The Daily Dose of España: Classes in Foreign Lands

FIRST EVEER Daily Dose of España! What it is...I'll post something random about living in Spain/Europe so you can all get some insight into what life is like here as a pseudo Barcelona resident. These are the little things that are building this entire experience to be one that allows me to reflect upon the little things we do on a daily basis that make our day as grand as we intend it to be. These little occurrences or sights have led me to appreciate moments we might skip out on at home, others allow me to appreciate home a lot more, and other just let me see life in a new light and they help me learn something new about myself and the world around me. That's what this whole experience is about anyway, right?

Now...let's be real, I probably won't write one everyday, but I liked the name...so it's sticking :) I'll do my best to update these...

Here's todays!

One of the classes I'm taking is International Strategic Management. Even though everything we are seeing in the class I've kind of seen before in another Mgmt class, its a completely new class...and I'll tell you why. It's not from the US perspective. I think this factor is what makes learning in a new country so awesome! Not because the US view is right or wrong, but because we are never allowed the opprotunity to see things from these different angles.

In today's class we did a case study on EuroDisney and why it initially failed miserably. My prof, who knows his stuff and has an awesome British accent, was pretty much ripping on the US the entire time. The cool thing about it was that he invited all of us students from the US to share our viewpoint and debate his arguments. Some that he pointed out...were incredibly true...and I never would have seen it from that viewpoint had it not been for the opportunity to sit in a class that is outside of our academic comfort zone. AKA I'm learning and expanding my horizons! And...hopefully the insight we shared will help them expand theirs as well.

Tonight's class made me realize how much I'm starting to appreciate this whole experience on an academic level. Didn't know exactly what to expect coming in, but I like.

Kudos to global business and its mission to make us all a little more open minded.

Life as a Euro...

Three weeks into my European adventure...I'd like to think that I no longer stand out as a tourist around town, but I could be really off on my assumption. The city is pretty familiar to me now (after getting lost about a million times you have to be good at directions..even with a reputation such as mine). I officially started the rest of my classes this week (we only had Spanish for the last two weeks)...they seem pretty legit...its History of Barcelona, International Marketing, International Strategic Management, and an Internship class which is to supplement the internship I'm doing at Yahoo! Advertising (this pretty much made my world).

Recap on the last two weekends...one weekend we went on a hike with our program to Tibidabo, which is a small mountain area. At the top we went to a Spanish restaurant that serves Calçots, which are pretty much super long onions that you eat with a special sauce. This is a very traditional Catalan winter meal. It was a very cool experience!! The meal also included a Catalan toast tradition which is toast with garlic, tomato and olive oil...heaven on a plate, and a purron, which is an Aladdin lamp looking thing that has wine...please see pics below for the full effect :)

The view from Tibidabo...helllooo Barcelona

wereee ready wereee ready

Purron

and these would be the Calçots

I'll make this for all of you...sooo good

Lauren demonstrating how to eat a Calçot

Weekend that followed, about 11 of us girls decided to go to Paris!! It was freeeezing but so amazing. PS everyone...Ryan Air is not that bad at all!! Anyway, we toured Montmartre the first night (my favorite part of Paris) and went to a Fondue restaurant. The food was amazing and the experience was fun (they also served wine in baby bottles...too bad we didn't speak enough French to ask why...our vocab was pretty limited to Oui). Only not so bueno part of it was that the owner wasn't so fond of us...yelled at us in French a couple times (I didn't get why he kept doing it if he knew we still didn't understand what he yelled the first time...I guess he got mad because some girls showed up late because their cab got "lost"), and then he kicked us out at the end because there were tons of people waiting hhaha. We just went with it and laughed. The next day we saw The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, etc. It was a great weekend :) Oh and the hostel was nice!! Since there were 11 of us, we got an entire room...we called it the orphanage hah.

The cutest and best bakery I've ever encountered...you gotta check it out if you're in the neighborhood...Angelina

corny I know haha

I love all the little cafes & restaurants!

I thought this was soooo cool. Whoever did this, I'm a fan. 

The fondue restaurant

Our orphanage ;)

So this is basically what living like a Euro has been like...it has definitely been an "experience." I didn't really know what to expect from living in a different country and culture for 3 mths, but I feel like I have already learned a lot...not only about Spain and Europe, but about myself and home as well. I love how people here cherish every moment of the day...coffee to-go doesn't exist...people get coffee with their loved ones on a daily basis, which I think is pretty incredible. But I have also learned that this works for here...and as cool as I think it would be to do this in the US, it doesn't work with the rhythm of life that people have there. This is what makes me embrace the differences in cultures! The Spaniards I have met have been really nice (I mean people you interact with a little more than stranger basis). Sometimes, strangers you meet on the streets don't really know directions but still proceed to give them to you haha, which is all good, because I have time to get lost and explore (plus it has cured me-at least temporarily- from my bad sense of direction). I'll keep posting little Spain-isms on a regular basis so you all can see the day-to-day things that we see as temporary Barcelonians. 

Hasta luego!

Saludos desde Barcelona!

Vale...pues...I wasn't kidding when I said I get lost everywhere. But...I have come to realize that this "habit" is kinda of a blessing in disguise. Thanks to me getting lost all the time, I have gotten to see random things I would have never witnessed with intention (things such as a spot with an incredible view of the city, etc) and I have been able to get to know the city a lot better. In fact...I am 99% sure that I actually have "some" sense of direction now, since I have to force myself to rely on nothing but my memory and map. It's incredible to realize how much we rely on technology. In the US, I am attached to my phone, its natural. Here I check it maybe twice  a day. I rely on making plans ahead of time and going to people's rooms to chat. Geeeeez learning so much alreadyyy hah. In all honesty though, I feel like this experience already has and will continue to teach me a lot.

