Europe, Facebook, Public Transporation

One thing I am going to miss about being abroad is that I am in Europe!! America is wonderful, and great, and I love it, but our country is too damn big. From where I am, everything is max a 2 hour flight. And not to mention cheap! (Though I will say, I do hate Ryan Air). But seriously though, I ended up on seeing a decent portion of Europe, and Morocco, and I never paid more than 90 euro on a round trip flight. My most recent flight to Morocco, only cost me 36 euro for round trip! And while we have some great cities in America, and there a good time, most of them cannot stack up against cities like Barcelona, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, etc. And it’s not like if I traveled from D.C. to Boston that I would feel like I am in a different country. Going from a city like Barcelona to Paris (only a 90 minute flight, I could instantly feel the dramatic shift in culture). So, in terms of that aspect I am really going to miss the fact that I am living in a place that allows me to get anywhere in Europe and North Africa quickly and cheaply.

A thing that I look forward to about home is the fact that I do not have to rely so heavily on Facebook anymore. While I have always been running around, and keeping myself busy here, I have found that I have sadly had to become more dependent on facebook during my time in Barca. Just because FB is the cheapest and easiest way to to get a hold of someone back home, I always feel like I am checking my inbox so much more often here than I ever was before. And even with communicating with people here, a lot of times we found that most of us would rather inbox one another than text because texting costs money, Facebook doesn’t. Also, there is the factor that I have not seen my family and friends in a long time. Facebook, for better or for worse, is the best way to keep up with people’s lives.

Something I am kind of indecisive on is whether or not I’m going to miss public transportation. Even though, I’ve gotten use to walking a lot more than I’m used to, it still doesn’t mean I like it. Using public transportation here means, you are walking a lot to get to your stop and destination, and it also means you are usually crammed in with a lot of people while riding the subway or bus. But, its cheap (though people from Barcelona would disagree). I can ride any part of the metro system (subway, bus, tram, short train rides) for an unlimited amount of time for 3 months for a one time payment of 100 euro ($131).  So while I prefer traveling by car instead of by public transit, just because it is so much more comfortable and I don’t mind driving, I will probably be paying about $75 a week for gas. I just checked gas prices for back home, and of course the two gas stations nearest my house are the two most expensive gas stations in the entire capital region ($4.34, $4.29). Go Menands!

 

The Delicious Food & the not so Delicious Water

One thing I’m going to miss about Barcelona is the food, specifically the fruits and vegetables here. It’s nice to be in a country where the climate allows different kind of fruits and veggies to be growing all year long. And thanks to Chris (who found it), I have this one place I now go to every single day for the best oranges in the world. Even though one orange will cost me 60 cents euro, it is so beyond worth it. In the summertime in the Northeast, I can get some good fruit and vegetables, but nothing like the selection here in Spain. Every thing I eat here, is always fresh and delicious. It’s also really nice that I only have to take a 2 minute walk to get the best fruits and vegetables I’ve ever had.

One thing that I look forward to about home is the water. Water kind of sucks here. Its supposed to be alright to drink, but I don’t really trust it because it has a funky taste to it. And also, right from the beginning I noticed so many locals buying their water in plastic jugs, that I decided that if locals won’t even drink their own tap water, why the hell would I. So I really look forward to not having to buy water again, and reuniting with some of the best tap water in the world.

Cursa Bombers 10k

Well, it was certainly a painful morning for me today. I ran the Cursa Bombers 10k this morning and it did not go well, I’ll just put it that way. So let’s go back in time just hours ago, and I’ll give you a quick blow by blow account of how I quickly and painfully died this morning!

So after way too early of a wake up, and me shoveling down a quick breakfast, I made my way down to the Barceloneta section of Barcelona. The one odd thing of this race, is that you are given a racing shirt before hand, and they ask that you wear it. This year’s color was purple (whatever I suppose, its a free running shirt). Anyways though, the scene on the subway was pretty humorous as it was just one massive blob of purple riding the subway to the race.

Ok, so I’m at the race, up in the front, only behind the elite runners. Why did I feel like this was a good plan? I will never know (remember it was really early, my mind doesn’t function in the morning here). Even if I ran my PR today (I didn’t, trust me I wasn’t even close, also its 33:09 for those keeping track at home), I would have come in 45th. This was a very legitimate race. There were 21,688 finishers today. Cursa Bombers is the biggest race in Barca, I believe.

Buy anyways, I’m up at the front, and once again Barcelona decided to make the starting line area a very strange scene. This time, we had a guy up at the starting line on a platfrom playing a violin, and then down the line of people, in the middle, there were groups of men also on platforms, dressed like monks from the middle ages banging on very large drums. It was all a bit bizarre to me. And I wasn’t sure I really understood the connection. But oh well, it’s Europe. I’ve kind of accepted these strange things at this point.

Ok, so the gun goes off! Off I go! First real race in 5 months, first race of the year in 2012! Let’s do this.

The start:

I go out flying!

Feeling great, happy to be back racing. Man do I love racing!

1k mark:

3:12 (and that was still after I slowed down a lot when I saw the 1k mark coming up quickly and I was still in the 2 minute zone)

Oh crap! Oh crap! I’m screwed. This is going to be bad. Very, very bad. (For those reading this that don’t follow running, my 1k pace for my PR was about 3:20 a kilometer. I am not in PR shape here, and also this wasn’t on a track). I’m also estimating that at this point I was about 25th in the race. Things went sharply downhill from here.

1k -3k:

Ok, let’s slow this down, and try to get in a rhythm and find a pace that I can work with. Who cares if like 30 guys are passing me with ease at the moment. 

Reach the 3k:

Ok, 10:24. I’ve slowed down a lot, but you know, maybe I can handle doing 5:30ish miles for the rest of this. (Last positive thought of the race).

3k-4k:

Ok, now I’m not feeling so good. But still a 3:36 kilometer. Only 6 more kilometers to hold on!! (The only funny moment of the race came at this point, when some older lady inadvertently crossed the road, causing a large group of runners (including me) to have to slow down and dodge her so we didn’t potentially kill her, which caused all of us to yell at her, where she then proceeded to flip all of us off).

