Amsterdam Adventures

Our bus from Paris to Amsterdam ended up not coming and Brittany and I ended up having to switch buses 2 1/2 hours later, blahh but that was OK. The only thing is there were quite a few stops and we were never sure if we were supposed to get off haha, well good thing we got off at the right stop, otherwise I guess we would've had a lot more to figure out. We found out where the cafe was we had to meet Anniek (the girl Cheryl from my lab told me about who worked there at UM for a semester). We had just missed each other and we couldn't figure out how to call her number on Brittany's calling card so after an hour I ended up going into the bar and asked and the bartender was incredibly nice and helpful. He lent me his phone to call her and we ended up meeting with her and walking to her place. That's incredible to me as well that this girl only indirectly knew us and was so willing to let us stay with her and show us around :). But man, her stairs. She lives on the 4th floor and the stairs were EXTREMELY EXTREMELY steep. It was a huge workout getting our two big suitcases up those stairs, and scary! But we managed without dying or falling or tripping, success! We went out to dinner with Anniek at this really cool place on the top floor of this building where sometimes they have live music. The decorations of the place was really artsy and there was also a terrace with a great view. A great welcome into Amsterdam, we both got this delicious beet ravioli yum! Later that night we went to a plaza with bars and walked around before heading to Paradiso, a club Anniek told us about and the best night to be there is Wednesday night which is when we went. It used to be a church so already it was awesome when we got inside and they played great music. We were both exhausted but this music deserved to be danced to, and so we danced! They played a huge variety of music too, but it was really fun.

The next day we went for a canal ride where we saw the city and learned about all the different architectures and histories of the buildings. I didn't realize what a beautiful city Amsterdam was, because let's be honest, it's reputation is legalization of marijuana and prostitution. But actually besides being quite a liberal place, which was definitely a culture shock, it's just simply a gorgeous city! It was also in ways more similar to the U.S. compared to the other places we had been to because for example, there's a huge variety of foods. Although the only area that it's not so liberal is racially, so in all the countries I had been in so far (Spain, France, now Holland) someone on the street as I was passing yelled or said "Ni-hao" to me, which is quite perplexing because clearly that's all they knew so even if I knew Mandarin they wouldn't be able to carry a conversation...so it was basically to point out that I was Asian. It's interesting how uniform each European country can be. Anyways, after the canal ride we rented bikes. EVERYONE rides a bike in Amsterdam and there are actually twice as many bikes as people. It was fun though and I really enjoyed seeing the city this way even though we definitely had to get used to it. Brittany hadn't ridden a bike in a while so it was uneasy at first and I was definitely not used to riding a bike through that many crowds of people and cars, eep! We ended up getting the hang of it though and basically biked around Amsterdam getting lost the whole day before just heading back home. A lot of the locals are extremely friendly though and we would just be standing there and they would come up seeing that we were lost and offer their help. Yay!

Anniek had told us that that Saturday there was a Gay Pride Canal Parade in Amsterdam and that it would be a shame if we missed it. So after thinking it over, we decided to change our bus ticket to later on Saturday rather than the morning so we could see it. So Thursday we biked our way to the station to change our ticket and then made our way to the Anne Frank house where she was in hiding while writing her diary. I forgot that she was in Amsterdam and didn't realize the house was there until looking it up. It was quite surreal, that her along with other Jews in hiding walked those same steps and lived in that house. The stories of that house were relived and it just reminds you of a different time, although some of these same things still exist in our world, just not as blatant as a World War II.
We ended up having enough time to also make it to the Rijksmuseum which houses the famous Rembrandt painting. It was a pretty small art museum which after visiting the Louvre, which is so overwhelming although amazing, was kind of nice. You can navigate the whole thing easily and in a reasonably short period of time.
Then we biked through Vondelpark and got ice cream sitting by a fountain/lake before heading back to Anniek's to have dinner and go out with her friends to this new bar by a canal and had a sandy area. It was a really lay-back place so it was nice after a long day.
The next day was the Gay Canal Parade. Talk about extravagance! It was really great though because as one of Anniek's friends was talking to us later he was just saying how it was about how it didn't matter who you were or where you are and that everyone was just here together celebrating. The canal boats/floats also had some messages such as tolerance, fighting AIDS and cancer, proud service members of the navy, etc., and the right to education. It's incredible that these kinds of rights are only now surfacing in our world or even still not legal. We also went on Anniek's friends' boat for a little bit on the canal to see the end of it and it was quite rocky when people were getting on and off. At one point this man was holding on to one of her friends who was sitting on the edge of the boat so that he could get on to get to his boat. One foot was on the platform while the other was on our boat and the gap was just getting further and further until he started falling in and pulled in Anniek's friend with him! He was completely drenched! Anniek was saying how it was too bad that he had to be the one who got pulled in because he's the good guy of the group.
So that was Amsterdam! We went back to Anniek's for one last dinner before very very carefully bringing our suticases down those scary stairs and heading to the bus station. The bus to the station was PACKED so there was no way we could get ourselves and our suitcases to go so we waved our arms for a good 5 minutes to get a taxi and thank god one came and got us to the station on time! But it was confusing which bus was ours and if it was there or not until the bus driver came in and herded us onto the bus, he was not pleased. I'm just going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he had a bad day. We ended up having to switch to a ferry before getting to London. And so London, next post!

