and I went to the beach! We took the metro to a beach pretty far out called Selva del Mar. It was beautiful, about 70˚ and not a single cloud. The water was pretty cold, but in a few weeks or a month it will definitely be warm enough to swim in. There were a lot of people at the beach. And, yes, some of them were naked.

We laid in the sun for a while and I read a short story for my literature class. Doing homework on the beach isn't so bad ;) And don't worry, I bought sunscreen at a grocery store on my way home yesterday. Then we walked along the beach all the way back to Barceloneta, which is the main touristy beach. It's probably about a mile and a half. Along the way, we passed this random patio with free public exercise equipment (below). Spain is weird.

In Barceloneta, we walked along a bike path that was really busy with people on bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, and tons and tons of runners. There are lots of palm trees in Barcelona, especially near the beaches. Here, I'm standing next to a cactus that looks like a gigantic pineapple.

I've walked more in the 4 days I've been here than I've ever walked before. Between walking everywhere and having to concentrate really hard all the time, I'm pooped by the time I get home at night. Tonight I got home before my host mom because on Tuesdays she takes a class on writing in Catalan. And I think she takes a computer class in the mornings, but it's unclear. She doesn't speak any english, but it's ok because I'm starting to understand more of what she says.

Sidenote: In Barcelona, everyone speaks two languages: Catalan and Castillian (spanish). Many of the advertisements and a lot of the TV channels are in catalan, which is kind of similar to French. Most of the public information signs are in both, which is nice. Tonight, Amparo's daughter, who is probably in her early 30s and is married, came over to pick up some food and she was speaking Catalan. Amparo told her to speak in "Castillano, por favor" so that I would understand. Except she spoke so fast I couldn't understand anyway. Oh well.

Everyone is talking about the strike that's happening all across Spain on Thursday. Check it out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17315961

¡Hasta manana!

First Day of School!

For the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad (LSA) program, we take 3 classes, and today was the first day. I'm lucky to live close to the University so I can walk. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to walk along La Gran Via, which is a busy street but there is a pedestrian walkway in the middle. There were lots of spanish students in and around the University when I arrived this morning. All of my classes are in the Faculitad de Filologia building.

First, I had gramática, which is essentially the same as Spanish 3 that you can take at Dartmouth. The professor is a younger guy who speaks spanish very clearly and slowly. I think he will be a good teacher because he has taught Dartmouth students before and understands which grammar rules the hardest for American students. 

After that I had the conversation portion of Spanish 3 which is taught by a different professor from the University. The professor for the conversation class took us on a tour of the University. She showed us where we can make photocopies, how to get to the library, the cafeteria, and the bathrooms. The University of Barcelona has a bunch of campuses throughout the city, but this one is pretty much just one really big city block, but it is made up of several interconnected buildings with courtyards. So those two (gramática y conversation) are distinct, but together they compose Spanish 3.

The next class I had was literature. This class is taught by our Dartmouth professor who is the faculty director of the LSA this term. He is lively and entertaining and clearly knows a lot. Interestingly, his spanish is much harder to understand than any of the professors from the University of Barcelona. In this class we are going to read and discuss short stories written by famous spanish authors.

Last, I had "Historia Cultural de España." I liked the professor for this class a lot. By this point, I was pretty wiped out because all of the classes were exclusively in Spanish and I have to concentrate really hard to understand anything. Each of the professors noted that the first week or two are the hardest, so there's hope! But I feel like I already understood more today than I did when I got here. 

I walked home after classes and mi mama was already cooking lunch. Today we ate macaroni with meat sauce first and then chicken. After lunch we watched a little TV and then I went back to the University to meet my friend Eve. She is on a different exchange program because she actually speaks spanish well, meaning she was over-qualified for the Dartmouth LSA. Eve and I walked around some touristy parts of the city, including Las Ramblas. We parted ways and I walked back home. After the time change, it doesn't get dark until around 8:30pm which is wonderful. I stopped in the supermarket near my apartment to buy sunscreen for the beach tomorrow. The supermarket was cool because they have all kinds of weird foods that we don't have in New Hampshire and reading the labels was a good way to practice my food vocabulary!