4k-10k:

I hate myself, why did I do this. I hate the morning. I hate my back (which if I am going to use one excuse it was really tightening up, and I’ve had an issue with it for a week now). I hate all these people passing me. I hate this purple shirt. When is this going to finish? (My finishing splits: 3:40, 3:46, 3:48, 3:51, 3:48, 3:43). A slow death march.

Finish:

Well that was embarrassing, and no fun. 36:39. 241st place.

About the only way I can try and put a positive spin on this, is that the person I train with, my running friend Marc, ran 34:39 for 80th place, so I’d like to think I’m much more in line with that kind of fitness than what I showed today. So I guess I’m just trying to chalk this up as a bomb of  a race, and as a case of my body not being able to function in the morning.

Not much else to say, but for those of you at home, missing a certain dark cloud in your lives (this guy), at least you got a a superbly written, depressing post from him on an overcast dreary Sunday afternoon.

More blog to come shortly!

Things Winding Down Part 2: Enjoying Barcelona

So since spring break, I have just been trying to enjoy and see as much of Barcelona as I possibly can. That hasn’t been as easy as I would hope since I’ve been crushed by work lately, but I’ve been doing my best. One of the great advantages of me being a long distance runner, is that since I am forced to run long distances on a daily basis, I see a great deal of the city. And at this point, I just run around as aimlessly as possible trying to find as many new spots of Barcelona as I possibly can.

In these past two weeks, I’ve also really tried to catch up on some training and get back into good running shape. Mainly, because I signed up for a 10k race this Sunday and God knows how I will fare during it, so I’m just just trying not to embarrass myself out there in front of my Spanish running friends. But no matter, one of the great things that has come about with this race coming up, is that I have started to grow a beard. I decided that if I’m going to suck during this race, I should at least look legitimate while doing it. My one criticism of my first real beard of my life, it’s itchy (it’s also kind of red, which is just odd, in my opinion).

Since I have been trying to conserve my money a little better as I approach the homestretch, I have been trying to cook every meal of the day for myself. This has caused me to have to get creative, because meals can start to get repetitive after awhile. And I think I’ve been getting better at that. Though, none of its world class cooking, I’m happy that I have been very good about being healthy with my meals, and that, at this point, I haven’t given myself food poisoning. So all in all, I say I’ve been a pretty successful chef. Here’s one of my recent creations:

One of my more tastier and creative meals. So we got two pieces of toast, with a veggie burger, gouda cheese, a fried egg, two slices of tomato, and pesto.

In one week exactly my program ends, and my parents come into Barcelona. We’re going to hang out for the weekend in Barca, and then we’re getting on a cruise ship and sailing around the Mediterranean. So for me, it’ll be kind of like a super vacation since it’ll be pretty much a vacation from my current vacation, so I’m quite excited for it!

At this point, I am going to really try and blog once a day. I’ll continue to update everyone on what’s been going on, but I think in addition, I’m going to add one thing, in which I’m going to miss about Barcelona, and then one thing that I look forward about coming home. So we’ll end this post with that.

A thing I’m going to miss about Barcelona: I’m going to miss this pace of life. I like that for the most part, I’ve rarely been rushed while I’ve been here. No one’s ever in a great rush here. I know I am living in a Spanish country when this week for my History class, I was 4 minutes late and I was the first one there! This is why I think I’ve gotten along with this culture so well. In my mind I have always rebelled against those people who say those stupid phrases like if you’re 5 minutes early, you’re on time… No, no, no. I prefer, if you’re 5 minutes late, you’re early. In my mind, that makes much more sense.

One thing that I look forward to about going home: The freaking US Dollar, come back to me!! I hate the Euro! It’s the worst! I am broke because of you. One thing I forgot to talk about in my Moroccan post, was that that for the equivalent of 10 euros you have 100 dirham. If you have 100 dirham on you, you can do pretty well for a few days. If you have 10 euros on you, good luck on trying to make it through the day with food. In Morocco, I was legitimately a wealthy man. We would go to good restaurants and we could get huge feasts with an appetizer, main dish, desert, and a drink for about $7 (and we were in touristy areas!).  Every time I take out 40 euros, that is $53. That adds up! And it doesn’t help that 1 and 2 euros are coins. Just come back to me US dollar, I will never complain about your prices ever again, after this.

Things Winding Down Part 1: Spring Break

Oh hey there! So this blog has been a little neglected for a little bit. Whoops. So Barcelona Marathon is where we left off, so let me see, what have i been up to…

I suppose I’ll start with spring break. It was simply fantastic. Quite easily one of the most enjoyable breaks I have ever had during my lifetime. The majority of it was spent in Morocco, but I’ll break up the description of my break into sections.

Pre Morocco: My spring break began on Thursday March, 29. This was not supposed to be the date it began. But, because Spain is in essentially in its own kind of Great Depression, they had a country wide strike. This meant that my school was closing down that day as well. I’ll just put it out there, that none of the American students were complaining.

People from home that I talked to, asked me why they were striking, and what was the point of it. Though, I’m not really sure that they necessarily accomplished anything with it, people here need an outlet and wanted to show their frustration I think by striking and demonstrating on this day. You need to understand, the unemployment here is 23.6%, the youth unemployment is around 49%. The country is going through a terrible time at the moment, and it is not helping them that that they have Euopean leaders who are forcing them to accept harsh austerity plans, further hurting their economy. People are fed up, and angry because this crisis was not at all their fault. Before the worldwide economic meltdown, Spain had a low national debt and was running a budget suprlus, but the problem was that they invested way too much of their GDP into housing and construction, and many of the European banks (mainly German banks) were helping them to create an enormous housing bubble by giving them way too large of loans. So when the bubble burst, Spain construction sector, which was the country’s lifeline, was left to die, instantly killing the economy here.

So when, the government talks about taking away worker’s rights and benefits, I understand their anger. They did nothing to deserve this. This was something that was created by those at the top, and now it those at the top who are punishing the common Spaniard. But, Professor Schanz will digress from his lecture on economics.

