Las Ramblas- June 1, 2010

Another leisurely morning and then Dana and I met our friends Kyle and Bevan at Placa Catalunya to go to Las Ramblas, a famous street in Barcelona. At the placa, while we were waiting for our other friends to catch up with us, we decided we would feed the pigeons with some feed we bought at a stand. It was surprisingly funny to sprinkle the food and watch hundreds of pigeons come flocking. We even fed them from our palms which was slightly scary. Although I must say, those pigeons are very accurate with their aim. Once we caught up with everyone we head for Las Ramblas. It was basically this market street with fruit stands, clothing stands, and even pet stands. You know you are in another country when: you can by a bunny of the street. There were also plenty of street performers which were entertaining to see. One particularly impressive one was painted with metallic paint and stood completely still to look like a bronze statue. He didn’t even blink. We went through an actually market towards the end which was interesting. There was food of every flavor and color in that tent, including skinned lambs heads, eyeballs and all. Before we left Las Ramblas we had some Gelato, my first since being here. Mine was menthe (mint) and it was quite lovely. After ice cream it was time to meet up with our program for a city bus tour. The tour took us to the port Olympic part of town where we got to see the old Olympic stadium and the main harbor. We stopped off at the famous Gaudi site called Parc Guell where we got out and walked around. It was a bit of a hike to get there but very cool. There were several buildings built in the traditional Gaudi style with colorful tiles and interesting designs. The buildings were built around the main center part of the park which had a beautiful view of Barcelona. After a while we got back on the bus and made our way back. The rest of the evening we relaxed and got ready for ur first day of class the next day.

Walking Around Town- May 31, 2010

Today was much slower paced than the previous three. I was able to sleep in which was nice and take my time getting ready for the day. Dana and I took a nice walk around town in the afternoon and got the feel for our neighborhood. She was looking for a converter to charge her computer so we had an interesting time finding one of those. We realized we live in a very central area of town. There is a train station about two blocks from our apartment on the left and a metro stop about the same distance on our right. There are plenty of restaurant and shops as well. We walked around for a bit after Dana found her converter and stopped at a nice café for some smoothies. The café was right by this beautiful plaza, which I later learned was Placa Espana, and had this gorgeous statue in the center with a fountain running through it. After our walk around town we set out for campus where we were supposed to be meeting our program for orientation. We asked our host dad how to get there during lunch and made our way to the metro. The metro part was no problem, Dana was used to using them back in Toronto where she is from. Once we got to the metro stop though we head quite a tough time orienting ourselves. We finally found the school, 45 minutes after we were supposed to meet everyone, and awkwardly walked into the classroom where everyone else already was. Oops. It turned out that we hadnt missed too much. We found out what classes we were in, International Market and Art and Culture for me. From my schedule I could tell that I started at 9:30 am every day and finished at 2 pm, and no Fridays. Not too bad for summer school. Later that night after a wonderful dinner with our host family Dana and I

had our first experience in a Barcelona bar. Everyone met up at this bar called Dow Jones. Drinks and their prices were listed on screens all around the bar and every half hour the market "crashed." It was quite the experience.

BCN Day 1- May 30, 2010

Barcelona today! We had another nice hotel breakfast and set out on our 8 hour bus ride, which happened to be just as long as my planeride to Spain. It wasn’t too bad of a ride, minus the rest stop where we had lunch in which someone found a maggot in their food, and before we knew it we were in Barcelona!! I was so nervous to meet our host family, but also eager to finally practice some Spanish. We finally arrived in the city, with its palm trees and interesting buildings, and got to our stop in which all the Spanish “moms and dads” were waiting for us. Dana and I found our host mom right away, Asuncion. She was this sweet little lady with a big smile. She helped us with our things and walked us to the bus stop that would be taking us to the apartment. Dana and I communicated with her in broken Spanish on the ride home, Dana doing better than I as Spanish is her major. The apartment was quaint, nicely decorated and very “homey.” Much to our surprise Dana and I got our own rooms! Mine has some nice space savers in it including a couple very tall armoires in the corner and a raised bed over a desk. After we unpacked our things a bit, Asunsion walked us to a nearby park where her husband and friends were hanging out and enjoying some beer. There was some sort event going on at the time that they were all celebrating. My first outside festival! Their friends were all very nice and I did my best to talk to them. After the event we all went back to the apartment for dinner. Our program had told us that it wasn’t very common for families to entertain guests, so Dana and I found it amusing that our family had guests over the very first night. Dinner was a little intimating due to all eyes on Dana and I, but they were friendly eyes so it wasn’t too too scary. Dinner was late so by the time it ended I was ready for sleep. My first day in Barcelona! I had no idea what to expect for the next 6 weeks…

Toledo- May 29, 2010

Today we woke up early in our hotel in Madrid, had another lovely breakfast, and set out for Toledo. It was about a three hour bus ride and my first major view of Spanish countryside. Once we got closer, a tour guide from the area hopped on our bus and narrated while we drive around the city of Toledo a bit. It was beautiful, so different from anything I had seen before. Toledo is essentially built up on a hill and historically was a very important capital for Spain. A large fortress could be seen on top of one of the hills. Our bus arrived at a very scenic spot and we departed the bus for our guided walking tour. It was so hot!! And I happened to make the unfortunate decision of wearing pants that day. We walked around the town and toured a cathedral which was very cool. It had a courtyard with a garden and orange trees which was very beautiful. Just walking through the streets was a whole new experience. They were very narrow and had canopies covering them as to block the heat. I felt like I was walking through markets as they originally were. We also were able to see a famous painting by Greco, The Burial of Saint Orgaz I believe its called. It was amazing to see. After the tour we were left to eat lunch and do some shopping. Dana and I and some of our new friends had a nice little shaded lunch and then walked around a bit. Then we got back on the bus and head for out hotel. Our hotel in Toledo was quite a bit larger and nicer than the one we had in Madrid. Rumor had it that it used to be a hospital, which creeped some people out haha. Dana and my room had this gorgeous view of Toledo. And for the first time since I arrived in Spain I had substantial access to internet, which was nice because I hadn’t even been able to tell some people I had made it safely yet. There wasn’t too much to do around town, but I caught a late dinner with some familiar and unfamiliar faces. It was nice getting to know some of the people on my program, all of whom are now my friends. After dinner we all went back to the hotel, I caught up on some internet time, and head for bed to get ready for our early morning to Barcelona the next day.

