being cultural

This past week I went to two really big festivals which may explain why I think I may be getting sick. I guess it was just too much partying, err---I mean, being cultural. I couldn’t disrespect the traditions though....

Anyways, first up was La Mercé, which was in Barcelona. Mercé is just a huge (understatement) festival to honor the patron saint of the city of Barcelona. It actually lasts the whole weekend but unfortunately I was only here for the first day. The day I was here I got to see the “gegants” and the “castellers”. The gegants, or giants, are just that. Giant puppet type things that have people inside of them. They parade through the city and some of them even dance together. There is also one made to look like an eagle that does a special little dance too. Its kinda hard to explain so hopefully the pictures below will make my weak description a little more clear. The castellers, or castle-ers, are groups of people who build a human castle. They literally climb on top of each other, standing on their shoulders, until they are like four or five layers high. At this point, a small child, probably about age 5, climbs all the way to the top. Don’t worry though—they wear a helmet. It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen, and the whole time I was watching, since I was standing right at the base of some of these human castles, I was thinking about what I would do if suddenly the whole castle came crashing down. Thankfully none of them did. Again, this is hard to explain well so hopefully some pictures will help. There are other traditions such as a fire run and huge concerts and fireworks shows that I missed out on, so I guess I’ll just have to come back next year.

The reason I missed part of Mercé was because I was at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. For those of you who don’t know—Oktoberfest is an annual festival in Germany. It lasts about 3 weeks, more or less, and since it actually ends the first weekend of October, most of it occurs in September. Its basically an enormous fair with tons of rides and “tents” sponsored by different beer companies. Quotations are definitely necessary because the “tents” are actually massive structures with capacities in the thousands. The beer tent I went to (as did most of the other kids from Richmond who were visiting the same weekend) was called Hofbräu-Festzelt and had a capacity of almost 7,000. Inside the tents are hundreds of tables where you crowd around with your friends to enjoy steins of German beer. Some tents, like the one we were in, also have a stage and a band. We actually got a table right near the stage so we could hear the music pretty well. It was amazing to see 7,000 people cheers-ing at once. It was also really cool when the band would play a song—some in German, some in English—and everyone would be singing. I would have liked to have more time to see more of the tents so, again, I guess I’ll just have to come back some day.

After a long weekend we started class on Monday. I have only been to each class once so far, so its still early, but I really like them as of now. Well, most of them. I am enrolled in a Spanish Literature class in the regular school, which means there are regular Spanish students, and a regular Spanish teacher who talks super fast and mumbles half his words. I know it is going to be pretty tough so hopefully I will survive. All but one of my other classes are in Spanish as well but since they are designed for international students, the teachers understand Spanish isn’t our native language and speak a bit more clearly. My comprehension is already noticeably better and hopefully by December my speaking will have improved a lot too. Ahh—December. It seems so far away now but I know it will be here in the blink of an eye. One month down, three to go, and I can’t wait too see what else Barcelona has in store for me.

Besos,

Jess

the gegants of the city "dancing" together

the eagle of the city

castellers

inside the beer "tent" at oktoberfest

my table with our first beers

me with my stein -- they were heavy!!

Time flies when you’re having fun

Saying these past two weeks have flown by would be quite an understatement. Our language class started on the 8th, and is now finishing up. It is pretty easy but has been a helpful review of some grammar and vocabulary. My teacher also really likes to emphasize pronunciation so that we can speak Spanish and sound less American. “Its amigo, not amigooo” she says. Since the class is only 2 ½ hours a day, there is lots of time for the beach and to do other touristy things.

For the most part the weather has been in the high 70s to 80s so it is almost a perfect beach day every day. People always try to sell you things on the beach here, which makes me laugh. There are always women asking if you want a “masaje” (a massage) and other people selling cold drinks. They walk around, more or less singing “cola, fanta, agua, cerveza” (cola, fanta, water, beer) and somehow I find myself humming the tune even after I’ve left the beach. Maybe if I start to run out of money towards the end of the semester I’ll try to get in on the action to make some extra cash.

I have been quite a bit of a beach bum, but its hard not to be. Last week, Ryan and I skipped the beach and headed over to the Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a massive church, designed by architect Antoni Gaudí, that has been under construction since 1882. It is not scheduled to be completed until 2026, at the earliest. If you are not familiar with Gaudí’s work, it is very unique and whimsical. He designed lots of other famous buildings in Barcelona that I hope to check out in the near future. The church is breath taking, not only in size but also in the detail work on the various facades. I bought my first souvenir outside of the church (its for you mom). Afterwards we went to Carrefour—aka Spain’s version of Target. We picked up a few things we needed and some groceries so we can start cooking more. (If you know any good and EASY recipes, send them my way)

Two weekends ago Barcelona celebrated la Diada Nacional de Catalunya (National Day of Catalunya) on Friday. It is actually the day Catalunya lost their independence so the holiday is recognized with big demonstrations. One group actually passed right down my street so I had a really good (not to mention safe) view from my balcony. That same weekend, we also had a scavenger hunt through the city. We had 6 famous sites in Barcelona to find and take pictures of. It really helped me orient where everything is in the city more and allowed me to see some spots I hadn’t visited yet. We saw the Barcelona Cathedral, the Columbus Monument, La Rambla (a huge pedestrian street with street performers, and shops galore), Santa Maria del Mar church and La Plaça Sant Felip Neri. Since we were in a race, I decided to revisit the cathedral and the Santa Maria del Mar again to look around more and take pictures. Our running paid off though because my team won and we are going to have a celebratory pizza dinner sometime soon.