Anyways though, during the day of strike, I decided that while all the chaos and demonstrations were going to take place  down closer to the water around the Placa Catalunya area, I was going to climb up towards the mountains and go the opposite direction of the chaos and chill and read my Bob Dylan biography up in Parc Guell. I can’t remember if I have blogged about Parc Guell, but essentially Parc Guell, is one of my favorite places on earth and it is this park that overlooks the entire city. It is a rather large park, and since I have been there so many times (I live about 10-15 minutes away walking), I have definitely scoped out some of my favorite spots to just chillax there. So basically my entire Thursday afternoon evening, was just sitting, reading, and watching the smoke billow from all the chaos that was going on around the Placa Catalunya area. I think I would of have liked to have seem some of the demonstrations up close, but in the end I guess I decided against it because I had just about everyone in the world telling me to stay away (The US embassy, my school in Barcelona, Marist, my mother). Even my Spanish flatmates, who are not new to the demonstration scene, even decided to stay in, because in Berta’s words, “Today, is not the day I want to be running from the police.” (Just in Barcelona that day, there were 104 reported injuries, and 176 arrests).

Since I was travelling to Morocco alone, everyone from my school had left for their spring break destinations, so on Friday I spent the day just relaxing at the beach, and enjoyed the day sampling some good food around the city.

Saturday, was the lamest day of my break as I just ended up doing homework for my Marist online class, since I would’t be around a computer while in Morocco (I wasn’t on break for Marist, unfortunately) and I got ready for my early Sunday morning departure for Morocco.

What I look out on to in one of my secluded reading spots in Parc Guell. (NOTE: For those readers sometimes technologically challenged, click on the pictures, you get a much better image)

Barcelona Marathon

So on Thursday night of last week, I decided pretty much on a whim that I was going to jump in the Barcelona marathon.  Now don’t get me wrong I did not do the whole entire thing (though for the non runners reading this I am capable of finishing a marathon, its just that running 26.2 miles kind of throws off my training in a bad way). I decided that I was going to run half of it, and make it into a glorified long distance run/ workout. This was also something I thought would be a good idea, just because when else would I get an opportunity to run 13.1 miles of the city without having to stop or worry about cars?

I am going to say that quite easily the most painful part of this day was waking up. I can count on one hand the amount of time I have woken up before 9 am abroad. Waking up at 7:30 am for an 8:30 am race, was HELL. But I still got up, got my running stuff on, had a few sips of water and grabbed an orange for the walk to the metro, and I was out of bed and in the subway in 10 minutes (as you can see a lot of preparation went into this…).

There are so many reasons why I wish I had my camera for this morning. I so wish I could of video taped the subway ride to Placa Espanya. The subway was 75% runners all in their short shorts and running tops, and 25% drunk people coming back from their night in on the town. The expressions on the drunk/hung over people’s faces, pretty much made the morning for me. I’m fairly sure the last thing these people thought they would be seeing before they ended their night out would a subway packed with runners anxious about running 26.2 miles.

Ok, so I show up on time, 15 minutes before the race. No real warm up necessary, I wasn’t exactly racing this, and plus I’m going to be running 13.1 miles, my legs will warm up after the first couple miles.

So because I was banditing the race (I didn’t pay. It was 70 euro!), I went back in the crowd and stood with the 3 hour and 30 minute marathon group, because I was trying to remain inconspicuous. This was the first race of my entire life, I didn’t start up right in front. Wow what a difference a couple hundred feet make! If you can run a 3 hour and 30 minute marathon, you are no slouch either (especially if you are a middle aged person). But wow, does the seriousness level go way, way down when you’re not up front. I exaggerate this, but it was like I was transported back to one of the Barcelona clubs while I waited the 15  minutes till the gun went off. Music was blaring, and it was all mostly American club music. The one song that really, really got people going (and I was not surprised by this at all), was of course Ai Se Eu Te Pego.

I am going to digress for a quick second. If you are anywhere in the world that speaks even a little bit of Spanish or Portuguese, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ESCAPE THIS SONG. I honestly feel like I have heard this song almost every day since I have been in Spain. The song title translates to “If I catch you.” The song is catchy, but I find it to be a tad creepy. Essentially, the main line of the song translates to: “If I catch you, then you are mine for the night.” Sounds like a little too stalkerish for me personally…

But yeah, this song is a pretty big deal around the Iberian peninsula and Latin America. Basically Michel Telo (the clown that he is) rules a good portion of the world’s music scene right now. And so when this song went on (I kid you not, this was 5 minutes before the race!), basically the roughly 20,000 people packed together made the starting area into a dance floor (though I cannot confirm whether the Kenyans took part, my guess is that they did not, and were very confused by what was going on around them).

So the gun went off! AND… walk. That’s right, not starting up front sucks. It took 2 minutes of walking before the 1,000 people or so in front of me got across the starting line so that I could actually start running. My half marathon went well. It took me about 40 minutes (about 10k, or 6.2 miles in) till I felt like I had any room at all to run. I just used the run as a progression run, and clicked off negative 5k splits while I went along. This was the first time I had run a massive city race, and it was a blast! It was pretty cool to me that throughout the entire course, people were lined up all over cheering you on (remember this is 26.2 miles!). There was just a great energy to the race that I really enjoyed.

So after crossing the half marathon mark at 1 hour 26 minutes and 12 seconds, I did a quick stretch (felt good, definitely didn’t over do it) and then I ran to the nearest subway stop so that I could go see the finish. I had never really seen elite Kenyan and Ethiopian runners in a marathon in person, so I had to go see that finish!

I must say, while I found it really cool to see the Ethiopians and Kenyans kick butt, and trounce the field with the top spots, I found  that there were other runners even more awe inspiring to watch finish.  The runner I found to be most motivating and inspirational was the blind runner that finished in approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes. This man, had a guide with him, and they had a long band that wrapped both of their hands together, so that the guide could direct him while he ran. One of the most amazing things I think I have ever seen within the sport of running. He was definitely one of the crowd favorites. But I think the absolute crowd favorite had to be the second Spaniard to finish, and as he was about 100 yards away from the finish, he spotted his little boy in the crowd and picked him up over the fence, and they ran into the finish line together. I was a fan of that move.

Oh, and I almost forgot. They played this song twice! I think its just called “Barcelona.” Really bizarre song, but apparently they love it here (or at least the marathon organizers do). I could be completely wrong about this, but my guess is that they made this song for the 1992 Olympics?  Anyways here it is.