Bonjour Paris!

After packing our final things and dragging our suitcases up a hill and onto the metro and a surprisingly not so bad 12 hour bus ride, Brittany and I arrived in Paris! So many people have been so great to us on this entire trip we've had so far. Someone helped us find a taxi and get to our hostel and our hostel is amazing, very clean and the reception is excellent. We got there early because check in wasn't until 2 PM so we went on this free 3 and 1/2 hour walking tour of the city. Ahh! Our guide was INCREDIBLE and we got to see a lot of the city and received a lot of tips on navigating the city and making the best use of our time. Our guide is originally from Los Angeles but he married a Parisian woman, has a 3 year old son and has been living in Paris for over 2 years now.

Afterward he took those who wanted (us definitely included) to a place to get typical french food. We both had duck and it was delicious! We also met two people from Ottawa, Canada who had been traveling for a while and we walked back with them to the metro/hostel. Then we planned what we would do for these few days and got dinner before going to Montmartre for a pub crawl (which is organized by the same company who conducted the free walking tour). It was a great night, we met a girl who is doing a teaching assistantship in France but is originally from California.  We also met three Argentinians who apparently were also at the Concurso de Paella festival in Bilbao the past Sunday when we were there! Crazy. I talked to them in Spanish and it was so fun! Haha talking in Spanish in France. We also met some Aussies and they were fun as well. Elaine (the girl from California) was trying to imitate an Australian accent but said she didn't know how and one of them (Josh) just said "It's like an English accent, but less posh". One of the pubs was also decorated to be Australian and Elaine pointed out how there was a kangaroo on the bathroom door. Josh responded how that was true, that there are kangaroos everywhere but that other depictions aren't: "Like those pictures of guys sitting on rocks, why would anyone sit on a rock?" Also, his friend's name is Angus and we were commenting on how when we hear Angus we think Angus steak. Josh and Angus went on for about 15 minutes asking us about Angus steak and what it was and why we name our cows Angus and what about the cows named John, etc. Only to find out they were just pretending the whole time. Brittany programmed Angus' name into her phone as First Name: Angus, Last Name: Beef. So whenever Josh had to get Angus
 he would say, "I have to go get Angus Beef!" The pub crawl ended at a bar/club but Brittany, Elaine and I left around 1:30 AM to try to catch the metro and we had transfers so Brittany and I made it to our first metro train but the transfer train never came so we had to walk back to our hostel from there. It ended up being really close though so yay!

We ended up getting up surprisingly early and had quite the productive day. We went to the Louvre and entered through the Lion's Gate entrance which apparently no one knows about because we were the only two there and got in right away. Also, we got free tickets because we had European student IDs (whoo studying in Spain!). It was also the entrance closest to the Mona Lisa, which everyone had warned me was quite small so I wasn't too surprised by that. It wasn't a life changing experience but a good one nevertheless because we actually were able to get pretty close to the painting and get some pretty nice pictures of it. Interestingly because the Louvre lets you take pictures of it now I guess? (Unlike Nick who had his camera confiscated for his contraband picture of the Mona Lisa a few years back). Our guide was basically like yeah the guards have been wearied down and they have glass over it so take pictures with or without flash, just do it! But you were allowed to take pictures in the Louvre which I thought was interesting because it's basically the best art museum in the world, but the other art museums we visited did not allow cameras...I guess to keep the appeal of actually going there?
We stayed in the Louvre for about 4 hours and only got to see basically the surface, but that is one big art museum, but gorgeous.

Afterwards we went for a stroll and got some crepes and sat by the fountain in the garden area by the Ferris wheel. Then we walked down the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe and saw that and the eternal flame. Apparently, the "eternal" flame has been put out twice, but they don't publicize that haha. According to our guide, the first time it happened was after France won the world cup in their own country. A Mexican man later that night in his anger decided to pee on the eternal flame and put it out. The Parisian authorities decided his punishment would be to be sent home to his country and never be allowed back to France. The second time, an Australian was cooking sausages over it and one fell in and put it out. At this point the Parisian police already had a protocol and sent him back as well. Our guide was saying if we lost our passports and wanted a free trip home, that was one way, but to first see everything we every want to see in France. Then we headed back to our hostel to have dinner before going to the Montmarte tour, which is such a cute section of Paris, or different at least. On one hand you have the Moulin Rouge and the red light district, and then up the hill you have the Sacre Coeur cathedral and where all the artists are, which is such a great scene. That night we went up the giant skyscraper in the city to see a view of Paris and it was so absolutely gorgeous, but then we went up one more level and realized there was a terrace. Wow! We just lied down on the blacktop under the Paris stars. What a day.

