Barcelona!

Last weekend we took a spur of the moment trip to Barcelona. On Wednesday we decided to go, made the reservations in between classes and left on Thursday. There were two groups from our program that went and we all took the same bus straight from Bilbao to Barcelona overnight on Thursday. We arrived at 6 am in the dark and the rain, terrified that we were going to get robbed because we had heard so many horror stories about Barcelona. We took the metro together as one big group but eventually had to split up because we were staying at different hostels. Our group (me, selma, molly, garrit and ben) made it to our metro stop and decided to go to a cafe to try to wait out the rain. We got some coffee and directions from a local and we were off to find our hostel (unfortunately, still in the rain). We found it really with no problem other than we overpacked and were lugging around enormous backpacks. Luckily, there was no one in the room so they let us check in early. We dried off, locked up our stuff and immediately went to the Sagrada Familia which was only about a 15 minute walk from the hostel. We stopped at a little pastry shop and had a real breakfast and talked to the elderly couple who owed it. They were so nice and so excited that we were studying spanish. When we made it to La Sagrada Familia, it was breathtaking. It is the most intricate building I've ever seen, no wonder it's not done after 100 years!

Unfortunately the line to go inside was hours long so we decided not to do it, but if I ever go back I definitely will. Gaudi is buried inside and once the church is finished, it should be so beautiful. From there, we took the metro to a stop near Las Ramblas. We passed some Roman remains on the way to the Barcelona Cathedral. The Cathedral was also beautiful and the line was short, so we went inside and I'm so glad we did. I took way too many pictures but it was just too pretty! After the cathedral, Selma, Garrit and Ben went back to the hostel to siesta and Molly, Murphy (a girl who took the sixth bed in our room) and I stayed to explore some more. We walked through the market, ate lunch and made our way to the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. I've seen pictures of the inside of this church that are gorgeous, but unfortunately it was closed to the public and the outside wasn't nearly as impressive. Still, we bought some ice cream and sat on the steps for a while before heading back. We took a quick nap, showered and met up with the other group for an overpriced dinner. From there, we went to Villa Olimpica (basically just where the olympic athletes were housed in 1992) which was rumored to have amazing nightlife. Too bad we're still not quite used to the Spanish schedule and when we got there at 11, absolutely nothing was open. We walked along the shore of the Mediterannean Sea for a while until 1 when things finally started opening. We ended up getting into a club for free, danced and took a cab home way too late because Saturday morning we woke up at 9 for continental breakfast. Then, with every intention of going right out and exploring....we fell back asleep until 12:30. Finally, we went to Las Ramblas, where we stopped for paella and sangria. Again we were overcharged but it was so delicious we didn't mind much. We then shopped, watched the street performers, took lots of pictures and saw the world's largest farmers market. We were too scared of getting robbed to go inside, but it was cool to see, even from afar. We spent all day (or what was left of it) on Las Ramblas and then went to a supermarket and bought baguettes, turkey and cheese and made our own sandwiches. We met some guys from Seville who were in the room next to us and hung out with them for a while before heading over to the other groups hostel. Their hostel was so much fun! They had invited pretty much everyone into their room, so we had an international party! There were people from France, Italy, Germany, Australia, etc and it was awesome. I had a conversation with this Italian guy, with him speaking Italian and me speaking Spanish we were able to communicate pretty well. It was a really, really cool experience. Then one of the hostel employees was also a promoter for the same club we had gone to the night before, so she could get us in for free again. Therefore, later that night we all went together and had so much fun!
Sunday morning we woke up early again for breakfast and to check out of the hostel. Luckily, they allowed us to lock up our stuff in the office so we could go out all day without having to lug our backpacks around. We left around 10 for Park Guell, one of Gaudi's masterpieces and my new favorite place on earth. Granted, I haven't been a lot of places, but so far, it really is my absolute favorite. We spent about 3 and a half hours there. We explored the houses that look like they're straight out of a Dr. Seuss book and the mosaic tiles everywhere....from the top of the park you could see the whole city and the Mediterranean Sea glistening. It was beautiful.

