Spain in a Nutshell: 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!