Ich Liebe Berlin! (And Alcala Too!)

<> I went ahead and added captions to all the other pictures, so if you're curious, they all have explanations now. :)

(for those of you not too familiar with german, Ich Liebe Berlin = I Love Berlin)

Okay, so it's been about a week since I last gave a real update. And seeing as how fast the time flies here, that means I have a ton of stuff to talk about. So without further ado, let's get this thing going.

Before I get into the stuff about Berlin, I have a couple of things to update about Spain.

First of all, I saw my very first socialist protest here in Alcala. Apparently the public education system in the Madrid province isn´t all that great and the teachers felt the need to strike. Which there really isn't much point to this story other than to mention that there are a ton of strikes and protests going on right now. Everyone from fishermen to truck drivers are doing it. Apparently it's the cool thing to do.

The other thing that I've forgot to mention (and I really can't believe I have because it is HUGE right now) is the Eurocup. The Eurocup is a huge soccer tournament between all the national teams of Europe and it's only held once every 4 years. So it's like waiting for the Olympics for the Europeans. And let me tell you, they get into it. So far I've watched a ton of soccer because Spain is doing so well. They made it through to the semifinals along with Russia, Turkey, and Germany. And every time Spain wins, the city goes into an uproar. It's the craziest thing.

Okay, now on to Berlin. :)

I first flew into Berlin on Thursday night, and right off the bat I knew it was going to be an awesome time. Germany had just one their game to get into the semi-finals, and Berlin was going nuts just like they've done so far in Spain. Philipp took me to this mountain in the middle of the city to see everything and it really was incredible. It was a great way to start off my trip.

One of the first places we went on Friday morning was to Potsdamer Platz, which is a huge plaza in the middle of the city where a ton of historical stuff is located. The incredible thing about Potsdamer is that it was completely 100% destroyed in the last world war (Berlin basically got blown of the map because everyone was attacking the Nazis) and so almost every single building here is brand new.

This is the view from one of the skyscrapers in Potsdamer. Philipp had decided that my first view of Berlin in the daytime should be from a bird's eye view, and he made a good choice. Berlin is a beautiful city, especially from way up high.

Right by Potsdamer Platz, there is a pretty big section of the Berlin Wall that has been left standing as a memorial. And I definitely took a picture with it. But the incredible thing is that throughout the entire city, there is this strip that marks where the Berlin wall stood. So anywhere there used to be a part of the wall, you can still see the mark it left. Really incredible.

And here I am with the Berlin Wall. You can't ever pass up a chance to take a picture with such a huge part of history. :)

Right down the street from Potsdamer is the Holocaust Memorial, which is one of the most unusual and interesting things I have ever seen. Basically it's this huge seemingly flat area with a ton of concrete blocks set up in rows, like you can see in the picture. From the outside looking in, it seems like all the blocks are different heights and they rise and fall throughout the entire huge area. However, once you walk in between the blocks, that is when you get the full effect of the memorial. The ground is actually not level at all, but rather very hilly and topsy-turvy (if thats even a word). And no concrete block is the same height. So once you walk in this labyrinth of blocks, you can't really tell which was is up, or down, or which blocks are taller than others, or where you are. It's supposed to symbolize the confusion and sickness of the Holocaust, and it really does it well.

This is the German Parliament building, which is called the Reichstag. It is a gigantic ornate building that really looked incredible from the outside. But you can kinda tell that there was a huge line to get in the building, so we opted to not waste time waiting in line.

This is me in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which used to be a huge section of the Berlin Wall. Basically, the way the gate worked was as a gate for the West Berliners. They were allowed to pass back and forth as they wished, as long as they obtained permission beforehand. However, the East Berliners didn't have that option, and should they try to pass through, the West German military force was allowed to shoot to kill. So sad.

This is a memorial in the center of a plaza whose name I can't remember. It's kind of hard to tell what it is from the picture, but basically it's a huge underground library with empty bookshelves. You are able to walk across the glass and see the emptiness inside. The reason it's here is because this is the plaza where Hitler burned all the books he felt were unnecessary in Berlin, which was almost all of them.

And you can also see Philipp making a crazy shadow at the bottom.

This was at an open air mall pretty close to Potsdamer. There really wasn't a ton to see here, because malls are pretty standard anywhere you go. However, the outdoor plaza area had some really cool architecture and I thought the picture turned out well.

