¡Una, Grande y Libre!: semana tres...

The end of week three...the start of week four.

WEEK 4 began today. A month is enough time to make a painting or perfect a new dance piece....however, I can assure you it will not be enough time for me to consider myself a citizen officially of Barcelona by the end of this week. There is still so much to see, learn, feel, taste, and explore but I am sure that at the rate I have seen things the first three weeks I will know this city well by the end of month four.

Hopefully, the visitors I have coming this weekend will be helpful in exploring the city with me. Nick and his friends Alex and Jake are making a trip to Barcelona to see yours truely this Wednesday...aka tomorrow!!! Then Friday, Jillian and her friends arrive and the party begins! I hope to take them to the big market (per request of Jilly), parque Guell, Mont Monjuic, La Sagrada Familia, and hopefully a Barca game at Camp Nou. We're all going to cozy up in a hostel on Gracia in the center of the city and see what its like to be a real Euro tripper.

But back to what iv already done....last weekend IES took a trip to Tarragona and Valencia. These two cities lie along the coast of Spain to the south. The trip started in Tarragona where we went on a tour/tasting of the TORRES vineyard. After this we headed on a 4 hour ride to Valencia. Needless to say getting everyone tipsy before a bus ride with about 30 kids they didn't know was a great idea of IES to ease the awkwardness. I was lucky with my bus and my roomie for the trip… Julia! All the kids from my Spanish class took over the back of the bus and I enjoyed having 10 hours of nothing to do but get to know them all better.

The ride consisted of terrain that ranged from beaches to forests to mountains to shrubby land…and ORANGES!!! Im sure all of you have heard of Valencia oranges. They’re amazing and as we saw on the way down, plentiful…you can even smell the citrus when driving by. Once we arrived at the Holiday Inn (my bus got screwed on the hotel…) we had some time to explore…aka nap and drink the wine we bought. After that was a night of recovering from the 8 am departure and bus ride. The next day we were able to see the old city. The streets are old and unlike the gothic undertones of Barcelona, the lasting architecture of Valencia is mostly Baroque. It’s ornate and grand appearance is clearly displayed in the cathedrals, two of which we saw. The city overall is more quaint than Barcelona, with men playing violins and organs in the narrow and winding streets. We also had the chance to go to the Palau de Artes y Ciencas…google it… This huge and modern building is supposed to be the center of arts and sciences for Europe at present. I actually cannot even describe the buildings as they were unlike anything I have seen before and completely shocking in such an old city. After our time in the city we were given crappy paella (which is supposed to be the best in Valencia) and told to rest before our journey back.

On our way back we stopped again in Tarragona. This time it was in the heart of the city where we did a tour of the old ruins. The city overall is very quaint and has some of the most amazing ruins I believe I will ever see. A half of an arena where chariot races took places remains with tunnels and crevices all underneath. The old gardens and castle walls stood atop a hill where you could peer over and see the whole fortress and city. My personal favorite was the coliseum which sits ontop of the beach essentially. All throughout the city were street vendor and performers trying to make money off the many many tourists who come each day to see the amazing ancient sights. After a quick but amazing tour we stopped for a special Spanish dinner in a small town nearby. The main reason for our stop was special onions famous to the region. I am going to butcher this name but it is something like Calcutes which consists of taking long grilled onions and dipping them into a special hummus like sauce and lowering them into your mouth like a five year old with spaghetti…bib included. Really. Accompanied with wine which you pour directly into your mouth and pass around this meal was very fun to eat and delish as well. After sufficiently stuffing ourselves with onions we headed back on the smelliest bus ride ever potentially.

Overall, I really enjoyed the time to see another part of Spain. While I didn’t find either city to be as awe inspiring as Barcelona I appreciated and enjoyed hearing their history and seeing their culture immensely. Tarragona was my favorite and I would love to have the chance to adventure there again for more time. I also think that this experience was what a lot of students needed to leave their group of friends and get to know other IES students. I got to know so many great people even better and made new friends I wouldn’t have if not for the trip. It was interesting coming back…I think seeing the bright lights and the Placa de Catalyuna and feeling a sense of ease after the long ride was the first time I realized this is actually my home. Not just a vacation but a place where I am starting to feel so comfortable and settled in.

On another note, my 21st was wonderful and I thank you all for your love which I felt so strong a million miles away! My host mom made me a delish lemon cake and my new friends and I danced the night away…the real festivities will come this weekend though when I can be with some of my close friends and show them my city. I am so excited to be able to share this experience and the place I have fallen in love with, with them. Being translator will be interesting as I’m still working on my own Spanish skills but it’ll be fun to show them all aspects of this culture including the language we speak. I am sure this weekend will give me lots of amazing stories so make sure to check in next week for them!!!!

Love and miss you all
Besos,