Thats right folks, after a great first weekend in Barcelona filled with sightseeing, going to the beach and talking to our friends about their homestays, it was time for school to start. I had almost forgotten that was part of the deal with my moving to Spain, darn. For the public transportation part, I thought the La Canada Shuttle was bad, then I took the Isla Vista bus when it rained in Santa Barbara, not my favorite but doable, except when you try and make the last bus before school starts and its hot and humid and stuffed full of freshman from FT (the dorm far away from campus). Welcome to REAL public transportation in Barcelona. The metro is the easiest (ha!) way to get around. Living up in Gracia like we do, there isn't actually a metro that runs up that high, so we take the FGC (an old subway train) to Plaza Catalunya, oneof the most central parts in Barcelona. To get to school we have to change from the FGC to themetro at Plaza Catalunya and then hop on another line to get closest to school, then its about a 3-4 block walk from there. So for those of you from LC, remember how we would complain about being stuck in traffic on Michigan hill for 10 minutes, PIECE OF CAKE! If I happen to miss the ideal train from my station, the next one doesn't come for another 15 minutes, then I have to sprint through the hot subway platforms and sprint to campus just to make it in time. If I am lucky it takes me 15 minutes to get to the stop I need then another 5 to campus, if I'm not lucky it could take about 30-40 minutes just to get to school. It is definitely a different lifestyle.
I am taking 3 class, Spanish Language, The Seven Wonders of Spain- Spanish Architecture, and New Tendencies in Contemporary Art. My Spanish class is just the right level for me, but I am hoping we do some review of verb tenses. The Seven Wonders of Spain class is built around UNESCO's World Heritage List and is pretty interesting. The New Tendencies in Spanish Contemporary Art is not one of my favorites yet but it could change. This is the first time since high school that I didn't feel like I needed to sell my liver on the black market to pay for textbooks though which is awesome. The only book I needed to buy was a Spanish workbook for 22 euros (about $25).Monday of my second week of school marked the first time I was able to get from my house to campus without a hiccup, it felt great! My Spanish by then had slowly started coming back to me and I was more confident in talking in class and to the locals, which means, that when I do need help figuring out where to go, the directions they give me are more understood and therefore more helpful.
Life here is on a very different timetable than home, dinner is later (typically not until 9 or 10) and then my friends and I usually take a nap and then get ready to head out around midnight. Clubs here are only really getting started around 1:30am and the metro starts running again at 5am so most people just stay at the clubs until then (being completely honest right now-I have yet to stay out that late, its been close though!)
Those first two weeks were pretty much spent wandering around the city getting to know the different areas and finding places to get drinks or tapas or coffee. Going into week 3 I feel like I am starting to adjust to the lifestyle of Barcelona and that I live here and am not just visiting. If my time follows these last two weeks, this truly will be the greatest semester of my life!
The pictures are: top- a view of Barcelona from the Parque Guell (Gaudi's park), center-part of the group at the Park (Dillon, Nikki, Elle, Brittania, Me and Rory), and bottom The Barcelona Cathedral
The pictures are: top- a view of Barcelona from the Parque Guell (Gaudi's park), center-part of the group at the Park (Dillon, Nikki, Elle, Brittania, Me and Rory), and bottom The Barcelona Cathedral
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