It looks Roman but La Alhambra too

Canet, a beach near Barcelona

Inside La Alhambra…Can you tell this is my favorite Palace¿

so beautiful

La Feria, Sevilla!

Calle de Flores, Cordoba

ya baila!!!!!!
Here are a few photos I have been trying to upload!

que bonita

catedral de salamanca

mejoras

harlem jazz club!

the view from danielas window

gaudi!

Y la noche va,
Dejandonos solos
Y cada mitad se acerca a su modo
Y dicen las calles, de tu Barcelona
Que la Noche es nuestra
Que la Nit es nostra

La vieja Ciudad, Vestida de luces
De espuma de mar, De amores y cruces
Y yo solo pido que nunca amanezca,
Que la noche es nuestra,
Que la nit es nostra
Que la Nit es nostra
-Bacilos, “Barcelona”

Barcelona, the land of Catalan, my best friend, FCB, espadrillos, art, history, beach, love, music….. Oh, the nights were just about to begin, the days only numbered 4, but something magical about the city never faltered. My love for Barcelona before even seeing it, was something that made this trip so spectacular. When I arrived to the city, I was truly happy. Perhaps it was the Gothic area, it’s cathedrals, lights, small streets and hammered youth, or the Gaudi building across from my friend’s apartment in Plaza de Gracia…Which looked more like a Candyland house than building, or maybe the fact that I was finally with my best friend, after more than 8 months of not living together… Whatever it was, just being there, watching the life of it all pass by me, meant more to me than what most trips could offer. The challenge of Madrid faded away, because this city became my familiar, what I had imagined it to be. If AU had a program in Barcelona, I would be the most content student in this country, and my own.
First day, Thursday, we slept for most of the early afternoon because I had a 6:00 am flight that I stayed up all night for. It showed. So we woke up later, and the first thing we did was have Chai tea and talk about us. When with friends, first things are first, and no matter where you are. There is always time. Afterwards, we got dressed, and went down to the Gothic area, and had an amazing dinner, all tapas, a bottle of red wine, and we talked about why we didn’t have boyfriends. Typical of us. The menus are all in Catalan, which is a completely different dialect. I can’t even begin to read it, or pronounce it. But we managed, somehow, to pick out some amazing dishes. If I could remember all of the food I ate now, I would write it down, but all you really need to know is that you better eat tapas in Barcelona or you shouldn’t be there. And after a bottle of wine, we were feeling pretty, oh, well pretty happy… After that we went to Harlem Jazz Club. It’s a dark underground bar with live jazz. Incredible.

That night right after leaving, we were mugged. A guy came up to us while we were laughing, grabbed my friends face and started touching her. I thought we had sent wrong signals at first, because it’s known here for guys to be very touchy. No. He was grabbing her, and she wasn’t even aware it was happening right away. I started punching him and yelling, until he finally let go of her and ran away. Next thing we know he had opened her purse and had stolen all of her credit cards, id’s, phone, and 60 euros. It was terrible. We ran to the police but there was nothing we could do except file a report. He was gone. We took steps that night and the next day so she could cancel her credit cards, phone, and have an emergency withdrawal, but it was a disaster. We learned a hard lesson. But we were safe, and that was really important.

Despite the fact that we got mugged, we had the most amazing times. The Sangria, amazing tapas, music, dancing, taking photos and videos, meeting new people, wearing flowers in our hair, and seeing beautiful sites. We went back to the jazz place sunday night and heard the best jazz I ever have in my life. I met up with another friend one night too, and met a bunch of new friends, etc. I bought new shoes, and got to watch Barcelona win a game in a bar full of fans. Everything I wanted to do happened!

I missed my flight on the way home. I got there a half an hour early and they told me the gate was closed because i wasn’t 40 minutes early. Never use the company vueling. They are assholes. I had to buy another 60 euro flight home. It was entirely too expensive of a weekend. I don’t even want to look at my bank account.

I got home and slept the entire day. I was so sick. Surprise surprise! I missed my classes, and could barely make it through ones on tuesday. My friend was emailing me saying, I can’t move. I just threw up… What a mess. Refuse to go to those lengths again.

I’m back in Madrid, getting by. I miss Barcelona, miss daniela, and I miss home. I like Madrid, and yesterday I went to Salamanca, a two hour bus ride from the city. I went with some students from other programs through AU, and the city is of course, beautiful. There is so much history in Salamanca. It has the oldest university in Spain there, and the whole town is basically a university campus. All of the writings on the building are in latin, and every inch of the buildings has been carved to a mastered art of perfection. I loved the views, and there is a river at the bottom running alongside the city. It’s trips like these that show you the real spain, and all of the possibilities of mankind to create what I’ve just seen. I’m just indulging in it, and my spanish is developing well. I am understanding it more and more every day, and I’m forgetting that I’m even understanding it better. Sometimes when I hear people speaking in english, I don’t even register yet that they are speaking my language. Language is such a mixed blur right now, and I absolutely love it.