Cary K. - Barcelona, Spain - Fall 2011

Hola Mi Amigos! 

So far Barcelona es impresionante. The city is extremely cosmopolitan and full of diversity. The people and the scenery are muy bonita and mi español mejora cada día! Arriving here was a simple 7 flight and as I left the airport in a taxi on the way to my homestay address I quickly realized a deviation from my perceived expectations. My homesaty is on the 4th floor of an apartment building in a fairly nice part of down. I share a room with another student originally from South Africa but lives in Chicago now. My senora Elisa is an excellent cook and makes everything homemade from her bread to pizza to paella, dinners are amazing. She does our laundry once a week and does not speak a work of English which is at times frustrating but makes me practice Espanol which is a good thing. Were are not aloud guests over which is the biggest downfall but the pros outweigh the cons and I definately would not change my decision of a homestay. There is also two other students living here, one from Korea and one from outside of Barca along with her 33 year old son Miguel who is super cool and has taken us out multiple times. As for school, I have 4 classes on Tuesday and Thursday which makes for a long day and my language classe on MWF. There is a good amount of reading for each class but overall not an overwhelming amount work so far and we go on field trips around the city for each class. I take the metro mostly to get around the city. It is all color coordinated and fairly easy to navigate especially from living in Chicago.
So far I have visited Ibiza, (which was nuts club scene was out of control and the foam party 3 meters tall at Amnesia I literally thought I was going to suffocate ha), Costa Brava and the South of France, and Sitges which is south of Spain. I have booked trips for Dublin, Amsterdam, and Prague currently and may do other trips but Barca is so big and interesante that I want to be around enough to fully explore the city which many students sometimes forget to do. I recently got on an amateur liga futbol team and actually have a game today which I am super stoked for so we will see how far I can go. Other than that I have been playing fut sol (soccer on a court 5v5) with the locales near camp Nou the Barca stadium and that has been an excellent way to emerge myself in the culture. The beaches have also been muy divertido and I can definitely get used to this whole topless thing. Also fun fact, the nights in Barca dont start till at least 12 and people usually don't show up till the discotekas till around 2 so don't plan on getting home before 6 am on the nights when its rage time.  Lots more to discuss but its game time so tengo que ir! Hablar pronto, hasta luego!

Adios, Cary  aka JC-Spainish Name

 

Pics- Ibiza, Barca-the city from Parc Guell, South of France