Barcelona Bound: Elbows and exposed knees

I guess I've been avoiding writing a little bit, even when I had the chance, because I kind of wanted to wait until I had some decent pictures to share with the world. Unfortunately, all the pictures I've taken since I've been here have just been really...bad. So maybe those will wait. Anyway, Barcelona is wonderful! At the moment I'm sitting in the study lounge at the Arcadia center with two of my also wireless-less housemates. Ahh, my housemates.

Like I mentioned, I live with four other American students: Suki, my roommate, is a Nashville girl going to school at Charleston College in South Carolina. She does yoga every morning and is honestly one of the most genuine people I've ever met. I have a very good feeling about her. Carina goes to GW in DC but is from LA and has a couple typical characteristics of other LA girls I know-- she's well-dressed and street-smart, seemingly never surprised by some of the bizarre stuff that happens to us in the city. She's also hilarious and keeps me on my toes all the time. Kate and Emily are both from Massachusetts, so we're already planning some kind of bay state reunion for when we all head back to the states. Kate is incredibly witty and sassy, and looks frighteningly similar to Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. Emily is very sweet and is always laughing-- her twenty-first birthday is actually TONIGHT at midnight, which might make 9:30am spanish class tomorrow a little painful, but 21st birthdays are so worth the pain.

Gah, I feel like Louisa May Alcott describing the little women... how obscene. But I feel like I should give you (whoever you might be) some idea of who we're dealing with here. Basically, I love my living situation; even without a living room or wireless we are having a great time. Althoooough, both of those would be nice.

So the five of us, along with other friends we've met through the program (and quite a few others who we've met just wandering down the street, in bars and clubs, or through classes at the university) are having a grand old time taking in the city. We're trying to adjust to Spanish hours, which include lunch around 2 or 3 followed by siesta, dinner at 9 or 10, heading to a bar around midnight, and ending things by going to a discoteca at 2 or 3, finally returning home at 6 or so. It's crazy how lively things are here at 2 in the morning-- the streets are full of people young and old, just looking to have a good time.

Aside from the nightlife and hours, we've also been having some exciting adventures in cooking. I've never been completely responsible for cooking for myself all the time, as I've had LeeAnn's gourmet stylings in Omaha and Dewick's sophisticated offerings in Somerville to keep me satisfied. Here though, I'm finding an unexpected little adventure in going to the various stands (fruits, vegetables, meats) and Spanish supermarkets to find things to cook, then cooking them. I won't go into detail, but I have come up with some extremely creative menus that I think I will force upon everyone when I get back.

One other thing I've been doing since I got here is taking classes (duh). Mom and Dad, I know you were probably wondering when I'd get to this part, but obviously I have to save the juicy stuff, like classes, for last. I'm taking four classes: a Spanish class which meets 4 times a week for two hours (at this rate, I better be fluent in a week TOPS), 2 classes in English at the Arcadia center, and a class taught in Spanish at the University of Barcelona. The two English classes are Art & Architecture and Photography, and I'm really pumped about both of them-- so far, so good. The class that I'm taking at U of B is called Contemporary Spanish Culture, and for half of it I'm learning Catalan (really strange-- I'm learning to speak Catalan in a class taught in Spanish... quite confusing but really exciting!) and the other half, Spanish geography and culture.

Wow, am I rambling...I just feel like I should try to fit in everything I've been experiencing for the past week since I don't know when I'll have sustainable internet again. However, as my fine brother Ryan so eloquently puts it, less is more, so I think for now I'll go do some more exploring and the next time I have a chance to write, I can go into more detail about events now that the general stuff is out of the way.. until then!

Tara

Okay, a few pictures...