1st Real Day in Madrid- 5/28/10

Woke up feeling a little better than the day before. Dana and I woke up early and went to the hotel breakfast where we got our first taste of Spanish food. Lots of crossiants and breakfast pastries, plenty of fruit, full selection of meats that look like proscuito and sausage, and cafe. It was delicious :) We sat randomly at a table with two other guys, Bevan and Kyle from California, who turned out to be a pair we hung out with a lot on the trip. They were telling us al about how they had randomly stumbled into an Irish pub the night before in which a local shared some beers with them and talked to them about the U.S. Civil War. After breakfast we met with our program and head to the Museo del Prado, a famous museums with paintings by Dahli, Goya, Greco and Valazquez. It was absolutely AMAZING. It was especially cool because a lot of the paintings we viewed I had learned about in my spanish classes. After the Museo del Prado, we had a long break for lunch and I followed a group I had recently met to Plaza del Sol where we grabbed a couple of pitchers of Sangrias and sat down for a nice lunch. It was a three course meal, starting with paella, and by the second course came around I was way too full!! The meal was a good deal but I avoided ordering that type of meal from then on. One of my new friends, Kelsey, ordered wine at lunch and they brought her a whole bottle!! Another thing I learned early on not to do. If I want wine at a meal, I must put "un vaso" in front of it to just order a glass. It worked out though, we helped her finish it :) After lunch w met back up with the rest of the group and went to the Reina Sofia, another famous art museum. This one was more modern, featuring artists such as Picasso and such. It was interesting but I was definitely more entralled with the first one :) In the afternoon after the museum tours, Dana and I did a bit of walking around the city. It was so beautiful :) So surreal to be in a whole new country. After our walk we had some time to kill before the night's activities. I took a small siesta and ran down to the lobby where I could enjoy a quick half hour on my computer, most of which was spent answering emails and trying to get ahold of people I hadnt talked to yet to let them know I was there. Around 10 p.m. we met up again with the same group from earlier in the day and head out again for Plaza del Sol. I was starting to get the hang of this metro thing! We had dinner at this nice sandwhich place, mine was a delicios combination of ham and some kind of goat cheese, and then scoped out a place where we could have drinks. My first night of drinks in Spain! After dinner we were still plenty early for the typical "going out" time (it was only 11:30 p.m. afterall) so we kind of walked around until things started to look a little more hoppin. We finally decided on this Irish pub kind of place (clearly a popular setup), in which I got carded at the door!! They asked me if I was 16, how embarrassing. The bar ended up being really fun, it was pretty crowded inside and there was a live band playing on some sort of second level platform above us. We all stood around this round table with a wooden beam running straight up through the middle of it to the ceiling. Pretty fun for the first night. After the bar we trudged home and I jumped immediately into bed, still feeling pretty jetlagged. What a long fun day in Madrid!!

Little Late- 5/27/2010

So this one's gonna be extra long since I have already been here for 13 days and havent posted yet. Lets back it up to the beginning shall we? Day 1: Departure for Madrid. Saying goodbye at the airport, 100 bucks in hand to exchange for euros at the other end, some sleeping pills, music, a couple books, and nada mas. Plane ride: seat moved from lovely window seat to aisle seat in exit row in which I had nowhere to put my stuff but the bins above. Great start. I sat next to an older Italian gentleman on his way to Italy to perform a wedding for someone in his family. He was reading biblical text the whole time. Slept a little on the plane but mostly I couldnt sleep because I was too nervous/excited. When we finally landed it was 8 a.m. the next day. Luckily I ran into a group of other ISA students right away and we "helped" each other find the rest of the group. It was a little overwhelming at first considering I was jetlagged and I was suddenly shoved into a group of 100 stangers who were about to start the same adventure as me. After a LOT of waiting, we finally made our way to the buses and took off for the hotel. The landscape was unreal, I felt like I was in a dream. Which mostly had to do with the fact that I was half dead at the time. We all unloaded our many bags and piled into the lobby out hotel in Madrid and waited another LONG time to get our room assignments. We were paired with our roommates for our homestays which was nice because it gave everyone a chance to get know each other. My roommate's name is Dana and I had the pleasantry of meeting her when she came to the room and interrupted my ill-advised catnap. They say you are not supposed to sleep when you are jetlagged and they unfortunately are right. Before Dana arrived, I went out on the town for a sandwich and some beer with my newest friends Chris and Adam. We took a nice stroll around the block and even stumbled into a pet store which contained such animals as alligtors and comodo dragons. They rest of the day everyone took it easy. We had a meeting with our program guides and then Dana and I grabbed some Spanish McDonalds, which wasnt any better than the U.S. They serve beer though so thats that. After dinner I ran down to the lobby for a quick half hour of WiFi and it was off to bed for me. Look out Spain, here I come! Day number one, down for the count.