Here's a little bit about what the last 11 days have been like...

First couple of days were composed of orientation, orientation and more orientation. Even though it was very tiring to go from 8 am to late, it was a great way to get to know the city a little bit before being on our own and of meeting people in the program. We were assigned to small groups which randomly meet through out the semester to hang out and what not. In addition, our program plans several activities...for example, the hike we're going on tomorrow, some cooking classes, a trip to Sevilla & Cordoba, tapas night, etc. Neato huh.

I'm living in a student dorm building (its independent from the college we take some classes in) with several others from my group. The dorm itself is really nice...not gonna lie, kind of took me by surprise. I'm talking twice as nice as my freshman dorm (not hating on T-hall though). I have a single room with my own bathroom and it came with linens and room cleaning every friday...not a bad deal! ;) Oh, can't forget to mention the set of pots and dishware (for 1) that we got hah. The area is descent, 30 min walk to half my classes, 10 min to the others and theres hard core security at all times...I don't know if that says something bad about the area hah.

Classes haven't officially started yet...we have Spanish every day until the rest of them start on the 24th. Don't really know what to expect of the business classes yet, but my Spanish class is pretty cool. Not only do we look at grammar (my class is for fluent speakers who never really learned to write in Spanish properly), but we also look at cultural aspects of our heritage and how that compares to Barce. Note: my class has 5 people in it haha...compared to my usual classes of 50ish+ people. Don't think I'll have to worry too much about participation points...

We've explored a lot of the city...the beach, marina, the clubs by the beach, Park Guell (my fave), the Picasso Museum, the streets of Barcelona, oh and THE FC BARCELONA GAMEEEEE. A definite highlight of my life as a Spaniard so far. Also, I had my first visitor!! Julian came last weekend :)

Oh, can't forget to mention my anecdote...so about a week ago, I started running real low on the dinero. Went to an ATM to replenish my funds...and...my card was eaten by the machine. I called the company and they told me to come Monday to get it (it was Friday). Went on a scavenger hunt for the same ATM on Monday (turned into a 3 hr scavenger hunt bc I got lost of course) and I came to find out that they A-couldnt' find my card, and B- even if they did, they would have cancelled it by then. So no card, no cash, and banks won't let me open an account to get money transfered to. Sweet life. So...I was VERY frugal for the next couple of days and then Momma Groth came to the rescue, as usual. My friend Alex was coming to Barcelona before heading to her study abroad in Sevilla so my mom met up with her to give me some survival money until I get my new card (which I'm just coming to terms with...will take a long time). So that's my story...I'm set for a while but I might need a plan B soon. But...what's life without adventure like these right? Life would be toooo easy. Note: these are thoughts I have now that I have money of course, didn't quite feel this way before haha.

That's it for now...here's some pics!

La Sagrada Familia...I might have a slight obsession with Gaudi now.

FC Barcelona game!! Won 5-0, of course...

One of those accidental spots you find. Julian and I were trying to find Guell Park and found a spot with a pretty amazing city view. 

Park Guell...in my opinion, its kind of a fusion between Greek ruins and Cand Land. Just sayin'...but it truly is INCREIBLE!

Deutschland!!!

I just realized how hard it is to find time to blog!!! Time for a nice little recap of Germany...Spain is soon to come!

Germany...

I am flight problem prone, so of course...my flight from MSP to Philly got cancelled due to weather (note to self, book through the south next time). This little problemo had me really stressed and upset because they said the Philly airport would probably be closed for 3 days, so my parents and I went to every other airline counter to see if they could transfer my ticket. I finally found one through American Airlines via Dallas. Last seat on the plane!!! Wooo, what luck!

My week in Germany was amazing!! I got to meet all of Julian's family and friends and saw lots of places. The day I arrived was a bit hectic because I thought my phone would work...false. So I didn't have Julian's number and...of course...my credit card wasn't being accepted by the phone machine which quiched my idea to call home to tell them I made it/get Julian's number...so I got creative (I have a feeling this will HAVE to happen a lot over the semester...looking forward to the adventures!). I found a machine that allowed me to get on the internet,  logged on to my Skype account to see my recent calls so I could get his cell then borrowed a lady's phone to call him and figure out where to meet (my flight landed late so our plans were a little thrown off). But it all worked out perfect!! 

Throughout the week I got to see...

-Traben Trarbach which is the adorable town Julian lives in

-went to Trier, the oldest city in Germany where I tried Currywurst (found out a day later it has ketchup...to those of you who know my feelings towards ketchup I'm sure you know what I was thinking ha)...not gonna lie I loved it before I knew it had ketchup hah

-went to Koeln (Cologne) and toured the city/went to Windhagen that night (went to a legit European sauna lol...try everything once right?)

-celebrated New Years in Koeln with a bunch of Julian's friends! :)

-discovered my obsession for italian chocolate (Giotto and Yogurrete) I still love my Kinder chocolate though...

-got to practice my German!! Still have a ways to go hah

-got some tennis lessons!

Overall I met some incredible people and beautiful places plus I was lucky to spend a great week with Julian before saying bye :) 

Left for Barce on the 3rd! It's 2am, so I'll post about that later hah :)

Oldest pharmacy in Germany!

Trier

Trier

Trier

Trier

Beautiful church in Koeln (Cologne)

Vinyards along the river as we drove out of Traben-Trarbach

Traben-Trarbah...see I said it was cute!