This was also at the open air mall at this little outdoor cafe. This also wasn't too incredibly interesting as there are little outdoor cafes literally everywhere. But I took this because it represents just how crazy the German language is. Very throaty and with looooooooong words. I didn't understand a thing the entire time I was there. haha

And my next picture is somewhat controversial, and I apologize in advance for the language. However, one of the things I really like to do is to learn about what the natives think of America and the American political system. In a lot of places, there is indifference and the people don't really care one way or another. In Spain, everyone has an opinion, but most everyone seems to really strongly be in favor of Obama and pretty opposed to Bush. And in Germany, well, the picture pretty much explains it all:

Again, sorry for the foul language, but this little message was pretty much everywhere around the city. Apparently Bush isn't a very popular guy in Berlin.

On the other hand, apparently Obama is a pretty popular guy here as well. This little apple-shaped card was in the Jewish museum. There is a tree in the museum called the "wish tree" where anyone who wanted to could fill out a card with their wish or message of hope and hang it on the tree. It's kind of hard to read because the picture didn't turn out very well, but this apple says "Barack Obama will bring order to the universe." Seems like a pretty tall order to me, but hey, props to the guy if he can pull it off.

This, my friends, is about the most German dish you can possibly get. It originated in Berlin and the people of Germany are in love with it. It's called "currywurst" and basically it's a big bratwurst sliced into pieces and covered with this strange (but tasty) curry sauce. You can definitely taste the curry in it, but as one person described it to me, it kind of tastes like a mix of ketchup and chili. Which actually, oddly enough, fits the taste pretty well. The currywurst is always served with a side of fries, which more often than not are served with mayonaise on top. Gross. So I got the only other option for the fries, which was a HUGE mistake. Mine was the currywurst with the brown stuff on top of the fries. And it wasn't that it tasted bad, but the brown stuff was the spiciest stuff I have ever eaten. And I've eaten a lot of spicy stuff.

This is the Berlin dome, a very famous landmark in the city. It's a huge ancient cathedral that actually sustained a ton of damage during the war, much like in Potsdamer Platz. The entire dome was destroyed from bombings. But, as you can see, it was rebuilt perfectly and the cathedral really is incredible. Much like most of the pictures I take, the image just doesn't do it justice.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip, for several reasons. First of all, I just think the picture turned out really cool looking. It looks like it could be an album cover. :) But second of all, I love this picture because it represents the festivals that were taking place in the city. While I was in Berlin, there was a huge music festival called "Fete de la Musique." Basically anyone in the city that wanted to could go in the streets, strike up a band, DJ mixing table, etc. and be as loud as they wanted. So just randomly some streets would get blocked off as some band or DJ got started playing music. This particular picture is from a DJ playing and within minutes the street was packed with Berliners dancing in the street. It was awesome.

This is another picture from the Jewish Museum, which I'm sure you can imagine was very emotional and moving. It didn't focus entirely on the Holocaust, but rather on the entire history of the Jewish people all over Europe. It showed how the slowly moved from some of the richest and most respected people in society into some of the lowliest of everyone, basically less than human. Everything in the museum was symbolic and evey room was well thought out to mean something important. This garden was called the "Garden of Exile." The ground is slanted one way, the big concrete columns were slanted another way, and on every side you can see the building right side up. There is a warning before you go in that says you will likely get motion sickness just from standing in the garden, which I thought was silly. Until I stepped in and automatically felt sick to my stomach. Yet even though it is so sickening, the blocks, lines, and dimensions are all perfectly symmetrical. It symbolizes how perfect order can still sometimes hide the fact that there are sickening things taking place.

Also in the museum were these rooms called "voids." Every void was symbolic and each one was different to symbolize something new. This particular void was called the memory void. It is a room that is almost 4 stories tall with nothing but bare concrete walls all the way up and natural light coming in from openings at the very top. At the bottom are thousands and thousands of little metal faces, each representing the face of a victim. It was supposed to symbolize not only the victims of the Holocaust, but also every other needless victim of any other war.

Here are a couple more pictures from the void:

Here is a close up shot of the faces on the ground. You were allowed, and encouraged, to walk on top of them. It made an eerie clanking noise with every step, and it almost sounded like the wheels of a tank turning.

This is a shot of the walls of the void. As you can see they are completely bare and stretch up really high.

This is a shot of what a German sunrise looks like. Why would I have a shot of this, you ask? Well, Philipp felt it was necessary to take me out in true Berlin style on my last night. So we went to a party that was related to the Fete, and we stayed out until the sun came up. I literally went back to his apartment from the party, picked up my things, and took the bus to the airport. Philipp tried to wear me out.

And this was my parting shot on my way back home. (I just realized that I typed "home" for Madrid. Funny how Spain feels like home now) Could be the Alps. Could be the Pyrenees. I don't really know. But these mountains looked really cool from the air.

