...came the rumbling of thunder! I cant wait for the first thunderstorm over here!
Had to mention it....more mierda later.
5/25/08
subtle differences
This one may strike you as kinda boring, but I wanted to mention it anyway. I was at Mass this afternoon with Chip, and as we walked in, it looked like there had been a First Communion Mass just before. This made sense to me, because I remember mine being in May as well. What we came to realize was that the mass we were there for also had a First Communion...for four children. This struck me as odd because almost everyone I know back home did theirs in a considerably bigger group (largely because they were in a Catholic school with/like me, but still).
All the same, the families of these four kids filled the church significantly better than last week's crowd of retirees and us. Also, they sat on benches on the altar the whole mass, and even doubled as altar servers (gave me a chuckle, having been one myself years ago). I really thought the whole thing was great, because it was easier for these kids to focus on the actual ceremony. They had no distractions from the people they sat next to every day of the week like my friends and I did. I kind of envy them for that.
I also wonder if there were only four because that Mass time was one of two, maybe three, Masses that are in Spanish-I mean, Castellano. Doesn't matter me. I liked the ceremony as it was, but I won't ramble on lest I get lost in a discussion about how I'd like to see a couple of the Sacraments go down.
Unless I have some kind of unforeseen adventure during the week, I'll probably post again sometime next week from France or Italy, where I intend to have a few adventures and many, many pictures.
TTFN,
Gaby
All the same, the families of these four kids filled the church significantly better than last week's crowd of retirees and us. Also, they sat on benches on the altar the whole mass, and even doubled as altar servers (gave me a chuckle, having been one myself years ago). I really thought the whole thing was great, because it was easier for these kids to focus on the actual ceremony. They had no distractions from the people they sat next to every day of the week like my friends and I did. I kind of envy them for that.I also wonder if there were only four because that Mass time was one of two, maybe three, Masses that are in Spanish-I mean, Castellano. Doesn't matter me. I liked the ceremony as it was, but I won't ramble on lest I get lost in a discussion about how I'd like to see a couple of the Sacraments go down.
Unless I have some kind of unforeseen adventure during the week, I'll probably post again sometime next week from France or Italy, where I intend to have a few adventures and many, many pictures.
TTFN,
Gaby
5/22/08
tastes like Licorice
I don't know what they were all complaining about, but I like absinthe. Apparently most other people on the trip don't like the taste of it, combined with the strong alcohol content. I'm no alcoholic, but that was one hell of a drink (special occasions only, though). I just wanted to get that out of the way as I sit here ignoring my lecture...
It gets harder to wake up each morning and go to class. It's my own fault, but the night before has always been worth it so far. Let's start with Tuesday night. That was a good night.
So my initial plan for Tuesday night was to go see a show, "Cómeme el Coco, Negro". Check out the link on the right titled "La Cubana" for more info about it. It was a free show on Tuesday, but this bright guy completely forgot about even getting the free tickets until about 7:45 or so (the show started at 9:30). I frantically tried to gather the few people who understand spanish well enough to enjoy the show, but everyone was going to a bar on the beach for free food. Crap. Well I decided to go anyway, so I throw on my Cubavera, grab one of my new cigars, and get going. I get there and find that the box office closes an hour before show time, and like a good Cuban, I was late for that. Coño. At least I have a cigar, and I'm not too far away. I smoked it on my way back, and quite enjoyed it, I have to say. When I got back, I met up with the girls downstairs and walked with them to this bar, Shoko, for the free food.
We struck GOLD. Not only was there free tapas along the lines of kabobs and sushi, but there was free wine, certain mixed drinks, and Heinekens! Keep in mind that this is right on the beach next to the Olympic Port, so this is a pretty sweet place. It only lasted for about two hours, so ravaged the goods as best we could while it lasted. When the handouts were over, any open space, of which there was plenty, became a dance floor, and we started dancing the night away. I had to call it around 2 AM, b/c of the very class I'm currently ignoring, but it was a fun night.
Now last night was a winner. After a couple of hours on the beach, we went looking for a bar to watch the Champion's League Final. At first we were looking for and English or Irish Pub (because there are a few), but we figured they'd be packed so we just wandered a little. We wound up at this small bar called Groucho (as in Groucho Marx) and watched the game there. The cool part about the bar was that it had regular seating upstairs with a TV easily visible over a balcony. We had a good time there, but here's what makes the night a winner: 1 Euro shots! We took advantage of a couple of those after the exciting game before leaving. This is when my friends decide they want to go to Marsella, a bar that serves some serious absinthe. Looks like it's time to try it.
