Spain

I don't think it's possible for me to find a good system of organizing the telling of thoughts and experiences I've had here so far in Barcelona, so I've given up on any structured kind of entry. So here goes somethin'.

*Two older Spanish men I talked to in the past week both told me that they would never come to the U.S. because they are afraid of going through customs. They think that because they are foreigners, they will automatically be treated as a potential terrorist. I don't really think they would be subjected to all that much more than the kind of security your average American is used to, but I don't blame them for thinking it would be a highly stressful and scary experience, because that must be the message that's getting across to them on the news.
*Barcelona is not the city it was before the 1992 Olympic games here. The popular coastline wasn't even accessible until after the Olympics. It used to be all industrial centers, harbors, and whole bunch of big rocks, until they imported tons of sand and cleaned it all up. And in general, Barcelona was not the cosmopolitan city it is today: tourist sites were not well presented or preserved, modern and upscale businesses were scarce, and the whole of the city was a lot more rugged and rustic. I was told this by one of the men I spoke of above, whom I met when asking if I could take his picture while he worked in a little vendor tent selling hand-carved wooden crafts. We ended up going to lunch and talking for a good five hours or so in Spanish. He was really interesting, very intelligent, and not creepy. And he spend his childhood and most of his teenage years under the Franco regime, so that was a trip to discuss with him.
*Because of the terrible exchange rate, everything is expensive. You can't get a decent dinner with drink for under 30 euros, which translates to about 47 U.S. dollars. Yikes. And it seems to me that if the Euro was equal to the dollar, everything you could purchase would be close to equal in value. So, what that means is that Spaniards are happily enjoying their appropriately priced meals, while I'm laying down half a benjamin for some lamb chops and a glass of wine. BUT, interestingly enough, if I was one of those Starbucks freaks (which I never was), then my budget would probably even out to what it was in the States, since the signature coffee drink of Spain is the café con leche and it only costs about 1.75 euros for this and a croissant in the morning. Or about 1.20 alone, which is a lot less than a fancy latte. So it's super cheap, and deeeelicious-- SO much better than any coffee drink the United States, and I don't know why... it just is. Funny how Europe will probably always do coffee better, for no apparent reason other than that their coffee-making ancestors are more ancient than ours.
Also, you don't ask for coffee "to go" in Spain. The main point of having a cup at your local café is to sit down, relax for a few minutes, and read the paper or have a conversation with the barista.
*I think one of the most important lessons you learn while traveling, is not to judge people so quickly. I actually decided a couple days before leaving Barcelona that this was going to be my next personal assignment-- to try to suppress those immediate judgments of people, at least the negative ones. And as soon as I stepped foot in this strange land, I knew my mission was a righteous one, because my cab driver from the airport was a total jerk and it started to really affect my attitude, until I remembered my new calling and retreated from these dark thoughts. Anyway, since then it's been a constant struggle to remind myself that first impressions are not always accurate and that a lot of times I'm proved entirely wrong in my judgments. And relating back to traveling, this idea is especially poignant because many times you judge someone based on their mannerisms, but you can't do that when the person is from an entirely different culture than you... because something you may be offended by is totally acceptable to him or her, or vice versa.

Okay, picture time!

I went to Montserrat, which is a mountain with an ancient cathedral and a monastery, about an hour and a half outside Barcelona. Check out how high up it is...

I didn't get any pictures of inside the cathedral, because I felt disrespectful taking pictures during services. But I wish I could share it with you, because it was one of the most amazing buildings I've ever been in. I can't really try to explain it. So instead here's a picture of some cute kids and a kitty outside the cathedral.

Below is a weird picture I edited, taken of the view from Montserrat.

And here are my compañeros de cuarto (roommates) in my apartment.... and I just realized I never explained my living situation! Well, I found a room in an apartment in the classifieds here, and loved it right away! Everyone who lives here is so nice, considerate, and in general, awesome people. There's Sarai, a girl from Ibiza, LLorena, a girl from Mexico, and Marianna and Ricardo, a couple from Portugal. And none of them speak any English! It's great...

Below is a snapshot I took in the metro of some people dressed up Carnaval, which is kind of like Halloween but it's a week long and nearby towns host huge parties at their own cost. We only ended up at a club in Barcelona, though, which was still really fun, and packed, as you can see.

Next we have another festival where the Catalunyans make giant plastic images of patron saints and march them around the town square while a band plays corny 16th century celebration music.

Oh yes, and there were also people at this festival climbing into human towers and walking across the plaza. It's a popular "sport" in Spain.

And I suppose that's it, for now... more to come sooner than later!