So, in summary that was essentially my “marathon” experience. I proceeded to nap for the next 5 hours after I got back to my apartment (like I said by far the worst part of this experience, was getting out of bed). I wish every day was some kind of race day here though. Because, while people hear are exercise nuts and people are biking and running everywhere. For some reason they look at you very strangely if you are wearing running clothes on the subway (unless of course, its the day of the marathon). I did that once sometime in February, and will probably not be trying that again. Now that I think about it, I should do just a whole post on the subway. It is truly a bizarre world, the metro system, and I think somehow I have broken the most cultural rules while riding the subway.

But anyways, I have one more race that I will doing here. I even paid for this one! Its called the Cursa Bombers Run. Its a 10k, and its on April 22nd. I’m sure I’ll discuss that race as well on the blog. Though I can’t promise that the post will be as cheery. I will only have 5 more days of Barcelona remaining at that point! 😦

What I’ve Been Up To + A Collection of Random Thoughts

Here’s kind of a recap of what’s been going on:

I went off to Dublin for five days. Saw Elizabeth, Melissa, Carolyn, Michele and her Irish friends. I think one of the highlights of that trip had to be walking along the Irish Sea in Bray on a trail hike discussing European politics with Conor, one of Michele’s friends and part of the group of Irish lads that I really did enjoy hanging out with. Irish people are seriously the best.

Returned from Dublin and about 2 hours after I landed, Chris came in from Brussels. We had a great week. We did some touring along Barcelona, which was even good for me because I even got to see a couple things that I had never seen before. We also got to hang out with one of Chris’s study abroad friends from Russia who was visiting her friends in Barcelona at the time. After some Barcelona, Chris and I did a day trip in Cadiz and then spent two nights in Sevilla. I was so glad I got to see Sevilla. I seriously love that city. Beyond beautiful. And I’m almost positive that I will never go to a more laid back, relaxed major city in my life time again. One big plus for that trip as well, was that while we were in Sevilla we got to meet up with two Marist chicas, Jessie and Caitlin. They got to show us around all the good spots of Sevilla, which was excellent. Chris and I had an absolute blast, and it definitely was one of the major highlights of my time abroad.

I am finally settling down from a whirlwind of a two weeks now. It’s hard to see friends and family and then just let them go away again.  But I can’t complain, I was so lucky I got to see so many people from home  during this past two weeks, that I am grateful for the good times I had with them.

At this point, I really am in love with Barcelona and Europe as a whole. At this point I feel extremely comfortable in the European setting. I am a nostalgic person, and every day walking out the door, that nostalgia is fulfilled with all the sites I get to see on a daily basis. Even though the language barrier doesn’t allow me to fully converse with the Spaniards like I would want to, my Spanish is improving enough now at this point that, basic, moderately lengthy conversation about a variety of simple subjects can be had.

Some thoughts, observations, odd occurrences:

– Today an old lady with purple hair cut me in line. Just straight up went right up in front of me and went up to the cashier without saying anything to me. She’s an old lady, with purple hair, that speaks Spanish, with no English. One of my daily goals, is to try and avoid confrontation with Spanish speakers; I wasn’t going to do anything.

– You know that talk of 2012 being the year of Apocalypse?  Well the weather this winter isn’t certainly doing anything to dispute that claim. One of the days that it was 80 this week in Albany, it was 60 and raining hard here in Barcelona. And when I looked at the weather map of the US, it showed that Maine was warmer than parts of Florida. Weird, weird stuff.

– I miss ice cream; specifically Stewarts or Cold Stone. Either, or really. We have gelato here, but its not the same (also its not in the budget for me to be able afford over priced gelato at this point).

– Some people may have read this on facbeook already, but a Spaniard here during our most recent track workout told me that I have a beautiful running stride. For all that are acquainted with my running, they may dispute that. But while in Spain, I will say that I have put more focus on improving my form, and I do think that running with the Nike Frees has helped.

– Also I just saw Midnight in Paris, finally. I think Marion Cottilard is the new love of my life. http://images.theage.com.au/2012/01/25/2915576/ipad-art-wide-midnight-20in-20paris-420×0.jpg

What’s happening next:

I am going to Morocco in 8 days. Very, very excited for that. It’s going to be nice and warm, and I’m going to be embarking onto an entirely new scene. I only have three days of classes this week because my Thursday classes were canceled because Spain is going on a general strike, meaning absolutely the entire country is shutting down (people may not know this, but Spain has 23% unemployment, and nearly 50% youth unemployment. We really have no right to complain). So instead of of a two hour siesta Thursday, we’re going to have an all day siesta!! (I really hope none of my Spanish friends read that joke, they wouldn’t find that funny in the slightest).

What I’m About To Embark On For The Remainder Of My Time Here

Here is the final schedule of what should be happening for the remainder of time here:

3/7-3/11- Dublin Pt. II

3/11-3/18- Chris is in Barca

3/23-3/25- Valencia with my program

4/1-4/8- Morocco for Spring break! Will be staying in the beach city of Essaouire, and will probably be visiting Marrakech during my time there. I also really enjoy bragging that I got roundtrip tickets for 36 euros.

4/9-4/27- Try to desperately get by with the $2 I will probably have remaining after all this travel, until…

4-27-5/6- School ends, and my parents come in on the same day. We will see Barcelona for a few days, and then we’re heading to the port and shipping off for a cruise around the Mediterranean!

5/6- Back home!

What I’ve Been Up To

Hello blog, long time no see. So a lot has been going on since I’ve last blogged 16 days ago. My bad. Here is kind of a quick run through on what I’ve been up to.

My Birthday 2/22: This is going to sound really sad and lame, but during my actual birthday I was mostly researching and writing a paper. But in the earlier hours of my 21st birthday, I will just say that I was not. In the late evening beginning on the 21st we went to Sitges for Carnval, which is their equivalent to Mardi Gras over here in Spain. Revelry ensued and a good time was had by all. So although, in the later portion of my birthday I was writing an ethics paper attacking the death penalty, the beginning of it was very fun.

Ireland 2/24-2/27: Ireland was an absolute blast. The Irish people are some of the greatest group of people on the face of the earth. All of them know how to have a good time, and are extremely friendly (even to Ameicans, which isn’t always common in Europe). One of the reasons I didn’t really mind staying in on my birthday was that I 1) knew had to get the paper done before I flew to Ireland, and 2) knew that Ireland was going to be a great time since I was spending it with one of my best friends since childhood, Michele.