For those of you who haven't had the opportunity, absinthe is a damn strong alcohol, which used to have hallucinogens. On top of that, this particular bar is apparently where Picasso and
Hemingway came to get "inspired". To drink the absinthe, you place the sugar cubes on the balanced fork, like the picture shows, and pour water over the sugar to dissolve it into the drink, as well as dilute the drink to a point where you can handle it. The more you pour in, the easier it is to drink. I didn't pour in a whole lot, and dived in.
That crap is strong, but good. It tasted like licorice, which most of the others didn't seem to enjoy, but Michael were pretty pleased. Despite the alcohol content, I never really wound up feeling any buzzing. Worth a repeat experience for a special occasion.
So I have a map of all this stuff, and I'm gonna post it soon, possibly before you even read this. We'll see. It's time to get back into class now, so I'll leave you in agonizing anticipation of my next post!
-Gaby
It gets harder to wake up each morning and go to class. It's my own fault, but the night before has always been worth it so far. Let's start with Tuesday night. That was a good night.
So my initial plan for Tuesday night was to go see a show, "Cómeme el Coco, Negro". Check out the link on the right titled "La Cubana" for more info about it. It was a free show on Tuesday, but this bright guy completely forgot about even getting the free tickets until about 7:45 or so (the show started at 9:30). I frantically tried to gather the few people who understand spanish well enough to enjoy the show, but everyone was going to a bar on the beach for free food. Crap. Well I decided to go anyway, so I throw on my Cubavera, grab one of my new cigars, and get going. I get there and find that the box office closes an hour before show time, and like a good Cuban, I was late for that. Coño. At least I have a cigar, and I'm not too far away. I smoked it on my way back, and quite enjoyed it, I have to say. When I got back, I met up with the girls downstairs and walked with them to this bar, Shoko, for the free food.
We struck GOLD. Not only was there free tapas along the lines of kabobs and sushi, but there was free wine, certain mixed drinks, and Heinekens! Keep in mind that this is right on the beach next to the Olympic Port, so this is a pretty sweet place. It only lasted for about two hours, so ravaged the goods as best we could while it lasted. When the handouts were over, any open space, of which there was plenty, became a dance floor, and we started dancing the night away. I had to call it around 2 AM, b/c of the very class I'm currently ignoring, but it was a fun night.
Now last night was a winner. After a couple of hours on the beach, we went looking for a bar to watch the Champion's League Final. At first we were looking for and English or Irish Pub (because there are a few), but we figured they'd be packed so we just wandered a little. We wound up at this small bar called Groucho (as in Groucho Marx) and watched the game there. The cool part about the bar was that it had regular seating upstairs with a TV easily visible over a balcony. We had a good time there, but here's what makes the night a winner: 1 Euro shots! We took advantage of a couple of those after the exciting game before leaving. This is when my friends decide they want to go to Marsella, a bar that serves some serious absinthe. Looks like it's time to try it.
For those of you who haven't had the opportunity, absinthe is a damn strong alcohol, which used to have hallucinogens. On top of that, this particular bar is apparently where Picasso and
Hemingway came to get "inspired". To drink the absinthe, you place the sugar cubes on the balanced fork, like the picture shows, and pour water over the sugar to dissolve it into the drink, as well as dilute the drink to a point where you can handle it. The more you pour in, the easier it is to drink. I didn't pour in a whole lot, and dived in.That crap is strong, but good. It tasted like licorice, which most of the others didn't seem to enjoy, but Michael were pretty pleased. Despite the alcohol content, I never really wound up feeling any buzzing. Worth a repeat experience for a special occasion.
So I have a map of all this stuff, and I'm gonna post it soon, possibly before you even read this. We'll see. It's time to get back into class now, so I'll leave you in agonizing anticipation of my next post!
-Gaby
5/19/08
5/12/08
5/10/08
Screw the weather, I'm going exploring anyways...
Alright, so no video today. I'm kinda tired and would just rather type, so I hope you don't mind. Despite the awesome city I'm in, I kind of have to admit that the weather really sucks. It's raining constantly either somewhat soft or really hard. It made walking around less fun, but I did it anyways.
One of our TA's, Blacki, came on this trip last summer and basically never left the city, so he knows it incredibly well (and had a g/f here, if I remember correctly). He offered to give us a small tour of somewhere cool in the city around 11 this morning, so I decided to join him. First thing he did was take us to this relatively large comic book shop that apparently translates all the english comics that go to Latin America. It was pretty cool, but not my thing. Before moving on, we had a snack at the bar next door (croquettas and cafe con leche at a bar...I can get used to that). We then went through the Gothic neighborhood of the city next to Las Ramblas. It was a really cool area, and I expect I'll be back through there at some point.
We went down through there to the coast and then back up Las Ramblas to Plaza Catalunya, with him showing us different shops he had been to along the way. After that, most of us went our separate ways, but Blacki, Carolyn and I stopped by a sporting goods store and then this restaurant called Pasta Fiore, which was really good and fast Italian food. We hung out there while waiting for the rain to let up a little then came back home.