We are going to go the beach tomorrow after classes because it's going to be 70 degrees! My apologies to everyone in Hanover, I hope it doesn't snow ;)

Domingo

It was absolutely beautiful in Barcelona today. Lots and lots of sunshine. Last night my host mom told me to sleep as much as I wanted, and I guess I took that pretty literally. I slept until noon, which was really 1pm because we advanced the clocks last night. I has some cereal for breakfast and soon after, Amparo (my host mom) returned from church and started to cook lunch. 

For lunch, we ate outside on la terraza (the little balcony outside overlooking the street). First we ate little slices of meat, chunks of cheese, and potato chips, while the main meal cooked. She made me a big plate of rice with a fried egg on top and then she poured some smooth tomato sauce, kind of like ketchup, on the side. It looked weird, but it tasted really good! Then I had some chicken. And dessert was vanilla ice cream con nata (whipped cream). 

In the afternoon, I met up with three kids on my program in the newer part of the city. I walked to my friend Mary's apartment and then we took the tram out to meet two other kids. We learned that the doors of the tram don't open automatically, you have to push a button. Too bad we learned that only after we missed our stop. Oh well! We walked back and found the boys from Dartmouth. The apartment buildings in that area were very nice. John's building had an enclosed courtyard with a swimming pool, so we laid in the sun for a while. It feels like summer to us because we are used to Hanover weather. But I guess it doesn't feel like summer to the Spaniards, because people walk around all bundled up and nobody would even think about swimming this time of year. 

We walked around for a bit and then tried to find a place to eat. Most of the businesses and cafes were closed today because it is Sunday and Spain is a Catholic country. We took the tram back and found a Subway restaurant. It was nice to see American food. By that point it was almost 8pm and time to go home for dinner. I'm rather impressed that I found my way back. Cities are confusing. When I got home Ampara was busy cooking again. 

For dinner, she made "una tortilla" which was kind of like an omelet. The outside was an egg, and inside it was kind of like mashed potatoes. The whole thing was warm and delicious. Then I had some fish and for dessert, an apple and some yogurt. During dinner, we watched the news because there is a big election going on. It was the only thing they were talking about on all of the TV channels. But for some reason, and Amparo explained this but I didn't understand, only 2 provinces in Spain voted. It's kind of nice to watch TV during meals because having a conversation is a lot of work. 

After dinner it was pretty late and we watched part of a movie that I didn't understand. It's interesting that nearly all of the movies are English movies that have Spanish voiceovers. It's a little strange to see that the mouth movements do not match the words you hear, but it doesn't seem to phase Amparo, who told me she loves to watch movies. 

Tomorrow is the first day of classes and I'll finally meet all the other students on my LSA.

 ¡Hasta manana!

Si, si, si

After resting for most of the morning, my host mom and I went for a walk around noon. She showed me how to get to the University, which is only about a 15-20 minute walk. She pointed out a few good cafes to get bocadillos (sandwiches) after classes. We had lemonade and these little toasted bread things that had melted cheese or salmon on top in a cafe near the University. After that we walked around a little more and then we took the metro back home. On the metro, it's about five minutes from the apartment to the University.

When we got back home around 2pm, my host mom made an ensalada for lunch. Then we ate pan toastado, which is thick bread toasted with tomato and olive oil. And then she made this yummy soup with chicken broth and star-shaped pasta. And then she gave me this enormous piece of steak, which was very good, served with potato chips. After that she gave me a huge bowl of strawberries, topped with the biggest pile of whipped cream I had ever seen. At one point, I told her I was full and then she told me I was not full. So I kept eating.

My host mom is great, she is very sweet. I bet she feels like she's talking to a brick wall. I can understand a fair bit of what she is saying, but I just don't have the vocabulary to be able to produce a response. So I say "si... si..." to pretty much everything she says. Have to be careful with that though, because every once in a while she'll throw a question in, which usually needs a real response. The moral of the story is I'm really looking forward to classes, which begin on Monday, because I want to improve my Spanish.