During my visit, we split our time between Dublin (where she lived) and Galway (where a lot of her friends from Holy Cross were that week). Both cities were fantastic, and Ireland was a really great time.

Midterms 2/28-3/1: Meh.

Madrid 3/2-3/4: Madrid was just this past weekend, and was a load of fun. This was one of the CEA (my study abroad program) trips, so these always go really smoothly, since they handle everything for us. CEA really hooked us up for this trip, as we stayed in a 4 star hotel right in the middle of the city, and took the high speed rail, which was super nice and blew away any train I have ever been on in America. Madrid is a really nice city, though I will say that I definitely do enjoy Barcelona more. Madrid, kind of seems more like a typical modern city. It was beautiful in parts, for sure, but Barcelona just has a little more going for it in my opinion. One of the things that I now appreciate about Barcelona, is that we do not have the problem that Madrid has with its hookers and gypsies. That was a weird one for me. In the middle of the day, on crowded streets, you would see women that you knew were hookers (they weren’t really dressed provocatively , you just kind of knew) standing along walls everywhere. And then with the gypsies, you would have these people come up to you wherever you went begging for money in a cup. But although, the gypsies and hookers were a weird part, I actually really enjoyed Madrid, and got to see on two nights some friends from Marist, which was really nice.

One of the many different looks of the Spanish country side, seen out from my window during the train ride back to Barca.

3/5-3/6-Trying to get as much schoolwork, cleaning, blogging and laundry done…

3/7-3/11– Because during this time I am making my valiant return to Ireland! My sister is there with Michele, with 2 other friends, so I am excited to see them and hang out again with Michele’s Holy Cross/Irish friends.

3/11-3/18-And one of the biggest reasons I am trying to get as much as I possibly can in during these next two days is that my best friend from Marist, Chris, is spending the week in Barcelona for his spring break! This will be a great time, and I could not be more excited for this week.

U.S.Arrongance

I have kind of a secret blog for my journalism class, that I might bring out for the world. But I’m not sure I will yet. I think this blog here  is more interesting anyway. But this is one of the entries that I recently posted, that I feel like is appropriate for this blog as well. I was pretty fired up when I wrote this, and I feel fired up again about the stupidity that we as Americans show  when we decide that learning a second language isn’t of any importance. Last night I had dinner with Berta (one of my Spanish housemates) and her friends. They were very friendly, and luckily for me fairly proficient in English, and I was always able to get by in speaking some shoddy Spanish, or Spanglish (which I consider to be my second language at the moment) whenever they asked me a question. But what was really annoying was that whenever the group really got into a conversation of any meaning, I was completely left in the dust, and could barely (and I mean barely) ascertain any meaning of their conversation.  This by no means, is their fault, and I only have myself to blame. But my poor Spanish skills, I know derive from a national educational belief that mastering a second langauge is not of any real importance. I’ll stop there, and let you read what I wrote about a week ago.

An Idiot on Idiomas (Languages)

Earlier in the week on the NY Times website there was its typical Room for Debate section. For this week, it examined recent comments by Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton and the director of the national Economic Council for the Obama administration, that American students should not fret over learning a second language because English is now becoming a global language so we can get by on that.

This is a ridiculous assertion on the part of Mr. Summers. Just from personal experience, my inability to speak the spanish language here I think has really impeded me from gaining the full cultural experience that more fluent Spanish speakers may get. Every day I am here, I wish I was fluent because I have so many questions for people living in this country, but I am either unsure how to ask them the question in a proper manner, or I am too nervous that I will not really understand their answer. So culturally, I am missing out because I am part of the American system which already place very little emphasis on learning a second language. So for him to assert that we really shouldn’t waste our time trying to learn a second language because we can rely on others to know English or that we can rely on Google translate to help us out is absurd. I honestly wonder, if he even realizes that only 6% of the world are native English speakers.

Its because of people like Mr. Summers, who are supposed to be our “intellectual” leaders, we are viewed in this negative light in the world, and rightly so. We feel this need to impose our culture and our beliefs so hard onto all others that it comes off as imposing and intrusive. If Mr. Summers had any sense at all, he would see that this is a time where we want to gain the trust of as many countries and global citizens as we can. We cannot do that if we are the ones who are inflexible and expect others to speak our language, even when we are in their country. You cannot build good international relations, unless you understand the other side’s culture. And you definitely cannot truly understand a culture without knowing it’s language. I know Mr. Summer’s is not alone in his attitude, which is the sad part for me. If the United States really wants a more peaceful, democratic world, then we need to learn to be more cooperative with other countries. Instead, with Mr. Summer’s comments we are just showing off our imperialistic tendencies which only makes the dream of a more democratic and open world more difficult to obtain. Learning a language like Spanish, is not that difficult. But it just takes a little more time and commitment than we ask students to give at the moment. Why our educational system, won’t put a a greater emphasis in asking students to become more proficient in a second language is beyond me.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Paris, New Apartment, Montserrat, Sitges, Plans Made, and Discovery of Peanut Butter

I was going to break up all of these topics into their own separate posts, but you know what, were going to dive right in and make this a mega post. Sorry, not sorry.

Ok, so the last time I wrote was about a year ago. So a good amount of stuff has happened between my whiny post about the terrible weather (that really didn’t change much) and now.

New Apartment

So last Thursday I moved into my new apartment in the Gracia, Sagrada Familia neighborhood. The apartment is a major upgrade for me, in terms of location. I am now kind of-ish walking distance to class, I am closer to the group I hang out with here, I am now surrounded by even better bakeries and restaurants, and now I am in much better location for running. My apartment isn’t quite as big as my old apartment, and I’m still questioning the shower, but besides that I enjoy my new apartment and I am enjoying my new flatmates Txell and Berta. Txell and Berta are two Spanish girls from Barcelona. They both recently graduated school, and I’m pretty sure are both 25. I met them, and found this apartment through a Spanish running buddy of mine in the running club I am in here.

Paris

So I moved into my new apartment Thursday morning, and as soon I moved my stuff in, I ran right out and got on my flight to Paris for the weekend. Paris was incredible. I have never seen a city like it. I’m not sure why I was so surprised by this, but its huge! I think it seemed bigger to myself because we weren’t in a very central location, so we always had to do some traveling to get to the places we wanted to get to. We stayed in Little India, which I kind of found funny, but whatever, it certainly made our location more interesting to say the least. The one complaint I had about Paris, was that it was freezing! I guess Paris can’t control the fact that Europe is having its coldest winter in decades, but still, I didn’t come to Europe to freeze myself to death! Luckily, one solution Paris has to this pestering problem, is their wine (I will simply leave it at that).