Our final day in Paris we visited the impressionist museum and the Palace of Versailles before grabbing some baguettes and other french pastries and wine to sit in front of the Eiffel Tower and wait for it to get dark and watch the light show. It was the perfect way to end our trip in Paris. Another group of people ended up sitting by us and talking to us, which ended up being surprisingly nice! Next stop/post: Amsterdam

It's not goodbye

Today is my last day in Spain, ahh I am so in love with this place! It's going to be so sad leaving, but the fact that we still have 3 more places to visit (Paris, Amsterdam, London) makes it better.

Tuesday we went shopping after class in Casco Viejo and got some pintxos. Brittany bought a lot of shoes haha, oops. I bought two dresses from Blanco (that store is robbing me, but soo cute!).

Wednesday was our farewell dinner with Andrea and API and we went to an italian restaurant which gave you SO MUCH FOOD, I usually finish my food because I hate wasting it but I definitely had half of my plate still there. But it was delicious! Then we had tiramisu and chocolate truffles for dessert, mmmm there is always ALWAYS room for dessert. It was fun sitting down and talking to everyone, but I hate farewells.

Thursday was finals, which really weren't bad but it was the last time in those classrooms. Brittany and I went shopping again after we were done and I bought a purse, shoes, and shorts while Brittany also got a few more clothing items. Good thing Brittany was there to tell me which pair of shoes to get so I didn't end up getting both of them, eep! It was really nice outside! It's been raining ALL THE TIME since we've been here and of course right when we leave the weather is supposed to be beautiful! Anyways, even though we only had a few hours at our house before we had to take the metro for closing ceremonies I made my way to the beach to enjoy the sun for an hour.
Closing ceremonies is when it really hit me that we're leaving. It's just incredible to me, like Brittany was saying it's like we blinked and then it was a month. We all got up one by one to get our grades and a t-shirt before viewing a slideshow. In a month I've met some of the best people and definitely had the best experience of my life, and now it's gone too soon. But it has to be see you later and not goodbye because that would be too heartbreaking. The minute I leave I'm going to want to come back, but I know there are so many great things awaiting us in life and if we want it to happen, we'll make our way back. Katelyn, other Rachel, Brittany and I met Andrea outside the auditorium for our last goodbyes and a picture, I'm going to miss them all so much! It was so sad, it just really dawned on me that wow, this is not a joke, this summer in Spain has come to an end.

The whole program headed to an Irish pub afterwards to take pictures and have a drink. Brittany and I later went home and relaxed/packed before having our last dinner that Brittany said was "la ultima cena" which literally translates to the last dinner but is what the last supper is called in Spanish, so our host mom thought that was funny. Then we really wanted a picture with our host family because we are absolutely in love with them and really hope to see them again some day. It was funny because Mar was like but Carlos (the other son) isn't here, I'll Skype him. So we have a picture of the family that their cousin took with Carlos on Skype haha, but Carlos is just a dark outline on a laptop, perfect!

We went out for a little but ended up coming back after a while to just spend one last night in our beds.


Now we're going to head to our beach one last time before lunch and getting last minute things ready to go to our bus for Paris. See you in Paris!

Vitoria adventures and more (Last week WHAT!)

It's completely completely crazy, just completely crazy that I've already been in Spain for about a month and this is my last week. It is incredible sad because I feel like I'm just starting to get really comfortable and the past two days I've been able to talk to Spaniards a lot more often which I just love! Honestly if the economy wasn't so bad here (over 20% unemployment rate and over 60% of young people can't find jobs even with advanced degrees), I would consider living and working here for a little bit. Plus, I really can only go to PT school in the U.S. After being here, the PT schools that have programs which let you do your clinicals abroad are going even higher up my list because it's just such a wonderful experience to see the world and know different people and cultures. Even if you already think you're an open minded person who accepts people, it's just a completely other thing to actually go somewhere that is unfamiliar to you and take a leap, not on a tour, but living! Warning: another long post!