 We met a Colombian man making jewelry to fund his trip across Europe. His stuff was awesome so we all bought bracelets and he made the clasps right in front of us using scrap metal and pliers. He was so talented and so nice! We then went on some trails through the park and listening to the many people singing, playing the guitar, etc. The guys got their picture taken with a belly dancer haha. I would go back in an instant and if anyone goes to Barcelona, I highly, highly, highly recommend visiting it. Once we left, we went straight for some more paella before heading to the beach. We got to the beach around 3 and stayed until 9. We layed out, got mojitos, played volleyball, ate sandwiches, and watched the sunset.

Two of the french guys we met the night before came with us as well, and we met some other people from Australia, Canada and Denmark. Hanging out with so many different people was amazing, but unfortunately we didn't speak Spanish pretty much all weekend. Part of the reason is that in Barcelona the primary language is Catalan and we speak Castilian, so besides asking for directions and ordering food, we mainly spoke english. Anyways, around 9 we went back to the hostel to grab our bags before going to the bus station. Our bus came at 11:30 and I got a horrible night's sleep before arriving back in Bilbao at 7. I ran home to quick shower and lay down for a minute before my class at 9 and ended up waking up in time for my class at 11. Oops! Haha
Anyways, I saw a lot this weekend and it was all beautiful. But, I realized that traveling with friends is a lot different than traveling with your family. Not everyone is as accommodating and I was one of the lucky ones in the group who got to see everything on my list. There was some drama here and there, but I learned a lot about how to handle those kinds of situations and it was worth it. I have 250 pictures, but even without them, I know this was a weekend I'll never forget.
<3


ps. i know this sounds strange, but while in barcelona, there were times when i got really homesick for bilbao. now i'm nervous that when the program is over and i'm back in the US i'll be homesick for somewhere that isn't really my home. it's weird...

Jamón (ham) in Spain is the most popular thing ever. It's hilarious.
My profa said today that there are two things she loves most in this world: chocolate and ham.
Also, you know how in the US the tradition is to give your teacher an apple as a gift or to suck up? Here in Spain, you give your teacher a ham. A leg, an entire ham, it doesn't matter. That's their custom. And I find it sooo funny I had to write about it.
:)

Time for an Update

Sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I've been ridiculously busy. Basically, I love Spain. I had my first week of classes and they seem like they'll be good. I'm taking a conversation class, a grammar class, a basque culture class and a spanish lit class. 13 credits total, so it shouldn't be too much work, which will hopefully leave me plenty of time to continue enjoying spain :) Also, all of my professors seem really cool. I especially love the program director, Jon Franco...he is hilarious.
So I had a pretty average week full of classes and shopping and spanish television. Then on Thursday our program had a welcome party in Las Arenas, a few metro stops from my apartment. Jon Franco is the manager of a band, Midnight Road, which played at the party and they were really good. It was a lot of fun. Then Friday morning we went to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It was cool, but I guess not as cool as I expected it to be. And we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum, which I thought was a little strange. Friday night there were fiestas in Urduliz. Every weekend there are fiestas in one part of Getxo. Last weekend they were in Plentzia, but we didn't go and heard that it was a lot of fun, so we made sure to go to Urduliz. When we got off the metro, we walked forever and there was nothing going on. We were starting to doubt that anything was happening when all of the sudden, we walked into a plaza completely full of people. The bars were blasting music and the streets were packed. When we walked a little further, there was a stage set up and bands were playing....it was so much fun. We left around 4 am and everyone else was still going strong. No wonder Spaniards need their siesta....I just can't keep up. On Saturday there was a soccer game between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid so a bunch of us went to a bar in Bilbao to watch it. Although we lost, it was a good game and I met a lot of people, spoke a lot of Spanish and learned a lot. For example, a lot of the expressions that we were taught at Kenowa and at Grand Valley are mexican/latin american sayings, so everyone was trying to teach us the Spanish way to talk. It was a really fun night. Then Sunday I just laid around all day and read and played sudoku. Then around 7 some people from the program met Jon Franco (the program director) in Las Arenas to watch American football and play a trivia game.  It was probably one of the best weekends I've had in.....a really long time. I love Spain and I love the people I've met. I feel like I'm learning so much about pretty much everything everyday.
Today during our break between classes Molly and I started planning what we were going to do during our long vacation at the beginning of December. We decided we wanted to go to Italy and actually found round trip flights direct to Rome for a little over 50 euros, so we're going to meet up tomorrow and hopefully book that. I'm so excited to start traveling, but at the same time I absolutely love it here and would be content to spend my entire trip in Bilbao and Getxo. We're sticking around here this weekend, but next weekend we're off to Madrid and Toledo. Then possibly Barcelona the following weekend. And then (I think) it'll be time to meet the parents in London and Paris :)
Although I can't wait to see you all again, I'm having the time of my life! I can't believe I've only been here about a week and a half and I hope that time doesn't speed up haha.
That's all for now I think, but I'll try to update again soon.