So thats all I have for now. As for me, finals are done and I'm on my way to the beach! Life is good! :)

Not enough time in the day...

Well, I wish I had time to make a real post. I would love to talk in depth about Berlin and how incredible it is and how awesome it was to see Philipp.

But it's final exam time. And I have a ton of work to do for final exams and trabajos finales, and I don't have enough time in the day to do it all. What a crazy week this is going to be.

Hopefully things will slow down so that I can write about Germany while it's still fresh in my memory. And I can't wait to post all of the amazing pictures from the trip.

Oh well, it'll get done eventually. Hope all is well in the states!

Oh, and PS, it's about a million degrees in Spain all of the sudden. 1,000,000 degrees + no air conditioning = a very, very hot (and sometimes cranky) Jordan. I'm seriously sweating right now, and I'm just sitting in my room doing nothing. July could be an interesting month.....

I'm Famous! (In Alcala at least)

So I definitely got interviewed live on air on Alcala's radio station today. That makes me pretty cool, right?

No, for real. I got interviewed. In Spanish. And I spoke back, in Spanish. Live. On air.

Probably the most terrifying thing I have done thus far. But also probably the coolest.

I guess it really wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a thing I did for a class and I got interviewed about studying abroad, where I was from, etc., etc. But it was cool, nonetheless.

I also went with some friends after class today to drink a pitcher of sangria and eat tapas. Which is further proof of how rough life is here. :)

Tomorrow I leave for Berlin to see my favorite German. I can't wait to see Philipp, as I haven't seen him since he came to visit me freshman year. So it's definitely been awhile. And he's been hounding me to come visit him in Berlin for years, and I'm so incredibly pumped to finally get to do it. It should be a great time.

I also made a new friend that lives in Madrid that really likes to let me practice my spanish! Which is nice because most of the time I feel like the spaniards here get somewhat frustrated with me. And I can't say that I blame them. But this new friend has promised to show me more of Madrid and I'm definitely excited for that.

And that, folks, is all the update I have for now. Life is neither overly exciting, nor is it boring at all. I am completely content with everything at this moment in time and I really couldn't be happier.

Life is good. :)

Wait....it's already week 3?

My gosh how time flies here! It's like one minute you're dreading waking up for class on Monday and the next minute it's already the weekend all over again. The time flying is both a good and a bad thing for several reasons.

Good because I know that when August 15th rolls around I'll probably be ready to get back to the promised land of Oklahoma. And good because everyone loves the weekend, especially the weekend in Europe.

Bad because I'm really growing to love both the country of Spain and the people I'm here with. I love the fact that all of us have become so incredibly close over these last two weeks and I'm really honestly to the point where I can't imagine life without everyone. These other Oklahomans aren't just other exchange students. They're not just friends. They're family.

So since time flies so fast I find myself slacking on updating this blog, which is irritating because I really want this to be an accurate journal of my life in Spain. I want to be able to look back later on and know what I was feeling throughout this entire process. So for the sake of keeping things up to date, let me try and tell about my amazing weekend.

First of all, Thursday night ended up being a wild and crazy night for the majority of us. In true Spanish form we all went out to some local discotecas and bars and stayed out until the sun came up. Which was one of the more fun nights I've had since I've been here, but it wasn't the wisest decision considering the fact that I was supposed to go to Toledo the next morning at 8:30.

Note the phrase "was supposed to go."

I finally opened up my eyes and looked over at my clock around 11:00. A good two and a half hours after my bus for Toledo had left. So then I did what anyone else would do in my situation. I rolled over and went back to sleep until 2:30. The Spanish life is rough on the body. haha

So when I finally got up I was awfully upset with myself because I missed out on a free trip with all of my friends. And I had heard from several people that Toledo was a cool place. But I guess I'll never know now. Anyway, I tried to salvage the day by taking a walk through Alcala to try and learn a little more about the city, which made it a bit better. I made the hour long walk out to the mall again (all by myself) and felt like I had accomplished something amazing. At first I thought I would never be able to learn this city, but little by little I'm figuring it out. By the end of the summer I'll be able to walk these streets blindfolded.

So anyway, I stretched the walk out into a 6 hour excursion throughout the city and really actually enjoyed it. It was nice to just get away from everyone and just take everything in. No cell phone, no iPod, no distractions. Just me and Alcala. And believe me, there is a lot that can be learned from this city. Mostly things that can't really be put into words, as much as I would like to share it with everyone. But it's just something that has to be experienced rather than told about.

