9/24/10 Fiestas!

After my amazing Thursday night, I slept until about 9 a.m.  I probably could have slept later, but I knew the cleaning lady was coming, so I decided to get out of the house and go for a run.  When I came back I stretched on the terrace, ate breakfast and showered.  Going running makes the city seem so small, since I ran by the building where I take my economics classes. 

            Some of my friends went downtown to see the human statues… professional people that stack themselves up high.  I didn’t go though, because I wouldn’t have had enough time to get there and make it back for dinner.  Instead I helped Pepita cook lunch.  We had muscles and fish with a green salsa.  It was pretty good.  The muscles were the same ones we had a few days ago, she had just stored half in the refrigerator.  They definitely didn’t taste as fresh, but they were still good.  After lunch, I hung out in my room for a while  Then I left to meet Morgan at Las Ramblas.  We met in a Burger King, where a friend of hers was buying some lunch.  She met her friend Sara at a church here.  Sarah is from Guatamala and is studying to get her Masters degree.  When we were outside of Burger King, this old guy came up to us and stared making kissing noises towards me.  We figured if we ignored him, he would go away.  He didn’t go away until a woman next to us told him off.  Lots of crazy people in the city.  We then walked down Las Ramblas, because we heard that the Aquarium was open for free today.  There were all sorts of vendor tents set up along Las Ramblas selling jewelry and crafts.  We finally made it to the end of Las Ramblas amid all the crowds and then walked down the Rambla del Mar, which is a giant boardwalk.  At the end of the boardwalk is a mall and the aquarium.  There was a really pretty view of Montjuic from the boardwalk and it was packed with people walking and sun bathing.  The line for the Aquarium was super long and it also wasn’t free, so we decided not to go.  Instead, we got gelato and sat on the edge of the boardwalk looking out at the water.

            Emily met us at the metro stop at the bottom of Las Ramblas and I had another lovely encounter with some very forward guy.  Morgan and Sara went to sit on a statue to wait for Emily, while I stood about 10 yards away at the metro entrance.  This guy came up to me and asked if I lived here and I said that I didn’t live here, but I was just studying here.  Then he asked what I was studying and where I was from and some how the conversation changed into English.  Then he asked for my number and I said “no” obviously.  He asked why and I told him that I have a boyfriend, which I probably would have told him if I did or didn’t actually have a boyfriend.  He said we should just get coffee sometime, gave me his business card and left.  So annoying.  Finally Emily got there and we walked to the top of Las Ramblas and watched a parade with some of the same figures we saw the night before.  I was pumped to actually see the lion, the figure I was most looking forward (which apparently did its dance routine, while I was passed out).  Before the parade ended, everyone split up to go home for dinner.  I had packed a boccadillo, so I went with Evan, Lorenzo and Emily to Gracia, where Evan lives.  Even though I had a sandwich, I got a slice of pizza at this restaurant we went to.  We then walked around for a while until we decided that it would probably be a good idea to put on warmer clothes.  Emily and I came back to my apartment so I could get some pants.  I lent Emily one of my scarves.

            Half of BCA met at the top of Las Ramblas to attend the festivites.  We watched one concert at Catalunya until we got bored.  Then we hopped on the metro to Espana where there was another concert.  It is insane how many concerts and events there are with thousands of people at every event.  Everyone is just drinking and smoking everywhere… on the metro, in the middle of street, at the concerts.  Plaza de Espanya was fun.  They were playing American music before the band came out.  Nothing like hearing Kesha and Lady Gaga in Spain.  We partied it up at that concert for a while until we went to the Forum which is in the part of the city furthest away from my house.  Lorenzo’s Spanish friend had taken him there the night before and it is the big event for young people.  There were three stages set up with different music and thousands of people at each stage.  The first stage we went to was techno, but people were crammed in like sardines.  Not being able to move doesn’t make it that fun.  The second stage we went to was the best of the three.  We stayed there until the end of the concert.  It was Spanish pop/ rap music and everyone around us knew all the words.  The lead singer had some sweet dance moves.  When that concert ended around 2:30 or 3, we moved on to the third stage, which was music in English.  The music was alternative and there were many more sketchy people there.  We didn’t stay there too long and then it was time for the adventure home. 

It took a while to walk to the metro with everyone.  It was probably a ten minute walk away, but there were so many people out that you had to walk around.  Some people would just sit in circles in the middle of the sidewalk to drink.  We finally made it to the metro station, but we had to wait outside.  There were lots of security guards letting only a certain number of people in at a time.  There were guards at each of the places where you insert your metro pass to make sure people didn’t jump the gate.  Everyone split up to go to their separate metro lines, and I went with Chris home.  We actually ran into Dhariana on our way back.  The metros were crammed with people for being 4 in the morning and most of the people I saw had reached the past being drunk and just being exhausted point in the night.  Most of the people lucky enough to have a seat had their eyes shut.  It took almost an hour to get home and when we were getting off at our stop Chris tapped this random person who was sleeping on the shoulder.  Apparently he wasn’t random, but he was one of Sam’s friends (Sam is a BCA person from Winchester) and his friend who lives near us in the city is with a different program, but apparently he is from Wayland.  I told him I had a lot of family there.  It is funny how small the world is.  By the time I got to sleep it was about 5 a.m.  Also, I didn’t take pictures tonight because I didn’t bring my camera/ purse out with me.  Apparently, Lorenzo’s mom told him that people will just knife open bags this weekend and that you have to be really careful with your things.  I didn’t take my chances, and I wore the waist belt thing that goes under your shirt to put my metro pass and money in.