Barcelona for the weekend?

Well I am back in Tania's house in Madrid. This may be our last night here. The school has discussed moving us tomorrow because they are very upset with some of her rules. We would not mind moving at all. We did return tonight to all clean and ironed clothes. That was very nice!

So I have MANY stories to tell from the past few days. I really have not gone into any detail since Wednesday. Here is what we are missing: Thursday was a fireworks show between our terrible class experience and an all night party. Friday there was not much to say except that I slept 8 hours on the charter bus floor as we drove to Barcelona. Saturday was exhausted with city tours and the best lunch yet. And today before we headed back to Madrid, we spent a few hours at the beach of Barcelona. I got some sun and great rest in the pebble-like Mediterranean sand. So here are the details:

THURSDAY'S CLASS FALL-OUT: I am not sure why, because every day before had been pretty smooth, but Thursday's class left a few of us in tears. For some reason, 5 minutes in to the class I was fighting back tears with a knot in my throat and was convinced that I was going to be moved to a lower level class. I thought it was only me that felt as though we were pre-schoolers learning quantum physics, and I was completely lost! The teacher kept asking me what my problem was and I told her I didn't understand in every way possible. It got to that awful point that I couldn't make eye contact with her or the tears would fall. Unfortunately, when she finally put the marker down and asked the entire class (not just me) what was going on, I realized it was because Nicole's tears had already poured out. We concluded that the problem was that we needed her to slow down, to allow us to explain things to one another in English occasionally, and for her to tell us what we were learning (i.e. "today we will study the infinitive form of irregular verbs to be used when...."). We were lost, frustrated, overwhelmed, and very discouraged. She was not very sympathetic. Instead, saying things like "I mean, do ya'll want a new teacher, because I can quit. Obviously I am not teaching you anything, so that's fine; I'll just find another job." I am concluding that Spanish women have a tremendous amount of pride and believe that our confusion was a blow to Lorena's pride in her work.

After class, we talked about the issue with our Southern Miss professors. They agreed to meet with us after class for lunch or Tapas in the afternoon and review each day's lesson. By Friday we all felt much more encouraged. Todo esta bien.

THURSDAY AT CLUB KAPITAL: Oh. My. Gosh. I had heard that the Spanish party hard, but I underestimated them. Our roommate, Darius from Chicago, works at Club Kapital here in Madrid. Jordan and some other girls from class really wanted to experience the real nightlife of Madrid so several members of our group decided to meet at Club Kapital at 12:30am (remember, dinner isn't even until 9pm) since Darius had free entrance passes for us. Kapital is 7 stories of awesomeness. The floors include balconies, a movie theatre, a karaoke bar, 3 different dance floors, and the penthouse which is a Mediterranean themed bar without a ceiling, lots of flowing sheer fabrics, lounge furniture, fountains, plants, and beautiful columns. The ambiance is great. I dance and laughed and took more pictures in one night at Club Kapital than I have all trip. It was a blast. Everyone relaxed a little after a week of tension from adjusting to Spain. We had so much fun... and didn't make it home until 5:30am! But we did make it to class in plenty of time... even had completed assignments to turn in. And some how, after only 2 hours of sleep, Friday was the one day I did not fall asleep in class! Lorena (teacher who threatened to quit the day before) was in a much better mood. No one cried Friday morning... instead we laughed a lot; mostly because some students were still drunk or snoring from hangovers in class. Our teachers found it amusing... sorta.

Then I slept all the way to Barcelona; went to bed early Friday night because we had to meet Saturday morning for the city tour at 8:00am.

BARCELONA: I loved the city! We toured a lot of Goudy's works including the Sangrada Familia (pictured here). This cathedral is the oldest one still being built. Construction started in 1822 and is expected to be completed in 2020. We are all thinking "what on earth is taking them so long, ha." In English, we say something very ornate and decorated is "gaudy" and this word comes from this architect, Goudy. He died without leaving the original blueprints for the cathedral and architects have just interpreted his intentions since. The building has so much symbolism to it. I wish I could post every picture and discuss each detail I observed. It shouts rhetoric of praises and worship with the repetition of "sanctus, sanctus, sanctus" (holy, holy, holy) all over the structure. It's breathtaking. I guess I will have to return to Spain in 2020 for the big celebration.

Lunch in Barcelona was perfect. The fanciest I have had all this time. I had duck that just fell off the bone and tasted phenomenal. We also went to the park where Goudy's famous wind tunnels are featured. And returned to the super-cool-eco-friendly hostel around 6pm, the earliest we've ever ended a day. And of course we all slept for hours!

The beach this morning was perfect. We were able to relax, well, a little. Our group was constantly harassed by the hard-to-make-out words "hello, massage for you? It feel good for you. Want mansaje?" It seemed like hundreds of Asian women swarmed our group to try to sell their services. No one took the offer, despite their persistence. One lady even went so far as to rub the oil-stuff on my forehead as I lay there in the sand. I had to get up so she would quite. It was pretty funny. Also, you know how everyone easily criticizes the Mississippi Gulf Coast for being an "ugly" beach or not a beach at all? Well today made me appreciate our Brackish waters. Barcelona, unless we were just in a bad spot, is characterized by gravel-like brown sand and murky water. There really were not any waves either. I'd take Biloxi over Barcelona any day! :)

I guess it is time to settle back into a routine... but only for 4 days. This week I will go to class and study hard Monday through Thursday, take a test on Thursday, and after class head to Valencia, a beautiful city on the Mediterranean. It's a free travel weekend and a group of us want to do something relaxing, inexpensive, and low-maintenance. The beaches of Valencia will be perfect!

Dad, I thought I would bring home one of these Mediterranean cruisers for you. Which one would you like? ;)