I guess its bad, just because its such a touristy place, but I do have to say my favorite place was the Louvre. I think it was the history geek in me, but seeing some of history’s greatest works in front of you is pretty incredible. Even the building of the Louvre itself is beyond belief.

If you ever go to Paris, go to the restaurant Polidor. I got an awesome 3 course meal there for 20 euro, and they have this really good red wine for only 14 euro a bottle. It’s a real French restaurant where real Parisians dine (and it may have showed as I’m pretty sure we may have gotten some looks from the Parisians at our obnoxious American table. Oh well).

Good Job Polidor, you're certainly right about the vin fins (fine wine indeed!)

After Paris

After Paris, of course I got sick. What can you do I guess. The one good thing about getting sick though was that it kind of refocused me back on finalizing my future travel plans. If you look below this post, you will see my definite travel plans for the future. I was very fortunate that all of these trips worked out, and I am so happy that Chris (in March) and my parents (in May) are now able to come visit me.

Just a few hours ago, I got back from what was a long but really nice day exploring the Spanish towns of Montserrat and Sitges. Montserrat, is this famous mountain town (well at least in this region its famous) which hosts benedictine monks , who don’t really talk, a black Virgin Mary statue that was supposed to be part of some miracle back in the year 880, and has the oldest boys choir in the world! Whoa! But in all seriousness, Montserrat, was a really awesome place. The views were really out of this world.

Montserrat

Then I went to Sitges, which now is probably my favorite beach town I have ever been to. Sitges is this cool little beach town about 30 miles south of Barcelona, and by far has more character to it than any other beach town I have ever been to. According to my guide, Sitges has traditionally been the summer home to the artistic elite. And it definitely showed. I think every single building there had its own individual color to it. Really cool town, and I am definitely going to come back one day during the summer.

Sitges

OH, I almost forgot! I found peanut butter. Near crisis averted, and I can proudly say that as I am typing this that I am eating a nice spoonful of delicious Capitan Mani crunchy peanut butter. And even though a regular sized jar of peanut butter here is 4 euro (roughly $5.25, for those of you counting at home), it it worth every penny. I would rather much come back home with $0 in my pocket, than go another 10 weeks without peanut butter. Peanut butter is a major part of my life, if you can’t tell.

So I think I will sign off with my praise of peanut butter. I hope to keep this a little more regularly updated (and I’m sure you hope so too if you are still even reading this). You keep staying classy America!

Travel Plans, So Far

I promise I will do a much better, longer post soon. Its been a crazy past week and a half for me with the move and the long weekend in Paris. But for now if anyone is interested, these are my travel plans for the foreseeable future.

2/17 Montserrat & Sitges, Spain (Program Trip)

2/24-2/27 Dublin, Ireland Pt I

3/2-3/4 Madrid, Spain (Program Trip)

3/7-3/11 Dublin, Ireland Pt II

3/11-3/18 Chris will be flying from the US to come stay in Barca for a week!

3/23-3/25 Valencia, Spain (Program Trip)

3/30-4/9 My spring break, and I’m unsure about where I’m going at this point. In the options of places that will be potentially visited during this break are Morocco, Florence, Seville, London. This will be decided shortly, I believe.

4/27-5/5 Parents come to Barcelona! Taking a cruise, and along with Barcelona we will be seeing Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes, and Provence, France.

5/6 Fly home!

I’ll have a post about Paris, and the new apartment soon.

TERRIBLE WEATHER

So yesterday it snowed here. Two days ago, it was in the 60s in New York. I’m confused.

I just laugh at myself that of course the first winter that I have not spent in New York is probably the warmest winter in it’s history, and this few day period of cold weather here in Barcelona is the coldest stretch of weather in like 60 years (according to one of my professors).

Though I’m not enjoying this cold weather by any means, it has been humorous to me to witness the panic that has been going on here. I kid you not, yesterday I would say half of all classes were canceled yesterday, for, wait for it… FLURRIES!!!

There was a short period of time yesterday when there was some steady flurries coming down on the streets, and you would of thought a nor’easter was barreling down on Barcelona, the reaction from locals was so extreme. I showed up to my class yesterday morning to be told that my Spanish professor would not be coming in because of the inclimate weather.  All of this as a native upstater is just too funny to handle. People here could not be more depressed by this weather. I do have to say though that it is bizarre to see snow coming down when you are walking alongside palm trees.

So here’s to hoping that Barcelona returns to its normal sunny 60 degree weather soon, and New York return to its normal freezing weather with snow and cancellations.  Actually I kid about the New York part, we lost our indoor track at Marist, they need this weather to keep up their good training, and I know if I give bad wishes for the weather in NY this winter, I will be punished by having the worst winter ever next year!

On a side note, once the weather gets a little better to wander around the city (I didn’t exactly pack with the thought that Barca would have weather they haven’t seen in decades) I will get a lot more pictures and will post them soon.

Here’s some proof of our terrible weather.

Its 34 degrees here as I post this. Shaking my head…

I’m Movin’ Out!

Monday (I think Monday, maybe Tuesday), I will be moving into a new apartment. This time though I will no longer be living with Americans. For the remainder of my time here I will be living with two Spanish girls, named Txell and Berta. They both just graduated from school, and are only a few years older than me.

I am moving to a new apartment, because my housemates and I had serious issues with the distance we were traveling everyday to and from our apartment to the city center. It would take us about 30 minutes to get to the main campus, about 40 minutes to the other part of campus, and for me whenever I traveled to meet up with my running club it would be a 45 minute commute. So I am moving down the mountain that I was living on top of, and now I will be living down towards the water in an apartment that is significantly closer to every important place that I need to get to.

We would of moved out earlier, but it was a bit of a process to have CEA guarantee us that they would refund us our money, and it also took a little bit of time to secure the new apartments that we will be living in.