OK, well on to events. Wednesday after class Brittany and I went to the fine arts museum in Bilbao because it's FREE on Wednesdays! Whoo! It was really cool, not as eccentric as Guggenheim and the architecture definitely isn't as impressive but I really liked some of the artwork in there! It was nice out for about an hour so we headed to the beach afterwards even though it was already 7:30 PM so by the time we got there it was cloudy and cold but it was still pretty. Joe and Scott met up with us (we had also gone to the beach that previous Monday and got killed by waves) and after we left the beach we went to a local bar for an hour before I went home.
On Thursday night, our director Andrea took us 5 API kids out for pintxos. Pintxos are the tapas of Pais Vasco, which are kind of like appetizers sold by the piece and usually on a slice of french bread (they love their bread here...and ham, if I haven't said it already ham and cheese is the PB&J of Spain, in fact peanut butter is practically unknown, that's one thing I miss PEANUT BUTTER!). Anyways, we definitely should have gone out for pintxos at the beginning of the program, I've had a few here or there but it's great having a local (Andrea is from Bilbao) take us to the good places and eat fantastic food. Pais Vasco (northern Spain) is KNOWN for having the best food or one of the places with the best food in all of Europe, and yes it's delicious. I. love. food! After pintxos I stayed in Bilbao a little with Katelyn and other Rachel and we went back for one more pintxo as well as a pastry. When I got home my host family was cooking dinner and I was so full but I just love the food they cook and sitting and talking with them so I ate a miniscule amount.

Friday was really rainy in the morning, the weather has actually been iffy since we've been here. Apparently it's abnormally bad as in it rains all the time. Bilbao is used to rain but not this much, of course only when we're here haha, but I love it regardless. It's just such a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and forest it's just very picturesque, with beaches nearby that are beaches of the sea, not man-made beaches. But when we got out of class, ahhh it was beautiful and sunny out! We originally were going to go shopping but we HAD to take advantage of this sunny day. Therefore after we ate lunch we headed straight to a nearby town called Sopelana (10-15 minute ride on the metro) because it's supposed to have the best beach in the area and we hadn't been there yet! We took a  bus from the metro to the beach, and god it is so gorgeous! There really isn't a strong enough word to describe it. I like the beach near our house but it's nothing like this, the sand is nice and fine and the water is clean with cliffs and nature surrounding it as well as parasailing to the left, you can't ask for much more. If I'm at the beach I have to go in the water so I went for it and at this beach, unlike the one near our house here, when the waves hit you, they're not waves of sand but just clean water so you don't get really dirty afterwards. It's really fun playing in the waves, but a bit dangerous sometimes. I'm not sure if I posted this already but the first time that Brittany and I went to the beach near our town when the flag was yellow (it goes green, yellow, red for the conditions of the water), we were in the waves and I had a charley horse and luckily I was fairly close to shore and hopped my way back. But I couldn't get rid of it and if I had been in the middle of the water with giant waves, it would've been rough.

Later that night we hopped on the metro and met up with our friends Joe and Scott to go to Goliz near the Plentzia metro stop (where we jumped off the bridge into the river) for a fiesta. However there was a live band and things going on in Plentzia where we knew where we were so we stayed and danced the night away there. We left at 3:30 AM but just missed the metro at 3:30 so since it was late we had to wait a half hour for the 4 AM metro. We also had to catch a 9 AM bus to Vitoria to visit our professor the next day so by the time I got home it was 4:30 AM and Brittany went out for a little bit after too so she got even less sleep. We had to wake up around 7:45 AM so that we could be at the bus station in Bilbao by 8:45 AM. We made it with time to spare but Joe, Scott, Brittany, Molly and I were all looking like zombies because we had been out the night before. Scott and Brittany got the least sleep so they were functioning on nothing, while I was OK because it was that state where I got just enough sleep that my body was OK, plus I couldn't wait to see our professor Carla! We took a bus that was indirect and took about a half hour more than it should have and the road was really windy so my stomach wasn't the happiest with me, but I ended up being fine--nothing compared to that little plane trip from Detroit to Toronto! When we got off the bus I used my Spanish and asked about 5 people where the cathedral where we were supposed to meet our professor was. We finally found her and ahhh I forgot how awesome she is! She was so welcoming and took all of us out, including Scott who wasn't even her student (he goes to GVSU) for pintxos and lunch and paid for all of us. We also met two other UM professors that were teaching with Carla in Salamanca (the Michigan summer Spanish program) but were visiting Pais Vasco with Carla. They were awesome and they are engaged and going to get married in the fall! I definitely want to take a class with Mar (the same name as my host mom!) who teaches 400 level Spanish classes. It also seems really interesting because she teaches Spanish gender studies. The first pintxo place we went to we had a small amount of txakoli (white wine of the Basque country or Pais Vasco) with our pintxo. Then we moved on to this other place and had this bocadilla (a sandwich on french bread so more like a sub) with a ham or bacon, and then we had a plate of fried baby squid. It was delicious but I definitely prefer the fried baby squid my dad makes or the ones that we get at good Chinese restaurants. Then we went back to Carla's house where her parents live and met them. Ahhh I thought no one could top our host family in Bilbao but Carla's family is also WONDERFUL! Seriously, more than half of the greatness I had in Vitoria was due to Carla and her family. I also felt like I learned so much in that one day, like Molly said (another girl in the Deusto program that goes to UM), because we used our Spanish all day and we were hanging out with locals. Lunch was so amazing, it was at this bingo place that they converted into a restaurant as well but it was so delicious. We had 3 courses and I chose the seafood stuffed red peppers with squid in its own ink, duck in a pineapple sauce, and cheesecake. The appetizers were so well presented I had to take pictures of all of them! Enjoy:

Then we went back to the park to have some coffee and tea. The shop is owned by an Olympic marathon runner or speed walker I can't quite remember. Very nice and tranquil though. Afterwards we went back to their house. Carla's brother's dog is beautiful and they named her "Golfa" which in Spanish means like a girl who's very popular with the guys, a "bad girl". And apparently Carla's mom was embarrassed of that name so she'd call her "Golfie". Brit and Scott took a siesta at Carla's house and the rest of us took another walk around Vitoria to the plaza de toros (bull ring) but we just saw the outside and then walked around more of Vitoria (the capital of the Basque country aka northern Spain). Carla told us all of the good stores to go to so I'm going to have to make use of this last week in Spain to go shopping a bit! We also stopped by this pastry/chocolate shop and I bought a box of chocolate and truffles for the girl we are staying with in Amsterdam and my family (my real family). These are supposed to be specific to Vitoria and the truffles were AWESOME, my love for food grows every day I am here and I already love love loved food before I came :P.
Side note: I found out through our lab manager at the Neurmotor control lab I work for at Michigan that two girls from Amsterdam worked in the lab a few years back and so she gave me their information. Anniek (one of the girls from Amsterdam) said that we could stay at her place and that she would give us a list of things to do and would take us out at night. Ah! She's amazing and I don't even know her yet, so I had to get her something.
Then we headed back to Carla's house again and just hung out for a bit and took a few group pictures before we headed back to the bus station to go back to Bilbao. What a FANTASTIC day though! I really hope I'll be able to go back and visit Carla's family again!

When we got back, Borja, our other host brother who just turned 14, was there because he just came back from vacationing in the U.S. He briefly met him before we went to our rooms and went straight to sleep after a long day. This morning we were able to talk to him a bit more, he's so little! When we were eating lunch he was saying how he finally got to eat healthy food because where he stayed the parents don't cook that much so he ate a lot of hamburgers haha soo stereotypical. He said his favorite city was New York, and of course I've been to Spain before New York. After doing some homework we headed to the Concurso de Paellas (an international paella--type of Spanish food--contest) but there's also drinks and dancing that goes on.

I loved it! It took place where we live so we walked there and didn't have to worry about catching a metro home or anything. The atmosphere was just so great! We ended up seeing a kid we met on the metro Friday night who had been studying in New York for the past 10 months--his English is REALLY good. Everyone had a tent where they made paella and basically a mini fiesta in each tent. We were able to talk to Spaniards in Spanish, yay! At this one tent they were so awesome because they gave us food, pastries, and sangria without us even asking--nothing roofied or poisoned, just delicious. I talked to 2 of them in Spanish and they were saying how they visited the U.S. when they were younger and was talking about the sitcom Nightrider and although it sounds vaguely familiar I don't know what it is, but apparently David Hasselhoff is in it. I asked if David Hasselhoff was their hero and he was like oh yeah. But they went everywhere, New York, Seattle, San Francisco(?), Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. They said I spoke Spanish well and I know definitely my understanding of it has really improved so that's great but I know I still have a long way to go...if only I could have stayed an entire semester! Tomorrow there's an agriculture fair in Goliz, the town near the Plentzia stop that we originally were going to go to on Thursday so I think that's my plan for tomorrow morning. Therefore, I should sleep. I have mud on my shoes from the slight rain and slippery hills today...perhaps bringing back some Spanish earth? This post will actually be posted tomorrow when I can add pictures so that's when you kids will see it :P. A day of rest and homework?
Love,
Me

Barcelona weekend

I love Barcelona! It's such a beautiful city with so much culture and I did not get robbed, yet all my euros I brought are gone...well a girl has to enjoy her time in Spain. I definitely like Barcelona more than Madrid, it's also a huge city but it's just so beautiful with its unique architecture and Gaudi basically designed the whole city, plus the places we visited absolutely blew my mind. The only thing is I would not want to study abroad in Barcelona or go there to improve and practice Spanish, because EVERYONE speaks English. When you talk to someone in Spanish they will reply in English, it's kind of sad, but it's just because there are so so many tourists. The first night we just walked around and down Las Ramblas a little bit which is just this street where there are a lot of street vendors and shops. Watch your stuff though, on Saturday when Brittany and I went back to look at things, I can't be sure, but I think this girl tried to steal my stuff because she came up to me and touched my purse, Brittany was about to push her away, and when I looked at her she pointed at my shopping bag and asked where that store was. It was really fishy so I just pointed in a direction and we walked away. Anyways, food is definitely my weakness, there was this ice cream that looked SO delicious! I ended up getting some the next day, one scoop of pistachio and one scoop of Ferrero Rocher (it tasted exactly like you were eating Ferrero Rocher chocolate!). Yum!

