Decemberists

Universitat Pompeu Fabra is a cool cool place, where they sell beer in the cafeteria and everyone hangs out in the beautiful courtyard in the wonderful weather and speaks their beautiful language as i attempt to do the same, then butcher it. the best part about having classes there is the long break i have beforehand where i walk across a good portion of the city- through chinatown and the arc de triumf and the zoo and the big big park. i still don't have a bicing, after this weekend i am going to get on that.

demaciado

Went to an orchestra concert, the conductor was Anna's family friend

The beautiful beautiful ceiling at the Palau de Musica

These two played piano together. They were great. He had a mullet

Blurry- Giselle and I accidentally wearing matching outfits

it was so windy here yesterday, 6 people were killed by the wind and lots of things were closed and all of the street signs and motos were knocked over. it was a change from the almost perfect weather that's been happening every day

everyone goes to Paris on Thursday but Anna and i are going to couch surf in Brussels for some reason instead. we isolate ourselves and camp out with Paulie and Giselle and do things like go to orchestra concerts or sit by ourselves with nice Spanish people from the floor at lunch. after lunch we walked around the Barri Gotic and got amazing pastries and coffee. that mostly sums up a good portion of my trip so far. plus making a fool out of myself because i relentlessly speak Spanish even though people reply in English because i'm so terrible. i improve after sangria

tomorrow my Universitat Pompeu Fabra classes start. they're taught in Spanish, which should also improve my language skills. i hope. ojala. also hope that they're great and wonderful and i learn all about where i am

There is no congruence to my photos

FC Barca

The bathroom at the bar in which we watched the inauguration

every day i wake up here very happy, wanting to explore and learn. it's amazing. i don't know if it's the palm trees, the parrots, the art in the street and in museums, the people i've met, the architecture, or just the shock of being somewhere new (none of which is represented by these two photos), but i really have been happy. happy and eager to see more, yet tired from constantly exploring and not really utilizing siesta time to its fullest. siesta to me is still a mystery.. can't believe it's real.

i also can't believe Park Guell. it's unreal and too good for words so i won't even try, i'll just remind myself to post photos another time. i would love to go there with someone, ,just spend all day watching the city and the people and tomando el sol.

In the dorm cafeteria here, and I'm not sure if it's a Spain thing, a Barcelona thing, or just a Universitat de Barcelona San Jordi thing, it's considered really rude if one person or more leaves the table before the rest of the table is done eating. They bang on the plates and on the cups and jugs of water and go wild. Yesterday someone left the table and we started banging and all the other students joined in with us. Today, a few left and we didn't start it because 2 days in a row would be asking too much. But then they started it today when two people got up. It was a small victory for America.

I will rent one of these soon, it's only 30 euro for a year






Casa Mila at night, it looks better during the day and up close

Gelato with Anna and Paulie

Plaça de Catalunya y Palomas

it's going to be really tough waking up at 7:30 to catch the metro to make my spanish class 3 times a week after nights out like they are here- starting at 1 and going until 3 . the only good thing is that when class is over, it's still morning, and i have the whole day in the most beautiful area, even though most of the time I'll be struggling to keep awake. when weather is slightly nicer, i'll bring homework here and sit with the pigeon ladies and the babies and the men who sell fake Prada bags, and they'll help me conjugate verbs and i'll help them sell the bags and feed the birds.

a birthday abroad

Las Ramblas

Maremagum; Rambla de Mar

first post- my bday. i'm 20. very weird. always say the same thing at birthdays. except now i'm saying it's weird because i spent most of the day walking around exploring the Gracia area on a Gymkhana, after 4 hours of sleep because last night we were at a club.. where a man played an electric glass violin and a man dressed as a devil flew overhead. barcelona is wonderful and each area is so distinct and different i feel like i've seen so much yet so little. i believe i'll have this feeling for the next four months (my to-do list here is huge).