So I ended up going to bed early that night because I figured one night out until 7 am was enough for me. And plus, a huge group of us had decided to go into Madrid the next day to do some museum-hopping and to see the sights at a leisurely pace as compared to our crazy fast tour on our first weekend.

I took a few pictures that I figure I can post for greater description:

First of all, here is the famous Museo del Prado that is supposed to be one of the greatest art collections in Europe and the world. This little entrance actually doesn't do the museum justice, because it is much more grand than it looks here. It really was an amazing museum. I feel so cultured. :)

This was actually just a random building that we passed in the city that I thought was cool. It was one of the ministry buildings, for agriculture or something I think. The point that can be made here is that every single building in Spain is photo-worthy. The main difference between the US and Spain is that in the states the buildings are built for functionality, with very standard skyscrapers built to house as much business as possible. However, in Spain the buildings are built as an art. Beauty is the key here and if the building isn't beautiful, then it wasn't built right.

I like this picture just because it shows how artsy the city of Madrid is. It's a very green city with these canopies basically covering the entire city. There are also these really ornate fountains all over the city. It's a pretty beautiful place.

This is in Retiro Park, which is Madrid's version of NYC's Central Park. Which I think Retiro is much prettier than Central Park. It's so green and absolutely beautifully landscaped. It's easily possible to pass several hours just going for a walk through this park. (I'm finding that I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of taking walks after being here)

This is the big lake in the middle of Retiro. It's really cool because they have all kinds of kayak/canoe races here that you can just sit and watch for hours. And right by this lake is all kinds of street performers and activities. Such a cool place just to go relax and spend an hour or two.

This is my friend Lindsey playing an accordion that she took from a street performer. (she asked if she could borrow it, even though stealing it would have been much more spanish) Needless to say, she wasn't all that great. :)

So as you can see, we just leisurely passed the day going throughout the city, taking stops here and there and wherever we felt like it. It was an amazing day and the weather was as beautiful as it has been the entire time I've been here.

That night our plans were to get ready and go back into Madrid to take in the big city nightlife, which would have meant that we wouldn't get in until sometime around 8 am again. However, even though all the guys were ready to go, the girls felt the need to spend WAY too long getting ready and we missed the last train into the city. But we're a resilient group. And we make the best of every situation. So we went out in Alcala again. haha

There are some really REALLY fun places to go in Alcala, such as a discoteca called Can-Can, a pub called Mediapinta, and a bar called Gabana (which is owned by my host dad, which explains a lot). So we decided to hit up all Alcala had to offer once again and tons of fun was had.

Interesting/really incredibly awkward story time:

So Spanish guys are pretty much known for coming on pretty strong towards women here especially when they've had a few drinks. A girl rarely has to buy herself a drink when out at the bars because the Spanish guys always buy the drinks for them. Sometimes the spaniards can get vulgar and pretty often we guys have to play bodyguard and make sure that the crazy Spanish guys back off.

However, the tables turned on me this time around. Not really sure why, but this random Spanish guy decided he wanted him a little Jordan Carlton. Which was okay at first because he kept supplying me with free drinks (don't judge, drinks are crazy expensive here). However, the cool-ness ended when he came up to me and started stroking my face. I definitely learned exactly the creepiness that the girls go through here. So needless to say, that is when we all decided to switch bars. Which everyone else thought it was really incredibly hilarious that this was happening to me, and its a story I've heard re-told about 100 times now.

So we continued on to Can-Can, but nothing too note-worthy happened there. Just tons of dancing until the wee hours. But here are some pictures from my night out:

Here are my friends Cherrie and Brian. It's not too easy to tell, but they're dancing here. I know Brian kinda looks constipated, which I think makes the picture hilarious. But these are two of the coolest, most laid-back people I have ever met and I love hanging out with both of them.

Here are a lot of the girls from the group. Which girls vastly outnumber the guys in our group. I think overall there are like 25 or so girls and about 6 or 7 guys. But everyone is cool and I truly honestly could not imagine a cooler group of people to be here with. But anyway, the girls are dancing here, too. From left to right it's Lauren M., Lauren S., Lindsey, Cherrie, and Kristin.

And here I am with all the girls. Personally I think this makes my cool factor go up by about a hundred. :) This picture is of all the same girls with the addition of Hannah, who is the blonde girl standing next to me.

Here I am with Hannah and Cherrie, both of whom are amazing. They're roommates here in Alcala and both of them are here for the entire summer, which is something I'm incredibly thankful for.

And last but not least, here I am with Kristin and Lauren. These girls were a huge help to me when the crazy Spanish gay guy was trying to get all over me. Thank the lord for these two.

