Words cannot explain...

CARNAVAL...

This is a festival that is like Mardi Gras... and also like Halloween... but unlike in the USA... everyone and I mean EVERYONE dresses up. We shopped a little late so we had to be creative and ended up going as the Pink Ladies (from Grease): New and Improved! The festival was on the beach, and there are simply no words to explain the chaos. There were more people there than I have ever seen anywhere. The beach was jam-packed!!! Since I don´t know how to describe all of the craziness of the night, I will simply let you see a few of the pictures so that you might be able to see some of what went on...

1. Vanessa and Me
2. Before the celebration began
3. Vanessa, Hannah and I with the incredibles
4. & 5. Just having fun
6. & 7. With some crazy characters

The land of chocolate and cheese...Switzerland!

So this past weekend I got to go to Switzerland! The first day was kind of long because Hannah, Vanessa and I were super tired from not getting enough sleep... but the WONDERFUL Swiss Airlines gave us our first Swiss chocolate which helped to wake us up a little bit!

:::Our first taste of Swiss chocolate:::

:::The Alps as we saw them from the airplane:::

::: Vanessa in our hostel:::

Picture taken through the lovely hole in my sheet!

We walked around for a little while, found the big fountain in Lake Geneva and found a chocolatier (picture later). We also went to the UN building because we wanted to take a tour, but there was a major problem! It was closed to tourists because of a HUGE protest against the genocide in Sri Lanka... let´s just say I didn´t think we should stay, so after walking a little while and going in a pretty boring museum (old china museum... there is only so much dishware that I can see before falling asleep!) we hopped back on the free transportation and went back down to our hostel. Then we ate at a Kebab place, tried to be nice to the girls that stayed in the room with us, but they did not want to talk to us, and we went to sleep!

Day 2

:::Coffee in the morning:::
We started out with breakfast in our hostel, and yes, a total of 6 cups of coffee, 18 sugar packets and 4 glasses of orange juice were consumed by us before leaving the hostel. We figured energy would be good since we knew we would be walking around all day.

::: The city of Geneva:::

These pictures do not do it justice - it is impossible to explain how beautiful it was !!!

::: A weird street sign:::

There were many of these. This was one of the more "normal" ones. We decided that it means if you are a dad you must hold your daughter's hand while crossing the street - and yes note that it is gender specific.

::: Red Cross cartoon from the Philippines:::

We went to the Red Cross museum, and it was SO interesting. I didn´t realize how much history that it had. It was also very sad - they had letters that people had written to family members that the person would never see again and tons of pictures of children who had been left as orphans in Africa. The history was very interesting, but it was cool to see how far this organization has come through the years.

:::Beside Lake Geneva:::

We walked around... found more of the landmarks in Geneva, and then walked by the lake for a long time which was freezing!!! But it was very beautiful with the mountains in the background!

:::Swiss cheese for lunch!:::

Well maybe it wasn´t the cheese that you would think of as Swiss, but it was cheese from Switzerland! Plus, we don´t think they call our type of Swiss cheese by the same name because to them it is just ¨normal¨cheese ! :)

:::The Fabulous Chocolate Lady:::

:::Swiss Alps:::

:::Swiss hot chocolate...mmmmm!!!:::

After a long day - 9 hours of walking around - we ended with the most wonderful cup of hot chocolate that I have ever had!!!

Day 3

Wake up at 4:15 AM, walk to train station, get on train, go to airport, get on plane, arrive in Barcelona... and then later that day I was able to meet 2 of my friends from Georgetown, Jami and Kelly, because they were in Barcelona with 2 of their friends for the weekend.

::: Hannah & Vanessa at our favorite time in the morning -4:30AM:::

EL SOL !!!

The sun was shining bright yesterday! The weather was so nice, and it just helped me to have a great day!!! So here is what my perfect day consisted of...

1. Listening to Jock Jams :) (Really old-school music that I have missed since I have not listened to it since 2nd grade)
2. Taking a test that was not too bad..
3. Talked on Skype to mommy!
4. Took a nap in the park with the BRIGHT sun shining down on me :D
5. Went to class ... got a test moved to a later date... so we will now be able to go to Sitges for Carnaval (similar to Mardi Gras) since we won´t have to study
6. Walked home
7. Sat on a bench and read a book
8. Ate a wonderful dinner prepared by Bibi
9. Finished Twilight... started New Moon (a series that I just started to read)
10. Went to 511 Bed (our new cafe that is named for the first 6 digits/letters of the code that allows us to use the internet) and talked to C.J. and Mom and booked a room for them to stay in when they come to BARCELONA in MARCH!!!!