Sorry I haven't updated in two whole days (mother) but i finally got a chance to sit down, so here goes.
FRIDAY:
I woke up friday not feeling well. I'm not sure if it was tiredness or homesickness or something i ate, but I was so nauseous. And unfortunately in Spain, food is constantly being shoved down your throat. So after a while I was able to get away without eating, but I had some coffee...which was dumb haha. But I didnt have much time to think about it as Carmen and I rushed to the metro so I could go to my first orientation at school. We stopped about halfway to Deusto to meet up with Carmens nephew and his host "brother" and another of Carmen's friends and her host son. All of the host families have been doing this for so long, they are all good friends. So I made two new friends, Andres y Ben. Ben actually goes to Grand Valley so we talked about that on the ride to school. The metro stopped and we walked about 5 minutes to campus and the parents left and orientation started. We began with a spanish placement test, which was harder than I expected and worse because of my tiredness/nauseousness. But, we'll see how I did on Monday. Then we had the Bilbao orientation. We were given a lot of practical information but it was so hard not to sleep through the entire thing. Finally it was over at around 12 (it had started at 9) and we walked a ways through Bilbao to the restaurant where we were going to have lunch. Luckily I was feeling better and luckily there was already coke on the table. But, like I said...there is so much food here. We were served pasta with spaghetti sauce for the first course. It was more than I would be able to eat normally and it was only the first course. Then we got three little fillets of chicken and french fries for the second course. And then, dessert. Which was delicious. It was tiramisu-ish with a creme brulee like top. It was lovely :) Then, at around 2 we went on a tour of Bilbao. Bilbao is such a gorgeous city, I'm in love. We walked through El Casco Viejo (the old quarter) and it was beautiful. Old churches and government buildings and tall apartments on narrow streets...i loved it. Then we went into other parts of Bilbao and saw la plaza and some of the bars and shops, like El Cortes Ingles, a seven story department store that I can't wait to visit. Finally the tour was over and Selma and I took the metro back to Algorta. Once we got off the metro I knew where I was going, but when I went that way, it didn't lead to my apartment. Now I know that there are two metro stops in Algorta and on the way back we got off at a different one that I had gotten onto that morning, so my directions didnt work haha. But I got extremely lost and tried calling my host mother, which didnt work. So then I called my dad and sobbed to him on the phone as everyone stared hahaha. He told me to write down my address and ask someone where it was, so I did and it worked. I asked an older man and he showed me right up to my door. My building ended up being the building I thought was mine all along. But when I tried the key earlier, it wouldnt work. Apparently, turning keys is a more complicated process in Spain. But I survived, although a little traumatized. Once I got in, I took a nap since I wasnt feeling well again and Carmen made me some lighter food for dinner. I went to the supermarket to buy sunscreen and made it back without getting lost haha. And then I went to meet up with some friends at the metro station. We didn't specify which one so when I arrived, there was no one there. I went home and started skyping with the parents, when Selma called my house and said they were at the other station. So Carmen and Ricardo walked me there :)  Then a group of about six of us walked around until we found a bar we liked. We planned on bar hopping, but ended up staying there until around one when we just went home. It was so fun, and I met some Spaniards and learned some new slang haha. Besides the sickness and getting lost, it was a very good day!
TODAY:
Today I woke up around nine and got ready to go to the beach with Carmen, Ricardo, Carmens sister and her husband and their host son (who I met yesterday), Carmen's friends and her host son (Andres who I met yesterday as well) and a few other of their friends. We drove probably close to an hour to go to a gorgeous beach, but when we got there it wasnt very sunny. So, we walked around and took some pictures of the ocean and then while the parents went to sit at the beach, Andres, Ben and I went up to the bar nearby. We stayed there and talked for a while, Andres is 25 and verrry good at Spanish so he's very helpful to talk to.   Then we went back to the beach and ate a huge lunch that I of course couldn't finish. After lunch we went swimming, because in Spain they think its better to swim after a mean, instead of before like we think in the US. The water was freezing, but I sucked it up and went in anyways. When we got back out of the water, everyone was eating again hahaha. Andres said "Oi que los espanoles comen tres veces cada dia pero parece mas" which means that he heard Spaniards eat three times a day, but it appears to be much more. Ben's host father, Javi, who is hilarious, agreed saying that two things Spaniards do all day is eat and drink. From what I've seen, this is very true. So, we just sat around in a circle and talked for a few hours. I didn't say hardly anything, but it was good. I needed a day to just sit and listen and process and begin to understand the speed and the accent.  Today was very relaxing and very fun. I'm not sure if I'll do anything tonight, but I'll let you know later :)
Hasta luego,
Melissa