Besitos,
Emily

OOOoooo Kay! It's about my third week here, I've started classes, my program is cool, blablabla.... let's get down to the nitty gritty:

Things I've noticed about Barcelona thus far:
*People don't really look at you as you walk past them, which I think is true for all cities... but what may be unique to Barcelona is that instead of this, they look at your shoes... seriously, shoes seem to be a big thing here-- or rather, boots. Everyone is wearing boots, or at least all of the women are. And when I wear anything else, especially my all-recycled and hemp slip-on Mary-Janes, people seem quite bewildered.
*I don't understand why I don't hear an ambulance zipping past me every minute, because people drive SO FAST. They're flying by at 60 miles an hour on a well-walked pedestrian strip... and I mean everyone is doing this, even the abuelas.
*The Menu Al Día is awesome: it's a four-course lunch for usually around ten euro, and since lunch is the big meal here, everyone is out having their fancy wine and big entrees and postre at around 2:00. It's really fun.
*I loooovvvve the Spanish/Mediterranean diet of lots of olive oil, bread, cheese, wine, and meat.... but every once in a while you have to have your hot sauce.. you know? And there is nothing spicy here at all. No tapatio in the stores. I think saffron is the closest taste to being spicy, and it's usually only in one type of paella dish (please tell me you've had paella... It is tan delicioso!)
*Everything is in the Catalan lengua, which is a mix of French, Italian, and is the closest language to Latin existing today. But everyone does speak Castellano (the Spanish most used around the world), also, and will talk to you in it, usually without bad attitude.
*I wore a bright pink dress today, and people actually looked at me instead of my feet, yet still in a state of bewilderment, because seeing bright colors, or colors at all, in people's wear is very rare. There are lots of black and brown. And the dress is conservative-- turtlenecks, and overall staying very covered.
*The city is super safe: there are almost never violent crimes, and even the worst barrio is pretty secure compared to a US city. I've realized too, that this is really important to feeling at home wherever I am at. In Barcelona I can leave my apartment at any time and head out to wherever I want without feeling nervous, and that extent of freedom really makes a difference in your state of mind.
*Everything is closed on Sundays. Everything. No supermarkets, department stores, gas stations, gyms, restaurants, are open. I've found a select few scattered around the city that happen to be open, and they're usually owned by Pakistani immigrants who are not accustomed to this traditional Spanish schedule.

I also want to give a quick overview of my general opinion on the city, so here goes:
Me encanta esta ciudad. Es increíble. It's like all the cool cities I've been to in the U.S., improved a million times over. It has everything a city could offer you, but with a lifestyle that makes so much more sense to me-- people live at a slower pace and are more relaxed, taking three hour siestas or lunch breaks and not being so dependent on exact times and dates. There are less big name brands and essentially less monopoly in business, and you see a lot more of artisan and boutique shops and family-owned restaurants and small businesses. There seem to be a lot more jobs in areas of work that have long been taken over by machines in the United States-- for example, today while in Park Ciutadella, I saw a bunch of park care-takers watering and tending to the plants; so that there isn't a single sprinkler in this huge public park.
Every inch of the city is picturesque and most of it really, really old with a lot of history. It's funny to me that the lamest statue in a park or on the corner of some seedy street, that no one takes notice of, would be the marvel of the town in Santa Cruz and likely most towns in the U.S. And then, of course, the great sites in Barcelona are just unimaginable and almost overload for your eyes (like the chapel Sagrada Familia... I'll try to post pictures soon).
Anyway, I could go on for days but what I'm trying to say is that this place is IT, and you've got to come check it out if you can. I've got space on my floor for you!

Now for some photos....

These are just some photos I took around the city....

These are some street performers on "La Rambla," the main tourist strip...

Below is Casa Pedrera, or "House of a Stone Quarry," nicknamed so by local Barcelonians who witnessed its being built by Gaudí in 1905. It was built to be a mansion for some rich bourgeoisie man, but now it's a spectacle for going up to the top and taking pictures and drinking wine after sunset. I know absolutely nothing about architecture, but I've firmly decided that Gaudí is my favorite architect... everything he designs is so fantastical and trippy... the latter word is the best I can think of to sum up all of his works I've seen, and what makes him the coolest of all the architects.
I'll take some pictures of his most famous work, Sagrada Familia, soon... it is INSANE! If you're going to go to Europe, go to Barcelona if only to see that structure. Trust me.

The balconies are wrough-iron seaweed.

I think things would only get boring-er if I was to continue on with this entry.... so tell me what you think! I'll try to become increasingly more interesting with my choice of pictures and topics of discussion, but I hope my blog is not too lame as of now. I'm really paranoid about that, as you can see...

Ciao, y un abrazo amigos!
Emilia

P.S. To see more pictures, go to http://flickr.com/photos/charm_quark Ok?!

To all mis amigos y familia, you can register with skype.com and be able to talk with me through the mics on our computers for free! My screen name is EmSlice (silly, I know) so just add me as a contact and anytime we are both on our computers at the same time, we can talk (FYI: Barcelona time is nine hours ahead of California time). I have to say, free international audio communication is a pretty amazing offering these days, no?
If you own a mac, you can go to your preferences-sound-output and turn your internal mic on. If you do not own a Mac or you have an older computer, you may not have a built-in internal mic on your computer, which means you would have to buy the skype headset (I think it's about 15 bucks). And if free stuff isn't your thing, then you can also purchase credit to call actual phones or to allow phones to call your computer, and it's still at a low price per minute.
For now, all else I have to say is that I am finally here in Barcelona! The first two days were very hectic, as I was couchsurfing (couchsurfing.com, check it out for free stays all over the world) in some English man's piso-- who was very nice-- but still, I didn't yet have a place set up to live, and it was stressful. I do not recommend this to anyone preparing to move to a foreign country, unless you speak the language fluently and don't have a lot of stuff and can move around easily from couch to couch or hostel to hostel until finding a room.

Hope all is well in the States, and feel free to fill me in on any news I may be missing out on, and by that I, of course, mean Britney's latest shannanigans...

Un abrazo amigos,
Emilia