The last days in Barcelona

Today is my last and final day of school, here in Barcelona. My last time riding the city buses, last time for everything really here. It's been a crazy 5 weeks and sad for some. But I have enjoyed myself. It was a great opportunity many people will never experience. I couldn't have asked for a better host stay, food (especially!!), better professor...I've been lucky on this trip. The past three days Carmen has made fish for my meals...it's soooo good! Tonight I am getting salmon too! Aww I can't wait. I am actually almost all packed, but a bit nervous to be overweight? Oh no! I have a few more things to put in my suitcase, but I can't believe how much clothes I brought. I thought I packed light...and I didn't! I am giving some of my stuff to Teti and Carmen, like bath wash, extra metro passes (like 5), and whatever else I can't fit in my suitcase. I just can't wait to get home...I'm not even worried about the planes home because nothing can be worse than our train rides to Paris and back to Barcelona. Horrible! I just have to get through tonight, because we are going to the airport at midnight. Kaila has an early flight to Milan (because she is going to Greece with 3 other girls) then the other 4 of us will be waiting to get home! I actually am excited too because we get to watch movies on the plane...our own t.v.'s and get to pick from like 50 movies. It's awesome! Something else to look forward too! haha. Well I just can't believe this time is finally here, I am off back home! Ciao Barcelona..you've been good to me! Hopefully I can come visit again! :) See everyone soon!

For the last week or so...

Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I've been here writing! Sorry! It's been crazy hectic and it's crazy I am already leaving in 3 days! I have finally got used of the living here, but of course, I have to leave now! I will really miss Barcelona and I have chosen it as my favorite city thus far. I've only been to a few in Europe, but my favorite out of the few! This past weekend I was in Paris! I have already posted pictures on Facebook! The Eiffle Tower is beautiful...especially at night. Even though, I've already visited there, it was better the second time around. I think I have grown up a lot and can appreciate the city much more! Even though, I was nervous practically the whole time I was there, I was glad to visit again. We didn't get to do much because we were only there 2 full days, but I saw most of the famous monuments and some more history. I didn't go into the Louvre AGAIN...but oh well. Maybe I'll be back there someday! The train ride there and back took forever, specially the way back, they had some train problems. We were on the train and in train stations from 9 AM until about 11:30 PM...it was not fun! But we had a quote for the whole trip..."It's all part of the experience"...haha...now we live by that quote! I didn't eat an actual meal in Paris, just snack foods and anything cheap. My diet was horrible, consumed mostly carbs, and no protein, calcium, or anything else really. Carmen made up for me though, she served me fish, potatoes, and spinach last night...it was delicious! I had sausage and beans the other night...mmm mmm mmm. I will really miss the food when I leave! The fresh vegetables and fruits...ohhh how I wish Wisconsin would all that and be CHEAP! Oh well. Tonight we are going to a FC Barcelona soccer game, should be very interesting! It doesn't start until 10 PM so I won't be getting home until probably 1:30 or 2 in the morning...then 2 more days of school this week and then time to leave! This is just crazy how fast everything has gone. I remember when I first got here and was not liking it so much and now I really do enjoy Barcelona. I am just lucky I was able to come here and experience this. It's a trip that I may never get a chance to do again. I really have to thank my parents for everything, because they helped me so much on this trip! Even though, I don't say it enough, I am very thankful for them! My spanish is improving, which is why I am here, so I know I've got too! I have finished my 4 compositions and now will have to start my 5 page paper that is due Sept. 7th. I want to come home because I miss everyone and home, but I don't want to because that means reality is coming...and I have a lot to do! Especially with school, SHRM, and who knows what else! I am finally 21 and just want to enjoy my time with my roommates this year! They won't be here next year because of graduation...and they will be wanting to live up their last year, that means I'll be dragged along...not complaining though! That means juggling school, extra curriculars, work, social life, and of course Jordon! Man, college is fun but hard! I can honestly say though, this has been the best summer of my life! I went to New Orleans, Spain, France, got a new car (YAY), and got to spend a lot of time with Jordon...which doesn't happen quite often! It's crazy how fast this summer went by...but I am sure glad I had it. Like I said, I live a lucky life...I have my family that helps and supports me, a boyfriend that truly cares for me, good friends that I can rely on, and many other people in my life that I am thankful for! Sorry I am going on and on about this...but this whole experience has shown me a lot! Being away from home...you really learn who you are as a person...it can be scary...but good all at the same time.