Bienvenidos a Espana

Hola a todos,

This is overwhelming already. Luckily, I think this will be the worst part.  And I haven’t slept in…25 hours? and counting haha. So I know that tomorrow will be better after I’ve slept all night.

Alright, so from the beginning:

I was sitting in the Chicago airport, waiting, bored, when an Iberia employee said something over the loudspeaker and the girl behind me, Selma, asked if I understood him. I didn’t. But, either way we realized that we were both going to the la Universidad de Deusto and that we were both living with families in Algorta, so we were on the same flights all the way to Bilbao. Selma even ended up sitting right behind me on the flight to Madrid, which was very long and boring. The food was disgusting and the movie was played at like 3 am (Spanish time) so thank god I brought my own entertainment. We arrived at the airport an hour late, but I had a four hour layover anyway so it was fine. We had to go through immigration there , which consisted of me showing them my passport and leaving haha. It sounded much scarier than it was.  Then we went to buy food but I wasn’t feeling well from the lack of sleep so I just bought a coke and sat with Selma, which was nice. We get along great and we started talking about traveling together and are planning to go shopping and to the beach Sunday since we leave very close.  Anyway, when we were done with breakfast we went to find our gate. Our boarding pass said gate HJK, so we followed the signs to HJK through the entire airport. We literally went through the entire Madrid-Barajas airport, we took a train, took elevators, went up and down escalators and then through security again, which I was not expecting. Apparently since our first flight was international and the second was domestic, we needed to go through Spanish security as well. Then we continued to follow the signs to HJK, only to find that H was pointed to the left, J to the right and K down. So finally we asked an airport employee and she explained that gates aren’t assigned until 30 mins before boarding time, so H, J, and K were our options. So we sat and relaxed for 2 hours before finding out our real gate. Then we finally boarded our flight to Bilbao, which was pretty much take off and descent and then we were there! Selma and I were both really nervous about going through customs and meeting our families and leaving each other, since we’d been helping each other the whole way so far. But customs was probably the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I got my bag, walked up to a man who asked me where I was from, I told him the United States and he said “Ok, enjoy Bilbao.” Then I walked up to a man holding a Deusto sign and he checked me and the other three students in and then went to get our families. It reminded me of Matt and Jessy’s New York Reception. All of the sudden there were a bunch of older men and women rushing at us with their arms out, yelling our names.  I met Carmen and her husband(???) Ricardo and kissed them on the cheeks. There is sooo much kissing in Spain! They are such nice people, and when we got back to their apartment I met their daughter Paola, and their grandson Iker who visits everyday. I think Paola is 26 but she looks much younger and Iker is 3 and absolutely adorable.  Right when I got there, Carmen made us lunch. She made some sort of soup with beans and sausage that I can’t remember the same of.  Then she made fish, which I know she didn’t tell me the name of, but it was caught fresh from the Bay of Biscay and is only available from July-September, so they pickle it for the rest of the year. It was really good, but I was still nervous so I couldn’t eat much. Now, after playing with Iker for a while, I’m just trying to settle in. I need to go out and buy things (like the lotion that airport security confiscated) but I’m content to just sit here for now. Anyways, I have orientation at Deusto tomorrow at 9, and it will be comforting to speak English again. I know that I said I want to only speak Spanish while I’m here…but I think maybe I’ll start that next week lol. It’s all just a little overwhelming right now.  Love you all and I’ll update soon :)

...and it says i wrote this at 8 something am, but its 5:35 pm right now haha