After that, Michael, Carolyn and I went back to look for the Bicing office. Bicing is a system of bike rentals where you can rent a bike from any of their many locations, ride it wherever, and drop the bike off at the nearest station, all of which is unmanned. After some wandering, we finally found it, and it was closed for the weekend...
Until this point, I didn't have an umbrella. Somehow, I never got around to simply buying a cheap one. After finding the closed Bicing office, I said to myself "I'm buying one at the first tourist shop I see". Sure enough, found a good one and bought it. From there, we went looking for the US Consulate up by the University.
It was quite a walk, with no subway, and we hadn't yet realized that our metro passes were also good for the bus, so we walked all the way up there to a closed US Embassy. We definitely took the bus back to the metro. The funny part was that the station we went to, Maria Cristina, had the biggest vending machine I've ever seen. It was, quite literally, a wall. End to end. I promise I'll swing through there again and get a picture.
Actually, I promise to start taking pictures period. I haven't had my camera with me the last couple of days, because I wanna get myself situated a little bit before acting like that much of a tourist. But they will go up by Monday, since I'm definitely taking pictures at the Barca game.
That's all I've got for now. More stories when I have time to tell them!
-Gaby
One of our TA's, Blacki, came on this trip last summer and basically never left the city, so he knows it incredibly well (and had a g/f here, if I remember correctly). He offered to give us a small tour of somewhere cool in the city around 11 this morning, so I decided to join him. First thing he did was take us to this relatively large comic book shop that apparently translates all the english comics that go to Latin America. It was pretty cool, but not my thing. Before moving on, we had a snack at the bar next door (croquettas and cafe con leche at a bar...I can get used to that). We then went through the Gothic neighborhood of the city next to Las Ramblas. It was a really cool area, and I expect I'll be back through there at some point.
We went down through there to the coast and then back up Las Ramblas to Plaza Catalunya, with him showing us different shops he had been to along the way. After that, most of us went our separate ways, but Blacki, Carolyn and I stopped by a sporting goods store and then this restaurant called Pasta Fiore, which was really good and fast Italian food. We hung out there while waiting for the rain to let up a little then came back home.
After that, Michael, Carolyn and I went back to look for the Bicing office. Bicing is a system of bike rentals where you can rent a bike from any of their many locations, ride it wherever, and drop the bike off at the nearest station, all of which is unmanned. After some wandering, we finally found it, and it was closed for the weekend...
It was quite a walk, with no subway, and we hadn't yet realized that our metro passes were also good for the bus, so we walked all the way up there to a closed US Embassy. We definitely took the bus back to the metro. The funny part was that the station we went to, Maria Cristina, had the biggest vending machine I've ever seen. It was, quite literally, a wall. End to end. I promise I'll swing through there again and get a picture.
Actually, I promise to start taking pictures period. I haven't had my camera with me the last couple of days, because I wanna get myself situated a little bit before acting like that much of a tourist. But they will go up by Monday, since I'm definitely taking pictures at the Barca game.
That's all I've got for now. More stories when I have time to tell them!
-Gaby
5/9/08
5/7/08
Pregame
As I sit at the gate here in Atlanta, I have to admit to myself: I’m kind of nervous. I’m here a solid three hours before the scheduled takeoff time, and that’s after killing 4 hours in the atrium after getting here from Miami. Ultimately, it comes out to a 24 hours travel day, and just thinking about it makes me a little tired. But it’s okay, because it’ll be similar to the many all-nighters I’ve already pulled, and it certainly won’t be the last. Now that I think about it, the last time I was on an international flight was the last time I went to Spain almost 10 years ago (Great, now I’m slightly more nervous).
It’s all good, though, because I know how incredible this is going to be. I get to study in a foreign country where I’m familiar with the language, and travel to other foreign countries like crazy. On top of that, I’ll have the chance to go to both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships. Those are two of my life’s goals right there! In case you’re wondering, yes. The other two Grand Slams are also on that list. But my tennis mania aside, this is going to be freaking awesome.
People from the group are starting to arrive, so I’m going to go be social now. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Barcelona. See you on the other side!
It’s all good, though, because I know how incredible this is going to be. I get to study in a foreign country where I’m familiar with the language, and travel to other foreign countries like crazy. On top of that, I’ll have the chance to go to both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships. Those are two of my life’s goals right there! In case you’re wondering, yes. The other two Grand Slams are also on that list. But my tennis mania aside, this is going to be freaking awesome.
People from the group are starting to arrive, so I’m going to go be social now. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Barcelona. See you on the other side!
-Gaby
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