8-9-09 Sunday

So sorry for being so late. I haven't had much time to sit and use my computer at night. But anyways, Sunday was a very relaxing day in Madrid. We got up early in the hostel, around 8:30 and got packed up and ready to go. Kaila, Marisol, and Rochelle switched their bus ride back to Barcelona. Instead of leaving Madrid at midnight, they left at 2 PM. They had to be at the bus stop 2 hours prior to leaving, so we wanted to get out of the hostel right away. But first, we had the free breakfast offered, which was a crossiant with jam, coffee, and orange juice. Mmm. We left the hostel and headed toward a huge park (which I guess is similar to Central Park in NYC). It was huge, had a lake in the middle of it, and lots and lots of people! We hung around there for a bit and around 11 Marisol, Rochelle, and Kaila left. Gina, Betsy, Emily, and I walked around Madrid a bit more...stopped at a cafe for some churros con chocolate, which is a typical breakfast in Madrid. It's just churros with a hot chocolate drink. It was pretty good. We did some souvenir shopping (which all I bought was a book). Later, we went back to the park to hang around for about 3 hours. Emily slept, I read Twilight, and Betsy was busy journaling...she writes down everything! I wish I could do that..I just don't have the patience or the time. After we relaxed, we got on our way over to the train station. That was about a 20 minute walk. We stopped at a restaurant to get a bocadillo con calamares, which is just bread and calamarie! It was interesting but good. Teti told me to get one and I listened! We got to the train station and were about an hour early before our train left, so we walked around and sat. The train station was actually really pretty inside. There is a garden (kind of like a jungle look) I have a picture on facebook. Pretty neat for a train station! Our train left around 6:30 pm and we got to Barcelona around 9:15ish. I got onto the Metro and went home. I got home and there was black rice with calarmarie waiting for me...not too appetizing. I ate some of it though, I would feel too bad if I didn't! I unpacked my stuff and hopped into bed. I was so tired! Kaila arrived home around 11:30 and got ready for bed as well...I slept really good that night! It was great. Overall, the weekend was fun and exciting! But I still like Barcelona way more than Madrid!

8-8-09 Saturday..Happy Birthday to me!!!

It’s my birthday! Finally! I am legally able to drink and not get in trouble, which is very good for my case! That seemed to happen a little more often in High School than it should have! Anyways, 5 AM came fast and I got ready to head out for my weekend to Madrid. Carmen called a Taxi for me because the buses aren’t running that early and I had to be to the train station around 6:30 AM, our train left at 7 AM. I was too scared and nervous to walk to the Metro by myself (it’s about a 20 min. walk from here) so they got me taxi. The taxi was there right on time, thankfully, and got me to the train station. The cost was about 12 Euros. I met Gina and Betsy at the train station right away, but Emily was not there yet…in fact she didn’t get there until about 6:50! She was freaking out and so were we...we quickly got through security and rushed onto our train! The train was nice, but very cold, but fast! It takes about 7 hours to drive to Madrid by bus and it took us 2 hours and 57 minutes to get there by train AND we had to stop at another station for about 10 minutes! It was crazy, but nice! We arrived in Madrid around 10ish and walked to our hostel. We met Marisol, Rochelle, and Kaila there. We weren’t able to check-in until about noon, so we put our belongings in a locker at the hostel and were off to check out Madrid. The first 10 minutes of being in Madrid, I knew I liked Barcelona much better! It’s just more dirty in Madrid, more homeless people begging for money, and more guys catcalling you! It was crazy! We walked around and some plazas, a basilica, a cathedral, a palace with gardens (which looked much like Versailles in France), and stopped at McDonald’s to eat. Ugh, I was hoping to make it through this trip with no McDonald’s! But we were all so hungry and starving, we just settled on it. At least, I haven’t been there as much as Kaila, Emily, and Betsy! They have gone about 4 times now! Haha! We walked back to the hostel after that to get ready for out night out to celebrate my birthday. Before we did that though, we went to two museums. They were free and Gina really wanted to go to them! We went to the Reina Sofia for like 20 minutes just to see a piece of work by Picasso. The “Guernica” which is a mural, it was pretty big, and I was able to get a photo of it. Also, we saw some work by Dali. After that, we walked to The Prodo and had to stand in line before we could get in. It was a huge museum, but Betsy and I got through all of it in an hour and a half! There was a lot of work by Goya, which I learned about my World of the Arts class at UWW. That was really all I knew in that museum. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to this stuff! We weren’t able to take photos in The Prodo, so I don’t have any. After the Prodo, we made our way over to a plaza to eat. We ate a restaurant and we wanted to get tapas, because that is very typical in Spain to have. There little portions of meals and you’re supposed to go from bar to bar and try different things. We didn’t really do that, we just ordered some and tried it. I had beans with ham in olive oil! It was really good. I ordered a glass of wine (which I didn’t like) and gave it to Emily! She traded her sangria with me, which was delicious! After we ate, we were on a hunt to get some wine and just drink it in the street, but some guy came up to us and asked if we wanted free sangria. We were all for that and he took us to this new bar (they were marketing for it, that’s why the sangria was free) and had a glass of sangria. Emily told them it was my birthday, so they gave me a free shot! Haha! Kind of like a true 21st birthday in the States! After the bar, we wandered around more to find a place for desert! Emily, Gina, and Kaila went to a store to get wine, while Marisol, Rochelle, Betsy, and I decided on a place with chocolate cake! It was soo good! The girls came back with the wine and we opened it up and drank on the street (which is illegal to do, but was done anyways…rebels we are!) Kaila wasn’t feeling very well (because she got motion sickness on the bus), Emily was drunk by this time, Gina was chugging the wine out of the bottle, Rochelle was buzzing from the alcohol, Betsy, Marisol, and I were just happy to be out and doing whatever! It was really fun, we ended up going back to the hostel early that night, but I had a lot of fun! It was a great way to celebrate my birthday! I mean who can say, they were in another country on their 21st, were in Barcelona in the early morning, traveled to Madrid, went to the Reigna Sofia, The Prodo, and had drinks in Madrid! Nobody that I know, all I do know is I am lucky to have the girls here, they were awesome and really helped me forget I wasn’t at home. I wish I could have been in two places at once, because I missed being with my friends, family, and Jordon celebrating…but we’ll be doing that when I get back!  YAY!

