Getting oriented

Wednesday morning, the group met at the hotel we had been staying at to take a bus tour of the city. I assumed the tour would help orient me and give me a better understanding of the city. I was completely wrong. The tour highlighted some of the main sights in the city: Monjuic, La Ciutadella, La Sagrada Familia, the Statue of Cristobál Colón, and La Rambla. This city is so beautiful and SO huge. I feel like that even in a semester, I won't be able to see it all. That's okay thought, because as I've mentioned to many of you, I'm never leaving.
In my last post, I was mistaken. Wednesday was not Three Kings Day. However, the festivities for el Día de Los Reyes started Wednesday night. After the bus tour we were able to break off on our own and explore as we wanted. A group of us ended up going to the Barra Gotica, an old neighborhood with narrow, Venice-style pedestrian streets. We wandered around, took pictures, and continued to get to know each other. We intended to finish up our stroll in Plaza de L'Angel, a small square in time to catch the Three Kings Parade, however we lost track of time and ended up getting there too late. I headed home to have dinner with my host dad, Juan Antonio. My friend, Nikki, a student from Wellesley who is also studying in Barcelona, has a less than ideal living situation right now (crowded apartment, crying babies, pretty unsafe neighborhood) so she came over to my apartment for dinner. Juan Antonio was delighted to have another student over. At dinner, I mentioned to him I took a class studying the history and the current culture in Spain. I had specific questions to ask a Spaniard about the culture and the political system. He spoke to us for a good half hour about the Transition from oppressive Francoist Spain to the current Democratic system. He seems to have a very interesting perspective because he was a young adult when the Transition occurred. Having studied the Spanish government and having formed opinions about the system, it was fascinating to hear a Spaniard's perspective. After dinner, Nikki and I met up with Samantha, another Wellesley girl and Rose, a girl on our program in the Plaza de Catalunya to go to a bar near downtown called Chupitos. Like the first night we went out, CIEE took over the bar and we mingled and got to know each other. A pretty uneventful night, but it was great to start to get to know more people.
Yesterday I didn't get out of bed until around noon. I had an incredibly relaxing morning. I brought a copy of Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" with me, so I sat in bed reading and cuddling with Manolo (the cat/my new boyfriend). Once I became a functioning human being around 1, Nikki came over and we headed to meet up w/ two friends from the program in the Born neighborhood. We walked around and ended up getting tapas in a restaurant on the boardwalk. Favorite item? Little octopus (octopi?) in a delicious sauce. After we wrapped up "lunch", we realized it was almost 5:30. We headed home to take naps before going out. I woke up to my host mom, Nene, having a conversation with the cat; asking him what he wanted for dinner and telling him how "gordo" he is.
Juan Antonio was out for the evening, so I had dinner with Nene and her sister, Vergonia. It was wonderful to get to know Nene better. I learned that Juan Antonio is an architect but because of the tough economy in Spain and the slow development, he only works periodically. However, they live a very comfortable life. Nene doesn't work. Most of her family (11 siblings!) lives in Barcelona and she cares for her mother who has Alzheimer and her sister who is disabled. She is incredibly kind and caring, but also fiery and hilarious. I feel so fortunate to have been placed with such wonderful, interesting people.
After dinner, I met up w/ the CIEE girls at a club near the beach. My group of friends here is becoming more defined. We're having a great time!
Today, I met up with Nikki and another girl on our program, Cherie, to go shopping downtown (sorry Mom!). The day after Three Kings Day is the big sale in Spain, so there were incredible markdowns but also insane crowds. Downtown was a zoo; the stores were packed and people were literally arguing over merchandise. We were only able to handle it for a few hours before we called it quits. Cherie, Nikki, and I all live in the same neighborhood, so we headed back there, got lunch, then walked around for about an hour. The neighborhood I live in is BEAUTIFUL. The architecture is amazing, there are lots of interesting shops and restaurants, and there are little parks tucked into the neighborhoods. Again, I'm so lucky.
Tonight the CIEE girls are going to a few bars in L'Exaimple, my neighborhood. We wanted a low key, less touristy scene.
Tomorrow, we're going to two of Barcelona's open air markets. Stories and photos to come.

Hasta!