Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced; even a proverb is no proverb to you 'til your life has illustrated it. –John Keats

¡Hola strangers!

I like to only update my blog once or twice a week just to keep each post interesting. So I'll post about some of the highlights of my week. I stress the word "some" because honestly being in Barcelona is the highlight of my life.

On Wednesday Olga took Emily and I to her gym to check out the belly dancing class! We also took pilates before belly dancing and I've decided that I'm not a pilates girl, I'm more of a kickboxing girl. Plus its kind of difficult to relax when you have to constantly watch the instructor because you don't understand the "pilates lingo" that is in spanish.

 Belly dancing was much more my scene. It was so so fun, the instructor put on Shakira for "us Americans". Olga let us borrow her special Belly dancing belts and told us we can get our own authentic belts when we go to Morocco. We plan to go every wednesday from now on!

This is Olga. We have the best house-mother out of everyone. She's SO awesome.

Another highlight of my week was getting to put my toes in The Mediterranean for the first time ever!! This was also the first day that I got to see the beaches of Barcelona. They are so so beautiful, and the water is so blue! The water was freezing but it was definitely worth it. I can't wait for it to get warmer!

I had to walk around with soaked jeans all day because the waves took my flip flop and I had to go retrieve it.

Barcelona meets The Hunger Games?

That night I got to catch the beautiful fountain lit up at Plaza Catalunya which is one of the main parts of Barcelona. I love this fountain.

On saturday we decided to go the aquarium because it was a rainy day. Although it was a fun activity, I was not impressed. I've heard such great things about it that I expected it to be more along the lines of Sea World. Overall I had a great time, but I wouldn't recommend it because of the price.

The sharks where pretty cool!

This had a moving sidewalk in it and the sharks swam over you! 

This guy was actually yawning, but I got a pretty badass picture out of it!

After the aquarium we checked out the mall which is actually the old Barcelona Bull Fighting arena. This particular arena was abandoned for a number of years before it became a mall.

The view from the top 

Another fountain that I love

At the top!

Fact: Bull fighting is now banned in Barcelona as of 2011. The Barcelonians do not like bull fighting. It is not true that in Madrid the bulls where killed in battle and in Barcelona they were not killed at the end. The bulls are killed during each fight. Many people walk away crying. Bull fighting can now only be seen in Madrid. The Running of the Bulls takes place in Madrid and is where the bulls run down the streets to the arena at the start of the season. Each year a handful of drunk people die because they get in the way of the running of the bulls.

Today I spent time down by the beach area and the Gothic quarter and I realized how small Barcelona actually is. When looking on a map it looks HUGE, but in some cases its faster to walk from metro stations than to actually take the metro!!

The beautiful Barcelonetta area today

Yet another fountain, this one changes colors

I watched it for a good 15 minutes, and have a picture of every color.

The other night I was out for tapas with a friend and the waiter gave us a translated menu. I decided try the "bag of potatoes" thinking it would be exotic and delicious just like the Bombas I've tried. I was slightly taken aback when the waiter delivered me this:

Better get some sleep, I wish I was at the American bar tonight though. This time difference is such a bummer when it comes to fútbol americana. I think I'll root for the Pats since The Giants are out. 

¡Feliz Sueños!

¡Pura Vida!

¡Hola!

Thought I'd give a quick tour of my new home. I switched from the dorms to a home stay because I was lonely and I wanted to be with my friend Emily. It's working out great, I have my own room, my house mom is THE BEST! Her name is Olga, she's 46 and she lives alone in the apartment. She is a tour guide and she speaks 4 languages -she's fluent in English. She cooks us dinner every night and it is amazing, I mean really amazing!

My bedroom -so roomy compared to my dorm room!

Other side of my room

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Kitchen -its so cute!

The hallway -my favorite part of the house is the massive bookshelf filled with travel books!

The entry way

This apartment is a bit nicer than the average apartment here in Barcelona. We are living in a more upperclass type neighborhood. Most people don't have a washer and a dryer. We also have a maid that comes every Tuesday! I love my keys to the apartment because they're skeleton keys, they look so neat!