So then we ended the night once again right around sunrise, which was okay because we all had all Sunday to sleep if we needed to. A big group of us met that night to go study together because a lot of us had tests on Monday. We found this amazing little cafe called Vaca Flaca (which means "the skinny cow" in spanish. typical weird spanish stuff) and hung out there for the majority of the evening.

And then started the week. Nothing too spectacular to mention there. A test here, an assignment there. Just the usual routine stuff. (which actually amazes me that life here is becoming routine)

I realize this post is getting really ridiculous long for basically rambling the entire time. But I just have a few more things I want to say.

First of all, I can't say enough how much I have grown to love the other American students here. A big group of us talked today about how we really do feel like family. Because we basically are all going through the exact same emotions and feelings, and we've basically functioned as each others' support group. It's been great to get to know these people and I really hope we all stay this close after this is all said and done with.

And finally (and I promise this will be the ending), John and I have finally come to the realization that Spanish people are just weird. Plain and simple. They dress funny, the kinda act funny, the are just a quirky bunch. So even as we grow closer to our host family, we still have those moments where we just feel awkward and out of place. I feel like nothing really explains this better than a story about Mario, our 7 year old brother, and his random comments in English.

Now, I'm pretty sure I've previously stated that Mario thinks he knows english a lot better than he really does. Which means that a lot of times he says things that he doesn't really know what they mean. Like the other day when he called me a sock and John a starfish. However, I feel like he topped that and more with a question he asked John and I today.

So John, Mario, Tony, and I are all sitting at the dining room table eating our lunch (which was paella again, one of my favorites) and Mario starts trying to use his english on us. So he looks up at us with his big brown eyes and asks us in all seriousness "Do you like your penis?" Now imagine a little 7 year old thick spanish accent saying that.

At first John and I just stared at him. Then we started laughing so hard we couldn't talk. So Tony, who doesn't speak a word of english, started asking us what he said translated into spanish, but we were laughing so hard we couldn't talk. And poor little Mario just kept asking us the question over and over because we couldn't answer him.

What a perfect representation of the crazy things that happen here.

Such is my life in Spain. :)

The Small Things

So I'm realizing more and more how it is the small things here that have really started to add up and make a difference on me.

Small things that make me feel more acclimated to Spain, like how accomplished I felt when I found my way to the mall all by myself. And let me just mention that it is about an hour walk from my house to the mall. I was riding pretty high when I found it. :)

And small things that I'm really starting to love about the country, like how adorable every single spanish kid is or how freaky and outlandish the fashion is. Or how everything is so incredibly spanish from the buildings to the streets to the parks to the people. Everything fits in perfectly with my preconceived ideas of what Spain would look like and I love it. Or how there is such a mix of ancient and modern, like my school that was built over 600 years ago or discotecas that play both traditional spanish music and the latest hits from the US.

And then there are the small things that never fail to make me smile, like walking with friends to get helado on the Calle Mayor or sitting with a huge group of people and drinking a glass of wine on the Plaza. Or getting called "cheekymonkey."

And of course there are those small things that make me appreciate what I have back home. Like not having to wait three days to wait for your laundry to dry so you can get it back. And like having a big bedroom that I actually relax in. And like driving a car.

All these small things wrapped up are making my experience what it is. And in one word, I can only describe it all as amazing. Spanish culture is still so different to me but every day I get used to it a little more and a little more. I'm so glad I've chosen to do this and I know this is really the summer of a lifetime.

Instead of ending with a story, I'm going to end with a mini-rant this time around. Spanish lunches are usually really big, delicious ordeals because spaniards see lunch as the most important meal of the day. Fine, whatever. Dinners always provide enough food to fill my stomach, but are typically much smaller affairs. Also fine. However, one thing that the spaniards have not figured out is the art of dessert. So far my desserts have only consisted of melon, apples, and peaches. Now don't get me wrong, I love fruit and all. But would it kill them to give me some chocolate every once in awhile?! I'm a guy that can readily admit he's got a killer sweet tooth, and not having REAL dessert is killing me! For everyone back home, be ready to take me out for lots of dessert when I get back to the states! :)

So for now, I'm going to sit here in my room with my window open listening to someone strumming their guitarra somewhere close by and just be content with life.

