Saturday, September 27, 2008

Sights & sounds




I feel as though I've seen/done so much in the past two and a half weeks that I couldn't begin to describe everything in detail.
My favorite mercet thing was "corre fuego", which is like a parade of fireworks down the streets. People are advised to wear non flammable clothing because the sparks go everywhere. It's completely ridiculous and crazy. "Let's give a bunch of kids fireworks and wine and let them run around." And somehow there are never any deaths? I don't know how they do it....
There was also a pretty dulce parade called "desfile de los gigantes" which involved really large dolls....
I went to an opera/flamenco show at La Palau de la Musica which was fantastic. Makes me want to learn flamenco singing, although that seems pretty obscure. We had nosebleed section seats and couldn't even see the stage but we moved over when the lady wasn't looking and things turned out okay.
That night I met up with my friend from high school who happens to be studying here as well. I ended up going with her and her friends to a discoteca that was free. It was pretty fun because I love dancing, but it seemed that most of the kids were american/foreign, but not spanish. They also played A LOT of american music, which was kind of a bummer. The club was way far from my house and I knew I couldn't walk home, but I also didn't want to take a cab. I decided to wait with some people until the metro opened back up. This turned out to be a disaster because we were waiting at a station that didn't have a train coming for an hour, so then we had to walk to another one.....I was home after six, just around sunrise.
The next day it was raining so I met up with a friend for cafe and we went to the picasso musuem. I'm no art history student, but I definetly thought Picasso was an italian...guess not. It was interesting to learn about all the ways in which Barcelona inspired him as an artist. Usually painting doesn't do much for me, but I really felt something when I looked at his sketches.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Friday, September 19, 2008

La Guitarra, by Garcia Lorca

Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Se rompen las copas
de la madrugada.
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Es inutil
callarla.
Llora monytona
como llora el agua
como llora el viento
sobre la nevada.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora por cosas
lejanas.
Arena del Sur caliente
que pide camelias blancas.
Llora flecha sin blanco,
la tarde sin macana,
y el primer pajaro muerto
sobre la rama.
Oh guitarra!
Corazon malherido
por cinco espados.

DESIGUAL!

Desigual is like the mob; they run this city with an iron fist.
Here are two pictures of two seperate Desigual stores that are on the same block, literally four stores apart!

Un dia en la vida


Okay, so this seems more like a vacation abroad, rather than "study abroad"
My week consists of:
going to 1-2 classes for four days (which are pass/fail and don't even effect my gpa), and then a three day weekend.
Days are spent drinking estrellas on the beach, shopping, drinking cafe con leches, exploring the city, parks, museums, or sleeping.
Nights are spent drinking mohitos y vino, bar hopping, going to discoteques, and staying out late.
I guess for some people this is "culture shock", but I don't see what's so shocking about it...other than how FABULOSO it is!!!!!!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mercet!

So we arrived in Barcelona just in time for a huge, one week long party!
No classes on Wednesday!
Free music concerts! Fireworks!
This is the website: www.bcn.cat/merce/en/merce-actual.shtml

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Un poco de todo







These are just a few of the places I've seen in my first week: Barceloneta, Parc Guell, Barri Gotic, Las Ramblas, La Sagrada Familia. Que guia, no?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Calimocho, el delicioso

Calimocho: One part red wine. One part coca cola. And it's not as bad as it sounds.
Calimocho: Spanish for tasty.
Calimocho: How the spaniards make thier crappy wine go far.
Calimocho: For the whino, college student in us all.
On La Diada, Catalunya's independence day (Sept. 11 weirdly enough) we bought some boxed wine, mixed it with some coke and had ourselves a calimocho in the streets of el barrio gotico.

The important vocab

These are words and phrases you should know while in Barcelona, some are real and some are sort of made up:
  1. Que cojones!/What the fuck!
  2. Que guia!/Cool!
  3. Dulce!/Sweet!
  4. Vomitar/to vomit (crude)
  5. Pishear/ to piss
  6. Estoy colada por ti/I have a crush on you
  7. Estas buena/You're hot
  8. Borracho/drunk
  9. Mal educada/rude
  10. Te echo de menos/ I miss you
  11. Estoy cachonda/ I'm horny
  12. Ensanchar/ to stuff yourself full of food
  13. vino tinto, vino blanco/ red wine, white wine
  14. los mariscos/ seafood
  15. Xopitos/ shots!

Por Supesto


I have survived the first week in Barcelona without being run over by a car, bus, or bull. I also have not been mugged, robbed, or knifed. Apparently there are never violent crimes here because the people are so chilled out by the wine and the beach. What's not to like?