I found my new apartment through the running club I am part of, which has seriously been one of favorite parts about my time here. I know that it may seem that by really enjoying the running club, you may point out to me, that by doing a running club I’m not exactly breaking the mold from my life in America, but this runners club has so far been my most significant exposure to real Spanish culture. Only a few of them speak English well, so when I talk to anyone else, I have to try and speak Spanish (which is honestly ok with me, I really want to improve my spanish, and for some reason it seems to me that I speak Spanish best while I’m running. I think it has something to do with being at ease while I’m running). And with at least one of the runners that does speak English, we discuss world politics and about life in Barcelona, which has helped so much in better understanding the people of Barcelona.

I digress from my praise of the running club. So one of the runners, Marc gave me the contact information for his good friends who had a free room in their apartment in Gracia. So I went with that, and after some back and forth with Txell, I was finally able to meet up with her, and able to see the apartment. The apartment is not as big as the one I live in, but I have a feeling from hearing from other students that I was probably living in one of the biggest apartments in the program. Anyways, the apartment is very nice, and is in a great location. I’m now walking distance from one of my classes, and only about a short mile warm up to one of the spots that I work out with the running club, so I’m excited.

I can’t really predict how this will go, living with two girls from another country, but I have a good feeling about this move. I know at least with Txell, her English isn’t fantastic but she can speak enough to get her point across (kind of like me). I think by doing this I am really going to immerse myself in the Barcelona culture, and will learn so much more about this city than by doing any other manner of living.

 

Some More Pros and Cons

Another quick Pros and Cons list, concerning Barcelona:

Pro: Frit Ravich chips are the tastiest chips in the entire world, and are by far my favorite snack here. It also helps they are only a Euro a bag.

Con: America, this is embarrassing! How does Spain have the tastiest chips in the world? Are we not supposed to the be the capital of the world when it comes to unhealthy, processed foods? What are we doing? And most importantly, how am I ever going to eat another chip again in America after having a semester of eating these far superior chips?

Pro: I’m getting a little more creative with my snacking because Europeans find peanut butter to be gross. A lot of my snacking is actually getting healthier, though not all of it (i.e. see above post).

Con: I MISS PEANUT BUTTER!! Europeans what is wrong with you!? Peanut butter is the staple food of my diet. How I’ve gone already gone more than 3 weeks without peanut butter is already a miracle. I’m going through some serious withdrawal. During my last finals week, because I was severely crammed for time and I needed something to fill me up quickly, I would literally just spoon myself straight peanut butter (nutella may have been added in with those spoonfuls as well; though I can’t be entirely sure, it was late). Point is, I need some peanut butter back in my life. Donations of peanut butter are gladly welcomed (only mildly kidding).

Pro: Planning out trips is an exciting/interesting process.

Con: Planning these trips get complicated and annoying when you have to remind yourself that you have school. Go away school, no one wants you here!

Soon to Come…

I actually have a lot to talk about soon. But a lot of things are evolving right now in terms of housing and planning of travel at the moment. So if anyone is reading this, what you get to look forward to, to soon hearing about…

1) I am still living in the apartment that I originally moved into, but that is changing. It’s a long story, that no one really cares about hearing. But I will let you know where and with whom I will be with living probably within the week.

2) My travel plans. I know that I will be going to Paris in a couple weeks, but everything else is up in the air at the moment. This week I will be finalizing essentially all of my travel plans for the remainder of time here.

3) More thoughts on life in Barcelona.

4) More thoughts on food here, and what I come up with to keep myself full without breaking the bank. Two nights ago I was starving after watching the Barca and Real Madrid game, and the only restaurant open was this Chinese restaurant around my apartment. At the Chinese restaurant I had french fries and chicken fried rice and combined the two. I swear I wasn’t drunk.

Reunited with my “Running World”

Running has been so so here. I was pretty sick for a week, and that affected my running pretty badly, because I was using the little energy I did have to trek over to class. Also the apartment I am currently living in, isn’t really in the best area to run at night (not because of the safety of the neighborhood, but mostly because its more residential and is not as open and well light at night as compared to other parts of Barca at night).

But my luck is turning around in regards to running. I found this running club through this running store called Runners World. Every Wednesday and Saturday they get together, and do workouts on the track or on the boardwalk along the beach. This past Wednesday, was the first one I went to.

One of the things I love about being  abroad, is witnessing universal human behavior that transcends differing borders and cultures. There are about 60 runners that show up every Wednesday and Saturday for this running club. It was so bizarre, because as we were getting ready to go warm up, and while we were doing our 3 mile warm up I felt like I could of been just as easily been running back with runners in America. The runners here are just as joyful about running and enjoy everyone’s company just as much as many friendly runners back in the States do. And the nice thing for me, was that these runners of Barcelona were just as friendly to me as any other running club in America would be to me (perhaps more, because they were willing to speak English!).

But I now know that I have a group of people to run with every Wednesday and Saturday, which is a huge relief. I’m even hopeful that I find someone in this group who will be willing to run with me most days of the week. I’m not really a fan of running alone. I need to converse with someone while I’m running!

Pros and Cons: Barcelona

Jimmy Fallon has influenced me a little too much. This is lazy writing, but whatever. I’ve been here 10 days now, here is my initial pros and cons list.

Pro: Albany got like half a foot of snow today. It was 61 degrees and sunny here.

Con: I still haven’t quite adjusted to 6 hour time shift. So except for a couple days I haven’t woken up in the morning, meaning I miss out on much of the nice weather.

 

Pro: The people here in Barcelona are really friendly, and most want to help you out.

Con: The people in Barcelona sometimes are a little too friendly in public. AKA a lot of PDA.

 

Pro: It’s actually nice not to be so dependent on my cell phone anymore.

Con: It hurts my brain to think of how people survived without cell phones completely. I like that I don’t use my cell phone often, but I don’t like it enough that I would be happy not to have one.

 

Pro: Barcelona is beautiful and warm (warm-ish right now, the locals are actually freezing at the moment).

Con: It is so beautiful, that even in January Barcelona is swarmed with tourists on weekends. That’s right, I’ve been here only 10 days, but I’m already giving myself the right to complain about tourists.

 

Pro: Barcelona’s subway system was really easy to figure out.

Con: I’m severely directionally challenged. So even though I can always get off at the right subway stop, actually finding the landmark or building I’m trying to find is challenging for me.

 

Pro: The 2-4 pm siesta is a great idea, and I’m a fan of it.