The next day we went on a giant tour of Barcelona condensed into something like 4 hours. I had turned off my phone I got here on the plane and realized later I need my pin number to get back into my phone and Brittany's phone alarm has been off and on so we asked for a wake-up call that morning. Well, there was a mix-up and we definitely did not get a wake-up call until our director Andrea called us and told us it was 9:30 (our meeting time). Ah! So we had to get ready in 10 minutes and miss breakfast, booo. We walked around the city for a while, and to be honest, I don't even remember what a lot of the things we saw were called or their significance. Perhaps I'll Google it. One of the coolest things was actually this outdoor market, which was named the best market in the world, "La Boqueria", and I know my parents would have loved it! There was a lot of fresh fish, other seafood (lobsters, crabs, shrimp...), meat, fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, etc. Haha too bad a fresh fish wouldn't last another month for a souvenir.

We saw a fountain in which if you drink from it you're supposed to come back to Barcelona, gothic styled neighborhood/buildings, this monastery (I think) where we weren't allowed in because we were wearing shorts but inside there are 13 geese to honor this daughter who passed away when she was 13, and a bunch of buildings Gaudi designed including the cathedral. The cathedral is still not finished even though Gaudi left instructions on how to finish it after he died and his students were trained to do it. Our guide told us that the people in Barcelona say it will never be finished, and also that the city was going to implement a train system that runs under the cathedral, which as you can imagine will be very dangerous for the stability of the cathedral. So she says you have to say hello and goodbye because we don't think it's going to be here when 400 trains are running under it a day, commenting on how the official is an idiot. We then visited the park called Parque Guell...they know how to make parks in Spain. The park is so enormous that you can keep going back and see a different part each day for quite some time. It is absolutely beautiful and designed, of course, by Gaudi. There was this lane of columns that are supposed to be in the form of trees that was definitely the runway for one of the seasons of America's Next Top Model haha, as well as beautiful gardens and sculptures and the view of the Barcelona skyline. I would go there all the time if I could. If and when I come back to Barcelona I would be able to spend a whole day just exploring the park.

After the tour we went back to the market. At the market I got a fresh kiwi-orange smoothie, so good! Then us four girls (other Rachel, Katelyn, Brittany and I) went shopping, and Brittany and I continued shopping after Rachel and Katelyn went back to the hotel. After getting back we got changed and went to take the metro to Plaza Espanyol to see Barcelona's Magic Fountain of Montjuic. When we were waiting in the lobby for Rachel and Katelyn this old lady came up to us and asked us if we were staying in Barcelona longer and gave us what was left on her metro ticket! It's small things that the kindness of strangers brings that makes some of the greatest impacts on my life. It also just reminds me how some people really dismiss you while others try to be as helpful as they can. I also talked to Kristina today who is studying abroad in London, and in a country that speaks the same language she even told me how people do not "hide their disdain for Americans". But both her in London and I in Spain both just want to fit in, even though it's pretty blatant that we don't. I never put much thought into how I treated foreigners before, mostly because I don't live in a very touristy area, but after this trip I definitely have a new outlook and am going to try my best to be welcoming and helpful if I'm put in the opposing situation of being the local.
Sidetracked, anyway: The Magic Fountain of Monjuic is this fountain that changes colors and which of its spouts is turned on/how high the water goes to the beat of music that plays. It was one of the best experiences of my life, better than the ones in Vegas in my opinion. Brittany and I got right up the edge of the fountain and took a seat. I could have stayed there all night. Plus there were so so so many people, the energy was amazing! A song about Barcelona played as the changing colors of the fountain danced to the music, followed by more pop songs.

Then we went to this restaurant called Divinus for dinner, which was an OK restaurant, but kind of expensive. We didn't realize how late it was because when we finished dinner it was already 1 AM! Brittany for sure thought her phone was wrong and told us to check, and sure enough, it was 1 in the morning. We were so tired we just went back to the hotel and called it a night, but still quite a success.

The next day we had from noon until 7 to explore the city so we all walked from our hotel towards the Picasso museum. When we got there, there was a really long line and we thought the museum closed at 3 and we were planning to go to a chocolate museum that also closed at 3 (and Brittany and I wanted to go to the Palau Musica Catalana tour at 3 ahh), so the other three decided to see the chocolate museum. Brittany and I decided to stay in line at the Picasso museum and it only ended up taking about 20 minutes to get in. Picasso spent a lot of his life in Barcelona and the museum displayed his earlier work. People had said they were disappointed by it, but I thought it was really interesting and cool to see, especially the last exhibit with his interpretation of Velazquez's "Las Meninas". There was a whole series of these paintings and they all brought out something new from the original painting, while more or less still preserving it. The really early stuff was not stunning, but just interesting to think about that Picasso was not always this abstract painter and he was skilled at traditional art. There were also sketches and what seemed like doodles. There was this one called "Two Figures and a Cat" and it was a doodle of a man eating out a woman with a cat watching on the bed...like it was ripped out of his teenage journal or something. Hey Rita, maybe when you're famous people will put the drawings you put in the margins of your notes in a museum?

