Here I Go Again (On My Own)

Hokay. Day 2! Once again, this is old...but better late than never!
Golly gee, time seems to move exceptionally slowly here. I feel like like I've been in Barcelona for at least a week now, but the calendar begs to differ.

This morning I woke up at 8:30 to read mah B-I-B-L-E, snack on some American granola bars and a banana (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and get all ready for my 10:30 class. I left with two of my roomies, Kristin and Lauren, and we headed on over to the Metro to get to class in a timely fashion. After walking past a group of protesters demonstrating against nationally raised tuition rates (complete with tents and angry signs!), we ended up showing up  ight on time to start off our Barcelonan education. I almost forgot I had class here, but I definitely remembered that pretty quickly when we started working. Yes, I'm actually in school while I'm here! There'll be tests, midterms, papers, research...everything! Yeah. School will be SO hard for me. All three hours a day of it.

Someday...I, too, will be able to sleep in tents on my college campus. But today is not that day.

The giant sign of protesting.

Hammer and sickle? I wish I knew if they want Communism or are protesting it...

After one class, we went downstairs and ordered late breakfast in Spanish. Booyah, baby. I hope to have mastered a few Spanish/Catalan phrases once I'm back in the states (And maybe by that point, I'll learn how to not be paranoid of pickpockets everywhere I go). Anyways, after an hour and a half of eating and talking with some of my friends, I went to my second class...and then we headed on over to a big park nearby the school. It was incredibly beautiful, and apparently there's a zoo in the middle of the park. I haven't seen it yet, but if I see a polar bear running loose in the middle of the park, I'll be sure to attribute it to the Dharma initiative let you know.

After that, we had a little picnic lunch and walked around freely. We started exploring the city and ended up walking aimlessly- adventuring through Barcelona. I saw a Spanish Arc de Triomf, the Sagrada Familia, a legit supermarket, some beautiful architecture, and a fantastic old section of the city. Plus, we talked about good music and movies, so that made for a good day.

Barcelona: not the only European town with an Arc de Triomf

Once we were done exploring, I went back to the apartment and uploaded pictures/rested until about 8, when a group of us went out to eat (an early dinner for Spaniards, evidently). Let me tell you, I was exhausted and had little blisters on my feet when I got back the first time, but going out was worth it. And our dinner was worth going out for again (despite my baby blisters).

We went out to the metro and ended up going to a place a block away from the beach to eat...one of my friends, Valeri, actually speaks Spanish, so she majorly helped us out with ordering! Surprisingly though, most Barcelonans have a really think Catalan accents when they speak Spanish...so it's pretty hard to understand them.

Anyways, it's been a pretty swell time, thusfar. By the next post, I'll actually have you all caught up on my life (and won't post it two days late). :D But until then, Buenos noches!