A lot has gone on, so this is my best attempt at an update! All is in chronological order starting last weekend---

:::Sitges -where the fiesta of Carnaval took place- except during the daytime:::

:::Sitges - a beautiful beach town- Vanessa, Hannah and I went to lay on the beach and read for the whole day!:::

:::The beautiful Mediterranean Sea - so peaceful and calming:::

:::2 of my friends from Georgetown came to Barcelona - Jacob & Jacob- so I tried to act as tour guide for a day:::

MY FAMILY IN BARCELONA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:::Day 1 - Park Guell:::

:::CJ, Mom and me at Park Güell:::

WISH YOU WERE HERE DADDY!!!!!

:::CJ at Park Güell:::

:::I surprised CJ with tickets for a FC Barça fútbol game:::

:::Day 2 - Mom experiences bliss in the form of a chocolate croissant:::

:::CJ experiences a semi-late night in Spain:::

:::Day 3 - Mom and CJ outside of La Sagrada Familia:::

:::Me, BiBi, Hannah:::

:::Day 4 - On the beach close to our apartment:::

:::Sangria & Paella - 2 Spanish specialties- by the beach:::

:::Day 5 - Mommy and me in the aquarium:::

Tonight - Cuban food

Tomorrow - Monserrat and Olympic Park

Saturday - Airport :(

This past week....

Well there has been a lot of randomness in Barcelona over the last couple of weeks... or maybe just the last week... I tend to lose track of time here!



First of all, last weekend Hannah and I went to ride horses about an hour away from Barcelona. We went with about 15 others from our program. You would think that I would have ridden horses before since I live in Kentucky, but I had to come all the way to Spain to ride my first horse, and it was quite an experience. They gave us no instructions; they just helped us onto a horse and said "Vamos" (Let´s go!). My horse´s name was Piojo which in English means lice... beautiful name huh? So we start going, mine wouldn´t follow my commands, so I almost fell off. Once I finally thought I was okay, my horse started biting all of the other horses... it was only after I got off that I realized it had a metal chain around it´s mouth... and I think is was there for a good reason! But even with a horse that bit, I had a lot of fun!



Vanessa´s aunt and her friend also arrived in Barcelona over the weekend, so we found some new and exciting places to go. First we went to a labyrinth... which was cool and we only got lost for about 10 minutes!



As we were leaving the park that contains the labyrinth... we stumbled across another crazy thing in Barcelona... who would ever want to go to a park without finding a grammar garden!!!!!




That day we also went to Tibadabo which is at the top of a really big hill/"mountain" in Barcelona... at the top there is a theme park (which was pretty small) and a church which we climbed about a million stairs to get to the top and look out over the city. After that day, I can say that we are all officially experts in Barcelona transportation.... we rode the metro, train, funicular, cable car, elevator, escalators, walked up a million stairs... etc... basically it was a day of traveling.



Tuesday was a FABULOUS day! First off... it was Vanessa´s 21st birthday so we had to CELEBRATE!!! So to start the day off right we (Vanessa, her aunt, her aunt´s friend, Hannah, and I) had a picnic and naptime in the park... and since flowers have started to bloom... I spent about 15 minutes just trying to take pictures of them to remember the wonderful warm weather in Barcelona!



That night we went to eat Cuban food... and after that meal I decided that I would like to be Cuban... it was so YUMMY! and they told me that Vanessa´s abuela´s cooking is even better.... anyways... Vanessa had fun, we had fun, the food was good, and we were stuffed when we left... and Vanessa said I could be an honorary Cuban for the day which made me happy :)



And the last stop of the night... an authentic Irish pub... The Shamrock! We couldn´t celebrate Vanessa´s birthday (on St. Patrick´s day) without going and listening to Irish music and having cider!

This week has flown by! and I have now decided to stay in Europe for an extra week and a half to do a little more traveling, so I am very excited! Also, my mom and brother will be here in 2.5 days! So I can´t wait to show them around and I can´t wait to hug them! and send a hug back with them for my daddy :)

Questions for BiBi...

So many things are weird when living in Spain... and although Hannah and I could ask Bibi these questions directly... we find that it is more fun to just make up answers and wonder about these things....

1. Why was there a radish in shot glass on the counter for 3 days?

2. Why do the cats meow all the time? and why is one cat cross-eyed?

3. Where does all the water go?... in the morning there is 8 liters of drinking water... by 20:00 there is none left!

4. Why are there nut crackers that don´t crack nuts?

5. Why does she act like she finds our food magically? ... she obviously buys it at the store!

6. Why does she have 2 cell phones?

7. Why does she go to visit her grandkids at midnight and not come back until 2 in the morning? Is there not a better time for this?

8. Does she work? What does she do all day?

9. Why does she wear a cap on her head while ironing that makes her look like an alien?

10. Why do we always see her cooking, but we have never seen her make our sandwiches? Is there a bocadillo fairy?

Just about everyday we find something else crazy in the apartment... needless to say... our host mom is quite a character... but I could not ask for anyone better to live with! She treats us like princesses!

Paris !!!