This past week we celebrated two birthdays. Julia (another student from Richmond) turned 21 on Tuesday and Sam (a student from Bentley) turns 20 today. It worked out really well because some students from UPF (our school in Barcelona) had organized a welcome dinner and party on Tuesday night. Since basically everyone we know decided to fork up the 30 euro to attend, the dinner and party at the club afterwards were so much fun. I am not sure who said it first, but doors to clubs here are honestly like portals to another world. Outside, the streets are relatively quiet, and everyone walking around is put together and classy, and then you go into the club, crossing through the portal into mayhem. No matter what night of the week it is, the clubs are always packed with people dancing, drinking and just having a good time. The next think you know, you look down and see its 5 in the morning and probably time to head home. Usually people stay out so late they can take the metro home, since it has already opened again for the people going to work in the morning.

To celebrate Sam’s birthday we went to a FC Barcelona soccer, err I mean football, game last night. 100,000 screaming fans in one place was a little overwhelming at first but once I got over the shock of so many people, the game was lots of fun. We (yes I can say we since I am living here now) won 5 to 2 so everyone was happy. Hopefully I can go to another game before I leave. After the game we went to celebrate both the victory and Sam’s birthday at a “chupitos” (shot) bar. There is a chain of “chupitos” bars throughout Barcelona and they have 500+ different types of shots, most of which end up being lit on fire at some point. Its always fun because every shot is so unique and you always get a great show. I plan on taking anyone who visits me there so prepare yourselves.

Next week brings my first day of one of my classes (the others start the following week) and another big festival in Barcelona. Both should be interesting to say the least. I fully intend on blogging more frequently so I don’t need to write a novel each time, but no promises. Thanks to anyone who actually read this entire ridiculously long post =]

Besos,

Jess

a few pictures from the past 2 weeks...

La Sagrada Familia

Santa María del Mar

Barcelona Cathedral

FC Barcelona Game

the harry potter shot at chupitos

Bienvenido a Barcelona!

Needless to say, my first week in Barcelona was a bit of a whirlwind. Between settling into my new apartment, orientation meetings and trying to explore the city, this is really the first chance I am getting to update my blog. So, I will try to give you a quick recap of the past week. I arrived on Tuesday morning and was picked up at the airport by a service that is arranged through Richmond. There were 12 of us who landed all around the same time so the three vans they had sent were completely packed with luggage and students. I ended up being the last to be dropped off which was ok because I got to see my first glimpses of Barcelona and the different neighborhoods. I will be living with two other students from Richmond (Ryan and Eric) as well as two other students from a different program (Andrew and another girl who is moving in soon), in the Gothic Quarter, which is said to be the heart of the city. Our apartment has a lot of character with its high ceilings, tile floors and little balconies. It is across from a beautiful marina and a short walk from the beach. It is also close to loads of restaurants and bars and other little shops. Tuesday night, like most nights so far, we just walked around our neighborhood and stopped to eat at a place nearby that looked good.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we had orientation meetings and a placement test all of which were relatively uneventful. We learned some more basic information about the city and our school. Our intensive Spanish language course starts tomorrow. The class is two and a half hours a day and meets for about two and a half weeks. Real classes don’t start until the end of the month. Having this slow transition is so nice because it leaves us free time to adjust and explore. Yesterday I went with some other students from Richmond and a group of students from Bentley to Sitges, which is a beach town that is about an hour train ride south of Barcelona. It is said to have some of the best beaches in all of Spain and they were definitely beautiful!! The town itself had narrow streets and really quaint, and neat looking buildings. It is hard to describe, but I felt like I was on the set of a movie—especially when a guy in the street started playing his accordion. After soaking up the sun for a few hours, we grabbed some lunch. I had my first paella, which is a traditional rice dish that can have vegetables, seafood, meat or all of the above, since being in Spain. It was really good and definitely exceeded all my expectations. After lunch we walked around some more before taking the train home. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Barcelona is seriously the most fascinating place I have ever been. The city has everything you could ask for--beautiful beaches, tons of history and culture, and indescribable nightlife. In addition, the people all seem generally happy and relaxed, which is definitely a big change from the US. When everyone asks what I think so far, I really don’t know where to begin. I am just so excited to spend my semester here and learn more about this captivating city.

Besos,

Jess