This morning I woke up around 8:30 when my alarm went off. I could hear my host mother up talking on the phone. I took my first shower, which is a little different than in the U.S. At least from my observations here and at the hotel, they don’t use shower curtains. They have doors that swing out, but this shower door thing was an accordion like door that folded and didn’t go higher than my shoulders. For breakfast, I had some pineapple grape juice, premade toast with butter which seems to be a common breakfast. Breakfasts in Spain are typically very light and most people have café con leche (coffee with milk) with their breakfasts. After breakfast, Juan Carlos took me to the Vodafone store where I got internet. I still haven’t gotten a cell phone, because I am planning to get the phone from Orange. Orange and Vodafone are the two biggest cell phone companies here and everyone else in my group has Orange.
When I got back I used the internet to start facebook friending (yes that has become a verb) everyone else in the group. I got to facebook chat with Miriam and we decided we would meet in front of the main university building around 4 and explore the old part of the city. Our whole group will be meeting in front of the building Monday morning, so I figured it would be a good idea to see how long the subway ride was and if I could navigate through the city myself. For lunch I had a plate full of pasta, and a plate with a piece of chicken and salad. Unlike the U.S., plates are brought out one at a time. So I was more than satisfied after eating the pasta, but I had to eat the chicken and pasta too. And then… there is always a plate of fruit at the end of each meal, which of course I forgot about. At the hotel, the plates of fruit were filled with all sorts of exotic things. I tried fig at the hotel. For lunch today, there were bananas (platanos), apples (manzanas) and pears (peras).
The metro stop for one of the many green lines was supposed to be about 5 blocks from my building but of course I couldn’t find it. I had to ask two men where to go, and only on my return trip with some other students that live near me, did I realize that it was super easy. I took the green line two stops and transferred to the red line for one stop. In total it took me forty minutes, but with practice I will definitely cut that time back.
The main university building is in the Old Town of Barcelona. This is the original part of the city, that was surrounded by Roman walls. Most of the buildings in this part of the city are from the Gothic period and reflect the medieval period when Catalona was at the height of its power. Miriam and I met and walked down Las Ramblas, a long street that goes through old town. It is a very touristy area with carts full of souvenirs and street performers. I would almost compare it to Quincy Market, but much longer, much more crowded and with prettier architecture surrounding the street. This is where they told us to be aware of pickpockets. Across the street from Las Ramblas, we found a market that sold all the fruits and meats you could imagine. At one of the meat vendors, we saw brains, heads of goats, pigs’ feet and more. The fruit was the most impressive. They had everything you could think of and you could buy a fruit salad for only 2 euros. Miriam and I both got smoothies because it was so hot. Hacia mucho calor. Mine was a pineapple, coconut, raspberry smoothie! We walked through a few more side streets and stumbled upon The Cathedral. The church was built starting in 1298, and inside there are shrines along the walls of the church dedicated to different Saints. You can insert a coin, and there are some electronic candles that light up. The shrine with all the rows of candles lit up had an ornate sculpture of Jesus on the cross and the sign said “para los pobres” or “for the poor”. Each of the shrines was built at a different time, but they all had such elaborate details, whether it was a painting, sculpture or a hybrid scene. Miriam and I walked back to the university and met up with other students in front of the building. I thought we were going to be meeting with only two or three other kids, but apparently the message spread fast between those students with phones and there ended up being a group of about 12 students. Aside from Miriam and I, no one else had explored Old Town, so we walked all the way down Las Ramblas again. At the end, we came to the water. Aqui, fue un monumento a Colom. The statue of Columbus stood in the middle of a traffic circle. We crossed the road and walked out onto a pier. On the right of the pier was a marina full of sailboats, on the left a few cruise ships. Barcelona is the largest port in the Mediterranean. At the end of the port was a mall. After this, I returned home with a few other students and had dinner around nine. We ate tortillas con patatas, which was like a potato onion omelet. Muy deliciosa! We also had salad with some form of fish on it, and of course a plate of fish to finish. It is interesting because they tend to eat their salads after what we could consider to be the entre. I am going to meet with a few students who live near by and venture out to La Sagrada Familia, designed by Goudi in 1882. Nightlife in Barcelona doesn’t get going until after midnight…
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