10 Hours of Walking... and Feeling Better...

So about a week ago, my friends and I have walked all around the city to see some of the main tourist spots. 

 Park Guell (which was designed by Gaudi)

Olympic Park

Montjuic

Torre Agbar

Mediterranean Sea

(which we touched and also stole a couple rocks)

We have also had some crazy weather. From what we have heard, Barcelona is supposed to have pretty calm weather, but the past couple of days there has been a lot of wind that has knocked down trees and other various things around the city. 

I am also happy to say that I am finally feeling a lot better. I just finished the medicines that the doctor gave me, and I found Zyrtec and took it, and I am feeling a lot better. I still don't know what I am allergic to over here... possibly the cats or something in the air. 

Top 10 Things I Have Learned... The Hard and Funny Way...

1. There are no flamenco festivals... a lady tried to persuade us to buy flowers for the festival... that did not exist.

2. Don't walk down alleys at night... we were just looking for something fun to do, but ran into some scary people!

3. Don't pick the windiest day of the year to go to the top of a mountain.

4. Don't throw food to the pigeons... they will all fly to you at once... and you will feel like you are getting attacked.

5. Make sure you understand questions that are being asked in a different language before you respond... otherwise people will laugh at you.

6. Read labels before you buy products... or you will end up with the wrong thing.

7. Don't talk to animals in English... they will not respond. I never thought about the fact that animals only know one language!

8. Make sure you always have a map with you. 

9. Ask how much stuff costs before you order.

10. Don't ever ask what kind of meat you are eating... you probably don't want to know what mystery meat is on your sandwich!

I am an excellent orange peeler ...

Well... We have all been getting sick here, so I finally had to take a day and do nothing... and eat a lot of oranges to get some Vitamin C :) . My roommate and I are both sick, but we are hoping we feel better by tomorrow.  We went out to a party for study abroad students and had fun but got home late again. Then yesterday, we finally met some other people...from other countries.Hannah and I went with the language exchange group from school to Villanova to go to a museum and festival (which ended up being a lot of horses in a parade, and while everyone else was excited to see horses, I just felt like I was back in Lexington). There were people from China, Germany, Singapore, Peru, Mexico, etc. Hopefully we will all be 

able to stay in touch via facebook since all of us are 

really excited to be here, and we were all just trying to meet new friends! 

 

 

The First Week Is Over...

My first week in Barcelona is now officially over. It has been a great first week, and I cannot imagine how much fun I am going to be able to have this semester. I already have some fun stories, too! Speaking another language is leading to some major misunderstandings. Yesterday I didn't understand what mi profesora was asking in class, and I definitely told her that I wanted to be single until I was thirty, when I was really trying to say that I thought the average age that people get married in Barcelona is thirty, so I got some weird looks, and realized that I was going to have to explain...in Spanish, so she probably still thinks that I am crazy, but I am okay with that! 

Hasta luego!  

Finally Here!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

I moved into my home-stay in Barcelona this past week after a few days of orientation in Madrid and Toledo. During orientation we got to see a lot of very interesting places including an Egyptian temple that was moved to Madrid, El Escorial (the place where most of the Spanish kings are buried), El Valle de los Caídos (where the dictator Franco is buried) and we got to go to a modern art museum and see many of Picasso and Dali's paintings. Orientation was fun, and we got to explore the cities a lot, but we also got to know others that were involved with the ISA program - there are about 50 of us in Barcelona. 

Although orientation was fun, I was so glad to finally find out where I would be living so I could get to know the area. There was so much unknown, and I was ready to meet my host family and see where I would be going to school and living for 4 months.

We arrived last Wednesday late at night and met our host families. I live with a lady named Virtudes Real aka Bibi who is in her mid-60s. She does not speak or understand any English at all, so my Spanish is bound to improve! She cooks dinner for us every night, but a few nights she has not been there because shehas gone out shopping late at night. Most people here stay up very late- dinner is never before 8:30 PM, and it is usually more around 9 or 10 PM. There are also some sashes from beauty pageants in her hous, so we have not gotten the full story yet, but we think that she probably competed a while back. She also has a daughter, Jennifer aka Jenni, who lives in Barcelona that has come over a couple of times with her boyfriend. I also have a "roommate" that is from Massachusetts and goes to school at the University of Tampa in Florida. Hannah and I have our own rooms and just have to share a bathroom 

The apartment that we live in is small, but comfortable, and it is only a few blocks from La Sagrada Familia - one of Gaudi's marvelous buildings. We also live near a metro station, but everything that we have wanted to go to has been within walking distance so far. My School, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, is about 25 minutes away and a good shopping area is also about a 30 munute walk. After we walk all of these different places, we participate in one of the most marvelous things ever - siesta time! I definitely think we should implement this in America. Afterall, everyone here stays out late and doesn't get a whole lot of sleep at night. The latest that I have stayed out so far is 5 AM- a lot of us went dancing where they played a lot of cheesy 90s music, but this would still be considered early for many of the lacals, but I am getting used to the schedule, and a lot of us are hoping while we are here we will be able to take salsa lessons, but that has not happened yet!

We also already took our Spanish placement test, and I was very excited that I got into the Advanced II level classes.  I was nervous about it because I had to place in advanced in order to get credit at school. I started school today, and for the next two weeks, I will e in intensive language classes. Right now we are going 5 days a week for 2.5 hours a day, but after these two weeks, I only have class Monday-Thursday, and I am excited about the long weekends! The class doesn't seem like it will be hard, so that will be a good change of pace for me - very unlike all of my time-consuming Pre-med classes. 

I am having a great time so far and cannot wait to see what else happens this semester! I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and we are going to get have many new experiences! Hope that everyone is doing well! 

Love,

Katie

some of you have asked for my address, so I have included it:

Katie Boyd

P⁰ Sant Joan 91, 6⁰ 4^a

^{08013 Barcelona}

^Spain