Things have calmed down a bit. I'm no longer active 247 which my body is happy about! We started classes on Monday and they are going really well. I got moved from my Spanish class because I needed a higher level but they did not have an intensive class (which is what I want) for a higher level, so they created a class for me!! I'm the only one in it, which is awesome because my Spanish will greatly improve!

I've befriended a little old man who owns a café right near school. I go everyday and I practice my spanish with him. His name is Herminio and he is awesome! He doesn't speak English so I've taught him a few words: olive, salad and his name in English (I think), Herman.

Walking back from class today I heard all of these crazy birds and I was confused. I looked up and there were 20 or so beautiful fat green birds that looked like parakeets. We had seen one earlier in the week but thought it was someone's pet that had escaped. I asked Olga what type of birds they were because I had never seen them before. She told me they were parrots! I'll have to post a picture next time.

I also ran into a stray cat. I've been going crazy without my pets so I proceeded to follow the cat and try to pet it. It was not in very good condition so I tried to go find it some cat food. I'm hoping the cat lives in the neighborhood because I want to adopt it as my stray cat pet. I named him Pepito :)

Tomorrow Emily and I are going with Olga to the her gym to take a belly dancing class. I absolutely cannot wait for that!

Funny observations

Things I've observed so far:

• PDA (public displays of affection) is out of  control here. They simply don't care. Couples make out in the street everywhere. The other day, we say one guy push his girlfriend up against the wall while walking on the sidewalk, and intensely make out with her! In America we say why are they doing that?! Here, they say why not?
• They do the double kiss when greeting someone. I've already done it a few times, I think its fun.
• Street performers are everywhere! Especially in the metro. They are very talented musicians so people like to listen to them.
• Musicians even get on the metro and play. Yesterday we had an accordionist playing while riding the metro.
• There are 3 types of coffee. All are SO small compared to our coffee, but its actually expresso.
• They listen to American music here which is SO strange. They don't listen to Spanish music. It is because we advertise our music so well in America.
• The average shower they recommend here is, get ready. 4 MINUTES!!
• The women here don't shave their legs, they get them waxed, they don't even sell shaving cream for women. They look at you strange if you ask for shaving cream.
• So far its been very hard to find conditioner, I've had to go to 3 different stores. They only seem to have shampoo.
• The water bottles here are 1.5 Liters. They are HUGE but only cost .25 euro 
• If you don't ask for the check in a restaurant  they won't bring it to you. People like to sit for long periods of time to talk.

Making this house a home

Its official, I can now say that I have experienced a Barcelona soccer (fútbol) game. It was amazing!! The stadium is GINORMOUS. We didn't get to see the star player Mesi play though because they were playing a team that wasn't very good and Barca was expected to win by a lot, which they did. The crowd was so fun to be with, they were very intense! They loved to scream and curse out at the other team's fans, and the protesters. Barcelona has very vocal inhabitants, so they protest A LOT, there was a huge group of protesters at the game. It was also interesting that they only serve non-alcoholic beer in the stadium. This is because in the past people have gotten way too drunk, and someone threw their cup at one of the players and seriously hurt him.

The following day the we took a bus to Girona, a historic town North of Spain. We took a tour of the city and it was so beautiful. A lot of history has taken place here, especially concerning the Jewish people. After our tour, we had a 3 course lunch. (Lunch is the main meal here in Barcelona, not dinner). It was so delicious, I for dessert I tried Flan (it was okay, but not my favorite).

After our time in Girona, we traveled about 40 minutes to the Savlador Dalí museum. All I can say is wow. This guy was absolutely nuts, I definitely think he had a mental disorder of some sort. His art work is so out there.

This is Dalí's wife

But it is also Abraham Lincoln

This is a man or a woman depending on how you see it

This is an entire room that is supposed to resemble a house, the bathroom is on the ceiling

This is an outdoor exhibit Dalí designed and it plays with the reflections on the windows from inside

The outside of The Dalí Museum

Today was finally our first day that we had to ourselves. Emily and I decided to walk from our home stay (I have switched housing), to Park Guell. This was the number one place I wanted to go in Barcelona, it was so beautiful. The Mosaics are amazing. 

A cat just hangin' out in a store