If I’m not mistaken I left off on Saturday afternoon when I finished my last post. Now I’ll tell you about that night. Friday night my roommate Cole and I did not go out, as you know, so we were determined to do it Saturday night as it was our last night without school the next day. We heard a lot of people were going to the Dow Jones bar. We heard it was touristy and not cheap so we figured we’d go “early” at 11:00pm to a bar that served beer for 1.5 euros. Unfortunately, at 11, everyone and their mother was at Dow Jones according to Cole, so we went straight there. 10-15 minutes of walking later, we arrived. This bar was definitely geared towards Americans, but the concept was very cool.

There were over a dozen TVs in the place, half showing NFL playoffs, half showing prices of drinks. The drinks behaved like stocks, the more people purchased a certain type of drink, the more expensive that drink became, and visa versa. The drinks increasing in value were displayed in green, the ones decreasing were red. It made it a fun challenge to shop the deals and try many types of drinks. Every half hour or so, the market would “crash” and drinks would decrease by 40%-50% of their value, so everyone would rush the bar. If you were ordering drinks, you immediately doubled what you were ordering. It was a lot of fun, until we realized that the prices never really got that low. The cheapest I paid was maybe 1.85 euros for a drink during a market crash. Most drinks only fluctuated about 50 cents, and many remained well over three dollars. So it was a strain on my budget to begin drinking there for the night. The rest of the night, unfortunately, you will have to ask me in person. But not much happened after the Dow Jones bar.

That day, I slept in until 2:00pm, finally catching up on all my sleep, only to have to wake up for a 9:00am the next day. The jet-lag still had an effect, not that the late nights helped at all. I spent most of Sunday waiting for my bags, which never came that day, but I was the only one home so I had to stay and wait. I haven’t been here long enough to tell you what the people in general are like, but I have learned a lot more about the people I live with.

My house mom, Mami, is very nice as I’ve said but she is interesting as well. She is completely ok with us going out late and coming back late on weekends. In fact, when I borrowed one of Cole’s shirts for going out, she saw it was wrinkly, snatched it out my hand, and insisted on ironing it. She makes delicious food and SO MUCH of it. She peer-pressures us into finishing every last bite. One of the first new phrases I learned was “Estoy lleno” which means “I’m full”, which I had to learn so my stomach didn’t rupture every night. She is Buddhist, and is very tolerant and loving of everyone. For example, Cole and I recently found out that our other roommate, Sam, is gay. She explained how Sam is one of the best people she knows and that she loves him no matter what. She is very open about her life, and Sam (who is fluent in Spanish and knows her very well) helps fill in the gaps when we don’t understand.

When it came to my luggage, she was very helpful in calling the airline company multiple times per day trying to get everything sorted out. The airline company said I could buy clothes and toiletries on their dime, but most stores are closed on Sundays. Monday, in between my first and second class, Sam took me shopping. I loathe shopping, as some of you reading may already know, the only reason I could stand it was because I didn’t have to pay for it. Sam likes shopping, and has a much better sense of style than I. Luckily, my bags came later that day, but now at least I have some fashionable clothes that I got for free.

My classes that day were fine, very easy actually. However, it is essentially syllabus week so there is nothing of interest happening school-wise. There are two campuses in the city where my classes are and my apartment is in the middle of the two. Walking to and from class gives me a good look at the city, and I can further asses my bearings. My day-to-day interactions with locals increase as well. I’ve seen men playing accordions on the subway, I’ve seen people filming movies on the sidewalk, and I got a high-five from a guy on stilts. This was over the course of three days, but I suppose that’s just a part of living in a city, not necessarily unique to Barcelona. What is definitely different from American cities is the language/cultural barrier.

My first time ordering a cup of coffee, I asked for regular, black coffee for take-away. They instead gave me cup literally the size of a shot glass. It had a tiny lid and everything. I had to wonder if I was being punked. I’m not sure what made me angrier, the fact that they charged me 1.5 euros for it or that they only filled it up halfway. Anyway, I learned that it is more common than I thought, but it still didn’t make any sense.

