Pretty Amazing

I am not going to lie, I am feeling a bit uninspired today. Sitting in my apartment after my first day of skipping classes, I am trying not to swallow due to an awfully sore throat, and i am trying to keep my eyes open despite my lack of sleep last night. These are the days that make it hard being away from home, however, these are also the days that make me a stronger, more independent young woman. Additionally, it is days like today that I must take a step back from my feelings of homesickness, and look instead at the bigger picture of how wonderful the other days have been. So the past few wonderful days at a glance, which help me get through the long ones like today:

Friday morning we were given the opportunity to go on a free day trip, provided by the program that I am a part of. About fifteen of us met at 9am and took an hour bus ride to Southern Catalunya; to a little town called Tarragona. Upon arriving in this litte town of about 130,000 people, we were immediately led to that which their town was built around, the Roman ruins.

It was so amazing to me not only that ancient Rome reached all the way to Spain, but also that the hard work and dedication that Rome put into their architecture has lasted all this time. Each and every ruin that we saw told a story, and though I am the furthest thing from a lover of history, I was left hungry for more. From these very walls, which were built around the city to protect from invaders, to the amphitheater beautifully seated by the water, I was in awe of it all.

Though it was all beautiful, from the city streets,
to the cafés that I can only imagine myself sitting and drinking coffee and doing my homework each morning, I cannot imagine being these people. I cannot imagine being someone who knows nothing more than these small crowded streets, secured by ancient Roman walls, where there is rarely an unfamiliar face, and each day consists of the same routine. I went back and forth, from pitying them for not knowing anything else, to admiring them for the simplicity and peaceful way that they lived their lives.


After wandering for about three hours, we reloaded the bus, and took another hour ride into the countryside of Southern Spain. Though the drive was beautiful, the lack of air conditioning and the winding roads led to a bus full of complaining American college students. Once we arrived at the traditional Southern Catalan restaurant, however, there was little talking heard seeing as we were devouring this wonderful, yet completely foreign food in front of us.

Traditionally, Catalans eat their biggest meal of the day at about 2:00 in the afternoon; a three course lunch. Though in Barcelona, the typical meal is one that I am not fond of... I fell in love with this one. The meal began with what are known as Calcots, large green onions that are grilled and dipped in the wonderful orange sauce called Salvitxada, which is made of almonds, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, vinegar and oil. Because the charred outer layer of these onions must be peeled, everyone and everything grows extremely messy. Thus, the table is covered with paper cloths, and everyone wears a bib. Huge platters of these "onions" are placed throughout the table, and the servers continue to bring more, until they are asked to stop.

Following this wonderful course, everyone was sent to was their hands and remove their bibs, as the waiters cleared the mess of the Calcots from the table. When we arrive back at the table, an entirely new course consisting of two different kinds of sausage, a scary version of chicken, pork, artichokes and beans were placed throughout the table. Seeing as I was a bit nauseated by all of this meat, I stuck to the artichokes and beans, which were equally delicious, and made up for the nasty meat.  Finally, after filling up on all of this, they brough the third and final course, a wonderful dessert. Though I usually stray away from these, this was absolutely irresistible, and totally worth it :)
 In order to walk off this huge meal we had all just devoured, after lunch we all walked to an old, recently abandoned Monastery. Upon arriving to the Monastery, I had no idea what to expect, except that it would be extremely quiet and peaceful; it was so much more beautiful than I could have imagined. Though ideally, the monks would still be there, allowing me to stand off to the side and just watch them, all I could do was imagine them in this serene environment. Everyone finds their peace in different ways, from reading a good book, to practicing yoga, or from being at my beautiful farm, to simply being with the ones that you love the most, but I just cannot imagine going as far as to live in complete austerity. But to them, this was peace, and to me, that was both unbelievable and beautiful. From sleeping on a cold floor, with nothing but hay beneath them, to living each day in complete silence; I simply cannot imagine.

Following this visit at the Monestary, there was a long drive home, during which we all slept as a result of being overfed with Catalan food, and overwhelmed by Catalan history. Though everyone else went home, took a nap, then went out Friday night, I opted to stay in my warm bed, and get a good nights sleep. After a lazy Saturday, Saturday night I decided that I would go out. I ate dinner at "home" with a few other girls, then we went to a bar called Dow Jones. It was a pretty cool bar, based on the theme of the stock market. The drink prices rose and fell based on their popularity, in the same fashion as the real stock market does. Though I had a very fun night with my friends, there was one foul moment during which I had to get in an argument with an extremely creepy older guy. Though he was extremely attractive, he was attempting to get one of my friends who was extremely drunk, and has a boyfriend back home, to leave with him... and she was considering. He wasn't bothered by the fact that she was "taken," and was extremely willing to take advantage of her drunkenness. After being screamed at, "Who the f*** do you think you are?!" I decided I would go home to avoid a fun night being ruined.

Sunday consisted of nothing but sleep, homework, eating, and yoga videos in my room with the heat on (pretending I was in Page's class back home). Though I have more school work here than usual, and don't really feel like its school at all since I'm in Barcelona, life is good and I cannot wait for this weekend. Friday through Sunday will be a group trip to Sevilla, which I have heard is absolutely beautiful.

I love you all, and miss you all very much. I was told today that we are 1/4 of the way done. Pretty amazing; and very bittersweet. I cannot wait to be home, but I can already tell that its going to be a heartbreaking goodbye, because I do LOVE Barcelona.