After computer difficulties, a hard week of midterms and essays, and a busy week of playing after finishing midterms and essays, it is finally time for a new post. Breaking it down into sections has seemed to work so far, so we´ll stick with that. Let´s do letters this time.
A. Valencia Trip- Last weekend, we made a trip to Valencia with our study abroad program. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, and is apparently where the famous Spanish food, paella, and the famous Spanish drink, Horchata, were originated. With the old part of the city on one side of the river bed and the more modern part on the other side, it was a very interesting city. The reason I say "riverbed" and not "river", is because in the 1960´s (due to a devastating flood) they diverted the river around the city. Now, the huge riverbed holds gardens, bike paths, cafes, soccer fields, and Valencia´s famous "City of Arts and Sciences".
The City of Arts and Sciences ("Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciéncies" in Catalan) is a big group of Alien looking buildings in the middle of this dry riverbed, consisting of a science museum, opera house, a sports/concert arena, an aquarium, and a big awesome bridge that looks like a harp. We saw a dolphin show at the aquarium and it made me feel like a little kid. It was great.
B. The Pigs- If you haven't noticed this yet, I tend to wander sometimes. If I see something interesting, I go look at it. After that if I see something else interesting, I go look at that too, and so on and so forth. Earlier this week, I wanted to go to a palace here in Barcelona that I hadn't seen yet. When I got there, I saw that they had the palace and the surrounding gardens locked down for some event that was going on for some rich people. So, I decided to walk to a monastery that I knew was nearby. After I checked that out I noticed there was a city park in the hills behind the monastery. I hiked through this park for an hour or so, following old stone walls and shiny things, and I realized it was starting to get dark. As I headed down a trail that I thought would lead back to my path of entry, I began thinking "I wonder if there are any animals around here that could kill me". Just then I heard a loud grunt and saw what I was almost sure was a giant pig and a baby giant pig(After researching, I found out that they do have wild hogs here). I jumped about 15 feet in the air and ran a few steps down the hill and hit a dead end where the trail went into a little gorge or dry creekbed. It would've been easy to cross...if it hadn't been filled with cactus... At that point I thought I was going to have to go back towards the pigs, but instead, I held onto a tree branch and skirted along the edge of cactus valley for a few yards and was able to find a clear path a little further from them. I got down the hill safely, but my proceeded to beat quickly for the next 10 minutes. Its really funny now, but I was pretty scared.
C. Mi amigo, Ivan- Just one block away from our apartment, there is a small bar simply called "Schultz". Jim and I, decided to check it out one day, simply for the fact that Schultz is Jim's last name, and now it's one of my favorite places in town. It was named after a famous mobster named Dutch Schultz and there are newspaper clippings of mafia stories covering the walls. On the back wall, there is a projector playing old movies, mostly Charlie Chaplin films. That first night we stopped in, we ended up talking to the bartender, Ivan (ee-BAHN), and his customers/friends for several hours, almost completely in Spanish. They wanted to know all about the U.S. and if it was really like the movies, and if people in Texas rode horses, and on and on and on. It was the first time I was able to have a real conversation and make a real connection in Spanish, which was extremely encouraging to me.
One of my goals when I arrived in Barcelona, was to become a regular at some kind of establishment, whether it be a cafe, bar, restaurant, or whatever. I just wanted a place I could walk in and the people who worked there would say "Oh, there's the nice American kid who tries to speak Spanish". It might sound like an odd goal, but its quite hard to insert yourself into the culture, so I thought that might be a small step toward doing so.
Finding Schultz is far more than I could've asked for. Ivan and his friends know me, Jim, and our friend George, by name. They are genuinely happy to see us when we walk in, and actually seem eager to talk to us while we are there. It's really awesome to have a place to practice Spanish and to hang out with Spaniards. (Don't tell Ivan I called him a Spaniard. He has told me several times that "Catalunya no es Espanya!")
Okay, thats all for today. I'll try to get the next one out a little quicker this time.
Talk to you soon,
LC