This weekend was Paris... it seems like I have been traveling so much the past few weekends. I just got back to Barcelona late on Saturday night and it feels good to be home (or at least at my home away from home!) I was not sure if I would like Paris, and then I got there (after a flight in a very ghetto plane with a VERY loud group of high schoolers), and I absolutely loved it!!!! We walked for 11 hours on Friday and rode on a tourist bus for three hours, so by the end of the day I was tired! We did stay in a pretty nice hostel/hotel, so it was nice to go back and crash at the end of the day (after watching the Eiffel tower sparkle!!!!) The next day, we walked around for a few hours, but we more or less just explored the city. Also, three friends from Georgetown were in Paris, so there was a big group of us that met at the Louvre. I was so glad to get to see Jami again and also Peggy, who is studying in Italy. Also Vanessa's friend Jen saw someone who she knew at the Louvre, and she ended up being in the same sorority as me, so we, of course, had to take a random picture with a lion. 

:::NOTRE DAME (but no hunchback!):::

 

:::A little chilly after riding on the top of the tourist bus:::

:::Arc de Triumf in Paris (which is in the middle of 12 roads, so the traffic was kind of crazy):::

:::Jami and I in front of the Eiffel Tower:::

:::Only one of my "doofus pictures" (me acting like this old man statue) at the end of the day, after 4 hours of the Louvre, when we were incredibly tired and acting a little stupid:::

:::Jami, Peggy and I inside of the Louvre (where I got to see Mona Lisa and a lot of other famous paintings and sculptures:::

:::The Louvre at night:::

The land of hidden treasures...

This past weekend I went to Oxford, England, where two of my friends (Sara and Jacob) are studying this semester. After a delayed flight and hour and a half bus ride, I finally arrived, and it was so good to see two people from home! 

 

:::Jacob and I right before dinner:::

I went to their formal hall dinner on Friday night. They eat 2 meals a day 5 days a week in the hall where they stand and wait for the head table members to come in to the dining hall. Once everyone comes in, everyone sits down and is served. They had some traditions that I had never heard before. One of them- if you put a penny in someone's glass while they are holding it, they have to drink the whole glass right then (save the queen! since the queen of england is on the penny). 

 

:::The back of our heads with glow sticks & Sara and I in the JCR:::

Afterwards, we went to the junior common room. Since it was the night that they announced the theme for the dance at the end of the semester, they had a belly dancer, music and glow sticks. They have dance parties aka "bobs" every once in a while after Friday night dinner.

 

 

::: One of the funny sayings on the wall of the cafe :::

:::Just being the classic tourist!:::

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to a cafe and then started our day of sightseeing! We walked around so I could see the city. All of the buildings were so old and so beautiful. Because of the university, it seems like a very academic town anywhere that you go.

:::Sara and I with ancient barometers & The Ancient Biomolecules Centre sign:::

Since we are both science nerds, and we both want to go to medical school, we went to the science corner of Oxford. We went in two science museums, and found some crazy places... like the Ancient Biomolecules Centre (What is this??? The first ever chemistry building??? Maybe... we are not quite sure). We found all of the different medical buildings, and as we were walking, we just had to talk about our future medical careers since we were being inspired by all of the science there.

:::Harry Potter land:::

We saw other various things, and then went to Christ's Church College to see where Harry Potter was filmed. It was packed with people, but I was so excited to see where it was filmed since I love the movies. The school, chapel and hall were all beautiful!!! I am so glad that there was good weather, too,  so that we could see all of this!

:::Sara and I in Cafe Nero  &  The sign on the wall in Eagle and Child Pub:::

Sunday we woke up, went to a cafe and more or less had a lazy day. We walked to Jacob's house and watched two movies, and then walked back into town for dinner. We ate at the Eagle and Child Pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis often went. 

The trip was so much fun! I was sad to leave, but I was so glad that I got to see my friends and Oxford!

Butts in Barcelona

A while back I went to the Barcelona zoo with Vanessa and her parents to the Barcelona Zoo. I was so excited!!! I don't think that I had been to a zoo since I was 5!

It was funny because every time we got ready to take a picture the animal would turn around, so we felt like all we were getting a ton of pictures of butts... so I have included a few... and also some that we managed to take of the fronts of animals. 

:::This was taken for everyone at Dairyman's because I know that you must miss the peacock that was there when I was really young!!!:::

:::The prettiest backside of an animal that I have ever seen! I had never seen a rainbow monkey butt before!:::

:::DOLPHINS! We missed the dolphin show but got to see the beautiful creatures swimming in their tank:::

:::Straight from the Jungle book....Shere Khan:::

:::My favorite animal... after frogs and Snickers (my puppy)... even though this beautiful zebra turned around as soon as I got ready to take his picture:::

Food... Funny times...

So part of adjusting to a new culture is adjusting to the food... the good and the weird...

:::The fruit that the cats rub against... probably why I am still having allergic reactions:::

:::Bibi was sick so we had weird food for a week...I am sparing you of the sickness that you would feel if you saw the close-up photos:::

:::The biggest beans on the face of the planet:::

:::If you picked it apart the elements of this salad would seem normal... but all together... the Spaniards would say "¡Vaya lio!" aka chaos

Friends and Crazy Character

When we got back from Switzerland last weekend Jami and Kelly (friends from Georgetown) were in Barcelona with two of their friends from Valencia. I was so glad that I got to meet up with them! We went to Olympic park (where we saw a "crazy character"... as we call them).

:::Jami and I in front of the Olympic Torch:::

:::Olympic Stadium:::

:::Crazy Character:::