Every Day Something New

Well here I am approaching the end of my second week and wondering how that is even possible. It seems like I just got here, how have I already been here this long? I knew that this summer was going to fly by, but at the rate I'm going, I'll be back in Oklahoma tomorrow. :)

The concept of time here is actually an interesting topic, both from the view of the spaniards and from the view of myself. First of all, I don't think the spanish really have any actual concept of time. Otherwise they would have meals at normal hours. I've actually sat down for dinner at 11:30 at night. Weird. Also, they don't really seem to have any sense of urgency at all. Every walk is leisurely and slow and there is absolutely never any reason to walk quickly. Which is annoying coming from the US where slow walkers are considered annoying. By me. Their inability to use time is also apparent in their night life. It is very typical for young Spaniards to stay out until dawn.

As to the concept of time from my perspective, well thats a whole other story. Sometimes, like today for example, it seems like my time here is so incredibly short, like I hardly have any time at all. As I plan out my weekends and try to make time with different people here, it almost seems like I'll never be able to fit it all in.

However, there are those other times where it feels like getting back to Oklahoma is years away. Not that I ever really get too homesick, but there are those few bouts of wanting to see family, or friends, or just to live back in your comfort zone. The good thing is that every single one of us goes through it, so we can all empathize with each other. In fact, the first few nights (in the adjusting phase) were the absolute worst. I felt so out of place and clueless and uncomfortable and I started to actually regret coming for so long. Yet that passed oh so soon, and come to find out that every single other student felt the same way during their first few nights. I guess it's all just a part of studying abroad.

But Spain is an exciting place. It's a country of bullfights. Of flamenco. Of a relatively new government. Of exotic food. Of beautiful music. And every single day I learn something new. Here are my most recent additions to my knowledge of Spain:

1. I think every single person in Spain must own a dog, because I've seen more dogs around Alcala and Madrid than I have ever seen anywhere else. Which I don't have a problem with that at all, and it actually makes me miss my dog a little bit. The bad thing is that people take their dogs for walks everyday and when the dogs do their business on the sidewalk, the owners just keep on going like nothing happened. So I have to be careful on my walk everyday so as not to end up with dog poo on my shoes.

2. Spanish fashion is borderline insanity. Mullets and mohawks are all the rage here, and sometimes they're mixed together (a mohullet as we have dubbed them). The girls wear pants that look very similar to the parachute pants of the early '90s, and can also be compared to the pants that Aladdin wears. I know that European fashion is supposed to be edgy and trendy, but this is ridiculous.

3. The cars in Spain are all tiny, of course, but what amazes me is how they fit their cars into the tiniest places I've ever seen. Somehow they manage to parallel park within inches of both the car in front of and behind them. I have actually seen a few cars hit others in the process but with no real concern from the driver.

4. Malls in Spain are very similar to malls in America, but with a lot trendier and more hip stores in them. I would say the mall in Alcala is basically the same size as Quail Springs Mall in OKC, but it has a lot higher end stores like Zara, H&M, etc.

5. I can't really verify this one, but it seems to me that whenever you meet eyes with someone there is an unwritten rule that you are required to say "Hola" or "Buenos Dias" or something else along those lines. The first few times I met eyes with people and just nodded, and I got a few almost rude looks back from the person. Now I know to say a word or two just to keep the peace.

Well, in the interest of no longer rambling, I'm going to go ahead and cut this one short. I don't really have any new pictures of anything, and nothing super exciting has happened since I got home from Barcelona. But the great thing about daily life here is that even the routine is new and exciting.

However, one more interesting story to end on. My first teacher, Mar, supposedly is known to play favorites, according to one of the year-round students from Alcala. Which is good for me, because I'm pretty sure I've become her favorite. And the way that I know this is because she's taken to calling me "cheekymonkey," which I'm not sure exactly what she means by it but she always smiles when she says it, so it must be good, right?

And thats all for now! Ciao!

Me Encanta Barcelona!

Well, I guess you're probably all wondering how the trip to Barcelona went, right? And you're just dying to hear every story? Of course you are. :)

Well, to put it very simply and straight-forward, I have fallen in love with the city of Barcelona. It is one of the most amazing and beautiful places I've ever been. The beaches were amazing, every building was photo-worthy, the plazas were always packed with people, and the night life was extremely lively.

I feel so incredibly lucky and privelaged to have the ability to, you know, just take a quick trip to Barcelona. No big deal. haha For real though, Barcelona = coolest city ever.

And of course, I took over 200 pictures while I was there. So I warn you, there are a LOT of pictures on this post. Sorry for those of you with slower Internet connections, but it was almost impossible to narrow the selection down to the 20 or so pictures I used.