Another example is when I sat down for lunch later that day. I got out of class at around 3:00pm, which is unfortunately when many stores are closed until 5:00pm. So after 30 minutes of walking, I found a breakfast/lunch hybrid restaurant. Not exactly brunch, but they would combine breakfast food and lunch food on to one plate. I got huevos, hamburguesas, y patatas fritas (eggs, hamburgers, and fries). In the picture on the menu, it showed hamburger patties with no bun. “El pan” is bread in Spanish, and that was my only lead in asking for hamburger buns. I tried motioning with my hands and pointing at a picture until I was confident she understood. 15-20min later (I was the only customer in the store) she brings out my plate… with a basket of bread. I really tried and didn’t have the heart to correct her so I just sat in silence and ate my bizarre meal.

This city is great for walking around. There isn’t even that much traffic compared to other cities because everyone walks everywhere. There are shops and restaurants of every type of food. The buildings are very colorful are and almost every window has a balcony. I try to walk as much as I can, but I have been sore because I got a gym membership and Cole makes me run to the gym. So for this reason the metro is extremely convenient.

I have two classes per day Monday to Thursday, and they start at 9:00am every day. This goes terribly with Barcelona’s schedule, since many people go out every day of the week. Nightlife is huge here and apparently world-famous. A guy I know saw Darrel Revis at a club the other night. The club scene is very elaborate and complicated. You need to know club promoters and know the code words to get certain deals on certain nights. I never saw the point, it just seems like everyone goes to clubs to try and be someone they’re not and live lavishly. That being said I have been to a few. I’m still not a fan, but I guess that’s what people my age like to do.

I’ve been coping with my early classes by taking siestas. Which if you don’t know, is an afternoon nap. My schedule has become: finish class, eat a ridiculous amount of food for lunch, and slip into a food coma for an hour or two. Spaniards are not concerned with efficiency or maximizing productivity. They enjoy setting aside plenty of time for sleeping and eating. I can respect that.

On Friday me and the other ISA students took a tour inside the Sagrada Familia. I walk by it every day, so finally seeing the inside was something I was greatly looking forward to. Sagrada Familia means “Sacred Family” and, like all great churches, was inspired by the notorious carpenter and his parents. The church is extremely elaborate and the history of it is really fascinating. The architect was Antoni Gaudi, who has designed many masterpieces throughout Barcelona. He began construction in 1883 and died in 1926. He knew he wouldn’t be able to complete it, so he laid out the plans for future architects to finish it. After an interruption in 1936 due to the Spanish Civil War, construction began again many years later and they are still working on it today. The planned final construction date is 2026, the 100 year anniversary of his death. Only in 2010 they opened the inside of the church to the public, so I live in a lucky generation to be able to see it. If you’re interested in the history of it, I can tell you more in person. I could write an entire post about it in all honesty. It is the coolest building I have ever been in and if you’re ever in Barca, seeing it is a must. Here are some pictures, but as with most things, the pictures don’t truly capture how incredible it really is.

After the tour, Cole, Eva (Cole’s girlfriend), and Allison (Eva’s roommate) went back to the apartment to pick up Sam and go to lunch. On Fridays, we have to vacate the apartment from 3-6pm because a cleaning lady comes. So we went and ordered tapas and sandwiches. It ended up being way more than we thought and when everyone else got full, I felt obligated to eat until I could barely stand up. To kill more time, we went to get $1 beers during happy hour. Immediately following that, we went back home to eat dinner. As usual, the food was plentiful, and Mami did not take “no” for an answer. Holy hell I’ve never been so full in my entire life. And being the rational adult that I am, I went out that night with my friends for more shenanigans.

It’s been a blast here. I’ve talked a lot about the nightlife, but I am currently in the works of planning some trips to faraway lands. Hopefully I’ll meet some more people and see some new places by the next time I make a post. The first week and a half has been great, and if you’re reading this, let me know if you have any questions about Barcelona or anything in general. I’ll answer them in the next post. Thanks for reading.

Stay groovy,

Jack