So afterwards we bumped into the rest of our group and they found out that the Picasso museum closed at 7 or 7:30 pm so they were headed there. It was almost 2:30 PM so Brittany and I decided to check out the chocolate museum because Katelyn said the ticket was a bar of chocolate mmmm. We ended up going inside and quickly looking at everything in about 15 minutes, but it was definitely sufficient but I'm glad we went. There were all these sculptures and scenes made out of chocolate. It. Was. Beautiful. I'm not quite sure how long they keep them there though...

Anyways it was about 2:45 PM and there was supposed to be an English tour of the music hall at 3 PM so we decided to try to get there. Surprisingly we didn't get lost at all and made it directly there right at 3 PM but there was only a tour in Spanish at 3:30 PM. We decided just to go for it, and it actually worked out pretty well because I think I enjoyed it better in Spanish because our tour guide was awesome and she spoke slowly with a lot of hand gestures and I understood almost everything. I love the Spanish language! We also got the last tour of the hall and I'm so glad we went on it because it was the best experience of the day. It was one of most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.  I definitely want to see a concert here. There were sculptures of muses on the stage that all had different dresses and instruments, thus welcoming all different types of music from around the world. There were also Pegasuses in the upper section which were supposed to be the horses that brought the muses to the hall. The hall was completed in only 3 years, how this was accomplished I couldn't completely understand but they built the hall the same way they built the Eiffel Tower and I think the guide said that the artists and construction was done simultaneously (in parallel). We got a "mini concert" on our tour with the organ, which at one point was not functioning but thanks to wealthy patrons who donated (and their names are now on the backs of the chairs) the organ is working again. That little taste was enough for me to want to experience the full effect because it was just magical being there and listening. The hall is made out of all different kinds of materials and a lot of crystal, which isn't good for acoustics so there are a lot of other materials such as the marble to absorb the vibrations. The hall had a lot of history because it made it through the civil war in Spain and was designed by Montaner, who also had a political agenda. There were a lot of roses because it's the symbol of the Socialist party. Something that was such a creative idea was how he arranged the lighting on the upper balcony which were almost like a bunch of chandeliers where the lights are arranged in a circle, and they were all on a tilt. In the middle there's stained glass with the faces of women who are angels and bright yellow in the middle that represents both how Barcelona was the first (or one of the first) places where women were allowed to sing and the sun. This part of the building allows natural light from the daylight to come in. The way the lights lean are supposed to be flowers or trees and how they always grow towards the light. There were also names of famous composers along the ceiling, it was just breathtaking.

Well after that and some souvenir shopping it was already around 5 and Rachel called me just as we ended our tour/shopping and we hadn't eaten lunch yet so we met back up at the hotel to go out again for lunch. We ended up going to Taller de Tapas where I ordered the food item that fit my budget since I had about 7 euros in change left. Then we just headed back to get ready for our flight back. Since it was late and a Sunday we had to take a taxi home and when we were in our neighborhood the taxi driver asked us to tell him when we were at our house. Brittany was sitting in the front seat but didn't really know but I kind of recognized where we walk to the metro everyday so I just screamed out aqui! aqui! (here! here!) when we were over there haha and luckily it was right. Our host parents had dinner waiting for us and it was so delicious, we're so spoiled :D. For dessert we had these peaches soaked in wine, so so good, I need to learn how to make all these delicious foods (today we had this delicious rice with vegetables and chicken plus gazpacho)!
Our host parents asked us if we were had class still and we did but I told them they should write us a doctor's note and our host mom said oh yeah, you guys are sick. When we got home later that day she told us how she was surprised that she went downstairs and we were gone, meaning we went to class jaja...well considering we have about 5 days of class left, probably should just go.

We went to the beach yesterday even though it was cloudly (it was sunny earlier :\) and the waves were huge. The flag was yellow (which means caution) and we just got pummeled by the waves and sand was EVERYWHERE. I'm actually quite impressed with myself on how well I got it off. The flag turned to red after we got out, they probably saw us dying in the waves and thought it was too dangerous. There was a little girl just basically sitting there taking on the waves. I was saying how I thought we would see her and then there'd be a wave and next thing we know, she'd be gone. She's a trooper. Today I am a little sore from fighting the waves. There were also a lot of surfers out further so it was nice and relaxing just sitting on the beach and watching that. I wish I could learn how to surf...