So, without further ado, here is my trip to Barcelona in pictures:

We took the overnight train to get there from Madrid, which basically meant that we stepped on the train at 10:30 at night and we didn't step off again until 7 the next morning. So it was a looooooooong train ride. But we got a sleeper car on the way there, and as you can see, even though it was a bit crowded, it was still comfortable. It was nice to able to sleep and to not worry quite as much about our stuff getting stolen.

The top picture is of Kami (dark hair in the top bunk) and Hannah (blonde hair on the bottom). Both girls are extremely cool and awesome travel buddies. The girl in the picture with me is Elizabeth. She rode there with us and got to spend a little time with us, but she met up with some other friends who were studying abroad in France, so we didn't get to see much of her while we were there.

And, of course, what would travelling be if you didn't get lost right from the start? We took the metro from the train station into the center of the city, where we thought our hostals were. But naturally, we were pretty far off mark. So the top picture is of Hannah and Kami trying to figure out where the hell we were and where we needed to be. The bottom picture is of Elizabeth being honest and showing that we had no clue.

This was one of my first views of Barcelona at the train station. Not too much to talk about here, except that we argued our way into a free train ticket. Long story short, the train station printed the wrong date on one of our return tickets and we were going to have to buy a whole new one, which would have been around 50 euro. But we used our superior Spanish skills, and our American ability to nag until something gets done, and talked our way into a new one. We were pretty proud of ourselves. :)

Finally we found our hostals. I stayed in a separate hostal from the girls because I had some friends coming down from France also and I stayed with them. We all hung out together, though, so I didn't ditch Hannah and Kami. This picture is from the inside of my hostal. It was actually surprising about how clean and even kind of hip the hostals were.

One of the first items on our agenda was to locate the beach. However, we made sure to take every opportunity to take pictures with everything cool looking along the way. For example, I have absolutely no clue what this statue is of. But it looked cool. Therefore it was a photo op. And here are the girls in front of it.

Eventually we found the beach. And what a beach it was. The Mediterranean is such an amazing place that once we got there, we didn't want to leave. You can kind of tell from this picture that the weather was perfect, sunny, and warm. We couldn't have asked for better. The water was still a little cold, but that didn't stop me from swimming in it. And now I can say that I've been in the Mediterranean Sea. And I think that's pretty dang cool.

These are mine and Hannah's feet. In the Mediterranean. Crystal clear water. Kinda chilly, but nothing we couldn't handle. How cool is that?

This was a little restaurant by the sea where we had bocadillos and people-watched.

And this, of course, is me in front of the Mediterranean. Such a once in a lifetime experience.

One thing that was a big difference between Madrid and Barcelona is that Barcelona seemed to be much more of a tourist destination from all over the world, whereas Madrid, while it is a tourist spot, is more just a giant city full of spaniards. Since Barcelona was so tourist-oriented, there were tents and shops and outside stores everywhere with all kinds of souveniers and trinkets to buy. Of course we stopped at a few to see what we could bargain for. Which wasn't much. Barcelona is an expensive place.

This is Hannah and I on top of the Cathedral of Barcelona. It was such a huge amazing church that had been built several centuries ago. The view from the top was amazing. I have a lot more pictures, but in the interest of not putting 100 pictures up here, I cut it down to this one.

One of the things we did was to go on a tapas and flamenco tour. For only 18 euros we got a ton of tapas, an amazing flamenco show, and entrance into several bars and discotecas. It was definitely money well spent for the flamenco show alone. I never would have imagined that dancing flamenco was such a difficult skill. I have never seen feet move that fast. I took a video of it, and I love looking back at it and still being amazed. This picture is of the three of us at some point throughout that night, I think at the flamenco show.

Once again, we took the opportunity to pose in front of everything. Absolutely no clue what this statue is. But I've got a picture in front of it. :)

We finally met up with my friends who were studying abroad in France and they joined us for the flamenco and tapas tour. The other guy is Kely, a guy in my fraternity, and the new blonde girl is Danielle and the new brunette is Erin. It was so great to see some more familiar faces in this foreign country. And even though none of the girls knew each other beforehand, we all had a great time together.

The next day we woke up and decided to take in all that Barcelona had to offer, which is a lot. We all really wanted to see el Parque de Guel, which was designed by Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi has stuff all over Barcelona and his architecture is really famous all over the world. The Guel is situated really really high up on a mountain, so this picture is of the hill we had to hike to get to the top. You can take an escalator almost the entire way, but I am proud to say that I walked stairs the entire way. If I don't come back from Spain at least a little bit skinnier, I'm going to be pissed.