8-6-09 Thursday and 8-7-09 Friday

Sorry I am really behind on my journaling. I’ve been really busy…well not really on Thursday night. We didn’t do much at all on Thursday. I went to school and went grocery shopping after school. Kaila and I came home right after that and hung out. I finally finished my lame book and could start reading Twilight…I bet I am going to get addicted like everyone else on this planet! That night for dinner we had macaroni with pieces of ham in it! It was very good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERICA!!! Wish I could be celebrating with you and the girls! Can't wait to get home to do that! :)
Friday Kaila and I didn’t do much either. We went to school and went to a store to get some jewelry for Kaila. After that, we went back home right away because we wanted to get things packed for Madrid. Kaila was taking a bus there and was leaving Barcelona at midnight. We came home and packed and got things ready for the weekend and for dinner we had shish kabobs, they were awesome. Carmen and Teti decorated the table with some ribbons for my birthday and got me a ring for a gift. It was very cute! After dinner, Teti and I dropped Kaila off at the bus station and I came back to shower and get to bed. I didn’t fall asleep until about midnight or so, I was reading Twilight! Haha, but I had to wake at 5 AM! Ahhhh.

8-5-09 Wednesday

Ahhh Wednesday! It’s half way through the week! This week feels like it’s taking forever! Anyways, I had the weirdest dream last night…I have these dreams and wake up and can’t fall back asleep. I don’t know what is going on? I got up around 8 AM and typed a composition because I have so much time. I got in the shower around 9 and got ready. I ate some breakfast and then was off to school around 10 AM. I walked again today and it was really hot outside! I forgot my water bottle at the house, so that was no good. I just wandered around because I didn’t take my computer with me today. When I arrived at school, the morning classes were on break and I found Betsy and Emily. We went to a café and sat and talked for awhile. When they went back to class I went online to email and what not. Class time came and it was alright. I really enjoyed class the first two weeks, but now it’s just like “school” boring and blah! But at least I am learning! After school, Kaila and I walked home, but stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. We stopped at a few shops as well, but I didn’t get anything, just looked around. We got home around 6:30 and I called my mom to talk with her. It’s been over a week since we’ve talked on the phone last. All in all my day was kind of boring, I did my homework and Kaila and I sat around and talked. We had dinner around 8:30, we ate paella, which is a typical dish in Spain. It has rice, peppers, beans, and spices. It was very good actually, which I was surprised with myself. Usually, I don’t like that kind of stuff, but it wasn’t too spicy! I had some ice cream for dessert, but now I’m stuffed! Kaila and are off to bed soon, I can’t wait for the weekend! Only 3 days until my birthday…YAY! 

8-4-09 Tuesday

Hola! Today I woke up really early because I just can’t sleep. The past 2 nights I haven’t been sleeping through the whole night. I have these crazy dreams that always wake me. I don’t know? I just woke up and read for awhile, I didn’t shower today because I didn’t really want to…haha. Plus, it hasn’t been so hot here I don’t sweat as much. After reading, I got ready, and ate some breakfast. I left the house around 9ish and walked to school. I went to a café and got a cappuccino and looked over my homework and what we were going over today, which ended up being furniture, different types of houses, and that sort of stuff. Before I went to school, I stopped at this little shop and get a pair of earrings. They have really cute stuff and everything is on sale…which is a plus! I got to school around 10:15 and did my usual, email, blog updating, and facebook looking. Oh facebook…I pray I don’t do this during school again. I went to class and it was class…it seemed to take forever today! I sat next to a girl, named Ran, and she is from China. She is having a really hard time and I had to work with her, and that was really hard. She doesn’t understand much and even the teacher tries helping and she doesn’t get it. She can’t speak English, so it’s hard to help her! I really hope I don’t sit by her anymore. After school, Kaila, Emily, and I went to Passig de Gracia to do some shopping. I bought 2 shirts, a total of 7 Euros! Emily needed to get a formal dress for a wedding and she was successful! Kaila and I caught the bus home from there and arrived to our house around 8. We ate around 9 and had spaghetti and salmon! It was awesome…the salmon was great. I love when we have salmon! There was a full moon tonight so we were outside for a bit talking and looking at that. It’s so pretty because when it gets really dark, the moon light shines over the sea! I tried taking a picture but I don’t know how to take flash mode off my camera. Oh well, pictures wouldn’t do much anyways, you all just need to take a trip over here! Not too much going on today…this week will be pretty boring…haha just warning you!