After lunch we rested for a while and then went out to see more of the city. My host mom took me on a walk to see many of the big landmarks and famous streets so that I would get a sense of the city. Here are the three highlights of our afternoon walk:

1. Off the Ramblas, there is the biggest fresh food market I have ever seen. She told me that they have comidas de todas las países (food from every country) and it's true!! There were a lot of fruits and vegetables I had never seen or heard of and they had delicious smoothies.

2. We walked through the famous cathedral that Gaudí never finished. And still hasn't finished. There was a church service going on when we were in there. I think you can only get close if you're in the choir, so they show the priest on closed-circuit TVs. The cathedral is amazing inside and out.

3. Outside the cathedral, my host mom got really excited when she saw a big crowd of people and heard some music. I didn't know what she was talking about until we walked down and saw tons and tons of people dancing, holding hands in big circles. She explained that this is a traditional Catalan style of dance and then she told me to hold her jacket and she joined in. After the 15-piece band (see photo) finished the song, everyone cheered. She asked me if I wanted to learn and I said "¡si!" As mentioned above, that is my response to everything. When I got home, my host mom reminded me of the name of the style of dance so I could look it up. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iED6mW1n-qg&feature=related

Lastly, the title of my blog was true today on my very first day in Barcelona. Towards the end of our walk through the city, my host mom took me down this narrow street in the old part of town. She brought me to this restaurant that had a line out the door. When we were seated, she ordered without looking at the menu and 2 minutes later the waiter brought out a croissant covered with powdered sugar, a plate of little churros, and a cup of very viscous hot chocolate with about a baseball-sized dollop of whipped cream on top. We dunked pieces of the croissant and churro in the chocolate stuff and it was muy delicioso. Dessert first = all her idea.

Then we took the metro home and had tortolini for dinner and watched a movie in spanish. I'm pretty wiped out from having to pay 100% attention when people are speaking spanish and from travelling and to make matters worse, Spain decided that we should lose an hour of sleep tonight for daylight savings. Oh well, my internal clock was pretty messed up already, another hour is nothing. I think this means that I will be 6 hours ahead of eastern standard time.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet her daughters and granddaughters and meet up with some other Dartmouth kids on my program.

¡ Hasta luego !

In Barcelona!

I made it! My flight was delayed more than an hour in New York, but somehow we made it Barcelona right on time. Pretty sure that's impossible. But it happened.

I shared a taxi with my friend Grace to our spanish host families, freaking out the whole way. What do we say? What if we don't understand them? What if we can't even find the right apartment???

All the freaking out was over ten minutes later when I was eating cereal (special K!) at the kitchen table with Amparo, my host mom, in her 2nd floor apartment. She speaks only spanish, but she speaks quite slowly and uses simple words. As it turns out she hosted one of my friends during the winter term. He was kind enough to explain the most important things in english in a letter he left for me. Best thing ever. Thank you, Charlie!

Now I'm going to unpack a little and rest (descansar) for a while. More updates to come!

Packing, Packing, Packing

Packing is the worst. I laid out everything that I wanted to bring. And then had to cut it in half. I guess that's what you have to do when you're only allowed to check one bag. Eventually I finished packing, my bag closed (barely), and now I'm ready to roll. Anything I forgot, I'll have to buy.

My parents and I are leaving Etna around 8am tomorrow. I have to run a few errands on campus and then we're off to NYC. I'm flying out of JFK with two girls on my trip. Our flight departs at 5:30pm and we'll arrive in Barcelona at 6:15am local time. 

Next post will be from other side of the pond!

Welcome!

Hi Friends! Welcome to my blog!

It's hard to think about right now, (oh hey finals week) but I'm headed off to Spain in less than 2 weeks! I thought I should get the blog up and running before I go. My to-do list of things to take care of before I go to Spain is enormous, but high up there is getting a camera so I can post pictures on here. Hopefully I'll be posting frequently, so check back often for updates on my life abroad!

Good luck to everyone taking exams this week :)

PS: here's a cool vid to see what I'm getting myself into -  "Barcelona - 10 Things You Need To Know"