The Guel has so many different things to see in it, including one of the best vistas of Barcelona in the entire city. Since it's situated at the very top of the mountain, you're able to see everything, far and wide. It was really breathtaking. Another amazing thing in the park is the longest bench in the entire world, which circles a huge open plaza that is about as big as a football field. The amazing thing is that the entire bench was sculpted by hand and the tiles for the mosaic were all laid by hand, all by Gaudi. It had to have taken so much time for such intricate work, and it shows. This is a close up shot of one section of the bench, but the mosaic is different all over the bench. It is truly something everyone should see.

This is just another section of the park underneath the area where the bench is. Gaudi had a very unique and unusual style of architecture, so every structure in the park looked similar to this.

This is La Sagrada Familia, the cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is separate from the park, but not too far away. This is also well worth the trip to Barcelona to see, because it is absolutely amazing. It is so huge that it is easily distinguishable in any photo of Barcelona. And so much detail and intricacy went into the design, for both inside and out, that the church is still being built and worked on even all these years after Gaudi's death. This is another thing I have tons and tons of pictures of, but couldn't put them all on here.

One of my favorite things about Spain that I feel is represented well in this picture is the fact that Spanish culture is very people-oriented. Every evening Spanish families go to the plazas of their city just to hang out and be around other people. In this particular picture, a live band was playing in the plaza and huge groups of people, none of which knew each other, just grouped together and started dancing together. The dance was an easy one, one in which everyone got in a circle, grabbed hands, and did some foot moves while moving in the circle. Everyone was invited to join, young and old. It was a very cool sight to see.

That night we decided to spring for a nice meal because all we had eaten thus far were sandwiches made with materials we had bought at a supermercado in the interest of saving money (again, Barcelona is an expensive place). So we went to a really great restaurant in one of the main plazas of the city and sat down for good food, good sangria, and good wine. However, two of the girls, Hannah and Erin, decided to be adventurous and try a native Spanish dish. As you can see from this picture, it looked very similar to a big bowl full of tar. What it was was cuttlefish (a kind of squid) in rice cooked in it's own ink, which is what gave it the black color. Despite it's disgusting appearance, it really wasn't bad. We all gave it a try just to experience it. But I stuck with something safer, and I'm sure any family of mine reading this will know exactly what I ordered. I ate chicken. :)

On our last day we just lazily walked around and enjoyed the city for a little while longer. This picture is me with one of the most famous places in the city, the monument of Columbus. It is a GIANT statue in the middle of the street (you can tell how big it is by comparing its size to the people standing at it's base). I had always seen pictures of this and I was so excited when I saw it that I took several pictures of it for myself.

For lunch we decided to go for native Spanish food again, except this time it was something we all knew we liked: paella. For those of you who have never seen paella, this is what it generally looks like. Cooked rice, vegetables, some kind of meat (usually seafood, but also can be chicken, pork, or whatever). It is definitely a delicious dish, and I actually find myself kind of craving it from time to time.

And then, sadly, we had to make the loooooong train ride home. We weren't so lucky this time to get a sleeper car and had to ride overnight sitting straight up in these seats. Not exactly the most comfortable ride ever, but I suppose it could have been worse. This picture was from around three in the morning when I couldn't sleep and I was bored. I'm pretty sure Hannah still doesn't know I took this.

And, of course, what would a trip be without some souveniers? I got several things for people back home that I'm pretty sure they will all like, and I splurged on something for myself. There was an artist on Las Ramblas (about a two mile long stretch of a huge sidewalk with tons and tons of street vendors, performers, etc.) that had these amazing paintings. I automatically knew I wanted some, and was almost scared to ask how much. However, you should all be proud to know that I haggled the price down from 30 euros to 20. All in Spanish. Hooray for me. :) They're small paintings, but I think they make an awesome memento of my trip to Barcelona.

So thats all I have for now. This took me an incredibly long time to write, so I'm going to get off now and go take a siesta. I'm telling you, life is rough in Spain. :)

However, I want to end with a quick story that happened at dinner yesterday that cracked me up to no end. Tony, John's and my host dad, was cooking us chicken and vegetables for dinner and was asking us if we had dinners like that in the US. John started saying (in spanish) that yes, we do eat chicken but not necessarily like we were having that night (it was kind of like sausage links, except chicken). And John was telling what parts we eat and how we eat it and all of the sudden our host dad started cracking up and we had no idea why. Apparently John, when describing that the breast meat of the chicken was his favorite part, had told our host dad that we like to eat "chicken titties." Which made me laugh until I cried. And I'm laughing again now just thinking about it.

Sorry for the long post and I hope it wasn't boring, but there was SO much to talk about, I couldn't have shortened it a bit.

I hope all is well in the states!