La Primer Día

So I've officially been in Barcelona for a full day! It honestly feels like weeks already!!! But I LOVE it!!!!!!!! So exciting I still cannot believe it!

So yesterday we had a Welcome Meeting and I met the other thirteen people in my program! We all go to school at Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and our group is so small, I love it!  I pretty much know everyone now which is really cool. We went to dinner at a really nice restaurant after the meeting and thank goodness, my program covered the costs! :) It was SO much food! We had four tapas (appetizers ish)-- patas bravas which were potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce on them... those were the best.  We also had these pieces of toast with a tomato and olive oil and garlic paste on them, have no idea what they were called. Also, there was a salad of tuna and pita and olives and then fried calamari.  I didn't try those because I'm still being a baby and hopefully I'll get over my seafood thing :) Then we had a choice of two meals, chicken or fish, and I chose chicken.  It was like a kabob basically, with chicken, onions, peppers and then vegetables on the side and more potatoes. It was very yummy! As for dessert, we had la creme catalan or something like that... basically a creme brulee.  Very rich... it was SO much food!  Also, we had a choice of soda and I tried the Sprite.  It tasted a little different but still good.  The bottles are so heavy! One thing that's going to take some getting used to is the service... they're so slow! I kept drinking my water so fast and it took forever to get more.  And our dinner lasted two hours! That was cool, I definitely got to talk to everyone!!

After dinner a group of eight of us decided we had to celebrate our first night a little bit :) First, we ended up going to a British African bar named Obama. How funny is that?!?! We walk in and the first thing is I see is Obama sitting on a bench at a table with his American flag pin on.  There was a band playing and everything was in English!!! They even sang Sweet Home Alabama!! It was so weird.  I felt like I was in the US! It was so packed we ended up getting a table downstairs by ourselves because it was so busy but it was fun! Our server was nice and she was wearing an American flag necklace and bracelet! It was so funny.  After that, we went to some other places that were recommended and strolled around.  We got offered a can of beer at least 20 times, it was very interesting! Guys just hang around with a six-pack of beers and keep offering it to everyone who walks by! We went to another place and it was completely empty so we took over.  I never realized how true it was that no one ever starts going out till 2 in the morning! Very weird!! It was a good experience for the first night! Definitely got lost a few times but our group stuck together and it was nice!

Today, we walked around the city a little but with our advisors and got a tour of some of the plazas and we took the metro!  We learned a few things and we stopped in at a cathedral which was really neat! Everything was so detailed, it was unbelievable!  We were starving so a few of us stopped in at Burger King because it was quick and cheap.  It was soooooo nice! I didn't believe it when I walked in but the place was so neat and clean and each fast food place has a bodyguard at the front door! The food tasted a little bit different but was still good ole' BK.  It's so weird, but these Spaniards must love some BK.  We passed four different ones when walking three blocks last night. They are EVERYWHERE.  Then we hungout for a bit and then met up again for our bus tour!  We got a bus rented and our advisors showed us all around the city and we got to take some cool pictures.  We just got back to the hotel now and are resting up before our Housing Meeting. How exciting!! We move in tomorrow! EEEEEEEEK.

I MADE IT!!

So I just arrived at the hotel and we're hanging out until a Welcome Meeting at 6 and then dinner at 8!  The flights surprisingly went really well! I figured there would be a delay or something, as my luck usually has it, but I made it without a scratch! I even lucked out on the flight from Philly to Madrid because the baby that was originally sitting in front of me moved to another seat right before we departed and then the Spanish lady sitting next to me moved to sit with her friend and so I ended up being able to stretch out for the long flight! The food wasn't too bad either-- salad, pasta with marinara, bread and a brownie. So I ended up traveling for about 25 hours and I'm finally in Barca.  I didn't really get to see much on the ride from the airport and I'm too tired to do anything now, I think I'm going to go lay down and rest for a bit. Adios!

Less than two days away...

So I'm getting all of the last minute things done and checking off lists and it's becoming more and more realistic!! I've been spending time with Evs before we have to say bye and I've realized it's going to be weird being so far away from everyone! Hopefully Skype will come in handy and I'll be able to keep in touch with friends and family.  I printed some photos today to bring with me, so that should suffice. It's funny because I was shopping yesterday and continued to find cute outfits for mixers and functions and then realized I'm not going to be there this semester! I'll miss out on a lot but living in a foreign city is gonna' be way cooler :) I've finished filling up my suitcases and they're definitely not light... I hope I will be able to manage them okay! hahaha oh lordy, what did I get myself into?? I got a new pair of boots yesterday from Steve Madden... they're super comfortable and I hope they last through all the walking I'll be doing. Speaking of, I wonder if I'm going to gain weight or lose weight or stay the same. I'll be doing plenty of walking and hopefully I'll cook a lot with my roommates so that'll be healthy I assume. And I brought workout clothes, I wonder if I'll ever use them!  My goal is to run around the city on a regular basis... we'll see how that works out. Right now I'm looking for eBooks for my Kindle.. I'm not really sure if I can purchase books abroad so I'm trying to stock up here while I still can!! Any recommendations???

Time's A Tickin'...

This afternoon I looked over maps of Barcelona and some info about my program with dad and Dave and I'm getting SO excited!!! My apartment looks so nice, I can't believe it! Nicer than my apartment at school! And it's in such a great location! Look, here's a picture of my bedroom! And look, a door out to the balcony!!

We were looking over the metro and I'm a little nervous about the whole figuring-out-public-transportation thing but hopefully I'll be okay :) We were also looking over a map of Europe and I have so many places I want to go!!!!! I really hope I can fit them all in but it might be slightly impossible.  I definitely want to visit Paris, London, Dublin, Brussels, Auschwitz, Florence, Rome, Athens, Madrid and all over Spain of course! And maybe dip into Africa?! How cool would that be! There's so much I want to do I hope I don't get worn out by the end of the semester, I'll still have two weeks to travel after school ends! That makes me nervous because I honestly have no idea what anyone's doing after our program ends or where I will go with who but I guess that's part of the excitement!! So much is up in the air and I have no idea what to expect but this will definitely be good for me... I can't wait!  Christmas was so nice and I'm so excited I finally got a Kindle!  I'm going to stock up on books so I will have plenty overseas and it will definitely be a good distraction while I'm freaking out on the flights over :) I'm also glad to have gotten some spending money (definitely need it) and some maps and guide books!  I'm def. going to look so American! hahaha. Well tomorrow I'm running to the store to get some last minute things (power adapters) and then I'll be almost ready to go! I can't believe that I'm spending the start of the new year in BARCELONA for four months! It's still unreal! SIX more days!!!!!!!!!!

Why, hello!

I finally got a blog!! This is my first post, how exciting!  I'm not quite sure how to work this website but I need to figure it out ASAP because I'm leaving the US in 10 days!!!!!! How do you like the pics?? I'm glad I figured out how to make this cute! :) Now I need to work on finishing up packing and the last minute details!  I'm getting a little stressed out, especially with it being the holidays, but I know it'll all soon pay off!