BARCELONA

Last trip of the semester for me was in Barcelona! I was able to meet up with one of my best friends, Kyla, who is studying in Vienna.  This was her first time going to Spain, and Elise and I met up with her there.  I had a blast! I really missed being able to see someone from home and the whole trip was very chill.  We were in Barcelona for about 4 days and it definitely has its differences from Sevilla.  Barcelona is a much bigger city, kind of like our big cities in the U.S. and had almost everything you could think of as far as stores and restaurants.  There were a lot more American clothing stores in Barcelona and even a Subway restaurant.  However, in Barcelona, they speak Catalan, Spanish, and English.  More people in Barcelona speak English than in Sevilla but the main language is Catalan, and I do not like it at all.  Perhaps if I had studied abroad in Barcelona I would like the language more, but coming from a city that speaks Castellano(spanish) to another language that for me seems like a mixture of Spanish and French is not very appealing.  But regardless, it was an experience.

Some places we saw were the Sagrada Familia, La Catedral, Parc Guall, Gothic Quarter, etc while most of the time just walking up and down Las Ramblas, where I saw some interesting things and people to say the least lol.  There was a really nice market in the middle of Las Ramblas where you could buy fresh seafood, meat, fruit, and chocolate.  Everything was extremely fresh.  It had some things I did not expect to see either, such as sheep head and brains, but I digress.

In Spain, we have about a week break because of a few holidays they have.  Because of this I was able to stay in Barcelona for four days and I still have a few days until class starts again to work on my projects and study for finals.  This Friday makes exactly one week until I come home! I'm am so excited.   I know it will go by fast too because I do not have any more full days of class, only final exams to take next week.  I am trying to stay motivated and finish everything I have to do, but its been raining almost non stop ever since I got back, and it just makes me tired and gloomy.

MARKET

Port

lol this place was so cool..our shots were on fire! 

El Corte Ingles 

Sagrada Famila

Sagrada Familia

lol my chinese food (this time just like home)

Cathedral

Christmas shops

Escalators up to Parc Guall...steepest hill ever!

Hello there!

Thanksgiving in Spain!

Hey everyone! I know I have not written in a while but I've been working on so many presentations and projects for classes.  Can you believe November is just about over? I know I can't.  I am really happy that I've studied abroad and will make the best of my time left here, but I am pretty much ready to come home.  This Wednesday starts December and my countdown begins.  There are so many things that I am planning on eating when I get home already!

The Spanish do not celebrate Thanksgiving but because the program knows that we American students are missing such a big holiday normally shared with family and friends they gave us a huge dinner at a very nice hotel Thursday.  Before going, I was kind of scared of what the food would be like.  I thought it might be all Spanish food that we were going to eat or a Spanish attempt to make typical American Thanksgiving food.  It was a pleasant surprise though.  The hotel was beautiful and even though it was not quite the same as home, the food was very tasty, especially the appetizers.  To put it into perspective it was just as if you were to go out to eat at a nice restaurant instead of cooking what you normally have for Thanksgiving at home.  There had to be at least 200 people there, all the students in each different CIEE program, the staff, and professors.  Before dinner we had time to "mingle" and were served your choice of wine, beer, or refreshments along with "crab balls", fresh salmon, and artichoke kebabs.  Sooooo good! The actual dinner was pasta, salad, turkey leg, mashed potatoes, and apple tart.  My turkey was a little dry :(  All in all I had a great time with my friends and we all went out afterwards of course lol.

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner, I have also added some food that my host mom had made that I do not remember if I posted previously or not, and me and Kristyn at the theater.  We went to see "Carmen" that is currently playing here, yes it was all in Spanish lol.

Delicious salmon

This is the wine I may bring home, so smooth!

Me and Miguel

Me and Curro

Tortilla Espanola...yummy!

Fried Fish

Did not eat this

mussels, yummy!

Did not eat this

Just like Dunkin Donuts