Valentine´s Day in Barcelona

I haven´t had the chance to upload my pictures yet, but this past Friday Vanessa´s parents arrived in Barcelona, so Saturday night we went to explore Barrio Gotico and went into the Harlem Jazz Club and La Oveja Negra (whose specialty is Sangria - red wine and juice mix). The Harlem Jazz Club was filled up and so was La Oveja Negra. Earlier that day Hannah and I went and found a public library, which we have decided is one of our new favorite places, so it won´t be long before we go back there. Then we went to La Pedrera (an apartment block designed by Gaudí) again. We went with a group from ISA a week ago, but half of it was closed because an undisclosed famous person was on his/her way, and we had to go back to see the roof, which is the coolest part of this building...pictures will be on here soon! That was about all that happened on Valentine´s Day here in Barcelona (In Barcelona El Dia de Sant Jordi which is when they celebrate - Valentine´s day is not really celebrated in the Cataluña region of Spain).

Busy ... and Laid Back

Life has been busy ...but not stressful :) so we will see how much of it that I can remember ...

Really super fun adventures that I have been on:

1. The Night Bus  - so we were out late one night and the metro had alread

y closed, and we did not want to pay for a cab, so we took the night bus. We obviously didn't understand how the bus worked because Hannah jumped out when she was not supposed to, and the bus driver drove off with me still in the bus. Needless to say, I yelled "mi amiga!!!!" (my friend!!!!!) and he yelled spanish at me, so I yelled english at him until he let me off. 

2. Girona and Figueres - It rained the whole day, but it was neat because we were able to see where the old "Roman road" was, and even though there is a new road on top of it, it was very interesting to see. We also got to see an old cathedral and bath house. In Figueres, we went to the Dalí museum which was AWESOME!!! The art was weird in a very good way. I can't even imagine what went through that man's crazy little mind, but it was super interesting.

:::Where the the road to Rome used to be:::

:::The real painting - smaller than you would think:::

3. Andorra - I didn't even know that this country existed before I arrived here. It is a tiny country in the Pyrenees that is very cold right now and very beautiful!!! Vanessa, Hannah and I got on a bus for three hours, arrived in Andorra, found a hotel and went and walked up into the mountains. Hannah also found 20 Euros floating in the street, so she bought tapas for us. The next day we took a bus to La Massana, where there is a place to ski. It was snowing, and the mountains were BEAUTIFUL!!!! We also spent a few hours in a café. Overall it was just a nice, relaxed weekend. I really enjoyed the break.  

::: Just playing in the snow !!! :::

::: Oh so beautiful !!! :::

4. Secret Library - Everyday for the past couple of weeks when I walked out of my first class, I saw a library but couldn't figure out how to get to it. Hannah and I decided we would make it an adventure, and we looked everywhere for it, only to figure out that it is connected by a hallway to the library that we go to everyday to use the internet.

So as far as academics go, I have had a really stressful week. I went to my first week of classes and two of them were so difficult that I knew I would not pass them, but I had a hard time getting my classes changed. Finally, with enough pushing, I got them changed. Also, I have now completed my first two oral presentations in Spanish, and I was the first to volunteer, even though I didn't know I was volunteering... miscommunication in Spanish. Now all of my classes are really easy, and I enjoy them because they are so laid back. My language class has 7 people, and our teacher has become quite sassy - she now makes fun of us and calls us out when we say stupid things. I have a crazy professor for art, and every third day we don't have class, and we go walk around a museum instead. I also have a movie class where every other day we watch a movie. My favorite is probably my communications class. The professor is hilarious and sarcastic.

Other really exciting news in my life here:

 - Hannah and I made another amazing discovery! There is a cafe less than a block from our house that has WiFi (pronounced Wee-Fee...which I always say wrong).  We are also going to make a Java Rating Chart which will contain all of the cafes that we have been to and how good each one is depending on location, service, quality of cafe con leche, ambiance, etc. (This one rates a full 4 to 5 cups in all aspects except decor!)

- I met with my intercambio the other day for the first time. Her name is Montse, and she has always lived in Barcelona. We were paired up by the school because she is trying to learn English, and I am trying to learn Spanish. We went to a café, and we walked around the city, and she showed me the best places to shop. She is studying law, and she is going to move to Africa, after she finishes this year of school, for an internship with Unicef. 

- I finally went to a fútbol game (aka Soccer). The games here are CRAZY!!! The fans are wild, but it was so much fun to watch. I have never seen creative footwork like all of the players had, not to mention that the fans do the wave, and everyone does it. I will definitely be going back.

::: The biggest soccer field I have ever seen :::

-Someone asked me for directions in Spanish, and I was actually able to respond with the right directions in Spanish.