Finally, today we went to the bus station to buy tickets to Vitoria to visit our Spanish professor Carla who told us about this program. We waited in this huge line only to figure out it wasn't the right company, but luckily the other line was really short. The woman at the counter though was very flustered because about 10 people were trying to get tickets for a bus that was leaving in like a minute and she had to do that and then we were next. I was telling her in Spanish that I needed a ticket for Saturday, saying "sabado" and she didn't understand, but I'm pretty sure I was pronouncing it correctly so when she said I don't understand I just said in Spanish "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, SATURDAY" and then she was like "Oh, sabado"...yes that is what I said. OK somehow it's already almost midnight, so bedtime! Buenas noches!

Nom noms and Toro! Ole!

So we went to the bakery Zuricalday this past Tuesday and ate delicious baked goods! I had cabello de angel which was beyond delicious and then had a "Carolina" I think, which is specific to the Bilbao or Pais Vasco area. We were taking all these pictures and the woman who worked there came over to us and asked us if we didn't have pastry shops because we were just so amazed :P but I told her not like this. There's just such a variety of delicious cute baked goods!

Then we woke up to catch a bus at 4:30 AM to head to Pamplona to see the running of the bulls (el encierro) for the Sanfermines festival which was going on that whole week. The custom is to wear white with a red belt and red scarf. People. are. crazy! I also find it pretty insane that the bulls know exactly where to go. They came storming in with SO many people and then after el encierro they brought out vaquillos which are kind of like small bulls. The people who ran into the ring then basically tried to confront the vaquillo while the vaquillo trampled and rammed into people, scary! One guy jumped over the vaquillo, while another one just grabbed it by the horns. Great to watch though :P. We then just walked around Pamplona for a while, but the streets were pretty quiet because people were just passed out from partying all night/week. People literally do not sleep for an entire week for Sanfermines...I NEED sleep. LOCOS. We had chocolate with churros yum! Also a local Spainard helped us find our way to our bus and she was so nice, yay friendly people! I bought a Sanfermines scarf, which I will probably wear during Sanfermines next year...by myself, or with Brittany jaja (I totally just pronounce jaja how it looks in English because that's even funnier).

Then we went to San Sebastian which is a GORGEOUS city, it's just too bad the weather didn't get quite good enough right when we got there to go swimming right away because we only had a couple hours :(, when I come back to Spain (yes when :D) I will definitely take advantage of the gorgeous beaches of San Sebastian. Instead we took some pictures and had some pintxos and sangria, so not a bad second choice. Before we actually got into San Sebastian we had lunch with the program and we met this girl who was teaching Spanish through Teach For America which is really cool to me. She's going into her second year with the program in Connecticut. Also, her little sister who is 10, was so cute! She was checking herself out in the reflection of her spoon and when she saw that I saw what she was doing she laughed.

Another thing: In class today our professor (who is so awesome, Natalia Gomez from Grand Valley but is from Bilbao) told us about this program that one of her students is doing in Peru where you help the indigenous people use the resources of their country to better themselves (as opposed to imposing outside things) called PROWORLD. I'm definitely going to research it, ah so many things I want to do with my life! After this experience I just really want to be able to keep up and keep improving my Spanish and be able to utilize it, just finding a way to do it will be my first challenge. OK well WE ARE OFF TO BARCELONA! If I forgot something I will add it later, ADIOS CHICOS!

¿Cómo se dice "awkward"?

Incómodo. Our class project? The most awkward I've felt since I've been to Spain, but I"ll explain later.

Going back, we didn't end up leaving Santurzi until 4:45 AMish, and it's about 20 metro stops away so officially did not get home until 6 AM...ahhh! But fun regardless.

So yes, we had to ask 10 questions about Latin America: Christopher Columbus, the indigenous people, etc. After you build up the confidence to ask a stranger in Spanish if they'd like to participate and they just look at you like you're crazy, it's so hard to keep asking. We found that people do NOT want to be filmed, and secondly, a lot of Spaniards do not know or are not interested in Latin America so they do not want to appear unintelligent.  What an experience. Well, it definitely taught me a lot but it was also very uncomfortable. I think I needed it, but that's enough for me for now! It's interesting to learn about Spain in this way and the perceptions of other cultures. Some people were really nice, others dismissed us, oh learning.


Anyways, today is Tuesday which means it is 50% off at this pastry shop nearby, and Brittany and I were going to go and eat delicious Basque pastries!! Definitely waking her up in like 15 minutes, sorry Brittany, I need my food! Tomorrow, we are going to Pamplona to the Sanfermines festival to see the running of the bulls, so excited! And then we're taking a trip to San Sebastian but the weather is supposed to be crummy and rainy so we might not be able to enjoy the beautiful beaches, sad day. Pray to the sun gods for a great beach day!