Con: Except when I’m not. Like when I wake up at 2 pm, and look for breakfast and find that everything is closed…

 

Pro: I’ve enjoyed the food here. Especially all the seafood I’ve eaten.

Con: I DO NOT LIKE THE TOMATO SAUCE HERE. SOMEHOW THEY SCREWED UP TOMATO SAUCE! Italy is about 700 miles away, borrow some of theirs. Seriously!

 

Pro: I’m getting the best hill running training I’ve ever gotten, since my apartment is halfway up a mountain.

Con: Every run I have to run up a mountain…

Hola from Barcelona!

Hola America! It’s my 5th day here in Barcelona, and the more time I spend here the more I love it.

I feel like I have a lot to talk about so, I think I’ll keep this post separated by topic.

 

The Flight Over:

So I arrived here Wednesday, after a fairly long, but enjoyable flying experience. During my travels, I had one stop into London Heathrow (which is the most massive and busiest airport I have ever been involved with), and then flew in from there to Barcelona. I can now say I am a loyal fan of British Airways. During my flight from NY to London we had a tv on the back part of the seat in front of us. There was about 40-50 movies to choose from and about 20 different tv shows we could watch. One of the movies I watched was No Country for Old Men. I had never seen that movie before, but WOW. I really do not have a single complaint about the movie; great acting, fantastic dialogue, and really awesome ending.

I also had my first legal drink ( some cheap red wine) of my life on the plane. Kind of a funny place to have your first legal drink, but whatever, I enjoyed it regardless.

I couldn’t tell you a single thing about the flight over from London to Barcelona, except that I sat next to a British couple around their 60’s. Besides that I was asleep from the second we took off to the moment we landed.

My Apartment:

I’m in a five person apartment with myself,  Alex (U. Wisconsin), Tanner ( Marist), Jenny (U. Wisconsin), and Maggie (Boston U). It’s a long story, and if it does come to fruition I’ll explain it, but this may not be our apartment for much longer. But if it does remain our apartment, I have very little to complain about. In the apartment we have a large kitchen, two bathrooms, a nice living room, and a beautiful balcony directly above a tennis club that overlooks much of the city.  We live in a residential part of Barcelona, and are about 2.5 miles away from the water. I kind of always laugh when the local Barcelonians describe to me the area I live in, because for some reason they always like to use the word “posh” to describe it. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that word used in any conversation I’ve had back in the states (except for maybe when referring to our very own billy posch (theres some pun humor for you coach pete) at Marist…)

The City:

Barcelona is just an awesome city. Everything about it is beautiful. The location, its architecture, and its people. It seems like many locals are very content with life here, and tend to be very friendly towards me, even though my ability to speak Spanish at the moment is abysmal.  Much of the city is in good shape, and its architecture is amazing. I will say though that I am still figuring my way around much of the city. Since its an older European city, and because I am mostly used to the easiness of the grid in NYC, getting around Barcelona has proven to be a little bit tricky at times. But I think with another week here, I will begin to become more  comfortable getting around the main parts of the city. Expect to start seeing some Barcelona pictures pop up soon on the blog and facebook.

What I’ve Been Up To So Far:

A lot of socializing, sleeping, orientation stuff, and navigating through the city. One of the great things about studying abroad is that everyone, for the most part, is in the same boat in the sense that we all are lost in this new city and we are all just trying to meet as many new people as possible. So its nice, because for the most part, people just drop their guard while studying abroad and are more open to different people and experiences (which is the reason, in my opinion, why studying abroad is so successful).

Probably the highlight so far of my time here was last night with one of my best friends from home, Michele and her Irish friends. Michele is studying abroad for a year in Dublin at Trinity College and during the time there she is rowing with the crew team there. Since they are still on winter break, they used the week to train in Spain right outside Barcelona. Last night though, they spent the night in Barcelona, and I was able to hang out with Michele and her crew friends, which turned out to be a lot of fun.

Running:

Running so far has been dicey. I’ve had good days and bad days here. I still haven’t found a route that I love, but I know I will. Today was probably the best run I’ve had (even though I got lost for a bit), because I had a decent stretch of flat running. The main problem with running here is that I either have to run about a mile up a mountain (that’s not an exaggeration) to find a flat stretch of running or running about 2.5 miles down a mountain to find good flat running (the BIG problem with this route is the 2.5 miles I have to finish on). I think once I start to figure out the city more, or find a running partner, my running will improve. Though with all of this, and with the fact that running in the middle of a big city isn’t easy, I cannot complain. The weather for running here is AMAZING. Its been about 60 degrees, sunny, and dry everyday that I’ve been here. PERFECT running weather.

Weather Here:

Speaking of weather… I woke up today and saw on my computer that it was 0 degrees with a -12 degree windchill in Albany this morning. BAHAHAHA.

 

Classes start tomorrow, which I’m excited for. I don’t mind being left to my own devices for a bit, but after awhile I kind of like some structure in my daily schedule. Also I will start blogging more and posting more pictures. Promise.

For now though, hasta luego personas.

 

 

 

 

The View From My Balcony

Boots of Spanish Leather

For those who know me well, I love Bob Dylan. He is the man (well at least he was when he was young). So although this song doesn’t really have that much to do with Barcelona itself, for the past 9 months this song has reminded me about what I’m about to embark on and has always made me think of what I’m leaving behind. I am going to miss everyone back in the US, and some of the luxuries we enjoy in America, but I’m excited for this next step in my life and am sure it will be worth it.

Also sorry for this version of “spanish leather”, youtube didn’t have the original. But even so, this song remains awesome.

Initial Post

Adios everyone! Tomorrow I’m heading off for (hopefully) one of the best and most exciting experiences of my life. I’m going to use this blog to share and record many of my experiences in Barcelona and the rest of Europe (possibly Morocco as well?). This is going to be a short post; mostly because it’s late, I’m tired, and packing has this awful ability to suck all joy from life. BUT anyone who reads this blog should know that this will be the shortest post by far during my time there (anyone who really knows me, should probably know why).

I am making no promises, but I am hoping to post about 2-3 times a week. So follow along! I will try my hardest to keep you all entertained.

So for now, adios! I’ll try to post again in a couple days.

Note: I should probably note that the date on this post should really read January 10th. I actually created this blog November 30th, and wrote a sampler thing, but I edited that out and went with this as my initial post.